Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Growing Like China: Firm Performance and Global Production Line Position

Chor, Davin; Manova, Kalina; Yu, Zhihong

Growing Like China:  Firm Performance and Global Production Line Position Thumbnail


Authors

Davin Chor

Kalina Manova

ZHIHONG YU ZHIHONG.YU@NOTTINGHAM.AC.UK
Associate Professor



Abstract

Global value chains have fundamentally transformed international trade and development in recent decades. We use matched firm-level customs and manufacturing survey data, together with Input-Output tables for China, to examine how Chinese firms position themselves in global production lines and how this evolves with productivity and performance over the firm lifecycle. We document a sharp rise in the upstreamness of imports, stable positioning of exports, and rapid expansion in production stages conducted in China over the 1992-2014 period, both in the aggregate and within firms over time. Firms span more stages as they grow more productive, bigger and more experienced. This is accompanied by a rise in input purchases, value added in production, and fixed cost levels and shares. It is also associated with higher profits though not with changing profit margins. We rationalize these patterns with a stylized model of the firm lifecycle with complementarity between the scale of production and the scope of stages performed.

Citation

Chor, D., Manova, K., & Yu, Z. (2021). Growing Like China: Firm Performance and Global Production Line Position. Journal of International Economics, 130, Article 103445. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2021.103445

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Jan 27, 2021
Online Publication Date Feb 15, 2021
Publication Date May 1, 2021
Deposit Date Feb 12, 2021
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of International Economics
Print ISSN 0022-1996
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 130
Article Number 103445
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jinteco.2021.103445
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5310446
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022199621000222

Files





You might also like



Downloadable Citations