Using a comprehensive dataset containing a detailed nine-level political hierarchy classification for all state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in China from 1998 to 2013, we find that low-ranked SOEs have 14% higher productivity than private firms. The result is robust to propensity score matching, instrumental variable approach, and within-firm analysis. Further findings lend support to the theory of local ...

This paper addresses police resource allocation across multiple locations, aiming to minimize the overall cost of potential crimes. Unlike previous literature focused on reactive police tasks, we propose a proactive approach that emphasizes crime prevention through deterrence. To account for the deterrence effect of police resources on crime, we employ the multinomial logit model to calibrate the distribution ...

A recommendation platform sequentially collects information about a new product revealed from past consumer trials, and uses it to better guide later consumers. Because consumers do not internalize the value of information they bring to others, their incentive for trying out the product can be socially insufficient. Given such a challenge, I study how the platform can improve social welfare by designing ...

The intensifying rivalry between major global economies highlights the need to better understand the politicized nature of international business. This study introduces a new political factor—community political ideology (i.e., the dominant political ideology along the liberalism-conservatism spectrum among a community’s members)—and examines its influences on cross-border M&As between countries ...

This paper studies the impact of trade openness on welfare through alterations in workers' skill acquisition. Guided by empirical evidence, we integrate endogenous choices of learning investments into a multisector Eaton–Kortum model. Our model reveals that trade openness influences skill acquisition by two channels: (1) reallocating labor between sectors with varying skill intensities and on-the-...

This paper studies inference in two-stage randomized experiments under covariate-adaptive randomization. In the initial stage of this experimental design, clusters (e.g., households, schools, or graph partitions) are stratified and randomly assigned to control or treatment groups based on cluster-level covariates. Subsequently, an independent second-stage design is carried out, wherein units within ...

Marketers are increasingly using unconventional design tactics to visually disrupt consumer expectations, like turning brand logos upside down. Across four experiments, this research examined how inverted logos influence consumer brand responses. In two binary choice tasks (Studies 1A and 1B), participants exhibited a lower preference for an inverted logo than a standard logo for branded products. ...