Grasp the Large, Let Go of the Small: The Transformation of the State Sector in China / Chang-Tai Hsieh, Zheng (Michael) Song.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hsieh, Chang-Tai.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Song, Zheng (Michael).

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w21006.

NBER working paper series no. w21006

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Grasp the Large, Let Go of the Small

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2015.

Summary:

Starting in the late 1990s, China undertook a dramatic transformation of the large number of firms under state control. Small state-owned firms were privatized or closed. Large state-owned firms were corporatized and merged into large industrial groups under the control of the Chinese state. The state also created many new and large firms. We use detailed firm-level data to show that from 1998 to 2007, (i) state-owned firms that were closed were smaller and had low labor and capital productivity; (ii) the labor productivity of state-owned firms converged to that of private firms; (iii) the capital productivity of state-owned firms remained significantly lower than that of private firms; and (iv) total factor productivity (TFP) growth of state-owned firms was faster than that of private firms. We find the reforms of the state sector were responsible for 20 percent of aggregate TFP growth from 1998 to 2007.

Notes:

Print version record

March 2015.