Working Paper 126 - China’s Trade and FDI in Africa

China’s growth and its capacity to move in thirty years from under-development and extreme poverty to an emerging global power and one of the largest exporter of manufactured goods has attracted the attention of many developing countries. China has served as a development model for Africa and an alternative source of trade and finance from Africa’s traditional development partners. The impact of China on African economies has been diverse, depending in part on the sectoral composition of each country’s production. Overall, China’s increased engagement with Africa could generate important gains for African economies. This paper analyzes the different impacts of China on Africa, quantifies the advantages and disadvantages, and policy suggestions necessary to maximize the development impact of China. One overriding consideration is that reaping the full benefits from Chinese trade and investment will require substantial improvements in governance in African economies.

Vulnerability and public service delivery in China from 1985 to 1999

This research focused on the determinants of vulnerability, as measured by the variable of expenditure on food consumption, by the quality of public service delivery as measured by three education variables (amount of students per teacher in primary education, amount of students per teacher in secondary education and amount of students per teacher in higher education) and two health variables (amount of doctors per bed and the amount of beds per hospital). To measure the impact of public service delivery on vulnerability we will use OLS regression, Fixed Effect, Two Stage Least Square (TSLS) and TSLS with Fixed Effect. The instrumental of the TSLS regressions are a group of political decentralization and inequality variables. Lags of respective one and two years are introduced as an additional robustness test. The conclusion is threefold: (i) the quality of primary education has a negative impact on vulnerability, probably due to the selection bias of children from poor families being taken out of school; (ii) the quality of the education service in higher education has a positive impact on vulnerability; and (iii) quality of health care has, at most, only a partial positive effect on reducing vulnerability.

FDI convergence and Spatial Dependence between Chinese Provinces

This study aims at investigating the spatial dimension of the FDI. Considering the distribution of FDI between the provinces, our purpose is the spatial dependency that may be observed. Using data for 1992-2002, we find that taking into account the regional specification induces significant FDI convergence process between Chinese provinces. We also find that correcting for the bias resulting from spatial autocorrelation in errors terms leads to higher estimates of the beta convergence coefficients. One can deduce that this is somewhat important for Chinese authorities to promote an attractivity policy based on regional complementarities rather than on FDI quantityFDI, China, spatial autocorrelation, Provinces

Inégalités et soutenabilité de la croissance chinoise

Le remarquable taux de croissance de l’économie chinoise lui a permis d’être sans doute l’un des rares pays en voie de développement à se situer dans une logique de rattrapage par rapport aux pays développés. Elle a ainsi pu faire fortement diminuer la grande pauvreté et les réformes économiques ont permis un accroissement général des revenus. Mais si cette vision positive correspond bien à une réalité de l’efficacité de la politique économique chinoise, elle s’accompagne de plus en plus d’inquiétudes si l’on s’intéresse à l’aspect équité. Le nombre croissant de manifestations de mécontentement atteste des déséquilibres sociaux importants et conduit à s’interroger sur les contraintes que cela impose à la croissance chinoise. Quelle est l’origine de ces inégalités et quelles en sont les principales conséquences ?chine, inegalites, réformes

Inégalités et soutenabilité de la croissance chinoise

Le remarquable taux de croissance de l'économie chinoise lui a permis d'être sans doute l'un des rares pays en voie de développement à se situer dans une logique de rattrapage par rapport aux pays développés. Elle a ainsi pu faire fortement diminuer la grande pauvreté et les réformes économiques ont permis un accroissement général des revenus. Mais si cette vision positive correspond bien à une réalité de l'efficacité de la politique économique chinoise, elle s'accompagne de plus en plus d'inquiétudes si l'on s'intéresse à l'aspect équité. Le nombre croissant de manifestations de mécontentement atteste des déséquilibres sociaux importants et conduit à s'interroger sur les contraintes que cela impose à la croissance chinoise. Quelle est l'origine de ces inégalités et quelles en sont les principales conséquences ?chine;inegalites;réformes

International Integration of Chinese Regions and industrial location

This paper has two main objectives : first, to evaluate and to analyse the spatial concentration of industry in China; second, to estimate a link between the openness of China and this concentration. We are interested in the evolution of industrial location to study the regional specialisations. To explain increasing disparities we perform an econometric investigation, derived from the economic geography models, to test the impact of foreign trade on industrial location between the Chinese regions.China, regions, localisation, geographic economics

La montée en puissance de la Chine dans le commerce mondial : une réussite spectaculaire pour une economie fragile

Since the 80s, China became one of the main actors of international trade, after an autarky of thirty years. This is due to an economic policy providing incentives both for national and foreign firms. China is still specialised in labour intensive products, but is also trying to upgrade the quality of the products. Foreign trade depends heavily on foreign firms. The country is highly integrated in the Asian production networks, which sustains its competitiveness. But, this success will rely on the capability of the government to continue the most difficult part of the reforms, to coordinate different interests while keeping a high growth rate.

Migration, urban population growth and regional disparity in China

The main objective of this paper is to study the determinants of city population growth in China during the 1990s’, as well as the determinants of migrations towards cities, which constitutes the main source of urban population growth in this period. A second objective is to identify regional differences in the urban growth and migrations, that is, whether urban growth and migration patterns are different between coastal and inland provinces. Additionally, we are interested in the differences between temporary and permanent migrations towards urban areas.

Are workers close to cities paid higher non-agricultural wages in rural China?

In the present study, we investigate whether workers close to cities are paid higher non-agricultural wages than workers in outlying rural areas. We find that workers close to urban areas not only benefit from more opportunities to engage in non-agricultural activities, but also from better paid jobs. In addition, distance exhibits a strongly nonlinear impact. Distance always has a negative impact on wages but the effect is more detrimental, the closer the village is to the urban center. We also find evidence of urban hierarchy effects: workers living close to bigger cities are paid higher wages. Finally, we provide evidence on the transmission channels at work.Remoteness, regional labor market, China Codes, wages

Migration, urban population growth and regional disparity in China

The main objective of this paper is to study the determinants of city population growth in China during the 1990s', as well as the determinants of migrations towards cities, which constitutes the main source of urban population growth in this period. A second objective is to identify regional differences in the urban growth and migrations, that is, whether urban growth and migration patterns are different between coastal and inland provinces. Additionally, we are interested in the differences between temporary and permanent migrations towards urban areas.cerdi