We exploit China's heating policy to investigate how non-labor income affects marriage. From the mid-1950s, the policy gave substantial subsidies to urban residents north of the Huai River. Applying geographic regression discontinuity, we find that, with the policy, urban men in the north...

We exploit China's heating policy to investigate how non-labor income affects marriage. From the mid-1950s, the policy gave substantial subsidies to urban residents north of the Huai River. Applying geographic regression discontinuity, we find that, with the policy, urban men in the north...

Many entrepreneurs proclaim proudly to have learned from the School of Hard Knocks rather than business schools. These claims challenge the social value of investments in entrepreneurship education and training. Yet, there is little empirical evidence of the effect of earlier life challenges on...

We exploit China's heating policy to investigate how non-labor income affects marriage. From the mid-1950s, the policy gave substantial subsidies to urban residents north of the Huai River. Applying geographic regression discontinuity, we find that, with the policy, urban men in the north...

We exploit China's heating policy to identify the effects of the age of marriage on divorce. From the mid-1950s, the Chinese government provided cash allowances and free/subsidized coal or free/subsidized central heating to urban residents north of the Huai River but not to people who lived in...

This study addresses the apparent puzzle that China achieved spectacular economic performance despite weak institutions. Using a World Bank survey of 1,566 manufacturing enterprises in 18 Chinese cities, we investigated whether property rights protection mattered for enterprise performance. We...

By 1979, with the national population close to 1 billion, the Chinese government imposed a policy to limit each family to a single child. Exceptions have been allowed only if a parent belongs to an ethnic minority or both parents are only children. How does the one-child policy explain why China...