event
Brown Bag Lunch
Monday
17
September
Brown Bag Lunch

The Flip Side of China Syndrome: Export Effects on Local Labor Markets in China

Difei Ouyang, University of Geneva / co-author: Weidi Yuan, University of Geneva
, -

Maison de la Paix, S1 Petal 2

The BBL is a weekly event organized by the International Economics where faculty members present their ongoing research.

Add to Calendar

We analyze the flip side of China Syndrome - rapid growth of US imports from China between 1999 and 2007 on local labor markets in China, exploiting cross-market variation in export exposure stemming from initial differences in industry specialization and instrumenting for China's exports using changes in other low-income countries' exports to US. Rising exports lead to higher employment in manufacturing and service sectors but with modest positive wage effects. The increasing employment is largely driven by the decline in agricultural employment and transition of non-participating labor force especially in rural areas. The export-led labor market adjustments further lead to an increase in local GDP and GDP per capita.