We study the effects of state-owned enterprise (SOE) privatization on political distrust and social unrest in China. Exploiting variations in geography, time, and life-cycle stage induced by the influential 1998-2002 SOE reform and instrumental variable estimation, we document that working-age...

We (re)evaluate the general-equilibrium effects of (environmental) policies from the perspectives of input-output networks and firm dynamics. Using China's carbon emission trading system (ETS) as an example, we find that ETS leads to more patent applications, especially the ones associated with...

In this paper, I study a principal-multiagent model in which the principal adopts relative performance evaluation (RPE) as the compensation scheme, and agents are connected in an information network. The ability of each agent is private information, but adjacent agents in the information network...

In this paper, I study how 2007-2009 US financial crisis reshaped the structure of production networks and transmitted shocks from financial and real-estate (F/R) sectors to the entire economy through production networks. Sectors that are more closely related to F/R sectors lose more buyers and...

In this paper, I examine the role of firm lobbying in shaping the structure of US production networks, and its implications for misallocation in production networks across space. Using several instrumental variable strategies, I establish that firms that lobby have more buyers and suppliers, and...

In this paper, I study the effects of corruption on firm innovation, using a data set that covers the registration and patent application records of the universe of firms in China. I provide empirical evidence that corruption significantly deters innovation. Such effects are stronger for...

In this paper, we study the effects of state-owned-enterprise (SOE) reform, an economically efficient policy, on distrust towards the government that leads to political inefficiency. Exploiting variations in SOE reform and duration of exposure to the reform and using distance from the oversight...

We examine how hometown ties among local politicians affect capital allocation in China. We use a difference-in-differences design that relies on the exogenous replacements of city officials. Our results indicate that hometown ties between city party secretaries increase city-dyad investment by...

This article studies a networked organization in which agents work to directly increase the team’s output and help neighbors to reduce the disutility of working. I establish the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium of a two-stage game in which agents first decide how much helping effort...

In this paper, we examine how social networks among political leaders matter for state capacity. Using a unique data set covering the government work reports of city and central governments, we find that city leaders with hometown connections with Politburo Standing Committee Members implement...