We exploit exogenous variation in turnovers of China's municipal political leaders to study how political incentives affect firms' strategic tax avoidance behavior. We document robust cycles in corporate tax compliance corresponding with the timing of political turnovers. Specifically, we find...

This paper provides robust empirical evidence that trade liberalization significantly impact corporate financing decisions. Trade liberalization results in changes in tariff schedules in both domestic and foreign markets, which are most likely exogenous to individual firms. Our empirical...

Using iterative experiments to uncover causal links between critical policy details and outcomes helps to optimize policy design. This paper studies a large-scale staged fiscal stimulus program conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, in which a provincial government in China disbursed digital...

One of the civil law consequences of corruption currently prescribed under Chinese law is that a contract may be rendered void by virtue of its connection with corruption. By providing for five such circumstances, art 52 of China's Contract Law reflects an absolutist approach that nullifies any...