Publications
Cascading Trade Protection: Evidence from the US (with Aksel Erbahar)
Journal of International Economics, 2017, vol. 108, pp. 274-299
Media Coverage: Vox, Washington Post
Trade Costs, Global Value Chains and Economic Development
Forthcoming, Journal of Economic Geography
Chapter in Books
Trade Liberalization and the Hukou System of the People’s Republic of China: How Migration Frictions Can Amplify the Unequal Gains from Trade
in (ed) Marc Bacchetta and Matthias Helble
Trade Adjustment in Asia: Past Experiences and Lessons Learned, ADBI-WTO joint publication, 2019 (Scheduled)
Working Papers
Trade Liberalization and the Great Labor Reallocation
Under review
Awarded the RoWE Prize for young economists at the 18th European Trade Study Group (ETSG) Annual Conference.
The extent to which a country can benefit from trade openness crucially depends on how easily it can reallocate resources. However, we know little about the role of domestic frictions in shaping the effects of trade policy. I address this question by analyzing the impact of tariff reductions on the spatial allocation of labor in China and how this impact depends on migration frictions that stem from China's household registration system (hukou). I first provide reduced-form evidence that input trade liberalization has induced significant spatial labor reallocation in China, with a stronger effect in regions with less hukou frictions. This finding is robust to various checks, including exploiting government intervention in migration after the Great Chinese Famine as an instrument for hukou frictions. Then, I construct and estimate a quantitative spatial model with input-output linkages and hukou frictions to examine the general equilibrium effects of tariff reductions and perform counterfactuals. The quantitative exercise shows that trade liberalization increases China's welfare by 0.71%. Abolishing the hukou system leads to a direct welfare improvement of 1.33%, but it also leads to welfare losses for hukou holders from certain regions. Additionally, it increases gains from tariff reductions by 2% and alleviates the latter's negative distributional consequences. I also develop a novel measure of migration frictions associated with the hukou system.
Work in Progress
Left-Behind Children: The Unintended Consequences of Trade Reforms.
Made in China; Created in China: Super Processors and Two-way Heterogeneity. (with Aksel Erbahar and Zhiyuan Chen)
Trade from space. (with Andreas Moxnes, Inga Heiland and Karen Helene Ulltveit-Moe)
Cascading Trade Protection: Evidence from the US (with Aksel Erbahar)
Journal of International Economics, 2017, vol. 108, pp. 274-299
Media Coverage: Vox, Washington Post
Trade Costs, Global Value Chains and Economic Development
Forthcoming, Journal of Economic Geography
Chapter in Books
Trade Liberalization and the Hukou System of the People’s Republic of China: How Migration Frictions Can Amplify the Unequal Gains from Trade
in (ed) Marc Bacchetta and Matthias Helble
Trade Adjustment in Asia: Past Experiences and Lessons Learned, ADBI-WTO joint publication, 2019 (Scheduled)
Working Papers
Trade Liberalization and the Great Labor Reallocation
Under review
Awarded the RoWE Prize for young economists at the 18th European Trade Study Group (ETSG) Annual Conference.
The extent to which a country can benefit from trade openness crucially depends on how easily it can reallocate resources. However, we know little about the role of domestic frictions in shaping the effects of trade policy. I address this question by analyzing the impact of tariff reductions on the spatial allocation of labor in China and how this impact depends on migration frictions that stem from China's household registration system (hukou). I first provide reduced-form evidence that input trade liberalization has induced significant spatial labor reallocation in China, with a stronger effect in regions with less hukou frictions. This finding is robust to various checks, including exploiting government intervention in migration after the Great Chinese Famine as an instrument for hukou frictions. Then, I construct and estimate a quantitative spatial model with input-output linkages and hukou frictions to examine the general equilibrium effects of tariff reductions and perform counterfactuals. The quantitative exercise shows that trade liberalization increases China's welfare by 0.71%. Abolishing the hukou system leads to a direct welfare improvement of 1.33%, but it also leads to welfare losses for hukou holders from certain regions. Additionally, it increases gains from tariff reductions by 2% and alleviates the latter's negative distributional consequences. I also develop a novel measure of migration frictions associated with the hukou system.
Work in Progress
Left-Behind Children: The Unintended Consequences of Trade Reforms.
Made in China; Created in China: Super Processors and Two-way Heterogeneity. (with Aksel Erbahar and Zhiyuan Chen)
Trade from space. (with Andreas Moxnes, Inga Heiland and Karen Helene Ulltveit-Moe)