Economic Theory and Business Management

Coordinating the Development of Secondary and Tertiary Industries to Stabilize Economic Growth and Promote High-quality Development

GUO Kesha

2024, 44(6): 1-18.

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The practical context of this research is threefold：the new global technological revolution and industrial transformation，which present new trends in the structural changes of secondary and tertiary industries As Chinas economy enters the late stage of industrialization，the changes in these industries have become a focal issue The new stage of development accelerates the creation of a new development pattern，giving a fresh meaning to the coordinated development of secondary and tertiary industries
The concept of the coordinated development of the secondary and tertiary industries can be understood in two aspects：Firstly，the coordinated development of the secondary and tertiary industries refers to an objective process or state without indicating external influence This could result from natural market regulation or the combined effects of market forces and government intervention Secondly，the integrated and coordinated development of the secondary and tertiary industries，where “integrated” implies comprehensive planning “Integrated coordination” inherently includes government macroeconomic intervention in the relationship between these industries，encompassing government planning，industrial policies，and other aspects Therefore，studying the integrated and coordinated development of the secondary and tertiary industries involves a combination of theoretical and policy research，encompassing both objective analysis and the study of policy rationality
The major issues involved in this coordination includes：firstly，whether marketdriven structural changes in secondary and tertiary industries lead to a continuous structural slowdown in the economy，and whether government coordination can alter this trend；secondly，whether these structural changes affect the quality of economic development，and whether government intervention can promote highquality economic growth；thirdly，whether these changes impact other aspects of economic operations and development，and whether government coordination can resolve or alleviate these issues
Therefore，it is essential to focus on the potential economic slowdown caused by structural changes in the secondary and tertiary industries and to investigate how to coordinate their development to promote stable and rapid economic growth；it is crucial to study the potential impact of these structural changes on the quality of economic development and to explore how coordinated development of the secondary and tertiary industries can drive highquality economic growth；it is necessary to concentrate on the possible effects of structural changes in these industries on urban and rural regional development，aiming to find ways to coordinate their development to foster balanced and harmonious urban and rural regional growth
The main policy directions encompass three aspects：（1） macroeconomic policy：strengthen macroeconomic control policies to mitigate triple pressures and stabilize economic growth，creating conditions for rectifying new industrial structural imbalances Key policy measures include designing a scheme for issuing consumption vouchers to lowincome residents to expand consumption demand，fully promoting the digital transformation of manufacturing to foster qualitydriven investment and address weaknesses in the industrial chain，and formulating and announcing medium and longterm tax reduction plans to guide，stabilize，and enhance market expectations （2） industrial structure policy：enhance the role of industrial structure policies by coordinating the development of manufacturing and service industries within the context of advancing new industrialization Implement supportive industrial structure policies that treat all types of enterprises equally （3） urbanrural regional policy：the rural revitalization strategy should be vigorously implemented to promote the development of nonagricultural industries in towns and villages This includes promoting the strategy of localized urbanization，guiding the transfer of some urban industries to towns，especially encouraging the transfer of eastern urban industries to towns in the central and western regions，and supporting the return of talent and other resources to rural areas Additionally，the implementation of a regional coordinated development strategy should be accelerated to facilitate the regional transfer and optimal allocation of industries

Fair Competition，Free Flow of Factors and Enterprise Specialization

LIU Xinmiao1, DING Zhiguo1, 2

2024, 44(6): 19-36.

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This paper focuses on the following questions：Whether the Fair Competition Review System can promote enterprise specialization by breaking through the bottlenecks in the flow of factors? Can the Fair Competition Review System，from an institutional perspective，mitigate the disadvantages in the factor circulation environment? This study serves as an effective examination of the construction of a unified national large market under the new development pattern
This paper is based on a sample of Ashare listed companies from the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges from 2011 to 2021 Using the promulgation of the Fair Competition Review System as a focal point，the study explores the intrinsic relationship between fair competition，factor mobility，and enterprise specializationThe results show that：fair competition facilitates the deepening of enterprise specialization Fair competition promotes specialization by reducing transaction costs for enterprises and expanding market scale Further investigation reveals that fair competition facilitates the free movement of capital，talent，and technological factors，thereby promoting enterprise specialization Specifically，it alleviates the barriers of capital and talent flow in nonstateowned enterprises and the barriers of technology flow in stateowned enterprises，thus achieving the targeted objectives of the Fair Competition Review System by balancing fairness and efficiency Additionally，the Fair Competition Review System can institutionally mitigate the inherent disadvantages in the enterprise factor circulation environment，thereby fostering deeper specialization
This study introduces a novel perspective by capitalizing on the enactment of the Fair Competition Review System as an opportunity to clarify its impact on the specialized division of labor in businesses，based on a clear understanding of the critical role that a fair competition environment plays in Chinas economic development Further，this paper starts from the pain points and bottlenecks in the flow of capital，talent，and technological factors in enterprise specialization，and examine the effectiveness of establishing a fair competition environment in addressing these issues It delves deeply into the compensatory role of fair competition policies in compensating for the disadvantages in the factor circulation environment，the study expands both the depth and breadth of the research content
This research not only evaluates the policy effects of the Fair Competition Review System but also elucidates the comprehensive transmission mechanism from macro policies to micro entities This elucidation holds significant theoretical and practical implications for further improving the fair competition environment in China and promoting the deepening of enterprise specialization

Is the Development of New Agricultural Business Entities Inclusive of Smallholder Farmers

LIANG Qiao, HAN Ziming, LIU Wenhao

2024, 44(6): 37-56.

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China is featured by a large population and limited per capita arable land，and smallholder farmers need to be linked with new agricultural business entities represented by large farms，family farms，farmer cooperatives，and agricultural companies to achieve modern agriculture However，do these new agricultural business entities have inclusive effects on the income of the surrounding smallholder farmers? Further analysis is still needed Using the Chinese Family Database which contains data from a comprehensive survey in 2019，this paper analyzes the effects of new agricultural business entities on the income and income inequality of smallholder farmers，and examine the inclusiveness and mechanisms of the effects
The empirical results show that the development of new agricultural business entities significantly increases agricultural business income and total income of smallholder farmers，and meanwhile reduces the income inequality among smallholder farmers The effects of new agricultural business entities on the agricultural business income and total income are inclusive of farmers with different levels of human，material，and social capital Even more，the income increase effects are larger for farmers featured by lower income levels New agricultural business entities can promote the income of smallholder farmers through mechanisms such as promoting land circulation，reducing land fragmentation，adjusting planting structure，improving mechanization，and providing technology training
The main contributions of this article are threefold：First，while most current research focuses on the role of one specific type of entities，this article investigates the impact of various types of new agricultural business entities on the agricultural business income and total income of smallholder farmers Second，this article uses the Kakwani index to reflect the degree of income inequality，and examines the inclusive effects of new agricultural business entities for smallholder farmers with different ages，education，income，and informatization levels，and social relationship networks Third，this article adopts both traditional and heteroscedasticitybased IV methods，PSM，and quantile regression methods to reduce the estimation bias and improve the accuracy of the conclusions

Equity Investment of Urban Investment Firms in Listed Companies and Local Government Implicit Debt Risk

SI Haiping1, HOU Yufei1, MIAO Miao2

2024, 44(6): 57-76.

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Local government implicit debt is mainly borrowed by Local Government Financing Vehicle（LGFV） Urban construction investment companies in cities are LGFV Focusing on the urban construction investment companies（UCIC） as the main body of debt borrowing and exploring the economic impact of urban construction investment companies on listed companies are of great significance to prevent and resolve the risk of local government implicit debt
Based on financial data and bond issuance data of UCIC from 2014 to 2020，we use the staggered differenceindifferences（DID） model to examine the impact of urban construction investment companies equity investment in listed companies on the credit risk of urban construction investment bonds We find that shareholding in listed companies reduces the credit risk of urban construction investment bonds，which is still valid after a series of robustness tests
We then analyze the mechanisms We find that equity investment in listed companies can help the UCIC reduce the credit risk of urban construction investment bonds by improving their own business performance and increasing government support Equity investment of UCIC in listed companies cant reduce the credit risk of urban construction investment bonds by alleviating their own financing constraints
The study of heterogeneity finds that the credit risk of urban construction investment bonds decreases more significantly after UCIC takes shares in listed companies in areas with low per capita GDP and areas with weak financial pressure In cities with low marketization levels，the credit risk of urban construction investment bonds is significantly reduced after UCIC take shares in listed companies The incident of taking shares in listed companies has significantly reduced the credit risk of urban construction investment bonds issued by UCIC issuing high credit rating bonds and with weak profitability
The conclusion of this study shows that the shareholding of UCIC in listed companies may become an important way to effectively resolve the risk of implicit debt of local governments We suggest to accelerate the transformation of LGFV to marketoriented investment and operation companies Meanwhile，the government financing functions of LGFV should be stripped away according to law to get rid of their dependences on local governments

Can Consumer Protection Policy Mitigate Adverse Selection

MA Shuzhong, HE Ge

2024, 44(6): 77-92.

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In the era of the digital economy，crossborder ecommerce （CBEC），as a new form of international trade，has driven the transformation and upgrading of foreign trade and has become an important lever for the highquality development of Chinas foreign trade However，during CBEC transactions，buyers and sellers often can only communicate through the internet，and factors such as geographical distance，language，and cultural differences constitute significant barriers，leading to severe adverse selection problems Consumer protection policies，as an important platform regulation mechanism，provide a beneficial solution to address adverse selection issues
To comprehensively depict the impact of consumer protection policies on adverse selection problems，this paper utilizes a consumer protection policy implemented by Wish，one of the worlds largest mobile CBEC platforms—the fraudulent fulfillment of orders policy—to conduct a time regression discontinuity analysis，systematically exploring the impact of consumer protection policies on the market entry and exit of products This paper finds that，firstly，the policy significantly reduces the number of new products from enterprises but significantly increases the number of highquality products among them；secondly，the fraudulent fulfillment of orders policy promotes the exit of incumbent products，mainly reflected in the exit of lowquality products The mechanism by which the policy affects market entry and exit lies in the higher quality requirements imposed by the policy，thereby increasing the compliance risks faced by enterprises To verify this mechanism，this paper employs a differenceindiscontinuity design and finds that the consumer protection policy has a more significant impact on enterprises selling hightech products or heterogeneous products，which are relatively more complex Further analysis also reveals that the policy significantly increases the prices and sales of incumbent products
The relevant conclusions have high guiding value in practical aspects such as guiding the improvement of consumer protection policies on CBEC platforms This paper has the following policy implications：First，CBEC platforms should increase the economic penalties for qualityviolating enterprises As pointed out in the theoretical analysis，only higher economic penalties can form a credible threat to enterprises，increase their compliance risks，and prompt them to strictly adhere to product quality regulations Second，CBEC platforms should reasonably adjust the implementation intensity of consumer protection policies based on the characteristics of different enterprises For enterprises selling hightech or heterogeneous products，the compliance risks are greater，and the role of consumer protection policies is relatively more significant Given the limited resources and attention of platforms，these types of enterprises should receive heightened focus Third，the government should promptly supervise the formulation and implementation of platform consumer protection policies to avoid excessive intervention or support towards market entities，ensuring the reasonableness，fairness，and effectiveness of the policies

Can New Online Media Improve the Performance of Individual Investors：Evidence from Fund Live Streaming

LU Xiaomeng1, ZHANG Wen2, NIU Geng2

2024, 44(6): 93-106.

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With the rapid development of the internet，live streaming on the web has quickly risen to the pinnacle of the digital economy wave，becoming a new online medium that caters to the upgraded demands of residents However，theres a dearth of research on its impact from the live streaming media perspective This study focuses on fund live streaming，evaluating its wealth effect on individual investors to better meet their growing wealth management needs
Fund live streaming，as a mode of showcasing fund operations and conducting investor education through live streaming，offers a convenient and efficient channel for investors It provides a more intuitive understanding of fund products，facilitates realtime tracking of investment strategies，and offers professional advice and market analysis Consequently，a pertinent question arises：does watching live streaming to purchase funds truly enhance individual investors performance?
To answer whether purchasing funds through live streaming can improve individual investment performance and explain the mechanism behind it，this paper uses survey data from 52 897 individual fund investors in 2021 and 2022 The primary findings can be summarized as follows：Initially，the act of watching live streaming to purchase funds facilitates investors in achieving profitability within the fund market Secondly，fund live streaming augments investors performance through various pathways，including the enhancement of financial knowledge，the augmentation of investment diversification，the cultivation of profittaking and stoploss practices，and the mitigation of chasing hot trends Thirdly，the efficacy of watching live streaming to fund purchases in enhancing individual investor performance is particularly pronounced among elderly demographics，individuals with lower monthly incomes，those lacking investment experience，and marginalized populations residing in underdeveloped digital finance regions Interestingly，this phenomenon does not significantly impact investments in closedend funds Lastly，passive engagement in entertainmentoriented fund purchases by live streaming fails to bolster the probability of performance enhancement for investors Instead，active engagement with highquality content，coupled with continuous learning of financial principles and the selection of highyield products during live streaming，emerges as the key drivers for investors to achieve more favorable outcomes
This study significantly contributes to the understanding of individual investors decisionmaking processes through fund live streaming，a topic that has been underexplored in research By investigating the wealth effect of fund live streaming，it fills a critical gap in the literature，providing valuable insights into how this emerging platform influences investment outcomes Additionally，the study enriches the existing evidence base on factors shaping investment performance，offering a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics at play Furthermore，it advances our comprehension of investor behavior in online media by exploring how fund live streaming enhances financial knowledge and mitigates irrational biases，ultimately leading to improved investment decisions and outcomes

The Substitution Effect of Internet Job Search on Informal Job Search

LIU Xiaolu , LEI Haoran

2024, 44(6): 107-124.

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The labor market grapples with significant challenges associated with information asymmetry Job seekers heavily rely on diverse channels to obtain essential information，which is crucial in their job search process These channels can be broadly classified into two categories：formal channels，such as employment agencies，job fairs，and advertisements，and informal channels，including referrals from acquaintances and social networks Extant researches indicate that job seekers often favor informal channels due to their cost advantages However，with the rapid advancement and widespread accessibility of Internet technology in the digital era，online searches have emerged as a new and costeffective channel for information acquisition Hence，it is imperative to investigate the extent to which the structural changes in search costs，attributed to internet usage，influence job seekers preference for informal channels and whether Internetbased job searching offers a more effective means of mitigating information asymmetry compared to informal channels
This paper，focusing on information asymmetry，categorizes the information influencing job search channel selection into three dimensions：basic job information，job seeker capabilities，and job deeplevel information By analyzing data from the Chinese General Social Survey and the China Migrants Dynamic Survey，it examines the impact of Internet usage on job seekers preference for informal channels The findings suggest that while Internet usage generally facilitates the substitution of online channels for informal ones in job search，informal channels remain the predominant mode of job searching Further analysis reveals that this substitution effect and its limitations primarily stem from two factors：first，online channels provide cost advantages in offering basic job information，such as pay levels，resulting in significantly higher hourly wages compared to informal channels However，online channels still struggle to address information asymmetry regarding job seeker capabilities and the job environment，thereby limiting the scope of this substitution effect Consequently，only job seekers with higher education，indicating strong capabilities，tend to prefer online channels over informal ones Additionally，job seekers securing employment through online channels demonstrate a greater tendency to switch jobs compared to those utilizing informal channels，indicating relatively poorer searchmatching outcomes Thus，while online channels exhibit a substitution effect for informal channels，their impact remains limited
This paper contributes to three key aspects：Firstly，it examines the role of Internet usage in job search scenarios，thereby enriching empirical research on the impact of internet usage on the labor market Secondly，it distinguishes between various dimensions of information asymmetry while elucidating the presence and limitations of substitution effects within this framework Finally，this research enhances the understanding of digital technologys impact on the labor markets overall efficiency Based on the conclusions of this paper，online channels exhibit a significant substitution effect on informal channels，indicating that the use of the Internet has，to some extent，mitigated the information cost disadvantage of traditional formal channels and enhanced the overall operating efficiency of the labor market

Gender Discrimination during the Ming and Qing Dynasties：A Case Study of Six Lineages in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces

HU Sijie, WANG Jue

2024, 44(6): 125-140.

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The high rate of “missing women” in todays China has a long history that goes back to imperial times，and one embodiment of such preference is the presence of female infanticide in the Ming （13681644） and the Qing （16441911） dynasties With a relatively abundant qualitative accounts on the presence of female infanticide，quantitative evidence is scant As female infanticide matters to Chinese demography because it shaped not only the mortality，but also the fertility pattern，it is also a key issue in the Great Divergence debate，initiated by the release of Pomeranzs seminal work，“The Great Divergence” While the California School scholars argue it was widely practiced in Qing China，the only quantitative evidence is provided by Lee，Campbell，and Wang on North China，but not the core region in the debate，the Yangzi Delta
Therefore，this paper attempts at reinvestigating the survival of daughters from 1350 to 1900 using newly digitised genealogical records from six lineages in the Yangzi Delta Using two separate samples comprising 19 516 fathers and 6 000 daughters，this paper first estimates the proportion of “missing daughters”，daughters who should have been born but were not recorded in the genealogies We then distinguish between the two causes of “missing”，underregistration and excess female deaths because of female infanticide and parental neglect during infancy and childhood，and estimate the underregistration rate and the female infanticide rate
The estimated child sex ratio was about 1341，with the ratios in the elite lineages，the Gu （1191），the Zhuang （1151），and the Liu （116:1），the most balanced By assuming that the number of daughters who survived were completely recorded for fathers who had daughters records，we estimate that the percentage of missing daughters was around 689 per cent，with 214 per cent of them dying of infanticide and neglect in infancy and childhood，and 475 per cent of them survived but not recorded We compare the results from the six lineages with the previous estimates provided in Lee et al（1994）and Lee & Campbell（1997），finding that the daughters survival pattern in the three elite lineages in the Yangzi Delta was comparable with that of the Qing royal family，and the pattern of the three common lineages was comparable with that of the Liaoning rural village
We then test the factors that were related with daughters survival in the Ming and Qing dynasties The empirical investigation suggests that fathers social status and cultural background were significantly correlated with their daughters records in the genealogies，their sex composition in the households，and their daughters marriages Being higher social status was positively correlated with the number of daughters a father would have，and the proportion of daughters within his household Daughters of degree and officeholders were also more easily to marry degree and officeholders A strong positive assortative mating pattern was observed in the six lineages in the Yangzi Delta

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