IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ectrin/v30y2022i2p337-355.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does international travel cause economic growth? Evidence from China's removal of travel restrictions on foreigners

Author

Listed:
  • Chang Liu
  • Li‐An Zhou

Abstract

International travel has been hypothesized to shape large cross‐country differences in productivity and income. However, evidence supporting this hypothesis, especially from developing countries, remains scarce. This paper fills this gap by studying a novel historical natural experiment—China's removal of travel restrictions on foreigners to designated Open‐to‐Foreigners‐Counties (OFCs). Utilizing the county‐by‐county rollout of the OFCs, we find that removing travel restrictions on foreigners led to a 7.4% increase in per capita industrial output for the OFCs in 1985–1991. The positive effects are larger in counties with more foreign equipment and greater industrial human capital. We highlight the role of person‐based international knowledge diffusion in the economic catch‐up of technology recipient countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Chang Liu & Li‐An Zhou, 2022. "Does international travel cause economic growth? Evidence from China's removal of travel restrictions on foreigners," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 337-355, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ectrin:v:30:y:2022:i:2:p:337-355
    DOI: 10.1111/ecot.12294
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/ecot.12294
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/ecot.12294?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Simon Alder & Lin Shao & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2016. "Economic reforms and industrial policy in a panel of Chinese cities," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 305-349, December.
    2. Kevin Honglin Zhang, 2001. "How does foreign direct investment affect economic growth in China?," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 9(3), pages 679-693, November.
    3. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    4. Mariacristina Piva & Massimiliano Tani & Marco Vivarelli, 2018. "Business visits, knowledge diffusion and productivity," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(4), pages 1321-1338, October.
    5. Bahar, Dany, 2020. "The hardships of long distance relationships: time zone proximity and the location of MNC's knowledge-intensive activities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    6. Branstetter, Lee, 2006. "Is foreign direct investment a channel of knowledge spillovers? Evidence from Japan's FDI in the United States," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 325-344, March.
    7. Filipe Campante & David Yanagizawa-Drott, 2018. "Long-Range Growth: Economic Development in the Global Network of Air Links," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(3), pages 1395-1458.
    8. Chenggang Xu, 2011. "The Fundamental Institutions of China's Reforms and Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(4), pages 1076-1151, December.
    9. Ito, Takatoshi & Krueger, Anne O. (ed.), 1995. "Growth Theories in Light of the East Asian Experience," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226386706, October.
    10. Wolfgang Keller, 2004. "International Technology Diffusion," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 42(3), pages 752-782, September.
    11. Wang, Jin, 2013. "The economic impact of Special Economic Zones: Evidence from Chinese municipalities," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 133-147.
    12. Takatoshi Ito & Anne O. Krueger, 1995. "Growth Theories in Light of the East Asian Experience," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number ito_95-2, January.
    13. Nune Hovhannisyan & Wolfgang Keller, 2015. "International business travel: an engine of innovation?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 75-104, March.
    14. Bottazzi, Laura & Peri, Giovanni, 2003. "Innovation and spillovers in regions: Evidence from European patent data," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 687-710, August.
    15. Borensztein, Eduardo & Ostry, Jonathan D, 1996. "Accounting for China's Growth Performance," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(2), pages 224-228, May.
    16. Tain-jy Chen & Yi-Ping Chen, 1995. "Foreign Direct Investment," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 57-68.
    17. Thomas Andersen & Carl-Johan Dalgaard, 2011. "Flows of people, flows of ideas, and the inequality of nations," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 1-32, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Bahar, Dany & Hausmann, Ricardo & Hidalgo, Cesar A., 2014. "Neighbors and the evolution of the comparative advantage of nations: Evidence of international knowledge diffusion?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 111-123.
    2. Wu, Yiyun & Zhu, Xiwei & Groenewold, Nicolaas, 2019. "The determinants and effectiveness of industrial policy in china: A study based on Five-Year Plans," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 225-242.
    3. Dany Bahar & Hillel Rapoport, 2018. "Migration, Knowledge Diffusion and the Comparative Advantage of Nations," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(612), pages 273-305, July.
    4. Gehringer, Agnieszka, 2016. "Knowledge externalities and sectoral interdependences: Evidence from an open economy perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 240-249.
    5. Lindner, Ines & Strulik, Holger, 2014. "From tradition to modernity: Economic growth in a small world," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 17-29.
    6. Simon Alder & Lin Shao & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2016. "Economic reforms and industrial policy in a panel of Chinese cities," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 305-349, December.
    7. Keller, Wolfgang, 2010. "International Trade, Foreign Direct Investment, and Technology Spillovers," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 793-829, Elsevier.
    8. Holger Strulik, 2014. "Knowledge And Growth In The Very Long Run," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55(2), pages 459-482, May.
    9. Roberta Piermartini & Stela Rubínová, 2021. "How much do global value chains boost innovation?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 54(2), pages 892-922, May.
    10. Ines Lindner & Holger Strulik, 2020. "Innovation And Inequality In A Small World," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 61(2), pages 683-719, May.
    11. Jia, Junxue & Ma, Guangrong & Qin, Cong & Wang, Liyan, 2020. "Place-based policies, state-led industrialisation, and regional development: Evidence from China's Great Western Development Programme," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    12. Ouyang, Puman & Fu, Shihe, 2012. "Economic growth, local industrial development and inter-regional spillovers from foreign direct investment: Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 445-460.
    13. Piermartini, Roberta & Rubínová, Stela, 2014. "Knowledge spillovers through international supply chains," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2014-11, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    14. Maria Luisa Petit & Francesca Sanna-Randaccio & Roberta Sestini, 2012. "R&D and foreign direct investment with asymmetric spillovers," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(2), pages 125-150, October.
    15. repec:wyi:journl:002154 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Arif, Imran, 2019. "How Tall Are the Paper Walls? Barriers to International Mobility and Technology Diusion," Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Mid-Continent Regional Science Association, vol. 49(2), October.
    17. Mbaye, Linguère Mously & Tani, Massimiliano, 2019. "Migration, Innovation, and Growth: An African Story?," IZA Discussion Papers 12533, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Deltas, George & Karkalakos, Sotiris, 2013. "Similarity of R&D activities, physical proximity, and R&D spillovers," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 124-131.
    19. Uwe Cantner & Martin Kalthaus & Matthias Menter & Pierre Mohnen, 2023. "Global knowledge flows: characteristics, determinants, and impacts," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 32(5), pages 1063-1076.
    20. Gao, Ting, 2004. "Regional industrial growth: evidence from Chinese industries," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 101-124, January.
    21. Dietmar Harhoff & Elisabeth Mueller & John Van Reenen, 2014. "What are the Channels for Technology Sourcing? Panel Data Evidence from German Companies," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 204-224, March.

    More about this item

    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:wly:ectrin:v:30:y:2022:i:2:p:337-355. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)2577-6983 .

    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.