【讲座时间】5月27日（周四）上午10:00-12:00

【讲座地点】博A308会议室

【讲座主题】Why SEZs Succeed?——Evidences form Political Favoritism in China

【主讲人】中央财经大学经济学院博士研究生 亢延锟

【讲座内容】

Why do some Special Economic Zones (SEZs) succeed while others not? This question has not been well answered in the existing literature. Using a unique panel data of administrative officials of 266 SEZs and 582 firms in China from 2005 to 2018, we examine the role of political favoritism in the SEZ performance. The difference-in-differences (DID) estimate indicates that the total factor productivity (TFP) of firms in SEZs appointed with higher-level officials is about 13%-16% higher than the TFP of firms in normal SEZs. Higher-level officials mean stronger administrative powers, which can bring political favoritism to firms in their jurisdiction. Further analysis show that higher-level officials enable their firms to enjoy more preferential treatments in financing, credit, government subsidies, and administrative approvals, thus stimulating enterprise innovation. The results of our paper suggest that the success of SEZs in developing countries is related to strong administration, but this might build on the loss of surrounding areas.

【主讲人简介】

        亢延锟 中央财经大学经济学院博士研究生，研究方向为发展经济学和劳动经济学，相关成果发表在《经济研究》、《中国工业经济》、Research Policy、China Economic Review等刊物上。担任Journal of Asian Economics、《财经论丛》等期刊匿名审稿人。