Winners and Losers of Multinational Firm Entry into Developing Countries: Evidence from the Special Economic Zones of the People's Republic of China

Ebenstein, Avraham, Asian Development Review

This paper examines the impact of multinational firm entry into local labor markets on employment, productivity, and wages. It exploits the People's Republic of China's rapid implementation of economic reforms and assignment of cities to special economic zone status in the 1980s and 1990s. Using data on both firms and workers, it is found that these policies increased foreign direct investment, which raised average labor productivity in these labor markets. However, only modest increases in real median wage rates across these cities are observed in the face of large increases in wage inequality and rising local prices, limiting the benefits to most workers in these cities. Evidence is …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Winners and Losers of Multinational Firm Entry into Developing Countries: Evidence from the Special Economic Zones of the People's Republic of China. Contributors: Ebenstein, Avraham - Author. Journal title: Asian Development Review. Volume: 29. Issue: 1 Publication date: January 1, 2012. Page number: 29+. © Asian Development Bank 2008. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.