We employ a unique dataset on Chinese firm registration to examine how hometown ties in political network affect capital allocation. We use a quasi experimental design that relies on the relocation of officials across Chinese cities. We find that hometown ties between city party secretaries...

In this paper, I study the effects of the construction of high-speed railway (HSR) on the spatial distribution of firms in China, from the perspectives of spatial production networks. Exploiting exogenous variations of the slope of the terrain and the distance to the historical sites, I document...

In this paper, I study the effects of corruption on firm innovation, using a data set that covers the registration and patent application records of the universe of firms in China. I provide empirical evidence that corruption significantly deters innovation. Such effects are stronger for...

In this paper, we examine whether city Party Secretaries in different cities who were born in the same locality implement similar policies, which are measured using a unique data set constructed from city governments’ work reports. We find that they implement divergent policies. The...

We examine how hometown ties among local politicians affect capital allocation in China. We use a difference-in-differences design that relies on the exogenous replacements of city officials. Our results indicate that hometown ties between city party secretaries increase city-dyad investment by...

In this paper, we study the effects of state-owned-enterprise (SOE) reform, an economically efficient policy, on distrust towards the government that leads to political inefficiency. Exploiting variations in SOE reform and duration of exposure to the reform and using distance from the oversight...

In this paper, I study how 2007-2009 US financial crisis reshaped the structure of production networks and transmitted shocks from financial and real-estate (F/R) sectors to the entire economy through production networks. Sectors that are more closely related to F/R sectors lose more buyers and...

In this paper, I examine the role of firm lobbying in shaping the structure of US production networks, and its implications for misallocation in production networks across space. Using several instrumental variable strategies, I establish that firms that lobby have more buyers and suppliers, and...

This article studies a networked organization in which agents work to directly increase the team’s output and help neighbors to reduce the disutility of working. I establish the existence and uniqueness of the equilibrium of a two-stage game in which agents first decide how much helping effort...