The economic interdependence between China and the world.

摘要

The first chapter studies Rules of Origin (ROO), a major trade-diverting mechanism that renders Free Trade Agreements the antithesis of free trade. It challenges the view that ROO largely offset tariff preferences under NAFTA. It finds that, on the contrary, the yarn forward principle in the textiles and clothing, the most restrictive ROO among all the sectors, has not constituted a significant barrier for most Mexican exports. Paradoxically, the origin system has been designed in the best short-run interest of American textile producers, according to empirical data analysis. Grounded in a formal model incorporating firm heterogeneity, the study provides a detailed estimate of the compliance costs of ROO across the exporting firms. It corrects a prevailing measurement error associated with calculating the utilization of NAFTA benefits that has lent support to the conclusion that the net effect of NAFTA is marginal. Finally, the paper argues that ROO serve to redistribute NAFTA's static gain from Mexico to the U.S., although the size of the pie varies with the restrictiveness of ROO.; The second chapter compares the comparative advantages of China and the US mainly through examining their exports. Comparison starts with the structure of export and import patterns. We employ the similarity indexes developed in the literature, discuss their pros and cons, and apply them to the most detailed trade data available. We then explore whether the two countries' exports are comparable in the overlapped world market. We further attempt to quantify the competitiveness in demand. Specifically, we employ econometric methods to estimate the elasticity of substitution, from which we are able to derive the change in the US share in the world import market with regard to an increase in Chinese prices. The results reveal that China still lingers at rather a low rung of the international production ladder, relative to the US and other advanced economies. Should China alone revaluate its currency, the US gain is minuscule---a 1% rise in Chinese prices would increase the US manufacture exports by an additional {dollar}217 million. Finally, we address the small local value-added problem associated with Chinese exports.; Based on an annual data set from 1993 to 2003 of 28 provinces, the third chapter finds that FDI does not play a significant role in China's economic growth. Furthermore, the enterprises funded by investors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan actually have a dragging effect on the total productivity growth.