(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Exporting firms’ factor and product-quality adjustments in response to employment protection legislation: Evidence from China
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/chieco/v73y2022ics1043951x22000591.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exporting firms’ factor and product-quality adjustments in response to employment protection legislation: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Li, Guangzhong
  • Egger, Peter H.
  • Li, Jie
  • Wu, Han

Abstract

Employment-protection legislation (EPL) is known to reduce the unemployment risk of workers and employees and implicitly raises the costs of labor as a factor of production, in particular, the adjustment costs for that factor. Using firm-level accounting data and matched transaction-level trade data, the paper documents that firms responded to the inception of a new labor contract law as accepted by the National People's Congress of China in mid-2007 not only by adjusting their labor demand but also in terms of other adjustments: they raised the capital intensity of production and increased the quality of their output. The paper provides evidence that such changes and adjustments were particularly strong for firms in ex ante labor-intensive sectors and for private firms which were less shielded from adverse competitive effects than state-owned ones.

Suggested Citation

  • Li, Guangzhong & Egger, Peter H. & Li, Jie & Wu, Han, 2022. "Exporting firms’ factor and product-quality adjustments in response to employment protection legislation: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:chieco:v:73:y:2022:i:c:s1043951x22000591
    DOI: 10.1016/j.chieco.2022.101801
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1043951X22000591
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.chieco.2022.101801?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Qiu, Larry D. & Yu, Miaojie, 2020. "Export scope, managerial efficiency, and trade liberalization: Evidence from Chinese firms," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 71-90.
    2. Lars Ljungqvist, 2002. "How Do Lay--off Costs Affect Employment?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(482), pages 829-853, October.
    3. Peter Egger & David Greenaway & Tobias Seidel, 2011. "Rigid labour markets with trade and capital mobility: theory and evidence," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(2), pages 509-540, May.
    4. Matthew Serfling, 2016. "Firing Costs and Capital Structure Decisions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 2239-2286, October.
    5. Samuel Bentolila & Giuseppe Bertola, 1990. "Firing Costs and Labour Demand: How Bad is Eurosclerosis?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 57(3), pages 381-402.
    6. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 1995. "Selection corrections for panel data models under conditional mean independence assumptions," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 115-132, July.
    7. Kramarz, Francis & Martin, Julien & Mejean, Isabelle, 2020. "Volatility in the small and in the large: The lack of diversification in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    8. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2006. "Globalization and the Gains From Variety," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(2), pages 541-585.
    9. Amit Khandelwal, 2010. "The Long and Short (of) Quality Ladders," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 77(4), pages 1450-1476.
    10. Jan De Loecker & Frederic Warzynski, 2012. "Markups and Firm-Level Export Status," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(6), pages 2437-2471, October.
    11. Chen, Yu-Fu & Funke, Michael, 2009. "China's new Labour Contract Law: No harm to employment?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 558-572, September.
    12. Nicholas Bloom & Kalina Manova & John Van Reenen & Stephen Teng Sun & Zhihong Yu, 2018. "Managing Trade: Evidence from China and the US," NBER Working Papers 24718, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Olley, G Steven & Pakes, Ariel, 1996. "The Dynamics of Productivity in the Telecommunications Equipment Industry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1263-1297, November.
    14. Haichao Fan & Yao Amber Li & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2015. "Trade Liberalization, Quality, and Export Prices," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1033-1051, December.
    15. Juan C. Botero & Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2004. "The Regulation of Labor," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(4), pages 1339-1382.
    16. Amit K. Khandelwal & Peter K. Schott & Shang-Jin Wei, 2013. "Trade Liberalization and Embedded Institutional Reform: Evidence from Chinese Exporters," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(6), pages 2169-2195, October.
    17. James J. Heckman & Carmen Pagés, 2004. "Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number heck04-1.
    18. Pietro Garibaldi & Giovanni L. Violante, 2005. "The Employment Effects of Severance Payments with Wage Rigidities," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(506), pages 799-832, October.
    19. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2014. "Challenges of working with the Chinese NBS firm-level data," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 339-352.
    20. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 2004. "Can Labor Regulation Hinder Economic Performance? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 91-134.
    21. David H. Autor & William R. Kerr & Adriana D. Kugler, 2007. "Does Employment Protection Reduce Productivity? Evidence From US States," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(521), pages 189-217, June.
    22. Timothy F. Bresnahan & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lorin M. Hitt, 2002. "Information Technology, Workplace Organization, and the Demand for Skilled Labor: Firm-Level Evidence," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 339-376.
    23. Mayneris, Florian & Poncet, Sandra & Zhang, Tao, 2018. "Improving or disappearing: Firm-level adjustments to minimum wages in China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 20-42.
    24. Volker Nocke & Stephen Yeaple, 2014. "Globalization And Multiproduct Firms," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55(4), pages 993-1018, November.
    25. Li, Jianqiang & Shan, Yaowen & Tian, Gary & Hao, Xiangchao, 2020. "Labor cost, government intervention, and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    26. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1986. "The Costs and Benefits of Ownership: A Theory of Vertical and Lateral Integration," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 691-719, August.
    27. Li, Guangzhong & Li, Jie & Wu, Yangru, 2019. "Exchange rate uncertainty and firm-level investment: Finding the Hartman–Abel effect," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 441-457.
    28. Robert E. Hall, 2000. "E-Capital: The Link between the Stock Market and the Labor Market in the 1990s," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 31(2), pages 73-118.
    29. Robert E. Hall, 2001. "The Stock Market and Capital Accumulation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1185-1202, December.
    30. Caballero, Ricardo J. & Cowan, Kevin N. & Engel, Eduardo M.R.A. & Micco, Alejandro, 2013. "Effective labor regulation and microeconomic flexibility," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 92-104.
    31. James J. Heckman & Carmen Pagés, 2004. "Introduction to "Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin American and the Caribbean"," NBER Chapters, in: Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean, pages 1-108, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    32. Marianne Bertrand & Esther Duflo & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2004. "How Much Should We Trust Differences-In-Differences Estimates?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(1), pages 249-275.
    33. Ackerberg, Daniel & Caves, Kevin & Frazer, Garth, 2006. "Structural identification of production functions," MPRA Paper 38349, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    34. Maria Bas & Vanessa Strauss-Kahn, 2013. "Input-Trade Liberalization, Export Prices and Quality Upgrading," Working Papers hal-03460775, HAL.
    35. Akee, Randall & Zhao, Liqiu & Zhao, Zhong, 2019. "Unintended consequences of China's new labor contract law on unemployment and welfare loss of the workers," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 87-105.
    36. Samuel Bentolila & Juan J. Dolado, 1994. "Labour Flexibility and Wages: Lessons from Spain," Working Papers wp1994_9406, CEMFI.
    37. Zheng Wang & Zhihong Yu, 2012. "Trading Partners, Traded Products and Firm Performances of China’s Exporter-Importers: Does Processing Trade Make a Difference?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(12), pages 1795-1824, December.
    38. Xiaoying Li & Richard B. Freeman, 2015. "How Does China's New Labour Contract Law Affect Floating Workers?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(4), pages 711-735, December.
    39. Fan, Haichao & Lin, Faqin & Tang, Lixin, 2018. "Minimum Wage and Outward FDI from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 1-19.
    40. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1990. "Property Rights and the Nature of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1119-1158, December.
    41. Edward P. Lazear, 1990. "Job Security Provisions and Employment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 105(3), pages 699-726.
    42. Federico Cingano & Marco Leonardi & Julián Messina & Giovanni Pica, 2016. "Employment Protection Legislation, Capital Investment and Access to Credit: Evidence from Italy," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(595), pages 1798-1822, September.
    43. Dou, Yiwei & Khan, Mozaffar & Zou, Youli, 2016. "Labor unemployment insurance and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 166-184.
    44. Baruch Lev & Suresh Radhakrishnan, 2005. "The Valuation of Organization Capital," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Capital in the New Economy, pages 73-110, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    45. James Levinsohn & Amil Petrin, 2003. "Estimating Production Functions Using Inputs to Control for Unobservables," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 70(2), pages 317-341.
    46. Banker, Rajiv D. & Byzalov, Dmitri & Chen, Lei (Tony), 2013. "Employment protection legislation, adjustment costs and cross-country differences in cost behavior," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 111-127.
    47. Cui, Chenyu & John, Kose & Pang, Jiaren & Wu, Haibin, 2018. "Employment protection and corporate cash holdings: Evidence from China's labor contract law," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 182-194.
    48. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2003. "Enjoying the Quiet Life? Corporate Governance and Managerial Preferences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(5), pages 1043-1075, October.
    49. Volker Nocke & Stephen Yeaple, 2014. "Globalization And Multiproduct Firms," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55, pages 993-1018, November.
    50. Haichao Fan & Yao Amber Li & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2015. "Trade Liberalization, Quality, and Export Prices," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(5), pages 1033-1051, December.
    51. Dai, Mi & Maitra, Madhura & Yu, Miaojie, 2016. "Unexceptional exporter performance in China? The role of processing trade," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 177-189.
    52. Heckman, James J. & Pages, Carmen (ed.), 2004. "Law and Employment," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226322827.
    53. Hart, Oliver, 1995. "Firms, Contracts, and Financial Structure," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198288817.
    54. Gao, Qin & Yang, Sui & Li, Shi, 2012. "Labor contracts and social insurance participation among migrant workers in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 1195-1205.
    55. Upward, Richard & Wang, Zheng & Zheng, Jinghai, 2013. "Weighing China’s export basket: The domestic content and technology intensity of Chinese exports," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 527-543.
    56. Bas, Maria & Strauss-Kahn, Vanessa, 2015. "Input-trade liberalization, export prices and quality upgrading," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(2), pages 250-262.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qinglan Wu & Guifu Chen & Jing Han & Liyan Wu, 2022. "Does Corporate ESG Performance Improve Export Intensity? Evidence from Chinese Listed Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-16, October.
    2. Sun, Churen & Wu, Han, 2023. "The impact of export VAT rebate on firm-product markups: Evidence from Chinese industrial enterprises," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    3. Che, Yi & Li, Xuchao & Zhang, Yan & Zhao, Lin, 2024. "Labor protection and firms’ risk-taking behavior: evidence from China’s New Labor Contract Law," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    4. Qiyue Zhang & Zheng Wang & Godwin Okafor, 2022. "Understanding China’s Economic Engagement in Africa: An Exploration of the FDI-Trade Nexus," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-19, November.

    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. Che, Yi & Li, Xuchao & Zhang, Yan & Zhao, Lin, 2024. "Labor protection and firms’ risk-taking behavior: evidence from China’s New Labor Contract Law," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Fan, Haichao & Li, Yao Amber & Yeaple, Stephen R., 2018. "On the relationship between quality and productivity: Evidence from China's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 28-49.
    3. Jiang, Jiaoliang & Chen, Yulin, 2021. "How does labor protection influence corporate risk-taking? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    4. Andrea Caggese & Ozan Guler & Mike Mariathasan & Klaas Mulier, 2022. "Firing Costs and Productivity: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Working Papers 1376, Barcelona School of Economics.
    5. Karpuz, Ahmet & Kim, Kirak & Ozkan, Neslihan, 2020. "Employment protection laws and corporate cash holdings," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    6. Almeida, Rita K. & Poole, Jennifer P., 2017. "Trade and labor reallocation with heterogeneous enforcement of labor regulations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 154-166.
    7. Cecília Hornok & Balázs Muraközy, 2019. "Markups of Exporters and Importers: Evidence from Hungary," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 121(3), pages 1303-1333, July.
    8. Romain Duval & Prakash Loungani, 2021. "Designing Labor Market Institutions in Emerging Market and Developing Economies: A Review of Evidence and IMF Policy Advice," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 63(1), pages 31-83, March.
    9. Tan, Yong & Lin, Faqin & Hu, Cui, 2016. "How continuing exporters set the price? Theory and empirical evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 91-102.
    10. González, Xulia & Miles-Touya, Daniel, 2012. "Labor market rigidities and economic efficiency: Evidence from Spain," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(6), pages 833-845.
    11. Manova, Kalina & Yu, Zhihong, 2017. "Multi-product firms and product quality," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 116-137.
    12. Torres Mazzi, Caio & Foster-McGregor, Neil, 2021. "Imported intermediates, technological capabilities and exports: Evidence from Brazilian firm-level data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    13. Hu, Cui & Parsley, David & Tan, Yong, 2021. "Exchange rate induced export quality upgrading: A firm-level perspective," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 336-348.
    14. Li, Guangzhong & Fujiyama, Keishi & Wu, Cen & Zheng, Ying, 2024. "Employment protection, corporate governance, and labor productivity around the World," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    15. A. Kerem Co?ar & Nezih Guner & James Tybout, 2016. "Firm Dynamics, Job Turnover, and Wage Distributions in an Open Economy," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(3), pages 625-663, March.
    16. Deasy D. Pane & Arianto A. Patunru, 2023. "The role of imported inputs in firms’ productivity and exports: evidence from Indonesia," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 159(3), pages 629-672, August.
    17. Li, Guangzhong & Li, Jie & Zheng, Ying & Egger, Peter H., 2021. "Does property rights protection affect export quality? Evidence from a property law enactment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 811-832.
    18. Kaplan, David S., 2009. "Job creation and labor reform in Latin America," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 91-105, March.
    19. Maria Bas & Caroline Paunov, 2019. "What gains and distributional implications result from trade liberalization," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 19003, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    20. Amil Petrin & Jagadeesh Sivadasan, 2006. "Job Security Does Affect Economic Efficiency: Theory, A New Statistic, and Evidence from Chile," NBER Working Papers 12757, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Product quality; Employment protection legislation; Trade; China;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law

    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:eee:chieco:v:73:y:2022:i:c:s1043951x22000591. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/chieco .

    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.