A synthetic differencein-differences model for the influence of CR Express on Chongqing's economy

Purpose-The China-Europe Railway Express(CR Express)in Chongqing has operated regularly and undergone large-scale development.Its impact on Chongqing's economic growth has become increasingly evident,necessitating further research in this field.Design/methodology/approach-This study employs the opening of CR Express as a quasi-natural experiment,designating Chongqing,which inaugurated the CR Express in 2011,as the treatment group.13 provinces and cities that had not yet opened the CR Express until 2017 were selected as the control group.Utilizing panel data from 14 provinces across China spanning from 2006 to 2017,the synthetic control method(SCM)is employed to synthetically construct Chongqing.To quantify the difference in economic development levels between Chongqing with the operation of the CR express and Chongqing without its operation.Key metrics such as gross domestic product(GDP),per capita GDP,total retail sales of consumer goods,import and export value and the proportions of the secondary and tertiary industries are employed to measure urban economic development capabilities.Chongqing is designated as the experimental group,and a double-difference model is constructed to regress the operation of the CR Express against economic development capabilities.Robustness tests are conducted to validate the analytical results.Findings-The results indicate that,compared to provinces without the operation of the CR Express,the initiation of the CR Express in Chongqing significantly enhances the economic development level of the city.The opening of the CR Express exhibits a pronounced positive impact on Chongqing's economic development,and these findings remain robust and effective even after parallel trend tests and placebo tests.Originalitylvalue-The study represents an expansion of the theoretical framework.In contrast to previous studies that relied on a single indicator such as GDP,this study selects six indicators from the dimensions of economy,trade and industry to measure regional economic development capabilities.Furthermore,employing the grey relational analysis method,the study screens these indicators,thereby providing a theoretical basis for the selection of indicators for measuring regional economic development capabilities.

Social insurance for migrant workers in China:impact of the 2008 Labour Contract Law

Using the China Household Income Project(CHIP)2007,2008,and 2009 longitudinal migrant survey data,this article provides new evidence on the effects of China’s 2008 Labour Contract Law(LCL)on migrant workers’social insurance participation,including in pensions,work injury insurance,unemployment insurance,medical insurance,and the housing provident fund.We find consistently strong evidence that migrant workers’labour contract status was significantly associated with their participation in all five types of social insurance.In particular,having or gaining a long-term contract helped promote migrant workers’social insurance participation,while losing one such contract decreased their chance of social insurance participation.Using a difference-in-differences(DID)method and focussing on the panel sample,we find that the implementation of the LCL helped boost migrant workers’chance of social insurance participation consistently and significantly,especially for those who gained a long-term contract.These findings suggest that the LCL at least partly reached its intended policy goal of improving social protection for migrant workers,a disadvantaged group in the Chinese labour market.Future research should use longitudinal data and rigorous methods to track the long-term impact of this important law and help build a strong,unified social insurance system for all Chinese citizens.