IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/regeco/v74y2019icp81-98.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Market size, competition, and firm productivity for manufacturing in China

Author

Listed:
  • Ding, Chengri
  • Niu, Yi

Abstract

This paper investigates the selection effects of market size on firm productivity by using firm-level data on Chinese manufacturing industries for the period 1998–2007. China's provinces are an appropriate proxy for market size due to local (provincial) protectionism, which generates fragmented domestic markets. The estimated results using a quantile approach show significant selection effects for 15 out of 29 sectors. We find that provinces above the median employment density weed out approximately two to eight percent more firms than those below the median density. Further, market size tends to generate greater selection effects in the sectors with stronger local protections, scale economies or product differentiation. We also find that firm selection effects are robust with respect to alternative productivity estimates, grouping criteria, and spatial units, but can be different across types of firms and may suffer from underestimation due to the noise in productivity estimates and the exclusion of small firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Ding, Chengri & Niu, Yi, 2019. "Market size, competition, and firm productivity for manufacturing in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 81-98.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:regeco:v:74:y:2019:i:c:p:81-98
    DOI: 10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2018.11.007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166046218300516
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.regsciurbeco.2018.11.007?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. Pierre‐Philippe Combes & Gilles Duranton & Laurent Gobillon & Diego Puga & Sébastien Roux, 2012. "The Productivity Advantages of Large Cities: Distinguishing Agglomeration From Firm Selection," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 80(6), pages 2543-2594, November.
    2. Panle Jia Barwick & Shengmao Cao & Shanjun Li, 2021. "Local Protectionism, Market Structure, and Social Welfare: China's Automobile Market," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 112-151, November.
    3. Broda, Christian & Greenfield, Joshua & Weinstein, David E., 2017. "From groundnuts to globalization: A structural estimate of trade and growth," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 759-783.
    4. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Gobillon, Laurent, 2015. "The Empirics of Agglomeration Economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 247-348, Elsevier.
    5. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6n1ke9ea1o83aqc0oducs7vd1q is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Marc J. Melitz & Giancarlo I. P. Ottaviano, 2021. "Market Size, Trade, and Productivity," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Firms and Workers in a Globalized World Larger Markets, Tougher Competition, chapter 4, pages 87-108, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    7. Behrens, Kristian & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2015. "Agglomeration Theory with Heterogeneous Agents," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 171-245, Elsevier.
    8. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2004. "Micro-foundations of urban agglomeration economies," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 48, pages 2063-2117, Elsevier.
    9. Eberhardt, Markus & Wang, Zheng & Yu, Zhihong, 2016. "From one to many central plans: Drug advertising inspections and intra-national protectionism in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(3), pages 608-622.
    10. Weiss, Leonard W, 1972. "The Geographic Size of Markets in Manufacturing," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 54(3), pages 245-257, August.
    11. Poncet, Sandra, 2003. "Measuring Chinese domestic and international integration," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 1-21.
    12. Chad Syverson, 2004. "Market Structure and Productivity: A Concrete Example," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(6), pages 1181-1222, December.
    13. Antonio Accetturo & Valter Di Giacinto & Giacinto Micucci & Marcello Pagnini, 2018. "Geography, productivity, and trade: Does selection explain why some locations are more productive than others?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(5), pages 949-979, November.
    14. Jeffrey R. Campbell & Hugo A. Hopenhayn, 2005. "Market Size Matters," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 1-25, March.
    15. Steven C. Salop, 1979. "Monopolistic Competition with Outside Goods," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 141-156, Spring.
    16. Sandra Poncet, 2004. "A Fragmented China," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-103/2, Tinbergen Institute.
    17. Brandt, Loren & Van Biesebroeck, Johannes & Zhang, Yifan, 2012. "Creative accounting or creative destruction? Firm-level productivity growth in Chinese manufacturing," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(2), pages 339-351.
    18. Ding, Chengri & Niu, Yi & Lichtenberg, Erik, 2014. "Spending preferences of local officials with off-budget land revenues of Chinese cities," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 265-276.
    19. Bai, Chong-En & Du, Yingjuan & Tao, Zhigang & Tong, Sarah Y., 2004. "Local protectionism and regional specialization: evidence from China's industries," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 397-417, July.
    20. 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.
    21. Harrigan, James, 1994. "Scale Economies and the Volume of Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(2), pages 321-328, May.
    22. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/6n1ke9ea1o83aqc0oducs7vd1q is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Loren Brandt & Johannes Van Biesebroeck & Luhang Wang & Yifan Zhang, 2017. "WTO Accession and Performance of Chinese Manufacturing Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(9), pages 2784-2820, September.
    24. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Sylvie Démurger & Shi Li, 2015. "Migration Externalities in China," Post-Print halshs-01137798, HAL.
    25. Arimoto, Yutaka & Nakajima, Kentaro & Okazaki, Tetsuji, 2014. "Sources of productivity improvement in industrial clusters: The case of the prewar Japanese silk-reeling industry," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 27-41.
    26. repec:hal:pseose:hal-00812695 is not listed on IDEAS
    27. Marc J. Melitz & Gianmarco I. P. Ottaviano, 2008. "Market Size, Trade, and Productivity (DOI:10.111/j.1467-937x.2007.00463.x)," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(3), pages 985-985.
    28. Daniel A. Ackerberg & Kevin Caves & Garth Frazer, 2015. "Identification Properties of Recent Production Function Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 83, pages 2411-2451, November.
    29. Alwyn Young, 2000. "The Razor's Edge: Distortions and Incremental Reform in the People's Republic of China," NBER Working Papers 7828, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Démurger, Sylvie & Li, Shi, 2015. "Migration externalities in Chinese cities," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 152-167.
    31. 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.
    32. 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.
    33. Pierre-Philippe Combes & Sylvie Démurger & Shi Li, 2015. "Migration externalities in Chinese cities," Post-Print halshs-01089710, HAL.
    34. Alwyn Young, 2000. "The Razor's Edge: Distortions and Incremental Reform in the People's Republic of China," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1091-1135.
    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. Luigi Buzzacchi & Antonio De Marco & Marcello Pagnini, 2024. "Agglomeration and the Italian North–South divide," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(5), pages 707-728.
    2. Krzysztof BORODAKO & Jadwiga BERBEKA & Michał RUDNICKI & Mariusz ŠAPCZYŃSKI, 2021. "Online Visibility and Knowledge-Intensive Business Services Performance: The Scope of Interrelatedness," Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies, vol. 1(1), pages 157-173, August.
    3. Egger, Peter H. & Li, Jie & Wu, Han, 2024. "Decomposing China’s bilateral export growth: A firm-regional-transactions structural gravity approach," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    4. Zhaohui Niu & Saileshsingh Gunessee & Chris Milner, 2022. "Import competition and quality upgrading revisited: the role of overall protection," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 1219-1246, September.
    5. Wenyi Qiao & Xianjin Huang, 2021. "Change in Urban Land Use Efficiency in China: Does the High-Speed Rail Make a Difference?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Anping Chen & Tianshi Dai & Mark D. Partridge, 2021. "Agglomeration and firm wage inequality: Evidence from China," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 352-386, March.
    7. Xu, Fei & Li, Qiangyi & Yang, Mian, 2022. "The impacts of high-speed rail on the transformation of resource-based cities in China: A market segmentation perspective," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Henderson, J. Vernon & Thisse, Jacques-François, 2024. "Urban and spatial economics after 50 years," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 125675, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Xinjun Lyu & Jinlan Ni & Jia Yuan, 2022. "Market segmentation and firm survival," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(3), pages 1243-1266, September.
    10. Daguo Lv & Lingyu Zhang & Ren Lu & Jingtao Yao, 2022. "Industry characteristics and agglomeration of heterogeneous firms," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(1), pages 31-49, March.
    11. Shiying Hou & Liangrong Song, 2021. "Market Integration and Regional Green Total Factor Productivity: Evidence from China’s Province-Level Data," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-19, January.
    12. Sung, Bongsuk & Soh, Jin Young & Park, Chun Gun, 2022. "Comparing government support, firm heterogeneity, and inter-firm spillovers for productivity enhancement: Evidence from the Korean solar energy technology industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    13. Lin, Boqiang & Zhang, Aoxiang, 2023. "Government subsidies, market competition and the TFP of new energy enterprises," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    14. Chun‐Yu Ho & Yue Sheng, 2022. "Productivity advantage of large cities for creative industries," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(6), pages 1289-1306, December.
    15. Dongmei Guo & Die Hu & Weizeng Sun, 2023. "Effect of goods market segmentation on labor mobility: Evidence from China," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 423-449, February.
    16. Xu, Fei & Liu, Qian & Zheng, Xingdong & Cao, Luqi & Yang, Mian, 2022. "Research on the impact of China's high-speed rail opening on enterprise market power: Based on the perspective of market segmentation," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 121-137.

    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. Anthony Howell & Chong Liu & Rudai Yang, 2020. "Explaining the urban premium in Chinese cities and the role of place-based policies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(7), pages 1332-1356, October.
    2. Luigi Buzzacchi & Antonio De Marco & Marcello Pagnini, 2024. "Agglomeration and the Italian North–South divide," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(5), pages 707-728.
    3. Chun‐Yu Ho & Yue Sheng, 2022. "Productivity advantage of large cities for creative industries," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(6), pages 1289-1306, December.
    4. Daguo Lv & Lingyu Zhang & Ren Lu & Jingtao Yao, 2022. "Industry characteristics and agglomeration of heterogeneous firms," Economia e Politica Industriale: Journal of Industrial and Business Economics, Springer;Associazione Amici di Economia e Politica Industriale, vol. 49(1), pages 31-49, March.
    5. KONDO Keisuke, 2016. "Testing for Agglomeration Economies and Firm Selection in Spatial Productivity Differences: The case of Japan," Discussion papers 16098, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    6. Anping Chen & Tianshi Dai & Mark D. Partridge, 2021. "Agglomeration and firm wage inequality: Evidence from China," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(2), pages 352-386, March.
    7. Pham, Hoang, 2023. "Trade reform, oligopsony, and labor market distortion: Theory and evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    8. Bo Gao & Mich Tvede, 2022. "The impact of trade with pure exporters," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 83-112, February.
    9. Wu, Mingqin & Yu, Linhui & Zhang, Junsen, 2023. "Road expansion, allocative efficiency, and pro-competitive effect of transport infrastructure: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    10. Yang, Yang & Mukhopadhaya, Pundarik & Yu, Zhuangxiong, 2020. "Relationship between city size and firm productivity – A new interpretation using the Chinese experience," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 546-558.
    11. Ito, Banri & Xu, Zhaoyuan & Yashiro, Naomitsu, 2015. "Does agglomeration promote internationalization of Chinese firms?," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 109-121.
    12. Hsu, Wen-Tai & Lu, Yi & Luo, Xuan & Zhu, Lianming, 2023. "Foreign direct investment and industrial agglomeration: Evidence from China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 610-639.
    13. Stef Proost & Jacques-François Thisse, 2019. "What Can Be Learned from Spatial Economics?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 57(3), pages 575-643, September.
    14. ADACHI Yusuke & OGAWA Hikaru & TSUBUKU Masafumi, 2019. "Productivity Dynamics during Major Crises in Japan: A Quantile Approach," Discussion papers 19015, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    15. Behrens, Kristian & Robert-Nicoud, Frédéric, 2015. "Agglomeration Theory with Heterogeneous Agents," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 171-245, Elsevier.
    16. Dai, Xiaoyong & Sun, Zao & Liu, Hang, 2018. "Disentangling the effects of endogenous export and innovation on the performance of Chinese manufacturing firms," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 42-58.
    17. Yusuke Adachi & Hikaru Ogawa & Masafumi Tsubuku, 2022. "Measuring productivity dynamics in Japan: a quantile approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(1), pages 201-242, July.
    18. Mohamed Amara, 2023. "Agglomeration and firm performance in times of economic turmoil: Evidence from Tunisian firm‐level data," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 446-481, June.
    19. Rudai Yang & Canfei He, 2014. "The productivity puzzle of Chinese exporters: Perspectives of local protection and spillover effects," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 93(2), pages 367-384, June.
    20. Singh, Rahul & Chanda, Rupa, 2021. "Technical regulations, intermediate inputs, and performance of firms: Evidence from India," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm selection; Market size; Market fragmentation; Productivity; Manufacturing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
    • R1 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics

    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:regeco:v:74:y:2019:i:c:p:81-98. 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/regec .

    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.