We study how goods- and labor-market frictions affect aggregate labor productivity in China. Combining unique data with a general equilibrium model of internal and international trade, and migration across regions and sectors, we quantify the magnitude and consequences of trade and migration costs. The costs were high in 2000, but declined afterward. The decline accounts for 36 percent of the aggregate labor productivity growth between 2000 and 2005. Reductions in internal trade and migration costs are more important than reductions in external trade costs. Despite the decline, migration costs are still high and potential gains from further reform are large. (JEL E24, F16, J24, P23, P25, R12, R23)

In this paper we measure the distortions in the allocation of labor and capital across provinces and sectors in China for the period 1985-2007. Most existing studies have measured factor market distortions by using some index of dispersion in individual factor returns. However, the map between these dispersion measures and the efficiency loss due to distortions is not clear, especially when there is more than one factor. In this paper, we follow Hsieh and Klenow (2009)'s strategy by measuring the factor market distortions as the reduction in aggregate TFP due to distortions. We extend their analysis by decomposing the overall distortions into between-province and within-province inter-sectoral distortions. We find: (1) For the period between 1985 and 2007, the distortions in factor allocation reduced aggregate TFP by about 31% on average, with the within-province distortions accounting for more than half of the reduction; (2) the measure of between-province distortions was relatively constant over the period; (3) the measure of within-province distortions declined between 1985 and 1997, contributing to 0.96% TFP growth per year, but then increased significantly in the last ten years, reducing the aggregate TFP growth rate by 1.41% a year; and (4) almost all of the within-province distortions can be accounted for by the misallocation of capital between the state and the non-state sectors.

In this paper we measure the distortions in the allocation of labor and capital across provinces and sectors in China for the period 1985-2007. Most existing studies have measured factor market distortions by using some index of dispersion in individual factor returns. However, the map between these dispersion measures and the efficiency loss due to distortions is not clear, especially when there is more than one factor. In this paper, we follow Hsieh and Klenow (2009)'s strategy by measuring the factor market distortions as the reduction in aggregate TFP due to distortions. We extend their analysis by decomposing the overall distortions into between-province and within-province inter-sectoral distortions. We find: (1) For the period between 1985 and 2007, the distortions in factor allocation reduced aggregate TFP by about 31% on average, with the within-province distortions accounting for more than half of the reduction; (2) the measure of between-province distortions was relatively constant over the period; (3) the measure of within-province distortions declined between 1985 and 1997, contributing to 0.96% TFP growth per year, but then increased significantly in the last ten years, reducing the aggregate TFP growth rate by 1.41% a year; and (4) almost all of the within-province distortions can be accounted for by the misallocation of capital between the state and the non-state sectors.

Agriculture in poor countries has low productivity, high employment, and negligible trade flows relative to other sectors. These facts motivate a multisector, open-economy view of international productivity differences. With a quantitative multicountry model featuring nonhomothetic preferences, multiple interrelated sectors, distorted labor markets, and costly trade, I find: trade amplifies the negative effect of labor market distortions; trade costs—large for poor countries, especially in agriculture—significantly contribute to international productivity differences; and explicitly modeling agriculture reveals additional channels through which poor countries may gain from trade. (JEL F41, J24, J43, O13, O19, Q11, Q17)

Background Public support of public health measures including physical distancing, masking, staying home while sick, avoiding crowded indoor spaces and contact tracing/exposure notification applications remains critical for reducing spread of COVID-19. The aim of our work was to understand current behaviours and attitudes towards public health measures as well as barriers individuals face in following public health measures. We also sought to identify attitudes persons have regarding a COVID-19 vaccine and reasons why they may not accept a vaccine. Methods A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in August 2020, in Alberta, Canada in persons 18 years and older. This survey evaluated current behaviours, barriers and attitudes towards public health measures and a COVID-19 vaccine. Cluster analysis was used to identify key patterns that summarize data variations among observations. Results Of the 60 total respondents, the majority of persons were always or often physically distancing (73%), masking (65%) and staying home while sick (67%). Bars/pubs/lounges or nightclubs were visited rarely or never by 63% of respondents. Persons identified staying home while sick to provide the highest benefit (83%) in reducing spread of COVID-19. There were a large proportion of persons who had not downloaded or used a contact tracing/exposure notification app (77%) and who would not receive a COVID-19 vaccine when available (20%) or were unsure (12%). Reporting health authorities as most trusted sources of health information was associated with greater percentage of potential uptake of vaccine but not related to contact tracing app download and use. Individuals with lower concern of getting and spreading COVID-19 showed the least uptake of public health measures except for avoiding public places such as bars. Lower concern regarding COVID-19 was also associated with more negative responses to taking a potential COVID-19 vaccine. Conclusion These results suggest informational frames and themes focusing on individual risks, highlighting concern for COVID-19 and targeting improving trust for health authorities may be most effective in increasing public health measures. With the ultimate goal of preventing spread of COVID-19, understanding persons’ attitudes towards both public health measures and a COVID-19 vaccine remains critical to addressing barriers and implementing targeted interventions and messaging to improve uptake.

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Does trade within a country affect welfare and productivity? What are the magnitude and consequences of costs to such trade? To answer these questions, we exploit unique Canadian data to measure internal trade costs in a variety of ways—they are large and vary across sectors and provinces. To quantify their consequences for welfare and productivity, we use a recent multi‐sector trade model featuring rich input–output relationships. We find interprovincial trade is an important contributor to Canada's GDP and welfare, though there are significant costs to such trade. Reducing interprovincial trade costs by 10% yields aggregate gains of 0.9%; eliminating our preferred estimates of costs, gains average between 3% and 7%—equivalent to real GDP gains between $50 billion and $130 billion. Finally, as policy reforms are often sector specific, we liberalize sectors one at a time and find gains are largest in highly interconnected industries.

Disclosure programs exist in many industries in which consumersQ uality disclosure programs exist in many industries in which consumers are imperfectly informed about product quality.1 A growing empirical literature on disclosure programs has documented that disclosure can facilitate better matches between consumers and suppliers and improve the level of quality supplied by firms. However, there is also evidence that disclosure programs can have unanticipated and, in some cases, undesirable outcomes if firms attempt to improve their reported quality through actions that are harmful to consumer welfare. Examples of this type of behavior-which is often termed "gaming"-have been found in a number of contexts including educational accountability and health care. 2 While there has been a considerable amount of work establishing how disclosure programs may affect the behavior of firms, this work has not explicitly considered how the external 1 See Dranove and Jin (2010) for a review of the literature on disclosure programs.