Abstract
本文使用新搜集的近代电力数据，考察20世纪初电力供给的迅速扩张对工业发展的影响。借助1875—1936年的面板数据，基准回归使用双重差分和工具变量法发现电力供给促进了当地工业企业进入。为进一步考察电力对企业生产过程的影响，我们基于棉纺织业的微观企业数据，发现电力供给增加后，企业在生产过程中投入了更多的劳动力和纱锭，提高了产品质量；同时，电力的影响主要集中在生产率较高的小企业上，从而提升了整个行业的组织效率。
We use latest digitized data on historical electric power plants to study the impact of power plants on industrial growth in early twentieth-century China. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find the expansion of electricity has increased the number of recent established industrial firms in the same county. We further use historical urban population and international coal price to construct an instrumental variable. We then use firm-level data on the textile industry to examine the effect on firms’ production and find that the expansion of electricity mainly affect the smaller and more productive firms, thus has enhanced the efficiency of the industry.
We use latest digitized data on historical electric power plants to study the impact of power plants on industrial growth in early twentieth-century China. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find the expansion of electricity has increased the number of recent established industrial firms in the same county. We further use historical urban population and international coal price to construct an instrumental variable. We then use firm-level data on the textile industry to examine the effect on firms’ production and find that the expansion of electricity mainly affect the smaller and more productive firms, thus has enhanced the efficiency of the industry.
| Translated title of the contribution | Expansion of Electricity and Industrial Growth in Early Twentieth-Century China |
|---|---|
| Original language | Chinese (Simplified) |
| Pages (from-to) | 189-204 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | 经济学 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 26 Jan 2024 |
User-Defined Keywords
- 电力
- 工业发展
- 能源基础设施
- electricity
- industrial development
- energy infrastructure
