The development of information and communications technologyv(ICT),particularly the Internet,has reduced trade costs.However,it remains unclear whether these reduced costs are reflected in the “extensive margins”of ...The development of information and communications technologyv(ICT),particularly the Internet,has reduced trade costs.However,it remains unclear whether these reduced costs are reflected in the “extensive margins”of firms'exports(which refer to the probability of firms exporting)or the “intensive margins”(which refer to the value of firms'export).To test this,we used the concepts of information cost and binary margins,an augmented trade model of firm heterogeneity,a two-stage Heckman estimation,and data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey of Chinese firms in 2012.The results revealed that reduced trade costs from the use of ICT were positively related to extensive margins but that the connection with intensive margins was not significant.The results lead to the conclusion that reduced information costs related to a firm's exporting behavior were primarily reflcted in variable trade cosis.This study offers theoretical and empirical evidence for China 3 policies towards the Internet,which are relevant for the export of manufactured goods.The government should encourage the use of ICT to enhance firms export opporunities while facing current trade policy uncerainty.展开更多
This paper examines homebuyer's search process and the role of real estate broker in China's urban housing market, where inactive housing resale transactions and an immature brokerage industry are distinct character...This paper examines homebuyer's search process and the role of real estate broker in China's urban housing market, where inactive housing resale transactions and an immature brokerage industry are distinct characteristics. Guangzhou is used as a case study to model the intensity and duration of the search process. This study finds that buyers make trade-off between two search costs, activity cost and duration cost. The study also demonstrates that despite the industry's immature nature, buyers using brokers do increase search intensity and shorten search duration by reducing the activity cost. Empirical results show that there is no specific buyer group who can effectively lower their search cost by their own efforts, due to the poor information transparency in the current housing market. The broker-choice model shows that besides search cost, buyers' confidence in broker's service quality can also greatly influence their choice, so improvement in service quality and reputation has important implications for China's brokerage industry.展开更多
基金the Major Programs of National Social Science Foundation of China(Nos.18ZDA095 and 17VDL012)the Ministary of Education of China Youth Fund Program(No.17YJC790110)the Department of Education of Liaoning Province's Youth Fund Program(No.LN2017QN017).
文摘The development of information and communications technologyv(ICT),particularly the Internet,has reduced trade costs.However,it remains unclear whether these reduced costs are reflected in the “extensive margins”of firms'exports(which refer to the probability of firms exporting)or the “intensive margins”(which refer to the value of firms'export).To test this,we used the concepts of information cost and binary margins,an augmented trade model of firm heterogeneity,a two-stage Heckman estimation,and data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey of Chinese firms in 2012.The results revealed that reduced trade costs from the use of ICT were positively related to extensive margins but that the connection with intensive margins was not significant.The results lead to the conclusion that reduced information costs related to a firm's exporting behavior were primarily reflcted in variable trade cosis.This study offers theoretical and empirical evidence for China 3 policies towards the Internet,which are relevant for the export of manufactured goods.The government should encourage the use of ICT to enhance firms export opporunities while facing current trade policy uncerainty.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 70440005)
文摘This paper examines homebuyer's search process and the role of real estate broker in China's urban housing market, where inactive housing resale transactions and an immature brokerage industry are distinct characteristics. Guangzhou is used as a case study to model the intensity and duration of the search process. This study finds that buyers make trade-off between two search costs, activity cost and duration cost. The study also demonstrates that despite the industry's immature nature, buyers using brokers do increase search intensity and shorten search duration by reducing the activity cost. Empirical results show that there is no specific buyer group who can effectively lower their search cost by their own efforts, due to the poor information transparency in the current housing market. The broker-choice model shows that besides search cost, buyers' confidence in broker's service quality can also greatly influence their choice, so improvement in service quality and reputation has important implications for China's brokerage industry.