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An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various articles within the issue on topics including the role of tourism towards China's economic growth; liberalization of Chinese financial markets; and papers Contemporary monetary policy in China: An empirical assesment'.

Abstract: We review previous research on China's business cycle correlation with other economies applying meta‐analysis. We survey 71 papers analysing the different periods of Chinese economic development since the 1950s that were published in English or Chinese. We confirm that Pacific Rim economies in particular have relatively high business cycle correlation with China. It appears that many characteristics of the studies and authors influence the reported degree of business cycle synchronization. For instance, Chinese‐language papers report higher correlation coefficients. Despite this, we do not detect robust evidence for publication bias in the papers. Moreover, we show that the broad evidence does not confirm the popular decoupling hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of the political hierarchies of cities in China from different perspectives. First, we examine the economic disparities between prefectural cities and municipalities. Furthermore, this paper draws upon a quasi‐ experiment to analyze the impact of upgrading Chongqing to a municipality in 1997 using the synthetic control method. The city‐upgrading policy significantly increased Chongqing's gross domestic product (GDP) in the following 4 years. Finally, we find that the policy increased GDP in treated cities within 1200 km of Chongqing by about 10%–13% relative to the control cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the prospects and promises of continent‐wide infrastructure projects under China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and its implications for intra‐regional trade and economic development in Africa. Building on the supply side theory of trade and economic development, and taking cognizance of the impacts of asymmetric market sizes on trade integration, this paper argues that continent‐wide infrastructure projects are perhaps not the biggest constraints to intra‐Africa trade. Consequently, the paper recommends caution in pursuing regional infrastructure projects under the BRI. Given that the economies of most African countries depend largely on natural resources, the BRI could be adopted strategically to establish and manage infrastructure projects that would relax the binding constraints to structural transformation and allow for the development of manufacturing and/or service capabilities in the respective countries, especially in niche areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite its invaluable contribution to the field of comparative economics, the socialist calculation debate has focused on the narrow topic of the impossibility of the rational economic calculation under socialism. The literature on new institutional economics suggests that economic development is determined by economic and political institutions which are far more complex than the issue of economic calculation. To bridge the gap between the calculation debate and new institutional economics, this paper utilizes the historical case studies of Perestroika and Deng's China to demonstrate relationship between state capacity and economic calculation. We argue that rational economic calculation requires the state's institutional ability to make a credible commitment to constraints inhibiting public predation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the Xingke Tiben, this paper assesses the long‐run economic development of China, by constructing a new estimate of male occupational structure during 1734–1898 by sector, sub‐sector pattern, and region. After assessing the source's biases, using this new empirical basis, this paper demonstrates that the national male occupational structure was nearly identical in 1761–70, 1821–30, and 1881–90, suggesting a long‐lasting structural stasis of the national economy, allowing for fluctuations between benchmark dates. Within agriculture, substantial regional differences in labour organisation are revealed. Three distinct models are found: the Northern Regions model features a high usage of wage labour, the Yangtze Valley model presents a high level of tenancy development, and the Southern Regions model displays the highest share of landowners. All three models saw increasing use of wage labour in 1761–1890 and shrinking landownership in 1821–90. At the regional level, the long‐run estimate for Lower Yangtze suggests that the region as a whole stagnated throughout the entire period, but the overall structural stasis hides dynamic, contrasting long‐run economic change between the region's core and peripheral areas. Comparative analysis with England further suggests that the timing of the Great Divergence between China and England took place before 1734, even in the context of the regional difference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Mega‐city regions (MCRs) have emerged as the main spatial form of China's new urbanization strategy and become the basic spatial units participating in global and regional competition. However, MCRs are not equally capable of boosting regional economic development due to their different levels of development. Therefore, this paper adopts the concept of competitiveness as both a theoretical framework and an empirical model to evaluate the development status of China's MCRs. Based on a review of the existing literature, this paper proposes a multi‐tier evaluation system to calculate the competitiveness of 13 MCRs. The chosen indicators come from the six perspectives of economic development, human resources, infrastructural accessibility, integration into the global economy, capacity for scientific and technological innovation, and sustainable development. The results show that there are great disparities and regional inequalities in competitiveness across different MCRs. The Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Beijing–Tianjin–Tangshan MCRs are the first‐tier MCRs with the highest levels of development and have significant global influence as well. Chengdu–Chongqing, Shandong Peninsula, South‐central Liaoning, and Wuhan belong to the second‐tier of MCRs that show partial advantages and have significant regional influence. The remaining regions belong to the third‐ or fourth‐tier of MCRs that have relatively weak competitiveness. The competitiveness of MCRs largely depends on the concentration of core elements in core cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China‐Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA) increased trade between China and Pakistan, however, it also swelled Pakistan trade deficit with China. The empirical findings of this paper suggest that CPFTA positively contribute to Pakistan exports to China and her imports from China but the increase in Pakistan imports was far greater than Pakistan exports after CPFTA. Resultantly, Pakistan's trade deficit with China increased and Pakistan's growth hampered. Constant market share analysis suggests that a better understanding of the Chinese market, efficient utilization of tariff lines and focus on products of the comparative edge are important for Pakistan to benefit from CPFTA. Otherwise, CPFTA is counterproductive for Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China joined the Paris Agreement, and the global 2°C and 1.5°C warming targets will be supported by China. In order to achieve these targets, China's CO2 emissions need to be cut deeply by 2050. The present paper presents studies from the integrated policy assessment model for China (IPAC) team about the impact on China's economic development of deep cuts in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, in order to realize the Paris climate change targets. With the requirement of deep cuts in GHG emissions in China, China's economic development will also be impacted in moving toward a low‐carbon or zero‐carbon emission‐based economy by 2050. This means the Chinese economy needs a strong transition over the next three decades, a relatively short time. All sectors in the economy need to seek ways to reduce GHG emissions, and this could change activities, industry processes and technologies in order to make the deep cuts in GHG emissions happen. This is the meaning of the economic transition toward to a low‐carbon economy. The findings of the present paper include: a significant transition in the energy supply sector; a high rate of electrification in all end‐use sectors; and a technology transition in the transport sector. Transitions will also occur in the traditional industrial sectors, including steel making, cement manufacture, and the chemical sector. The availability of low‐cost renewable energy could change the allocation of industries, which could potentially have a strong impact on regional economic development. Deep cuts in CO2 emissions in China need not be a burden for economic development, as the IPAC results show there will be a more than 1.5% increase of gross domestic product by 2050 in the deep cut scenario compared with the baseline scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's environmental governance exhibits a significant imbalance with its economic development. To enhance the "green" and sustainable practices of enterprises, employing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles is imperative. The literature examining the correlation between ESG and green innovation (GI) lacks detailed clarity and obscures the different effects of each dimension. Inefficient resource allocation may also result from ignoring the distinct implementation costs associated with each dimension of ESG. Such problems eventually hinder the guidance of corporate practices. Therefore, the promoting or inhibiting effects stemming from each of these dimensions warrant further study. In this paper, we use data from A‐share listed companies in China for the years 2004 to 2020 to investigate the mechanism that links the E, S, and G dimensions of ESG with GI from an externality perspective. We prove a linear or U‐shaped relationship between the E or S dimension and GI, and we explore the mediating effect of financing constraints on these relationships. We compare these dimensions under a unified theoretical framework to clarify their differences in externality and internality. This study's results highlight the importance for enterprises to emphasise environmental issues and social recognition, instead of just corporate operations, to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high‐quality green transition is essential to achieving sustainable and coordinated global development. In this paper, a new method of two‐step geometric average is proposed to measure green transition, and a comprehensive framework on the relationship between sustainability and coordination via the propelling force of green transition is constructed at both the national and provincial levels. In addition, the mediating effect model and the threshold model are employed to empirically verify the mechanisms and influences. According to the results, green transition can contribute to regional economic growth at national level and to the coordinated development of regional economies at provincial level in China. Meanwhile, the non‐linear 'U‐shaped' relationships between green transition and regional economy are demonstrated in Asia and the eastern region of China, and spillover effect of technological innovation can indirectly promote regional development. In addition, the heterogeneity effect of green transition fully releases the dividend of economic quality and environmental governance capacity, promoting the coordinated development of regional economies. In the meantime, the driving force of green transition on regional economy is dependent on the external environment, particularly before and after the outbreak of COVID‐19, when its impact has altered substantially. Therefore, it is necessary to promote green transition via greater technological innovation efficiency, and then to restore the vitality of regional economic development; which could provide policy makers and professionals in the regional economy with information for enhancing sustainable and coordinated development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China holds the distinction of being the foremost global consumer of water resources and contends with a significant level of water scarcity. In light of this quandary, China has been assiduously endeavoring to foster water conservation practices with the ultimate objective of reaching a peak point in water use. In this paper, we construct a framework for forecasting China's total water use (TWU) peak path. In this framework, we select influencing factors in terms of both economy and technology to forecast the peak path of China's TWU under six different scenarios, and analyze the economic and technological circumstances at the peak. Our findings indicate that China's TWU will persist in its upward trend based on both the high growth and business as usual scenarios. The projected peak period is estimated to transpire in 2037, 2032, 2030, and 2028, respectively, with the corresponding peak levels amounting to 644.03, 633.93, 625.79, and 620.92 billion m3. However, in the low growth scenarios, China's TWU reached its peak in 2013. The extent of economic development plays a pivotal role in determining the timing and manner of water usage peaking. Early peaking of water usage could potentially result in a loss of gross domestic product (GDP). Furthermore, technological advancements hold the potential to facilitate a reduction in water use without requiring a significant trade‐off between resource conservation and economic development. The results of sensitivity analysis show that the average acreage of water used for irrigation on cropland, GDP, water use efficiency, and population contribute the most to TWU, while the increase in the proportion of industrial, service, and water‐saving irrigation area can reduce water use. Our analytical framework provides a commonly applicable solution for the water use forecast in areas seeking to reach the water use peak or to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has recently experienced a series of policies seeking economic development and intensive methods of social coercion. A unique leader, Chen Quanguo, brought these changes to the XUAR in 2016. This paper seeks to examine the effects of Chen's regime. We specifically examine three outcomes: GDP per capita, arrest rates, and spending on public security. Using the synthetic control method, we find that Chen's regime had no significant effect on the development. However, his policies led to much higher rates of arrest and larger spending on public security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient allocation of resources and transition towards cleaner sources of energy are among the key factors in minimizing the negative externalities arising from the growing dependency on fossil fuels. Moreover, environmentally benign trade policies are crucial due to the rapid expansion in global trade and comparative advantage. To explore the relationship between global trade and Consumption‐Based Carbon Emissions (CBCE) in China in the context of renewable energy consumption and energy efficiency from 1990 Q1 to 2020 Q4, this paper employs the dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lags (Dynamic ARDL) model to evaluate the connection between international trade, renewable energy usage, energy efficiency, and CBCE, with the Kernel‐Based Regularized Least Squares analysis being used to determine the causal association. The findings reveal that GDP and imports are directly linked with CBCE in the long run, while exports, energy efficiency, and renewable energy consumption have a negative significant long‐run and short‐run influence on CBCE. In addition, exports help in the reduction of CBCE by sharing and adapting environmentally friendly technologies adopted in, for example, renewable energy and ecological advancements. Renewable energy promotes the quality of the environment, which is attributable to the performance of renewable energy and environmentally friendly technologies that directly stimulate the reduction of CBCE emissions. By cutting CBCE, energy efficiency tends to boost environmental quality. The research findings have noteworthy policy implications; trade enhances the quality of environment by introducing lower energy intensive production methods and technology that support sustainable development. As a result, this study advocated quite stringent policies in terms of aligning international trade orientation with environmental quality policy in China. Furthermore, energy efficiency policies are required to lower CBCE by focusing on high‐energy‐using industries and providing alternative clean energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the changing sources of growth in post-reform China. Using cross-province regressions, this paper finds that, in earlier periods, exports, foreign direct investment and marketization were significantly related to per capita income growth, whereas since the late 1990s, foreign direct investment and marketization have lost their significance and have been replaced by new sources of growth, such as innovation and knowledge, with only exports continuing to be important. This finding is robust after controlling for other variables representing other economic policies and provincial characteristics. We also tackle the possible endogeneity of innovation variables using the instrumental variables estimation method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital finance is expected to improve the financial development of economic backward regions through its inclusive nature. Therefore, this paper selects the financial data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2017 to evaluate regional finance disparities with the inclusion of digital finance, using the meta‐frontier slack‐based measure dynamic DEA model. The results are as follows. (1) The overall financial efficiency, input efficiency, output efficiency, and TGR in the eastern region are better than those in the non‐eastern region. (2) With the inclusion of digital finance, the finance efficiency gaps in the eastern and non‐eastern regions have expanded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Regional Science Policy & Practice is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

China's extensive economic growth has been accompanied with high levels of pollution, and excessive energy consumption has brought serious pollution problems. The use of financial resources to regulate green production modes and encourage high‐quality economic development has become a major focus in academia. At the same time, growth enterprise market (GEM) enterprises, which mainly operate in technology‐intensive industries, are assumed to have a simulating effect on regional innovation. Therefore, this paper utilizes the capital return differences of 4437 listed companies and 920 GEM companies based in 30 provinces of China from 2008 to 2018 to quantitatively analyze the levels of financial misallocation. With two‐stage regression method, the direct effect of financial misallocation on regional green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) and the indirect impact observed when taking regional innovation as an intermediary variable are discussed. Furthermore, dynamic threshold panel regression and heterogeneity analysis are used to verify the above nonlinear relationship. The empirical findings indicate that financial misallocation enhances innovation capability and further restrains GTFEE. With an improved degree of marketization and environmental regulation, the inhibitory effect of financial misallocation on GTFEE is more significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's astonishing economic growth implies a necessity to understand its inflation. The present paper employs threshold nonrecursive structural vector autoregression analysis to explore the asymmetric effects of macro-variables on inflation in low and high inflation regimes. The empirical evidence demonstrates, first, that the reactions of inflation to various shocks are inflation-regime-dependent and asymmetric. Second, monetary policy influences China's high inflation and adjusting the domestic interest rate in China may be an effective way to control inflation in a high inflation regime, but not in a low inflation regime. In a high inflation regime, a high inflation rate may cause the macro-policy authorities to increase the domestic interest rate, in an attempt to stabilize high inflation. Third, contrary to expectations, the world oil price is not a strong cost-push factor in a low inflation regime. Oil price increases may increase inflation in a high inflation regime, but there is no such obvious effect in a low inflation regime. Finally, China's nominal effective exchange rate influences inflation in both low and high inflation regimes. A nominal effective exchange rate appreciation might be effective in controlling domestic inflation in both regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies how catch‐up industrial policies in China affect economic development in a two‐sector neoclassical growth model. To fulfil their aspirations of catching up with the output of the capital‐intensive sector of developed countries, Chinese political leaders adopted industrial policies that subsidise this target sector at the expense of other sectors from 1952 until the economic reform in 1978. The static effect of this industrial policy distorts the allocation of resources across sectors and lowers the aggregate TFP. The dynamic effect discourages the accumulation of capital. We show that although the output of the capital‐intensive sector boosts initially, it will be lower than its first‐best counterpart in the long run if catch‐up aspirations are too strong. Our theoretical predictions are consistent with the experience of the Chinese economy from 1952 to 1978. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the 2015 version of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) and World Trade Organization (WTO)'s Trade in Value‐added (TiVA) database to estimate China's value‐added exports to gross exports ratio (VAER), and calculate and compare China's bilateral gross trade imbalances and value‐added trade imbalances with its major trading partners at the aggregate and sector level, respectively. During the period from 1995 to 2011, China's value‐added exports were around 35% less than gross exports at the aggregate level, and around 60% and 80% for manufacturing sectors and tech‐intensive sectors, respectively. Compared with those based on conventional gross trade statistics, our estimates based on trade in value‐added cut China's overall trade imbalances substantially. China's value‐added trade surplus for manufacturing sectors, especially for the so‐called tech‐intensive sectors, was around 45% and over 85% less than gross trade surplus, respectively. China–U.S. value‐added trade surplus was 28–45% less than gross trade surplus during the period from 1995 to 2011. On the contrary, China's value‐added trade deficit with East and Southeast Asian economies is 71–99% and 59–93% less than gross trade deficit during the period from 2005 to 2011, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Local governments and enterprises are two important actors in China's environmental governance system. A better understanding of the interaction between corporate environmental responsibility (CER) and governmental environmental responsibility (GER) will help to enhance the collaboration between corporations and the government, craft a good environmental governance system, and achieve coordinated development of economic development and environmental protection. This paper divides GER into three types: policymaking responsibility, implementation responsibility, and supervisory responsibility. Based on panel data on Chinese manufacturing companies listed during the period 2012–2017, this paper analyzes the relationship between GER and CER and explores the impact of the collaboration between the two on regional environmental pollution. The research results show the following: (1) in China, policymaking responsibility significantly promotes CER, whereas implementation responsibility has a significant negative impact on CER, and supervisory responsibility has no significant influence. (2) The collaboration between GER and CER effectively reduces solid waste discharge in a region but does not significantly reduce SO2 emissions or wastewater discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors reflect on the changes in China, and increased attention paid to the development of information systems (IS) will underpin national development across sectors of the economy. They present five papers, written by 74 authors in eight countries, that reflect an emerging quality in Chinese IS research.

The slow growth of the permanently settled migrants in host cities poses new challenges for the sustainability of China's future urbanization. Given the growing importance of homeownership, this paper clarifies migrants' settlement intentions into three mutually exclusive patterns, including de facto permanent settlement intention through homeownership, long‐term temporary settlement intention and short‐term temporary settlement intention. Based on matched micro‐ and macro‐level data, this paper examines the influence of city economic development and housing prices on these three patterns. The results suggest that economic development exhibits an attractive effect on migrants' settlement intentions for both earning money and for making a life while housing price weakens rural migrants' de facto permanent settlement intention. We also highlight the effect of the Housing Provident Fund (HPF), the most important housing financial policy in China, on settlement intention, and the results suggest that the HPF serves as an option to help migrants achieve permanent settlement through housing availability. The findings can explain the mixed results of previous research and provide policy references for sustainable urbanization in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the path to carbon neutrality, the journey to net‐zero emissions in the industry is achievable, and the green development of industrial parks is crucial for a smooth transition. We examined a sample of 171 green industrial parks certified by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). Using the Tapio decoupling model, we conducted decoupling analyses at both the national and regional scales of their economic growth and environmental conservation for three consecutive years. Spatial heterogeneity is found in carbon‐economy decoupling states and carbon‐pollutant synergy effects. Industrial parks in the east of China present better carbon‐economy decoupling states and carbon‐pollutant synergy effects than the other regions. The CO2 emissions determinants were explored by using the STIRPAT model. The variable industrial value‐added per capita, which is representative of economic growth, presents a positive and significant effect on emissions; the energy output and the proportion of high‐tech industries present a negative effect. However, after dividing the parks into groups by their leading industries, the influence of the variables started to show a power discrepancy. The heterogeneity analysis of this study can provide a basis for developing diversified strategies for Chinese industrial parks under the net‐zero emission goal. Plain Language Summary: This paper evaluated the economic development and environmental impacts of the 171 green industrial parks certified by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) of China, using data and materials that were inventoried and summarized for the first time. The relationship of economic growth and CO2 emissions and other major pollutants was examined using the Tapio decoupling model, and the results suggest strong decoupling states for most of the cases, and a significant carbon‐pollution synergy effect. Further regression analysis indicated that industrial output and green and high‐tech industries are significant drivers of decoupling. The discoveries will guide future actions and policies toward sustainable development for the industrial parks of China. Key Points: Economic growth and environmental impacts are strongly decoupled for most of the studied green industrial parksA significant carbon‐pollution synergy effect is found in the green industrial parksIndustrial output and green and high‐tech industries are significant drivers of CO2 emissions but show discrepancy in different industries [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability is an important topic in the development process of urban agglomerations. Sustainability assessment is an effective way to monitor the sustainable development of urban agglomerations. Based on the three‐pillars model, the paper assessed the sustainability of the three major urban agglomerations in China by selecting 18 indicators from economic, social, and environmental dimensions. A new sustainability‐differentiation‐combined weighting method was proposed, which considers the sustainability at indicator level as well as highlights the difference at urban agglomeration level. The assessment results show that the Pearl River Delta (PRD) urban agglomeration performed best, followed by the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) urban agglomeration and the Beijing‐Tianjin‐Hebei (BTH) urban agglomeration. However, the sustainability level of the three urban agglomerations was not high. It primarily caused by the downward development trend of economic sustainability of the three urban agglomerations. And the YRD and PRD urban agglomerations had lower performances on social sustainability. The spatial sustainability of the urban agglomerations was also analyzed, and the results show the spatial linkage development within the urban agglomerations was poor. Based on these findings, some valuable suggestions were provided as reference for the sustainability construction of the urban agglomerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses China's provincial border counties as samples to explore the role played by administrative boundaries in uneven regional economic development. The results indicate that the gap between provincial border counties and other regions is increasing and that economic diffusion to provincial border counties from developed regions is extremely weak. Moreover, provincial border counties have become economically backward. A regression analysis model that includes certain novel factors that are likely to influence economic growth confirms the significant effects of government intervention and administrative boundaries on economic growth in provincial border counties. This paper concludes that administrative boundaries' effects should be nullified by limiting preferential development policies and implementing policies that instead help provincial border counties engage in sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014 the authors of this paper, evaluators from China and Canada, jointly interviewed 12 policymakers in China at the national and provincial levels. This paper describes the needs of policymakers and how they view the evaluation capacity-building needs of the health system. The learnings from the policymaker dialogues informed the evaluation capacity-building efforts at three pilot sites in China. This paper focuses on the evaluation capacities needed by policymakers and implementers specifically to address inequities in the health sector, unlike most publications that focus on evaluation capacities of researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including volatility of Chinese economic activities, globalization and industrial performance in China, and regional disparities and productivity in China.

A Fisher's Identity model is established to study Northern Song China's (960-1126) level of velocity of money using money supply and gross domestic product ( GDP) data. Results of the exercise help rationalize what is called the 'bronze coin' puzzle, which is the massive amount of minted coins seemingly incommensurate with price levels. It is shown that the velocity of money was increasing and comparable to pre-industrial England levels. This paper argues that the driving forces of the short supply of money are greater than usual hoarding by the state treasury and coin outflows to Song's trading partners via smuggling. Since velocity of money is an indicator of economic development in ancient societies, this paper provides a realistic validation of the premise of the Needham puzzle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically analyses the effect of trade competitiveness and complementarity on the trade development between China and the countries along the Belt and Road (B&R). The study first measures the trade competitiveness and the complementarity between China and the countries along the B&R by using the trade competitiveness coefficient (TCC) and the trade complementarity index (TCI). Then a spatial gravity model is constructed to analyse the effect of trade competitiveness and complementarity on trade development between China and the countries along the B&R. We use generalized method of moments (GMM) and spatial filtering technology to verify the robustness of the model. The results show that the GDP of China and the countries along the B&R, the land area of countries along the B&R, trade complementarity, common language, free trade agreements (FTA), and the B&R Initiative significantly promote the trade development between China and the countries along the B&R, whereas the geographical distance between countries and trade competitiveness significantly inhibit it. Finally, to promote the trade development between China and the countries along the B&R, the present paper puts forward suggestions including improving trade promotion policies between China and the countries along the B&R and vigorously expanding cooperation with complementary industries in the countries along the B&R to enhance trade dependence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land finance has become one of the important major sources of fiscal revenue for Chinese local governments. The spatial allocation of land use constitutes a land‐leasing policy operation of local officials, contributing to local economic development and fluctuation. Applying data from 283 prefectural units from 2003 to 2012, this paper explores the existence of land finance cycles, focussing on the changes of the amount (as in 'area') of land‐leasing by negotiation or by auction. The empirical results suggest that land finance cycles synchronise with the PCCP (Provincial Congress of the Communist Party) cycles, in which a prefectural leader decreases the amount of land leased through negotiation and increases that of land leased through auction prior to the year of the PCCP. The findings of empirical results are consistent with the prediction of our theoretical model. Additionally, due to the existence of high uncertainty of prefectural leaders' tenure and political turnover, the effect of prefectural leaders' tenure on land finance cycles is more apparent in the early years of their tenure. The results indicate that Chinese leaders' fiscal strategies are likely to be driven by career concerns for the purpose of maximising a measured economic performance and fiscal rents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International travel has been hypothesized to shape large cross‐country differences in productivity and income. However, evidence supporting this hypothesis, especially from developing countries, remains scarce. This paper fills this gap by studying a novel historical natural experiment—China's removal of travel restrictions on foreigners to designated Open‐to‐Foreigners‐Counties (OFCs). Utilizing the county‐by‐county rollout of the OFCs, we find that removing travel restrictions on foreigners led to a 7.4% increase in per capita industrial output for the OFCs in 1985–1991. The positive effects are larger in counties with more foreign equipment and greater industrial human capital. We highlight the role of person‐based international knowledge diffusion in the economic catch‐up of technology recipient countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is mounting theoretical and empirical research that explains the reasons for the rapid expansion of China's export trade, but they mostly ignore the effects of cultural differences. To fill this gap, this paper provides an empirical investigation of how cultural diversity affects the sustainable development of trade, which is defined as the goal of maintaining certain volume of trade and making trade growth sustainable. The findings are as follows. (1) Cultural diversity can significantly promote the sustainable development of trade. (2) Entrepreneurship is the possible channel wherein cultural diversity affects the sustainable development of trade, including innovation entrepreneurship and business entrepreneurship. (3) Further studies demonstrate that economic openness has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between cultural diversity and the sustainable development of trade. That is, the higher the level of openness of a city, the stronger the promotion of cultural diversity to the sustainable development of trade. This study not only deepens understanding on the relationship between culture and trade but also provides important policy implications for many countries that have high migration rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reform of power spot market in China provides a new profit mode, determining energy trading strategy based on the power spot prices for distributed energy storages. However, individually accessing every distributed energy storage to the dispatch centre results in a high cost and low efficiency, which needs to be improved by connecting through the aggregator. To this end, this paper proposes a regulation mode and strategy for distributed energy storages participating in energy trading through aggregation. First, the optimal centres of distributed energy storages are searched as the aggregation centres according to the electrical distance distributed by the energy storage, and the model of each distributed energy storage aggregation group is established. On this basis, the conditional value at risk (CVaR) method is introduced to quantify the income risk brought by the fluctuation of power spot prices, following with the optimization model for day‐ahead stage and real‐time stage. Finally, case studies under multiple scenarios of power spot market verify that the regulation mode and strategy can effectively guarantee the economic profits of distributed energy storages by setting aggregation groups and reasonable risk preference coefficients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The export-led growth hypothesis is tested using monthly time series data for Shanghai (one of the major exporting provinces in China) using the Granger no-causality procedure developed by Toda and Yamamoto (1995) in a vector autoregresion (VAR) model. This paper builds on the existing literature in three distinct ways. This is the first study of the export-led growth hypothesis which employs a regional dataset (Shanghai). Second, the paper follows Riezman et al . (1996) in controlling for the growth of imports to avoid a spurious causality result; and finally, the use of the methodology by Toda and Yamamoto is expected to improve the standard F -statistics in the causality test process. The research finds one-way Granger causality running from GDP to exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest group theory of financial development predicts that the incumbents' opposition to financial development will be weaker when an economy is open to both trade and capital flows. Based on regressions of financial development on trade and financial openness, existing studies only provide indirect tests of the hypothesis and deliver mixed findings. This paper proposes models for direct tests of interest group theory for China. Using Chinese cross‐province data, we define and measure interest groups based on the close tie between state‐owned enterprises and local government in China. The empirical results show that the opposition from interest groups to financial development cannot be weakened in provinces with high trade or financial openness alone. However, the opposition is indeed weakened in provinces with high levels of both trade and financial openness. These results provide robust support for interest group theory in accounting for cross‐province differences and time‐series variation in financial development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, information capital is considered as a separate input of production along with noninformation capital and labor. The substitution possibility among information capital, noninformation capital and labor has been estimated by nonlinear iterative algorithm using Chinese data for 1995–2017. The empirical results from the study imply that estimates of Chinese input substitution degree and productivity are underestimated without including information capital as an input separate from noninformation capital. When information capital and labor are combined, the contribution ratio of labor force may increase. Information capital interacts with noninformation capital and labor to promote economic development and production efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through panel data for every province in China from 2006 to 2016, this paper studies the impact of the efficiency of science and technological services and the level of economic development on environmental governance, with the efficiency of science and technological services as the threshold variables. The results of the research indicate that the efficiency of science and technological services in China's provinces is low, while the regional gap is expanding. When the efficiency of science and technological services is the threshold variable, single threshold results are significant. When the efficiency of science and technological services is the threshold variable and when the efficiency of science and technological services is lower than the threshold value, there is a significant impact on environmental governance. If the efficiency of science and technological services crosses the threshold value, the impact of science and technological service efficiency on environmental governance becomes insignificant. For the level of economic development, it is a core explanatory variable and has a significant impact on environmental governance only when the efficiency of science and technological services is below the threshold value. According to the empirical results, this paper proposes corresponding countermeasures and suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although existing studies questioned the simple positive correlation between the technology transfer speed and the benefits, they have been widely condemned for lacking empirical evidence. Using the patent transfer data at the city scale in China, and distinguishing fast from slow by dividing technology transfer speed into four levels, this paper attempts to answer the question in terms of city economic growth, which is whether the faster is the better. Panel regression results show that for economic growth of city, the speed of technology transfer does not mean that faster is better. In other words, technology transfer maintaining a relatively rapid speed (more than 1 year and less than 2 years) can promote city economic growth, although the evidence is weak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the convergence clustering in 31 Chinese provinces regarding several important economic indicators over the period 1952 to 2016 was empirically investigated. Several provincial clusters were identified in the per capita (real) gross domestic product (GDP), consumption–income ratio, retail price, and consumer price inflation rates, using a club convergence and clustering procedure. The empirical findings are as follows. First, it was found that all series of the original data contain a significant nonlinear component. Second, it was observed that there are five significant clusters for the per capita income in China. Third, it was found that there are four significant clusters for the consumption–income ratio. Fourth, it was observed that there are four significant clusters for the retail inflation rates and two significant clusters for the consumer inflation rates in China. These results will enable local and central planners to implement economic growth, savings and price adjustment policies for different groups of provinces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given its size and importance for global commodity markets, the question of how fast China can grow over the medium term is an important one. Using a Cobb–Douglas production function, we decompose the growth of trend GDP into those of the capital stock, labour, human capital and total factor productivity (TFP) and then forecast trend output growth out to 2030 using a bottom‐up approach based on forecasts that we build for each one of these factors. Our paper distinguishes itself from existing work in that we construct a forecast of Chinese TFP growth based on the aggregation of forecasts of its key determinants. In addition, our analysis is based on a carefully constructed estimate of the Chinese productive capital stock and a measure of human capital (based on Chinese wage survey data) that better reflects the returns to education in China. Our results suggest that Chinese GDP growth will slow from around 7% currently to approximately 5% by 2030, consistent with a gradual rebalancing of the Chinese economy characterized by a decline in the investment rate. Moreover, our findings underscore the growing importance of TFP growth as a driver of Chinese growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to estimate China's net foreign aid from 2001 to 2013 as compared with net official development assistance (ODA) figures, which the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) customarily uses. First, a practical definition to capture China's foreign aid activities as a proxy for China's ODA was proposed. Second, both net and gross disbursements of China's foreign aid were estimated. Third, the results were compared with DAC members' ODA; China's donor ranking has moved up from 16th in 2001 to 6th in 2012 and 2013. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the aid allocation behaviours of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) donors and their response to the emergence of China in the aid landscape. Our analysis presents evidences of donors' competition in Africa. We investigate whether African countries with the Chinese influence expanding receive favourable aid modalities from G7 donors over the period 2000-2011. We find a robust positive relationship between the level of aid and the number of China projects a country receives and the level of bilateral aid from G7 donors, even after accounting for standard economic and political factors. Results indicate that DAC donors use bilateral aid to tackle the increasing influence of China in Africa, by delivering more aid to countries with natural resources or strategic political interest. The paper also assesses empirically whether strategic interests and economic competition between DAC donors and China have influenced the composition of aid flows received by African countries. Our empirical strategy is sharpened by the use of a spatial-X model and a difference-in-difference estimation that leverages a 'natural' experiment in DAC aid flows in the aftermath of the financial crisis, with China increasing his sphere of influence in Africa. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the determinants and the time pattern of the subjective well-being of private business owners. We find that both personal and enterprise-level factors have a significant influence on subjective status of private business owners. Meanwhile, we find supportive evidence of Easterlin paradox among Chinese private entrepreneurs: both personal income and operating revenue enhance subjective status in a certain period, but subjective status declines as time goes by, even as incomes continue to rise. A further Oaxaca--Blinder decomposition suggests that the competition and provincial factors are the keys to explaining the paradox. Finally, we try to verify the positive effect of political connection on entrepreneurs' subjective status to provide some helpful advice for the government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With a persistent global economic slump, governments encourage economic growth by expansionary fiscal policies through tax cuts. Total factor productivity (TFP) is an important determinant of corporate development and economic growth. Taking China's 2008 Corporate Income Tax Reform as a quasi‐natural experiment, this paper uses data from China's A‐share listed companies from 2003 to 2018 and difference‐in‐differences analyses to identify the impact of corporate income tax (CIT) rate changes on TFP. The findings indicate that reducing the CIT rate positively impacts corporate TFP through two available channels: corporate investment and human capital investment. Additionally, the effects of reducing the CIT rate on TFP are primarily significant in non‐state‐owned, smaller and more financing‐constrained enterprises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]