Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Economics

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

This dissertation includes three essays which contribute to the literature on economic growth, innovation, and international trade in China. Chapter 2 examines the implication of early economic prosperity, measured by the city-level population density in 1776, for modern day China. It shows that uneven economic performance across cities in the modern-day China can be traced to variation in living standards in 1776. Chapter 3 investigates the effects of innovation and human capital on firms’ export decisions over the 2003-2011 period, and it shows that more innovative and skill-intensive firms are more likely to export and stay in the export market. Finally, Chapter 4 investigates the impact of devoting resources to R&D and workers’ training on development of new products. I find that investment in R&D and workers’ training have positive and statistically highly significant effects on the introduction of new goods.

Date

5-15-2019

Committee Chair

Unel, Bulent

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.4929

Included in

Economics Commons

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