In this paper, we assess the success of the ongoing financial system reforms in China by investigating the extent to which firms are financially constrained. We focus on the role played by Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in funding the Chinese corporate sector, and analyze whether incoming...

Using a unique micro-level data set over the period 1998-2005 on Chinese firms, this paper presents empirical findings on the presence of credit constraints. Our findings are threefold. Firstly, private Chinese firms are credit constrained while state-owned firms and foreign-owned firms in China...

China's export performance over the past fifteen years has been phenomenal. Is this performance going to last? Wages are rising rapidly but a population in excess of one billion represents a large reservoir of labor. Firms in export-intensive provinces may draw on this reservoir to increase...

This paper evaluates the role of economic geography in explaining regional wages in China. It investigates the extent to which market proximity can explain the evolution of wages, and through which channels. We construct a complete indicator of market access at the provincial level from data on...

Our work contributes to the literature relating output structure and economic development by showing that growth gains from upgrading are not unconditional. Relying on data from a panel of Chinese cities, we show that the level of capabilities available to domestic _rms operating in ordinary...

We consider the effect of export sophistication on economic performance using regional variations within a single country (China) over the period 1997-2009. We confirm Hausmann, Hwang and Rodrik (2007)'s prediction that regions that specialize in more sophisticated goods subsequently grow...