Table of Content

16 February 2025, Volume 45 Issue 2

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“Water Can Carry a Boat and Heal It”：The Impact of the Introduction of Digital Technology on Public Supervision

SUN Shengmin1, HUANG Xukai2, CHEN Jiawei3

2025, 45(2):  1-16. 

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Public supervision is essential for regulating grassroots officials power and is a key aspect of grassroots governance Its effectiveness hinges on the public's access to information about officials responsibilities and powers，which helps judge their compliance Greater public understanding enables accurate comparison of officials actions with their prescribed duties，facilitating timely complaints when discrepancies arise However，in underdeveloped areas，limited access to information hampers understanding of officials responsibilities，weakening supervision Digital technology，with its robust information dissemination capabilities，can expand public access to such information，thereby enhancing public supervision
This paper examines the impact of digital technology on public supervision by analyzing data on public complaints about officials violating the Partys eightpoint frugality code Using the Smart Broadcasting and Television Project in H County as a quasinatural experiment and a differenceindifferences approach，it finds that digital technology significantly increases public complaints，enhancing supervision of grassroots officials Robustness tests，including parallel trend checks and instrumental variable strategy，confirm the results，while ruling out alternative explanations like the pandemic or shifts in anticorruption efforts The study also reveals that digital technologys effect is stronger in areas with limited information access，and new complaints primarily target officials inaction or misconduct This suggests digital technology expands public access to information，provides clear evaluation criteria，and strengthens public supervision 
This paper enhances understanding of digital technologys role in grassroots governance and highlights its synergy with public supervision，offering new insights for governance innovation It provides three policy recommendations: （1）strengthen digital infrastructure to expand public access to information；（2）enhance government transparency and clarify officials responsibilities；（3）integrate emerging digital technologies with the mass line to accelerate governance modernization Overall，it argues that combining digital empowerment with the mass line is a viable path to achieving national governance modernization in Chinas development process





Customer Environmental Regulations，Supply Chain Spillover and Green Low-carbon Technology Innovation

QIAN Xianhang, ZHANG Xinran, QIU Shanyun

2025, 45(2):  17-36. 

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To establish a low-carbon industrial system，promote firms green transformation，advocate green low-carbon consumption and control greenhouse gas emissions，the National Development and Reform Commission launched lowcarbon city pilot policy in 2010 and further expanded the scope of the pilot in 2012 and 2017 Firms not only explicitly integrate green development strategies into their core business，but also set higher green and environmental standards for the upstream firms，driving the transition of supply chains towards more sustainable development To explore whether the downstream demand for lowcarbon and environmental protection can be transmitted along the supply chain to the upstream firms after environmental regulation，which in turn affects the green lowcarbon technology innovation of upstream firms，this paper utilizes the sample of the listed firms major customers and green lowcarbon technology to empirically examine supply chain spillovers of environmental regulations basad on the lowcarbon city pilot policy The results are as follows：
The green low-carbon technology innovation of firms will be significantly improved after the city where the major customers are located is affected by the policy Regarding the economic degree，the affected firms green lowcarbon technology patents will increase by 0225，which accounts for 27506% of the sample average green lowcarbon technology patents The mechanism analysis shows that customer environmental regulation promotes firms green lowcarbon technology innovations by inducing them to increase relationshipspecific investments and improve knowledge sharing in the supply chain The spillover effect is more prominent in hightech industries，firms with higher market position and product uniqueness，and firms with stronger customer bargaining power In addition，the supply chain spillovers of customer environmental regulations can enhance green investors attention and improve operational efficiency as well as large customer stability
The main innovations of this paper include：First，it broadens the research scope of the implementation effect of low-carbon city pilot policy Second，it innovatively reveals the spillover effect of environmental regulation in supply chain networks，and deepens the understanding of supply chain externalities Third，it provides a new way to effectively promote firms green lowcarbon technology innovation This study helps to comprehensively understand the policy effect of environmental regulation and provide a powerful reference for promoting firms green innovation





Artificial Intelligence，Industrial Chain and Supply Chain Stability，and Export Resilience of Enterprises

XIN Daleng, QIU Yue

2025, 45(2):  37-54. 

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Accelerating the implementation of artificial intelligence，improving the security and stability level of industrial chain and supply chain，and then enhancing the export resilience of enterprises are effective ways to promote the steady and longterm development of Chinas foreign trade However，at present，Chinas export activities are facing great pressure，and it is hard to maintain the stable development of export trade The focus of Chinas economic development has shifted from promoting growth to calming fluctuations and enhancing economic resilience Using artificial intelligence to improve the stability and security level of the industrial chain and supply chain，and then enhance the resilience and countermeasures ability of enterprises to cope with major external risks and challenges，provides a new perspective for improving the export resilience of Chinese enterprises
Based on firm-level data，this paper empirically examines the actual impact of artificial intelligence on the export resilience of enterprises and its influence channels The study finds that artificial intelligence can effectively enhance the export resilience of enterprises From the perspective of influence mechanism，artificial intelligence strengthens the security and stability level of the industrial chain and supply chain by stabilizing the import supply chain，fixing the production chain and expanding the export sales chain，and ultimately plays a role in improving the export resilience of enterprises Heterogeneity analysis shows that artificial intelligence has stronger effect on the export resilience for developed marketoriented export enterprises，enterprises facing high export risk，capital and technology intensive enterprises，and enterprises in the growth and maturity stage Furthermore，artificial intelligence can reduce the probability of unstable export relations and onetime export relations，and reduce the vulnerability of export trade Finally，through the synergistic spillover effect generated by interindustry linkages，artificial intelligence effectively improves the export resilience of upstream and downstream enterprises
The research conclusions of this paper provide important policy implications Firstly，increase investment in scientific and technological innovation and artificial intelligence personnel training，and promote the development of artificial intelligence industry in an allround way Secondly，innovate and enrich artificial intelligence application scenarios，and build a wholechain and wholeprocess artificial intelligence industry application ecology Thirdly，according to the differences in export market structure，export risk，labor intensity and enterprise life cycle，optimize the artificial intelligence industry layout and maximize the “dividend effect” brought by artificial intelligence to the export resilience of enterprises





The Role of Handshake Channels in Reducing the Economic Gap between Cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region：An Analysis Based on Big Data in News

ZHOU Mi1LI, U Lifan2, WANG Daoping3, SHEN Xinyan3

2025, 45(2):  55-74. 

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In the ten years since the Coordinated Development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region，the level of synergy among the three regions has been continuously improved，the economic gap has been narrowed，and a new journey towards Chinese modernization has been initiated 
Based on the screening of 22 million news data from 2004 to 2022，this paper uses text mining methods to measure the amount of handshake channels，focusing on the role of the handshake channels in narrowing the regional economic gap The empirical results show that handshake channels in the BeijingTianjinHebei region significantly reduce the intercity economic gap Deeper handshake channels have greater marginal impacts and longer time horizons In heterogerery tests，fistly， with the capital as the core，handshake channels led by “BeijingTianjin” twin cities have a stronger effect；Secondly，the effect of handshake channels is weaker under the distance between cities that is too small or too big，showing an obvious “Ushaped” effect；Thirdly，handshake channels with the participation of colleges and universities，centralized enterprises，and local organizations are more effective 
In further mechanism exploration，this paper finds that the stronger the crosslocation investment formed between cities，the stronger the role of handshake channels in narrowing the regional economic gap，while the mechanism is more obvious in the scenario of “BeijingTianjin” domination or larger differences in industrial structure between cities Meanwhile，there exists both positive “tournament” effect and negative “crowding” effect on a certain handshake channel and other related handshake channels，which are jointly influenced by factors such as city hierarchy and resources 
This paper concludes that the process of constructing handshake channels should balance quality and quantity，and the channels should promote the core cities to share their successful experiences with other cities and make up for the remaining deficiencies，optimize the competition and cooperation patterns，and finally strive to form a new situation of regional multidimensional synergy led by handshake channels This paper can help to deeply interpret the promotion mechanism of handshake channels to promote the Coordinated Development of the BeijingTianjinHebei Region，and provide an effective reference for promoting this region to become a pioneer and demonstration area of Chinese modernization





Equality of Opportunity in Wealth and Common Prosperity：Measurement and Decomposition of the Inequality of Opportunity

DONG Lixia

2025, 45(2):  75-95. 

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This paper studies inequality of opportunity in wealth in China using data from the China Household Finance Survey （CHFS） The variables influencing wealth outcomes are divided into two categories：environmental factors and effort factors Using regression methods，the article analyzes the impact of environmental factors and effort factors on total wealth，housing wealth，and financial wealth We measure inequality of opportunity in total wealth，housing wealth and financial wealth in China and apply the Shapley decomposition method to decompose the relative contribution of various factors affecting inequality of opportunity in wealth 
Our substantial findings are as follows：According to Roemer （1998），absolute inequality of opportunity （IOP） in total wealth is 0490，relative IOP in total wealth is 4906%；absolute IOP in housing wealth is 0555，relative IOP in housing wealth is 5080%；absolute IOP in financial wealth is 0524，relative IOP in financial wealth is 2591% According to Barry （2005），absolute IOP in total wealth is 0421，relative IOP in total wealth is 4217%；absolute IOP in housing wealth is 0486，relative IOP in housing wealth is 4452%；absolute IOP in financial wealth is 0381，relative IOP in financial wealth is 1883% 
According to the Shapley decomposition results，fathers education level，fathers income，number of properties owned and GDP per capita are significant environmental variables contributing to inequality of opportunity in total wealth，housing wealth and financial wealth
During different quantiles，inequalities of opportunity in housing wealth and financial wealth are all asymmetrical U shape Inequality of opportunity in wealth is more serious for the lower bounds of wealth distribution，even worse for the upper bounds The lower bounds of housing wealth and the middle parts of financial wealth are more sensitive to the effects of family backgrounds and GDP per capita
Compared to existing literature，the main contributions of this paper are as follows：First，this paper uses 2019 CHFS data to study the new situation of the inequality of opportunities in wealth in China，applies the Roemer (1998) and Barry (2005) model to measure the upper and lower bounds of the inequality of opportunities in wealth in China Second，this paper studies the wealth composition，ie the inequality of opportunities in total wealth，housing wealth and financial wealth，and identifies the sources of inequality of opportunities in wealth Third，this paper discusses the heterogeneity of the inequality of opportunities in wealth，not only the urbanrural heterogeneity，but also the heterogeneity between different bounds of wealth distribution
The study suggests that the government should eliminate opportunity barriers caused by various environmental factors，promoting fairness in wealth opportunities In the process of achieving common prosperity with a focus on equality of opportunity，targeted interventions should be implemented for different wealth groups 





The Spatial Correlation Effects and Influence Factors of China's Digital Economy Development

ZHOU Yuanren1, CHEN Menggen2

2025, 45(2):  96-117. 

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As a key engine of economic development，the digital economy plays a vital role in fostering industrial transformation，addressing imbalances and inadequacies in socioeconomic development，and driving overall growth However，the presence of a regional “digital divide” necessitates urgent efforts to promote the flow of digital economy factors，optimize resource allocation，and reshape the spatial pattern of digital economy development This study constructs a comprehensive evaluation framework to measure the development level of the digital economy across 31 provinces，autonomous regions，and municipalities in China from 2010 to 2022，and further analyzes the spatial correlation network characteristics and influencing factors
The results show that Chinas digital economy has experienced sustained growth，with remarkable progress in digital technology application，factor-driven development，and efficiency improvement dimensions Significant regional disparities exist，with the eastern region leading in development，followed by the central region，and the western region demonstrating the lowest development level but the fastest growth rate Within the spatial network of the digital economy，provinces exhibit close interconnections characterized by pronounced geographic agglomeration and spatial accessibility The eastern region predominantly acts as a growth engine，the central region serves as a beneficiary，and the western region primarily functions as a digital resource exporter Additionally，intermediary provinces within each region play crucial roles in linking surrounding areas and enhancing collaborative digital economy development
From a multidimensional and temporal perspective，the spatial network of the digital economy has evolved towards greater connectivity，enhanced accessibility，and increased equity in network positions，reflecting a trend toward multipolar development Over time，the stability and complexity of the network have improved，with a growing number of significant nodes indicating dynamic restructuring The study identifies spatial distance，physical capital，human capital，and technological progress as key factors influencing the spatial network characteristics of the digital economy Larger geographic distances，economic disparities，and gaps in education and innovation capacity weaken spatial linkages between regions
This study provides theoretical insights for optimizing the spatial distribution of Chinas digital economy and offers practical policy recommendations for fostering regional coordination and highquality development of the digital economy These include： （1）enhancing independent innovation in digital technologies；（2）strengthening the cultivation of digital economyrelated talent；（3）improving digital infrastructure in remote areas to bridge regional development gaps；and （4）promoting interregional flow of digital economy factors and resource sharing to create a complementary and synergistic development pattern





E-commerce Development and Local Government Tax Competition Strategies

DENG Shulian1, ZHANG Mingyuan1, XIE Licheng1, GU Lanjuan2

2025, 45(2):  118-135. 

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With the development of the times，ecommerce，as the most dynamic sector of the digital economy，has transformed traditional industrial development models and consumption patterns It has broken the temporal and spatial constraints of traditional transactions，gradually becoming an important engine for driving highquality economic development under the new development paradigm Moreover，it is subtly influencing the tax competition strategies of local governments
This paper explores the evolving characteristics of local government tax competition strategies in the digital economy era Utilizing panel data from 278 prefecturelevel cities in China from 2006 to 2019，the paper employs an asymmetric response model and a multipleperiod differenceindifferences （DID） approach to empirically test the existence of tax competition among local governments and analyze its behavioral characteristics in the context of ecommerce development
The findings reveal that local governments exhibit both “racetothebottom” and “racetothetop” behaviors in tax competition However，the development of ecommerce predominantly drives local governments towards a “racetothebottom” strategy，a conclusion that remains robust across various sensitivity tests The implications for policymakers are significant To ensure tax fairness and address disparities in interregional VAT distribution，it is essential to strengthen support for local ecommerce development and reform the productionbased taxation principle for VAT Additionally，exploring interregional sharing mechanisms for VAT and enhancing transfer payment systems can promote equitable development across regions
The potential marginal contributions of this paper are as follows：Firstly，from a research perspective，few studies have focused on the influence of ecommerce development under the digital economy on local tax competition strategies This paper fills this gap by providing both theoretical and empirical evidence for the additional incentives local governments have for engaging in tax competition Secondly，from a methodological perspective，this study employs econometric models suited to its research It overcomes the limitations of traditional spatial econometrics by using the asymmetric response model to conduct precise spatial decomposition，offering a feasible empirical approach to verify the tendencies of local tax competition under the development of ecommerce Lastly，in terms of mechanisms，the study reveals the channels through which ecommerce influences local governments tax competition strategies This not only makes an important contribution to the literature on the impact of ecommerce on local government tax competition behavior but also provides theoretical support and empirical data for understanding the intrinsic reasons for local governments to prioritize ecommerce development





The Impact of Caregiver's Identity and Ability on Childrens Development

ZHANG Chuanchuan1, CAO Jiarui2, GAO Wenjing3

2025, 45(2):  136-155. 

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Childcare has been crucial to fertility decisions，childrens growth and development，and human capital accumulation Which one is more important for children，the caregivers identity or ability? Can high ability nonparental care substitute parental care? These questions holds important theoretical and practical implications On the one hand，only by separating the effects of caregivers identity and caregivers ability can we more accurately understand the mechanisms by which caregivers influence childrens growth and development；on the other hand，if it is caregivers ability rather than caregivers identity that plays a key role in childrens growth and development，increasing the supply of highquality care services may be a solution to the dilemma of child care 
Using the China Family Panel Studies （CFPS） from 2010 to 2020，we examine the impact of caregivers identity and caregivers ability on childrens growth and development We examined multiple dimensions of childrens development，including early development，academic achievement，cognitive ability，noncognitive ability，and health status We identify the effect of caregivers identity by comparing children cared for by their mothers and those cared for by their grandparents We use years of education to measure caregivers ability in our baseline analysis，and use their cognitive ability，noncognitive ability and health status to measure ability in robustness analysis 
We find that：（1） The key factor affecting childrens growth and development is caregivers ability rather than caregivers identity After controlling for the caregivers ability，whether or not a child is cared for by her mother has little or no statistically significant effect on childrens early development，academic performance，cognitive or noncognitive abilities；（2） Caregivers ability has a significant and lasting effect on childrens growth and development The higher the caregivers ability，the better the childrens academic achievement，cognitive and noncognitive development，and the less likely they get sick；（3） Maternal care can amplify the impact of caregivers ability on early childhood development，academic performance，cognitive ability，and health status；（4） Caregivers with high ability tend to have a stronger sense of parenting responsibility，higher expectations of their children，more scientific parenting modes，more interactions with their children，and more time and energy invested in their childrens care Highability mothers have higher expectations for their childrens educational achievements，interact more with children and invest more in education
Those findings imply that increasing the supply of highquality public or marketbased care services is a possible way to promote fertility without harming childrens growth and development





Seller Heterogeneity，Competition and Online Reputation

DU Chuang1, LI Lizhuo2

2025, 45(2):  156-176. 

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The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China emphasized that highquality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in an allround way，and with the theme of promoting highquality development，we will promote the effective improvement of the quality of the economy and the reasonable growth of the quantity，and accelerate the construction of a quality power The determination of product quality involves market incentives When there is an asymmetry of information about product quality between consumers and merchants，merchants may cut corners and reduce product quality However，the relationship between competition and reputation is not consistent with economic theory and empirical research On the one hand，competition can provide consumers with more choices，which can help curb moral hazard behaviors such as cutting corners On the other hand，intense competition reduces merchants profit margins and reputation premiums，which in turn reduces incentives to maintain reputation Based on the above framework，we theoretically investigate the relationship between competition and reputation incentives，ie，how competition affects the size of the key discount factors needed to maintain reputation Theoretical research finds that when the observability of firms is strong and the ability of competitors is weak，and the gap between the two is large enough，competition is more likely to have a positive impact on reputation，that is，firms are more motivated to maintain reputation than in the monopoly situation，and are more likely to invest in highlevel efforts Conversely，competition is more likely to have a negative impact on reputation
Next，we use Ctrips June 2024 domestic hotel crosssectional data sample to validate the theoretical predictions In the hotel accommodation industry，a hotels star rating can be used as an observable ability to represent the quality of the hotel to a certain extent；online ratings represent how well consumers recognize a hotels reputation We refer twostar and below hotels as lowstar hotels，and threestar and above hotels as highstar hotels，with a radius of 1 km as the competition area Consistent with the theoretical prediction，the quantitative regressions show that highstar hotels have more incentives to maintain reputation than lowstar hotels when faced with competition from specific star hotels
The main innovation of this paper is to study the relationship between competition and reputation from a new perspective of competitor ability heterogeneity，and to draw some new conclusions，which can be used to explain the formation of online reputation mechanism and the role of competition in it