Publications
Window Dressing: Changes in Atmospheric Pollution at Boundaries in Response to Regional Environmental Policy in China
Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Volume 125 (May 2024)
[Journal link] | [manuscript]
Abstract: In decentralized environmental governance, local governments are likely to adopt the "beggar-thy-neighbor" strategy to relax regulations at boundaries. This study investigates the impact of China's Joint Atmospheric Prevention and Control Policy (JAPCP) in "2+26" cities enforced by the central government on pollution at provincial boundaries. The theoretical model suggests that dual incentives for environmental protection and economic growth may prompt local governments to reduce boundary pollution within the JAPCP-covered area while relocating pollution to uncovered boundaries. Based on Shandong Province data using the difference-in-differences approach, our analysis reveals a 9.6% decline in the air quality at JAPCP-covered boundaries compared to non-boundary areas and a 5.3% increase at JAPCP-uncovered boundaries, which is associated with migration of key regulated industries. Through examining annual work reports, we provide evidence that local governments modify regulatory intensity at various boundaries. These findings indicate that, while regional environmental policies are intended to promote inter-jurisdictional cooperation, the local government responses lead to unintended costs.
Who Benefits from Domestic Market Integration?
Journal of Happiness Studies, Volume 24, Issue 6 (August 2023)
[Journal link] | [manuscript]
Abstract: The historical integration of economic markets between and within nations has profoundly altered human society. Nonetheless, existing literature on this topic has seldom gone beyond the economic repercussions of this phenomenon. Accordingly, this study examines the relationship between domestic market integration and subjective well-being, of which very little is known. Taking China as a case, we match individual-level data from a longitudinal survey with province-level data to construct panel data and use the fixed effect model to estimate the welfare effect of market integration. Our studies suggest that market integration has a positive effect on welfare overall, contributing to approximately 11.4% of the rise in life satisfaction among Chinese residents from 2010 to 2018. In addition, we found that low-income populations had a relatively large increase in subjective well-being, which implies that market integration is a significant mechanism of redistribution and contributes to reduced happiness inequality. We also discuss the different effects of goods, labor, and capital markets, which are further impacted by heterogeneity in China's household registration (hukou) system and labor skills. Our findings emphasize the broader importance of reduced market segmentation and are of relevance to policymakers and stakeholders involved in economic reform.
Working Papers and Selected Works in Progress
The "Demons" in Demonstration: Unintended Consequences of Superstar‐oriented Innovation Policy in China
(in progress)
Demographic Divergence and Lineage-Migration Dynamics
(in progress)
Regional Integration within National Segmentation: Multilayered Boundary Effects of Labor Market in Late Imperial China
(in progress)
A New Estimate of Internal Migration in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-century China
(2024)
Under review at The Economic History Review.
Land Titling Reform and Spatial Redistribution: Mitigating Effects of Urban Construction Land Allocation
(2023)
"Outstanding Paper" at The 1st Xi Jinping Economic Thought Theory and Practice Forum (2023)
Presented at:
- The 1st Xi Jinping Economic Thought Theory and Practice Forum, Zhejiang, China (2023)
[manuscript (preliminary version)] | [slides (in Chinese)]
Abstract: This paper explores the impact of land titling reform on population mobility and its economic effects in China. Using a quantitative spatial model that accounts for imperfect land ownership and targeted urban construction land allocation, I find that the reform significantly boosts rural-to-urban labor migration, improving labor allocation efficiency and raising national welfare. However, without changes in land supply, labor mobility causes regional redistribution effects, negatively impacting local residents in the urban sector. My analysis shows that the planning allocation of urban construction land by China's central government during 2010 and 2017 mitigated these redistribution effects. Additionally, simulations of optimal land allocation suggest that China's current land allocating pattern places too much emphasis on regional balance at the expense of economic efficiency.
Coordinated Development of the Yangtze River Delta in China: A Quantitative Assessment of the Negotiation System
(in Chinese, the earlier version is my Bachelor's thesis)
(2022)
Presented at:
- The 21st China Youth Economists Forum, Beijing, China (2023)
- The 3rd Political Economy of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in the New Era Forum, Fujian, China (2023)
[manuscript (in Chinese)]
Abstract: Promoting coordinated urban development through city clusters is a key challenge for developing countries. In China’s Yangtze River Delta (YRD), the inter-city negotiation system, through mayors' conferences and policy cooperation, enhances labor division and resource mobility, advancing regional integration. Reduced-form estimation shows that the system promotes population agglomeration and income convergence among cities. We then incorporate these estimates into a quantitative spatial general equilibrium model, which finds that the system reduces population mobility costs between Shanghai, Zhejiang, and Jiangsu by 52.9%, 49.7%, and 44.9%, respectively. Welfare analysis reveals a 7.6% gain for YRD residents and 1.6% nationally. However, population inflows into Shanghai may cause redistribution effects, manageable by linking construction land allocation to population changes.