Identifier

etd-06162016-160705

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Economics

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation comprises of three essays that contribute to the literature on regional economic growth in China. In Chapter 2, I examine the impact of manufacturing growth on employment in the non-tradable sector for prefecture-level cities in China. I find that adding ten manufacturing jobs creates 3.4 additional jobs in the non-tradable sector during 2000-2010. The multiplier is greater for high-technology manufacturing industries, is the largest for wholesale, retail and catering, and is greater in inland regions. In Chapter 3, I explore the role of industry and services in growth. I found that increase in industry output share will lead to subsequent economic growth, but the impact of services on growth in not clear. My findings remain robust when applying alternative measure of economic growth or industrialization, and robust after accounting for spatial spillovers. Chapter 4 models the temporary rural-urban migration in China using a continuous OLG model with heterogeneous agents. An agent determines his migration duration optimally based on his ability, urban/rural wage gap, and urban/rural services price differential. The model features the role of urban/rural services price differential that generates return migration. When the service price differential increases, people tend to increase their saving during migration and reduce their migration duration.

Date

2016

Document Availability at the Time of Submission

Release the entire work immediately for access worldwide.

Committee Chair

Chanda, Areendam

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.1103

Included in

Economics Commons

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