|
Dissertation
Chair of the Dissertation Committee:
Robert A. Margo
Three Essays on the Economic History in
Modern China
Chapter 1:
The
Economic Effects
of Civil Wars:
Evidence from Chinese National Railroads from
1905 to 1923 (Job Market
Paper)
Abstract: During the Later Qing Dynasty and so-called
¡°Warlord Period¡± (1906-1923) China suffered from numerous and violent internal
conflicts, or ¡°civil wars¡±. These conflicts are thought to have slowed the pace
of economic development and, especially, growth in infrastructure. I study these
alleged impacts using a new panel data set linking archival data for Chinese
railroads to detailed information on civil wars. I show that conflict had
negative effects on business passenger flows, operative revenue, and investment,
with the latter operating primarily through Tobin¡¯s Q. These effects occurred
during the same period as the conflict, but also persisted after the fighting
had stopped. My findings suggest that, in the absence of internal strife, China
would have experienced more rapid growth during a crucial phase of its modern
economic history.
Chapter
2:
Catching Up or Falling Behind? Income Distribution of Chinese Cities
(With
C.Y. Ho)
Invited for Resubmission in
Urban Studies
Abstract: This paper analyzes the evolution of
Chinese urban income distribution across space and time in post-reform era. Our
results suggest no evidence on income convergence across cities during the
period 1984-2003. We find that cities with comparable income level are likely to
be co-located in the same region; further, cities tend to mirror the mobility of
their counterparts located in the same province, but not the same region. The
divergence in urban income across the nation will continue if the current
economic growth pattern persists in the future.
Chapter
3:
Rising Regional Inequality in
China: Policy Regimes and Structural Changes
(With
C.Y. Ho)
Forthcoming in Papers in regional science
Abstract:
Regional inequality is severe in China since
regional development is uneven due to various initial conditions and government
policies. We employ unit root tests allowing for structural breaks to
alternative inequality measures from 1952 to 2000. Empirical results indicate
that (1) the regional inequality is trend stationary with structural breaks
rather than follow a random walk. Thus, ignoring structural changes might induce
incorrect inference and misleading policy implications; (2) the break points are
associated with episodic events in Chinese economic history such as the Cultural
Revolution and market reforms. It implies that the policies had a long-lasting
and fundamental effect on the inequality.
Home||Profile||Curriculum Vitae||Dissertation||Publications||Working
Papers
| 
Department of Economics