This paper analyzes the evolving trends in China’s rural poverty from 1988to 2018 and how income growth and income gaps contributed to poverty reduction usingrural household data from the China Household Income Project (CHIP). We find that afterChina’s reform and opening up policy introduced in 1978, China’s rural poverty has beenreduced substantially due primarily to income growth, although this poverty-reducing effectwas partially offset by widening income gaps. During the progress of this poverty reduction,however, income distribution replaced income growth as the key driver. For the extremelypoor in particular, their poverty status hinged upon income distribution. As revealed by ourempirical analysis of income sources, wage income became the chief source of income forrural households, contributing a rising share to poverty reduction in the countryside. Thecontribution of net income from government transfer to poverty reduction has increased inrecent years, and this contribution has been increased with the deepening level of poverty.Calculation of the pro-poor growth index suggests that the poor population primarilybenefited from the trickle-down effect of economic growth, and the economic growth patternhas yet to lean towards pro-poor growth.
In discussing the policy effects of environmental regulation, we should focusnot only on whether environmental regulation helps improve the environmental andeconomic performance of firms, but also on how such improvement is materialized, i.e.whether the obsolete mode of production is reversed. After matching the database of China’sindustrial enterprises with that of pollution emissions from these industrial enterprises,this paper identifies the asymmetric scope of clean production standards to test the effect ofenvironmental regulation on the total factor productivity (TFP) of the industrial enterprises.Our empirical research finds that the implementation of clean production standards mayinduce TFP improvement. However, such improvement only occurs for polluters who cannotor who barely meet clean production standards and does little to improve the productionstandards of polluters with low pollution emission, reflecting the yardstick phenomenonof the asymmetric environmental regulation policy effect: While polluters are forced toimprove, clean enterprises that pollute less are more likely to take no action. Furtherresearch finds that such TFP improvement is materialized primarily by means of overall firmoptimization; the compensation effect is insignificant and does not reverse the backwardmode of production. Polluters cope with the implementation of clean production standardsby purchasing more equipment and expanding capacity, which adds to the tension betweenthe expansion of capacity and the abatement of pollution emission.
With the trade network analysis method and bilateral country-product leveltrade data of 2017-2020, this paper reveals the overall characteristics and intrinsicvulnerabilities of China’s global supply chains. Our research finds that first, most globalsupply-chain-vulnerable products are from technology-intensive sectors. For advancedeconomies, their supply chain vulnerabilities are primarily exposed to political andeconomic alliances. In comparison, developing economies are more dependent on regionalcommunities. Second, China has a significant export advantage with over 80% of highlyvulnerable intermediate inputs relying on imports of high-end electrical, mechanical andchemical products from advanced economies or their multinational companies. China alsorelies on developing economies for the import of some resource products. Third, duringthe trade frictions from 2018 to 2019 and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic, there wasa significant reduction in the supply chain vulnerabilities of China and the US for criticalproducts compared with other products, which reflects a shift in the layout of criticalproduct supply chains to ensure not just efficiency but security. China should address supplychain vulnerabilities by bolstering supply-side weaknesses, diversifying import sources, andpromoting international coordination and cooperation.
Since the global financial crisis, global value chain (GVC) have beencontracting amid the trend toward economic de-globalization. With GVC participation ratein mind as the core indicator of economic de-globalization, in this paper we create a multicountrygeneral equilibrium model to characterize the mechanism by which manufacturinglocalization affects GVC participation rate. Our theoretical derivation shows that changesin the local manufacturing status of final products in various countries directly influence theGVC participation rate of those countries. When the local proportion of a country’s finalproducts reaches a certain level, rising local proportion of intermediate inputs, economicgrowth below the world average level, and technology progress all cause the country’s GVCparticipation rate to decline, giving rise to de-globalization at the manufacturing and tradelevels. We further provide a comprehensive interpretation based on an empirical test of thedeep-seated causes of economic de-globalization in relation to such economic phenomenaas increasing trade concentration, the “technology backlash” effect of the new industrialrevolution, and economic growth driven by the combined forces of trade protectionism andquantitative easing.
Marxist political economy provides a perspective for grasping the rootcause of the China-US trade war. The international relations of production, which stemfrom the international division of labor, shape the distribution of international economicinterests and the political status of countries. Traditionally, developing countries havebeen subjected to the “periphery” in the international division of labor. In the new globalvalue chain, developing countries have remained in a subordinate position characterizedby “technological-market” dependence. To achieve the goal of building a strong modernnation, China must escape the “technological-market” dependence. Yet China’s effortsand achievements in escaping dependent development are deemed as a threat to US vestedinterests in the international markets. To preserve the economic foundation of its hegemony,the US has resorted to a trade war to contain China’s development.
Based on the panel data of China’s foreign aid in 2003-2014 from AidData,this paper empirically investigates the relationship between China’s foreign aid andeconomic growth in recipient countries. Using the principal component analysis (PCA),the authors propose a variable, i.e. the infrastructure index, to measure the effects of aidon the economic growth of recipient countries. This study shows that aid from China hassignificantly improved the level of economic growth in recipient countries, which providesa new evidence of China’s aid effectiveness. Through analysis of the ways by which aid ininfrastructure induces economic growth, the authors conclude that the improvement of localinfrastructure accounts for 55.30% of the aggregate economic growth effect of China’s aidto recipient countries.
This study analyzes the ways in which social enterprises contribute to society’sgoals. In the new era of human development, many social problems cannot be resolvedwithout the participation of social enterprises (SEs). The study on these enterprises is ofgreat significance for theoretical research and practical observation. In a modern marketeconomy, SEs have pro-social market vitality and compatibility with the market economy;their action gives a glimpse into the truth of human development. As can be seen from thesocio-economic reality, numerous entrepreneurs nurture a desire to run SEs at a certainstage of their career development. The tendency of some entrepreneurs to run SEs is ofgreat significance for this study. Social enterprises are hybrid enterprises as opposed tofor-profit enterprises and SEs must address complex problems through organizational andinstitutional innovations. State owned enterprises (SOEs) and SEs share many topics ofresearch and have much to learn from each other, and a key question for SOE reform iswhat makes SOEs efficient quasi-social enterprises. Both SOEs and SEs assume a socialmandate, and their fulfillment of social responsibilities is underpinned by their economicefficiency (market competitiveness). The theoretical rationale and institutional mechanismof SEs - not least their innovation practice and formation of rules - stem from therelationship and coordination between economic and social exchanges under market-basedconditions. Social enterprises focus on altruistic social exchange but need to be supportedby a certain economic exchange to finance their operations. The biggest social problemfor China is its failure to balance economic and social exchanges, as well as the method ofreward. Research on SEs should promote the understanding of these questions and the questfor their solutions. Social enterprises may inspire more enterprises to pursue pro-socialinnovation and development.