A collaborative paper by Professor Yu Miaojie, President of Liaoning University (LNU), and researcher Xie Enze from the School of Economics at Zhejiang University, titled “Intermediate Input Trade Liberalization and Firm Market Power in the Labor Market” was selected as an outstanding paper in Almanac of China’s Population (2024 Edition). The article was published in the fifth issue of Journal of Quantitative & Technological Economics in 2023.
Paper Abstract
This paper examines the impact of trade liberalization, represented by reductions in intermediate input import tariffs, on firms’ market power in the labor market from the perspective of imperfectly competitive labor markets. Using Chinese industrial enterprise data and customs data, the paper constructs firm-level intermediate input import tariffs. Empirical findings indicate that tariff cuts on intermediate inputs enhance firms’ labor market power by expanding output scale through cost-saving effects, increasing the share of imported intermediate inputs via factor substitution effects, and shifting firms upstream in the industrial chain. These results remain robust across different measures of labor market power, intermediate input import tariffs, and regression samples. The study suggests that while promoting trade liberalization, it is essential to curb collusion in the labor market, provide diversified and well-developed vocational training, improve public services, enhance labor market mobility and competitiveness, and protect workers’ rights.
Journal Introduction
Almanac of China’s Population, published by the Institute of Population and Labor Economics Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is a national-level professional reference tool for demographic data. It documents China’s population development and major demographic events of the previous years, along with activities in population science research. Since its inception in 1985, the book has published 38 volumes, offering continuous, comprehensive, accurate, and authoritative coverage of China’s population dynamics. Its content is widely cited by domestic scholars and serves as a key resource for the international academic community to understand China’s population issues and current developments.
The editorial team of Almanac of China’s Population adheres to a “research-compilation” approach in manuscript selection, information collection, annual paper compilation, and data organization, striving to make the yearbook a “discipline-friendly” publication. The redesigned Almanac of China’s Population 2021 features eight sections: important documents, disciplinary reviews, annual papers, annual authors, annual research projects, chronicle of events, data, and appendix. An index is included at the end of each volume for reader convenience. In 2018, Almanac of China’s Population 2016 received the Second Prize in the Fifth National Outstanding Local Chronicle (Almanac Category) Awards.
Author Profiles
Yu Miaojie is President of Liaoning University and a Fellow of the International Economic Association, a national talent program winner, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, and an Outstanding Young Scientist of Beijing. He also holds the title of Boya Distinguished Professor at Peking University. Currently, he serves as a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress, a special supervisor for the State Committee of Supervisory of the People’s Republic of China, and an associate editor of the Economic Journal, a top international economics journal. He enjoys special government allowances from the State Council. Professor Yu is among the top 1% of highly cited economists in economics and management globally and is the only Chinese scholar to have received the “Royal Economic Society Prize” to date.
Xie Enze is a New Hundred Talent Program researcher and doctoral supervisor at the School of Economics, Zhejiang University. He previously served as a consultant in the Trade and Integration Unit of the World Bank’s Research Department. He earned his Ph.D. from the National School of Development at Peking University in 2024. His research has been published in the Journal of Development Economics, Management World, China Economic Quarterly, Quantitative & Technical Economics Research, and International Business. His work has received the Gregory Chow Best Paper Award at the 2025 Chinese Economists Society Annual Conference and the Young Scholar Award in the 23rd Zhejiang Provincial Fundamental Theory Research in Social Sciences. He also serves as an anonymous reviewer for journals such as the Journal of Development Economics, China Economic Review, China & World Economy, China Economic Quarterly, and Quantitative & Technical Economics Research.
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