This paper investigates how government size affects tax evasion in China. Using matched county-firm data for 1998-2005, we estimate the impact of county government size on the relationship between a firm's reported profit and imputed profit based on the national income accounts. A larger government is found to be correlated with more severe tax evasion, especially for state-owned and collectively-owned firms. Such an effect is stronger when local governance become worse. This paper shows that a large government does not bring about a strong state capacity to enforce tax rules at the local level in China.

产业结构调整是后发国家加快经济发展的本质要求,而中国地方政府调整产业结构最重要的一项政策就是设立各类经济开发区。现有研究主要考察了开发区对吸引外资、提升生产率、提高地区增加值的效果,缺乏产业结构调整方面的。利用工业企业数据库和城市统计数据,本文发现,设立经济开发区可以有效地推动城市制造业内部的产业结构变动,尤其是开发区所设置的目标行业的各项经济指标有显著提升。进一步的研究表明,当设置的目标行业符合当地的比较优势时,经济开发区的积极作用尤为明显。本文为设立经济开发区提供了理论依据,并为如何选择目标行业提供了一般性原则。

人力资本投资是增强社会流动性的重要手段,然而借贷约束使得底层家庭无力对子女进行最优的人力资本投资;与此同时,富裕家庭则不受借贷约束的影响,总体结果是社会流动性减弱。利用中国健康与养老追踪调查和全国综合社会调查数据,本文发现,借贷约束确实提高了居民收入和教育的代际传递弹性,降低了社会流动性。在匹配政府公共教育支出数据后发现,公共教育支出可以缓解家庭层面人力资本投资的不足,提高教育水平的代际流动性。

The support for the elderly is facing big challenges with the problem of population aging. Transfers from adult children could partly insure elderly parents against low income and high medical expenditure. There are two main motives for transfers in the literature, namely altruism and exchange. By using data from a new household survey of people aged 45 years and above in China, we estimate the transfer derivatives with the adjustment of medical expenditure in elderly parents' income. We find a large negative impact of adjusted income on transfers at the lower end of income distribution, which is consistent with the altruistic motive. Evidence on the exchange motive is found only for sons, but not for daughters. In addition, there is evidence on the 'exchange-for-service' motive, which interprets transfer as a payment to parents' family services, such as taking care of grandchildren.

社会流动性减弱已成为中国社会的重要问题,具体表现为收入的代际流动性降低、职业的代际传递固化。本文将综合分析社会流动性减弱的原因,除了考察收入和职业的代际传递,还将对教育、政治身份等广义人力资本的代际传递问题进行分析。本文发现,父亲的收入对子女的收入有显著的正向影响,而且这种代际传递趋势在不断加强。造成这种现象的主要原因在于人力资本的代际传递趋势不断加强,具体表现为教育和职业选择的代际传递趋势加强。

Housing price has increased dramatically in China during the past decade. The appreciation of house value could relax credit constraint and thus encourage entrepreneurship. However, a house serves as both an important investment channel and a prerequisite for marriage in China. The continuous high return of investment in housing and intensified marriage market competition make house purchase a priority for young people and their parents, which would crowd out entrepreneurial activities. Using two large datasets, we find that high housing price in general discourages entrepreneurial activities for urban adults. For house owners, while house value appreciation has a positive wealth effect, the ratio of mortgage over income has a negative effect. For non-owners, a higher ratio of housing price over income corresponds to a lower probability of entrepreneurship. This study highlights the negative consequences of surging housing price on entrepreneurship in developing countries.