nep-cna New Economics Papers
on China
Issue of 2008‒02‒02
four papers chosen by
Zheng Fang
Ohio State University

  1. An application of MSIASM to Chinese exosomatic energy metabolism By Mario Giampietro; Kozo Mayumi; Jesús Ramos-Martín
  2. China's and India's roles in global trade and finance - twin titans for the new millennium? By Matthieu Bussière; Arnaud Mehl
  3. Earnings Differences between Chinese and Indian Wage Earners, 1987–2004 By Bargain, Olivier; Bhaumik, Sumon; Chakrabarty, Manisha; Zhao, Zhong
  4. Allocation of Decision Rights in Fruit and Vegetable Contracts in China By Hu, Y.; Hendrikse, G.W.J.

  1. By: Mario Giampietro (ICREA Institut de Ciencia i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona); Kozo Mayumi (University of Tokushima); Jesús Ramos-Martín (Departament d'Economia Aplicada, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona)
    Abstract: The methodology of Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis of Societal Metabolism (MSIASM) is applied to analyze the Chinese economy. This paper presents four tasks: (i) identifying a set of benchmarks that makes it possible to compare various characteristics of the Chinese economy with those of other country groups and the world (level) average; (ii) explaining the differences over the selected set of benchmarks, by looking at the characteristics of the various sub-sectors of the Chinese economy; (iii) understanding existing trends and future feasible future development paths for China by studying the existence of reciprocal constraints between the whole economy and its sub-sectors; and
    Keywords: China, Energy, Multi-Scale Integrated Analysis, Societal Metabolism,
    JEL: O11 O13 O53 Q01 Q57 Q58
    Date: 2008–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:uab:wprdea:wpdea0802&r=cna
  2. By: Matthieu Bussière (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.); Arnaud Mehl (European Central Bank, Kaiserstrasse 29, 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.)
    Abstract: This paper analyses the integration of China and India into the global economy. To this end, it presents estimates from a gravity model to gauge the overall degree of their trade intensity and the depth of their bilateral trade linkages, as well as selected measures of revealed comparative advantage and economic distance. The paper also reviews the key characteristics of the two countries’ domestic economies that are relevant to their global integration and analyses their financial linkages with the rest of the world. Four main fi ndings stand out. First, considering trade in goods, the overall degree of China’s trade intensity is higher than fundamentals would suggest, whereas the converse is true for India. Second, Chinese goods exports seem to compete increasingly with those of mature economies, while Indian exports remain more low-tech. Third, China’s exports of services tend to complement its exports of goods, while India’s exports are growing only in deregulated sectors, such as IT-related services. Last, China’s and India’s roles in the global financial system are still relatively limited and often complementary to their roles in global trade. JEL Classification: E44, F3, C5.
    Keywords: China, India, global trade, gravity models, competitiveness indicators, global finance.
    Date: 2008–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbops:20080080&r=cna
  3. By: Bargain, Olivier (University College Dublin); Bhaumik, Sumon (Brunel University); Chakrabarty, Manisha (Indian Institute of Management); Zhao, Zhong (IZA)
    Abstract: This paper is one of the first comprehensive attempts to compare earnings in urban China and India over the recent period. While both economies have grown considerably, we illustrate significant cross-country differences in wage growth since the late 1980s. For this purpose, we make use of comparable datasets, estimate Mincer equations and perform Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions at the mean and quantile decompositions at different points of the wage distribution. The initial wage differential in favour of Indian workers, observed in the middle and upper part of the distribution, partly disappears over time. While the 1980s Indian premium is mainly due to higher returns to education and experience, a combination of price and endowment effects explains why Chinese wages have caught up, especially since the mid-1990s. The price effect is only partly explained by the observed convergence in returns to education; the endowment effect is driven by faster increase in education levels in China and significantly accentuates the reversal of the wage gap in favour of this country for the first half of the wage distribution.
    Keywords: returns to education, earnings, India, China, quantile regression, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition
    JEL: O15 J24 O53 P52
    Date: 2008–01
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp3284&r=cna
  4. By: Hu, Y.; Hendrikse, G.W.J. (Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), RSM Erasmus University)
    Abstract: We empirically examine the determinants of the allocation of decision rights in the context of fruit and vegetable contracting. The main conclusion is that under contract farming, many decision rights are shifted from farmers to firms. Quality, reputation and specific investments by firms positively influence the number of decision rights allocated to agri-business firms under contract farming, while monopsony-oligopsony power and specific investments by farmers have no effect on the allocation of decision rights.
    Keywords: decision rights;contracts;china
    Date: 2007–10–31
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:eureri:1765010717&r=cna

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