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In this paper, the news aggregator Google News is used to assess the impact of worldwide news on the volatility of the Chinese stock market. Although we find a strong link between the global stock market volatility and the amount of stock market-related news available worldwide, the link between the Chinese stock market and the same set of worldwide news is found to be much weaker. Diverging patterns for (domestic) A shares and (international) B shares lead us to conclude that the direction of causality most likely is from news volumes to volatility and not vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the impact of FDI on growth using sectoral data for FDI inflows to China and Vietnam. Previous empirical studies, using either cross-country growth regressions or firm-level micro-econometric analysis, fail to reach a consensus. Our paper is the first to use sectoral FDI inflow data to evaluate the sector-specific impact of FDI on growth. Our results show that, for the two developing-transition economies we examine, FDI has a statistically-significant positive effect on economic growth operating directly and through its interaction with labor. Intriguingly, we find the effects seem to be very different across economic sectors, with most of the beneficial impact concentrated in the secondary industries. Other sectors appear to see much less growth benefit from sector-specific FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines if the ‘economic centre’ of Asia is likely to shift over the next 20 years. In this context, it addresses the widely held notion that a deterioration of Southeast Asia's geographic centrality within the Asia Pacific region is likely to occur due to the rise of China. GNP-weighted centrality indices are calculated for major Asian cities, and it is shown that the changing economic map of Asia is unlikely to lead to geographic marginalization of Southeast Asia: even if the economic importance of China increases significantly, this will be more than offset by the corresponding decline of Japan. As a consequence, the total economic weight of Northeast Asia is likely to decrease slightly compared to Southeast Asia and Greater India over the next 20 years, with the economic centre of Asia moving further to the southwest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese political economy is a dynamic entity constituted by multiple developmental trajectories. Recent debates on two seemingly divergent 'models' in the subnational regions of Chongqing and Guangdong have foregrounded the potential contradictions of this dynamism. While existing research has attempted to evaluate these trajectories as outcomes of elite politics or ideological incommensurability, an overlooked but no less important aspect is the connections between these trajectories, Mao-era regulatory policies and the post-1978 system of reciprocal accountability. Synthesizing empirical materials from policy documents, academic commentaries, statistical data and interviews with planners from China, this paper provides a critical evaluation of these connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid economic growth in China for the past two decades has recently attracted much attention among economists measuring the postreform productivity performance in China. What has been generally ignored in this literature, however, is the heterogeneity of growth performance in different regions in China. In particular, Guangdong province has had a growth rate that is far above the national average. In fact, the growth performance in Guangdong has been so spectacular thaat it is regarded as a new East Asian 'Miracle' and Guangdong is referred to as the 'Fifth Tiger,' After South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, in some literature. This paper provides an empirical study on the post-reform productivity performance of Guangdong. Overall, we find that the productivity growth in Guangdong for the past two decades has been high, and has been increasing over time. More interestingly, we find two significant jumps in productivity growth in 1984 and in 1991. We provide an explanation for our results based on the analysis of the changing political and economic 'institutions' due to economic reform in China. The rapid economic growth in China for the past two decades has recently attracted much attention among economists measuring the postreform productivity performance in China. What has been generally ignored in this literature, however, is the heterogeneity of growth performance in different regions in China. In particular, Guangdong province has had a growth rate that is far above the national average. In fact, the growth performance in Guangdong has been so spectacular thaat it is regarded as a new East Asian 'Miracle' and Guangdong is referred to as the 'Fifth Tiger,' After South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, in some literature. This paper provides an empirical study on the post-reform productivity performance of Guangdong. Overall, we find that the productivity growth in Guangdong for the past two decades has been high, and has been increasing... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has enjoyed high economic growth for three decades since the initiative of economic reform in 1978. This growth has, however, been driven mainly by labour-intensive, export-oriented manufacturing activities. Has innovation played a role in China's economic growth? What are the determinants of innovation in the Chinese economy? These are some of the questions that are to be explored in this study using China's provincial statistics. Answers to these questions have important policy implications for China's economic development in the future, as innovation is vital for the transformation of the country's growth model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike previous studies on causal relationships between government revenue and expenditures in China, this study takes into consideration structural breaks in the data by performing wavelet decomposition prior to testing for Granger causality between the fiscal components. The use of wavelet decomposition is motivated by economic theories, which suggest allowing for different budgetary considerations at different time horizons, as well as by the existence of special properties in the data in the form of unit roots and structural breaks. The results from the Granger causality test when using the wavelet-decomposed quarterly data over the period 1980–2015 indicate that government revenue Granger-causes government expenditure (tax-and-spend hypothesis) in the wavelet scales of two to four quarters. The results also show that bidirectional causality (fiscal synchronisation) exists in the wavelet scale of eight to sixteen quarters. Understanding the causal relationships between revenue and expenditure at different time scales is important for formulating relevant policy measures in order to maintain fiscal sustainability in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses city level panel data covering China's 262 cities for the period 2004–2012 and employs the dynamic panel system generalized method of moments (GMM) model with the instrumental variables regression technique to investigate empirically the impact of foreign direct investment on urbanization in China. The study finds that foreign direct investment on average has played a significantly positive role in the development of China's urbanization. However, the impact of foreign direct investment on urbanization varies from region to region. Foreign direct investment has a positive impact on urbanization in the coastal region but has no significant impact on urbanization in the inland region. Apart from foreign direct investment, the study suggests that the economic structure, the level of economic development, the level of fixed assets investment and the size of a city's population are important determinants of urbanization in China. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using data from theChina Statistical Yearbook,trends in income inequality for urban and rural China are studied. According to our estimates, the overall Gini for China increased from 1980/81 to 2008. The rural Gini increased at an exponential rate of 1.2% while the urban Gini rose at a rate of 2.7%. To overcome weaknesses in the existing Gini decomposition methodology, we use the method developed by Podder and Mukhopadhaya (2002. The Changing Pattern of Sources of Income and Its Impact on Inequality: The Method and Its Application to Australia, 1975–94.Economic Record77 (238): 242–51). In rural China, the results show that household operations are the major component of rural disposable income, while the share of wage income is also high. Income from household operations is inequality reducing, as is the case with transfers. The dominant contributors to inequality are wages and property income. Arguably, the optimal way to reduce inequality is policy-induced increases in transfers and the household operations that help the poor. In the urban sector, wage and salary income have the maximum share in total disposable income. The results show that further increases in the wage share in urban sector will increase total inequality in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the behavior of the Chinese equity markets to determine whether the equity markets are efficient or not. A previously unexplored database provides the source for observing market behavior of the two principal equity markets in China. These markets have unique characteristics different from those in the more established markets in the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan, among others. In particular, we study the role of the financial crises. Our observations suggest that differences in statistical measures occurred before and after the financial crises. In addition, conclusions are drawn about the market efficiency of the Chinese equity markets that are based on well-known analytical methods. On the basis of the analysis, we observe that the equity markets of both exchanges were not efficient before the financial crisis and became efficient to some extent in terms of the weak-form efficiency markets hypothesis during the financial crisis. Finally, note that some changes in the Chinese financial markets occurred during and after the crises to alleviate the premium paid in Chinese markets relative to the same firms' share in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bank internationalisation traditionally takes the form of lending to non-residents, but increasingly non-resident securities are purchased. These assets are funded mostly by international loans and deposits, rather than the issuance of securities. Within the Asia Pacific region, the largest net beneficiaries of international bank funding to developing economies are China, India and South Korea. Importantly, apart from the financial centres of Hong Kong and Singapore, which show significant outward as well as inward banking flows, Chinese Taipei is an important international lender. Australia and New Zealand remain significant net international borrowers. The Global Financial Crisis reversed earlier developments with China and Japan now becoming net international borrowers, while both Hong Kong and Singapore have reduced their net asset positions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has necessitated a rethink of the country's agricultural domestic support policies. Under the terms of entry, Chinese authorities are no longer able to control agricultural inputs, outputs and prices, Chinese agricultural exports no longer enjoy government subsidies and Chinese agricultural import-competing products enjoy only single tariff protection. With entry into the WTO, China faces the problem of affording effective protection to its domestic import-competing sector, ensuring food security, and enhancing its export competitiveness while simultaneously fulfilling its strong commitment to the WTO. Fortunately, specific provisions in the WTO protocols do allow for the easing of the country's protection reduction commitments. Chinese authorities need to make use of these WTO provisions to ensure domestic agricultural self-sufficiency and export competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]