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Bilateral Economies of Scope in International Trade

Yao Amber Li, Sichuang Xu, Stephen R. Yeaple, Tengyu Zhao, Jan 15, 2025

This paper presents evidence that firms’ export and import decisions within the same foreign market are complementary, due to bilateral economies of scope that allow substantial cost savings when engaging in both activities. By quantifying these savings through a structural model, we show that bilateral economies of scope significantly enhance firms’ participation in international trade and amplify the effects of trade liberalization, offering new insights for policymakers and researchers.

Pricing the Priceless: The Financing Cost of Biodiversity Conservation

Fukang Chen, Minhao Chen, Lin William Cong, Haoyu Gao, Jacopo Ponticelli, Feb 26, 2025

This study investigates the pricing of financial risks associated with biodiversity conservation, with a particular focus on the Green Shield Action, a major regulatory initiative launched in China in 2017 to enforce biodiversity preservation rules in national nature reserves. While the initiative improved biodiversity, it also significantly increased bond yields for municipalities that are home to these reserves, effectively raising the general cost of public capital. These effects were primarily driven by heightened default risks plausibly caused by transition costs from shutting down illegal economic activities within the reserves and additional public spending on biodiversity conservation, even when local governments raise the same amount of money. Furthermore, the study reveals that the biological benefits of these conservation policies were not adequately recognized or impounded into the prices by the capital markets.

Firm-to-Firm Referrals

Jing Cai, Wei Lin, Adam Szeidl, Dec 25, 2024

Referring suppliers to clients reshaped the supplier-client network and improved business performance.

The Anatomy of Chinese Innovation: Insights on Patent Quality and Ownership

Philipp Boeing, Loren Brandt, Ruochen Dai, Kevin Lim, Bettina Peters, May 07, 2025

Chinese patenting has become narrower and less innovative over time. The role of overseas knowledge has also declined sharply. These findings are salient in the context of a marked slowdown in economic growth in China and rising concerns of technological decoupling with the US.

Rural Road Stimulus and the Role of Matching Mandates on Economic Recovery in China

Anthony Howell, Oct 30, 2024

The findings show that the temporary cost share exemption boosts short-term income growth, increases local investment in infrastructure, and promotes entrepreneurial activities, particularly among returning migrants.