Publications:
"Do College Graduates Serving as Village Officials Help Rural China?" (with Guojun He)
Forthcoming, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Abstract: This study estimates the effect of improved bureaucrat quality on poverty alleviation by exploring a unique human capital reallocation policy in China – the “College Graduate Village Officials” (CGVOs) program. We find that introducing CGVOs into the village governance system improves the targeting and implementation of the central government’s social assistance programs. CGVOs help eligible poor households understand and apply for relevant subsidies, thus increasing the number of pro-poor program beneficiaries. Further analysis suggests that CGVOs improve the quality rather than the quantity of village bureaucrats, and their presence reduces elite capture of pro-poor programs.
Forthcoming, American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Abstract: This study estimates the effect of improved bureaucrat quality on poverty alleviation by exploring a unique human capital reallocation policy in China – the “College Graduate Village Officials” (CGVOs) program. We find that introducing CGVOs into the village governance system improves the targeting and implementation of the central government’s social assistance programs. CGVOs help eligible poor households understand and apply for relevant subsidies, thus increasing the number of pro-poor program beneficiaries. Further analysis suggests that CGVOs improve the quality rather than the quantity of village bureaucrats, and their presence reduces elite capture of pro-poor programs.
Working Papers:
"Buddha's Grace Illuminates All: Temple Destruction, School Construction, and Modernization in 20th Century China" (with Boxiao Zhang; 2015) Submitted
Abstract: This study describes a novel natural experiment in early 20th century China known as the “Temple Destruction Movement” (TDM), where local governments were required to take over the assets of Buddhist and Taoist temples to support the modernization of local schooling. We show that before the TDM, the initial stock of average temple assets was not correlated with various measures of human capital and economic development; while after the TDM started, regions with higher initial stocks of average temple assets constructed more schools, enrolled more students, produced more modern elites, and experienced faster economic development. Moreover, we find that the impacts of the TDM have persisted into the 21st century: regions with higher initial stocks of average temple assets before the TDM still had higher levels of human capital and better economic performance in 2000. We also find suggestive evidence that temples affected both mid-run and long-run development mainly through the channel that the TDM boosted local human capital accumulation.
"Fiscal Competition and Coordination: Evidence from China" (2016)
Abstract: This paper intends to provide causal evidence on fiscal competition and coordination between local governments. We first introduce a unique empirical setting created by the combination of two national programs in China, the “Rural School Consolidation (RSC)” program and the “Special Economic Zones (SEZs)” program, in which spatially adjacent townships have discontinuous incentives to either compete or coordinate with a neighboring SEZ. Exploiting such quasi-experimental variation with a spatial-discontinuity design, we find a series of empirical evidence on the existence of competition and coordination between local governments, which can be formally rationalized by a simple model where asymmetric jurisdictions compete for mobile labor. Our results suggest that the strategic interactions among local governments play important roles in public goods provision and labor migration: during the RSC program (2001-2011), townships that coordinate with their neighboring SEZs closed an extra 15% of local primary schools, and lost an extra 7% of local population, as compared to townships that compete with their neighboring SEZs.
"Environmental Regulation and Firm Productivity in China: Estimates from a Regression Discontinuity Design" (with Guojun He and Bing Zhang; 2017) Submitted
Abstract: This paper estimates the causal effects of environmental regulation on productivity. Using a spatial regression discontinuity design, we estimate that China’s efforts in monitoring surface water quality reduce upstream firms’ TFP by 26.7% in pollution-intensive industries. Upstream firms’ total emissions and emission intensity decreased significantly due to tighter regulation. The estimated TFP loss is 1.73%–2.42% for a 10% abatement in chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions. The estimated total loss in industrial output value in meeting China’s emission abatement target set in the 13th Five-Year Plan will be 685–962 billion yuan (110 to 154.7 billion US dollars).
Abstract: This study describes a novel natural experiment in early 20th century China known as the “Temple Destruction Movement” (TDM), where local governments were required to take over the assets of Buddhist and Taoist temples to support the modernization of local schooling. We show that before the TDM, the initial stock of average temple assets was not correlated with various measures of human capital and economic development; while after the TDM started, regions with higher initial stocks of average temple assets constructed more schools, enrolled more students, produced more modern elites, and experienced faster economic development. Moreover, we find that the impacts of the TDM have persisted into the 21st century: regions with higher initial stocks of average temple assets before the TDM still had higher levels of human capital and better economic performance in 2000. We also find suggestive evidence that temples affected both mid-run and long-run development mainly through the channel that the TDM boosted local human capital accumulation.
"Fiscal Competition and Coordination: Evidence from China" (2016)
Abstract: This paper intends to provide causal evidence on fiscal competition and coordination between local governments. We first introduce a unique empirical setting created by the combination of two national programs in China, the “Rural School Consolidation (RSC)” program and the “Special Economic Zones (SEZs)” program, in which spatially adjacent townships have discontinuous incentives to either compete or coordinate with a neighboring SEZ. Exploiting such quasi-experimental variation with a spatial-discontinuity design, we find a series of empirical evidence on the existence of competition and coordination between local governments, which can be formally rationalized by a simple model where asymmetric jurisdictions compete for mobile labor. Our results suggest that the strategic interactions among local governments play important roles in public goods provision and labor migration: during the RSC program (2001-2011), townships that coordinate with their neighboring SEZs closed an extra 15% of local primary schools, and lost an extra 7% of local population, as compared to townships that compete with their neighboring SEZs.
"Environmental Regulation and Firm Productivity in China: Estimates from a Regression Discontinuity Design" (with Guojun He and Bing Zhang; 2017) Submitted
Abstract: This paper estimates the causal effects of environmental regulation on productivity. Using a spatial regression discontinuity design, we estimate that China’s efforts in monitoring surface water quality reduce upstream firms’ TFP by 26.7% in pollution-intensive industries. Upstream firms’ total emissions and emission intensity decreased significantly due to tighter regulation. The estimated TFP loss is 1.73%–2.42% for a 10% abatement in chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions. The estimated total loss in industrial output value in meeting China’s emission abatement target set in the 13th Five-Year Plan will be 685–962 billion yuan (110 to 154.7 billion US dollars).
Works in Progress:
"Designing Performance Indicators for Career Incentives" (with Alain de Janvry, Elisabeth Sadoulet, Guojun He, and Qiong Zhang)
"Incentivizing High-Level State Employees to Directly Confront Rural Poverty: An Experimental Design Based on a National Program in China"
"Helping Rural Students Make Better College Choices through Improved Incentive Schemes for Teachers and Principals: An Experimental Design" (with Xiaoyang Ye)
"The Economic and Environmental Consequences of Decentralization: Evidence from the Township Consolidation Program in China" (with Zenan Wang)
"Bureaucrat Quality and State Effectiveness: Evidence from the Bereavement Leave Rules in Historical China" (with Weijia Li and Zenan Wang)
"Incentivizing High-Level State Employees to Directly Confront Rural Poverty: An Experimental Design Based on a National Program in China"
"Helping Rural Students Make Better College Choices through Improved Incentive Schemes for Teachers and Principals: An Experimental Design" (with Xiaoyang Ye)
"The Economic and Environmental Consequences of Decentralization: Evidence from the Township Consolidation Program in China" (with Zenan Wang)
"Bureaucrat Quality and State Effectiveness: Evidence from the Bereavement Leave Rules in Historical China" (with Weijia Li and Zenan Wang)
Other Writings:
"Capturing the Transformation Rent: Lessons from Mexico and China" with Alain de Janvry, Policy Brief Ferdi B112, July 2015.
"How Does the Auction of License Plates Affect the Trade of Auto in Shanghai?" Statistical Research (in Chinese), with Boxiao Zhang, V30(3): 78-85, 2013.
"Why Have Some Local Governments Closed More Rural Schools than Others?" with Yanqing Ding and Xiaoyang Ye, China Economics of Education Review (in Chinese), 2016, 1(4): 3-34.
"How Does the Auction of License Plates Affect the Trade of Auto in Shanghai?" Statistical Research (in Chinese), with Boxiao Zhang, V30(3): 78-85, 2013.
"Why Have Some Local Governments Closed More Rural Schools than Others?" with Yanqing Ding and Xiaoyang Ye, China Economics of Education Review (in Chinese), 2016, 1(4): 3-34.
