IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/rdevec/v26y2022i3p1310-1337.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Industrial subsidies and impact on exports of trading partners: Case of China

Author

Listed:
  • Dessie Tarko Ambaw
  • Shandre Mugan Thangavelu

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of Chinese subsidy interventions in the upstream sector on the competitiveness of the downstream sector. In particular, the paper investigates the causal effect of Chinese subsidies on base metal products on the export competitiveness of downstream sectors in other major trading countries. To explore the impact of base metal subsidy interventions on the downstream sector of a trading partner, we exploit both temporal variation in subsidy interventions and base‐metal consumption by the downstream sector. Using a panel data for 137 sectors in 40 major trading partners of the Chinese economy, the results of the paper reveal that a one‐unit increase in Chinese subsidies decreases competitors’ exports by an average of 16.6%. This indicates that an increase in one standard deviation of Chinese subsidies in the base metals sector decreases exports in the other major economies by 0.17 percentage points. The findings of the paper reveal that the impacts of Chinese subsidy interventions are larger and statistically significant for the exports of developed countries and metal‐intensive users in the downstream sectors. Production relocation to China, absorption of larger inexpensive base metals input by domestic Chinese firms, and subsidy complementarity in the Chinese upstream and downstream sectors could be some of the potential drivers for the negative impact of Chinese subsidy interventions on the export performance of foreign downstream firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Dessie Tarko Ambaw & Shandre Mugan Thangavelu, 2022. "Industrial subsidies and impact on exports of trading partners: Case of China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 1310-1337, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:26:y:2022:i:3:p:1310-1337
    DOI: 10.1111/rode.12878
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/rode.12878
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/rode.12878?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philippe Aghion & Jing Cai & Mathias Dewatripont & Luosha Du & Ann Harrison & Patrick Legros, 2022. "Industrial Policy and Competition," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Globalization, Firms, and Workers, chapter 15, pages 349-380, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    2. Chiara Criscuolo & Ralf Martin & Henry G. Overman & John Van Reenen, 2019. "Some Causal Effects of an Industrial Policy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(1), pages 48-85, January.
    3. French, Scott, 2017. "Revealed comparative advantage: What is it good for?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 83-103.
    4. Ernest Liu, 2019. "Industrial Policies in Production Networks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 1883-1948.
    5. Simon J Evenett, 2019. "Protectionism, state discrimination, and international business since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 2(1), pages 9-36, March.
    6. Gianpiero Mattera & Filipe Silva, 2018. "State enterprises in the steel sector," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Policy Papers 53, OECD Publishing.
    7. Roberts, Mark J & Tybout, James R, 1997. "The Decision to Export in Colombia: An Empirical Model of Entry with Sunk Costs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(4), pages 545-564, September.
    8. Kalouptsidi, Myrto, 2017. "Detection and Impact of Industrial Subsidies: The Case of Chinese Shipbuilding," CEPR Discussion Papers 12080, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    9. Haley, Usha C.V. & Haley, George T., 2013. "Subsidies to Chinese Industry: State Capitalism, Business Strategy, and Trade Policy," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199773749, Decembrie.
    10. Martin Rotemberg, 2019. "Equilibrium Effects of Firm Subsidies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(10), pages 3475-3513, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Giovanni Dosi & Andrea Roventini & Emmanuele Russo, 2020. "Public Policies And The Art Of Catching Up," Working Papers hal-03242369, HAL.
    2. Giovanni Dosi & Andrea Roventini & Emanuele Russo, 2021. "Public policies and the art of catching up: matching the historical evidence with a multicountry agent-based model [Catching up, forging ahead, and falling behind]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(4), pages 1011-1036.
    3. Li, Mingyang & Jin, Man & Kumbhakar, Subal C., 2022. "Do subsidies increase firm productivity? Evidence from Chinese manufacturing enterprises," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 303(1), pages 388-400.
    4. Anthony Howell, 2020. "Picking 'winners' in space: Impact of spatial targeting on firm performance in China," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(5), pages 1025-1046, November.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/3s3jn8tt5h9mab7fo128gecbhj is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Manelici, Isabela & Pantea, Smaranda, 2021. "Industrial policy at work: Evidence from Romania’s income tax break for workers in IT," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    7. Martin Beraja & David Y Yang & Noam Yuchtman, 2023. "Data-intensive Innovation and the State: Evidence from AI Firms in China," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(4), pages 1701-1723.
    8. Loren Brandt & Feitao Jiang & Yao Luo & Yingjun Su, 2022. "Ownership and Productivity in Vertically Integrated Firms: Evidence from the Chinese Steel Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(1), pages 101-115, March.
    9. Siegloch, Sebastian & Wehrhöfer, Nils & Etzel, Tobias, 2021. "Direct, Spillover and Welfare Effects of Regional Firm Subsidies," CEPR Discussion Papers 16129, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Emilia Landa Shikomba & Elizabeth Elias & Sirorat Ruttanawijit, 2021. "Industry Policy Effects On Namibia'S Economic Growth," Economic Review: Journal of Economics and Business, University of Tuzla, Faculty of Economics, vol. 19(1), pages 13-22, May.
    11. Nathaniel Lane, 2020. "The New Empirics of Industrial Policy," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 20(2), pages 209-234, June.
    12. Cingano, Federico & Palomba, Filippo & Pinotti, Paolo & Rettore, Enrico, 2023. "Granting more bang for the buck: The heterogeneous effects of firm subsidies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    13. Lin, Gan & Takahashi, Yoshifumi & Nomura, Hisako & Yabe, Mitsuyasu, 2022. "Policy incentives, ownership effects, and firm productivity—Evidence from China’s Agricultural Leading Firms Program," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 845-859.
    14. Bo, Shiyu & Liu, Cong & Zhou, Yan, 2023. "Military investment and the rise of industrial clusters: Evidence from China’s self-strengthening movement," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    15. Richard Harris & Shengyu Li, 2016. "Government Assistance and Total Factor Productivity: Firm-level Evidence from China, 1998-2007," CEGAP Working Papers 2016_04, Durham University Business School.
    16. Richard Harris & Shengyu Li, 2019. "Government assistance and total factor productivity: firm-level evidence from China," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 1-27, December.
    17. Xianhai Huang & Xueyin Song & Xinyue Hu, 2018. "Does “Internet Plus” Promote New Export Space for Firms? Evidence from China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 26(6), pages 50-71, November.
    18. Jun Du & Sourafel Girma & Holger Görg & Ignat Stepanok, 2023. "Who wins and who loses from state subsidies?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(3), pages 1007-1031, August.
    19. Bessonova, Evguenia, 2023. "Firms’ efficiency, exits and government procurement contracts," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    20. Mao, Jie & Tang, Shiping & Xiao, Zhiguo & Zhi, Qiang, 2021. "Industrial policy intensity, technological change, and productivity growth: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    21. Mulier, Klaas & Samarin, Ilia, 2021. "Sector heterogeneity and dynamic effects of innovation subsidies: Evidence from Horizon 2020," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(10).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:26:y:2022:i:3:p:1310-1337. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=1363-6669 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.