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How are Wages set in Beijing?

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  • José De Sousa
  • Sandra Poncet

Abstract

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 competition in their labor market and keep wages low for many years to come. We develop a wage equation from a New Economic Geography model to capture the upward pressure from national and international demand and downward pressure from migration. Using panel data at the province level, we find that migration has moderately slowed down Chinese wage increase over the period 1995-2007.
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Suggested Citation

  • José De Sousa & Sandra Poncet, 2007. "How are Wages set in Beijing?," Working Papers 2007-13, CEPII research center.
    • Handle: RePEc:cii:cepidt:2007-13
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    Cited by:

    1. Fabien Candau & Elisa Dienesch, 2013. "Does Globalization explain Urbanization in the World and in Asia?," Working Papers hal-01847940, HAL.
    2. Cletus C. Coughlin & Dennis Novy, 2013. "Is the International Border Effect Larger than the Domestic Border Effect? Evidence from US Trade," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 59(2), pages 249-276, June.
    3. Carsten A. Holz & Aaron Mehrotra, 2016. "Wage and Price Dynamics in China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(8), pages 1109-1127, August.
    4. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Démurger, Sylvie & Li, Shi & Wang, Jianguo, 2020. "Unequal migration and urbanisation gains in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    5. Bosker, Maarten & Brakman, Steven & Garretsen, Harry & Schramm, Marc, 2012. "Relaxing Hukou: Increased labor mobility and China’s economic geography," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 252-266.
    6. Laura Hering & Sandra Poncet, 2007. "Economic Geography, Spatial Dependence and Income Inequality in China," Working Papers 2007-22, CEPII research center.
    7. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Démurger, Sylvie & Li, Shi, 2015. "Migration externalities in Chinese cities," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 152-167.
    8. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Sylvie Démurger & Shi Li, 2015. "Migration Externalities in China," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/l4oaogsnr9r, Sciences Po.
    9. Fally, Thibault & Paillacar, Rodrigo & Terra, Cristina, 2010. "Economic geography and wages in Brazil: Evidence from micro-data," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 155-168, January.
    10. Fabien Candau & Elisa Dienesch, 2013. "Does Globalization explain Urbanization in the World and in Asia?," Working papers of CATT hal-01847940, HAL.
    11. Clement Imbert & Marlon Seror & Yifan Zhang & Yanos Zylberberg, 2022. "Migrants and Firms: Evidence from China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(6), pages 1885-1914, June.
    12. Carsten A Holz & Aaron Mehrotra, 2013. "Wage and price dynamics in a large emerging economy: The case of China," BIS Working Papers 409, Bank for International Settlements.
    13. Henrique Schneider, 2013. "An Austrian view on the middle income trap," Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 169-178, August.
    14. Hering, Laura & Poncet, Sandra, 2009. "The impact of economic geography on wages: Disentangling the channels of influence," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 1-14, March.
    15. Deng, Ziliang & Guo, Honglin & Zhang, Weifu & Wang, Chengqi, 2014. "Innovation and survival of exporters: A contingency perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 396-406.
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    18. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/l4oaogsnr9rvqfme8pagm9sb6 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Carsten A Holz & Aaron Mehrotra, 2013. "Wage and price dynamics in a large emerging economy: The case of China," BIS Working Papers 409, Bank for International Settlements.
    20. Hayakawa, Kazunobu, 2016. "Domestic and international border effects," IDE Discussion Papers 565, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    21. Laura Hering & Sandra Poncet, 2010. "Income Per Capita Inequality in China: The Role of Economic Geography and Spatial Interactions," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 655-679, May.
    22. Hayakawa, Kazunobu, 2017. "Domestic and international border effects: The cases of China and Japan," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 118-126.
    23. Joachim Jarreau & Sandra Poncet, 2009. "Export Sophistication and Economic Performance: Evidence from Chinese Provinces," Working Papers 2009-34, CEPII research center.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wages; immigration; economic geography;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • R11 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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