NADS Held 11th "Theory and Policy" Seminar

On June 1st, 2018, the National Academy of Development and Strategy of Renmin University of China held the eleventh "Theory and Policy" seminar. The guest speaker invited by this session was Dai Mi, associate professor of the School of Economics and Business Administration of Beijing Normal University.

In this seminar, Associate Professor Dai Mi introduced his study How Do Households Adjust to Trade Liberalization? Evidence from China's WTO Accession. Since the beginning of the seminar, he pointed out that after China’s accession to the WTO, some regions, industries, and families have been experiencing an unavoidable impact, how will those people whose interests have been lost react to such changes? This question has led to his research on households, who investigated the behavior and results of trade liberalization on Chinese urban families. The impact of this study explored the regional differences in tariff reductions caused by the accession to the WTO, and they found that areas originally dedicated to industries facing major tariff reductions experienced a relative decline in wages. Households responded to such income shocks in a variety of ways. The family members work more, especially in the non-tradable sector. Second, more young people live with their parents, so the family size increases. Third, the family saves less. These behaviors significantly ease the negative wage shocks casued by trade liberalization.

Through further research, they found that the greater the decline in tariffs, the slower the increase in the wages of workers, and at the same time, the proportion of workers. This situation occurs in the non-tradable area. In the newly added workforce, women and the elderly occupy a larger proportion than men and young people. In addition, the greater the reduction in tariffs, the greater the number of young people who choose to live with the elderly.

The seminar was presided over by the NADS teacher Zou Jingxian. Many teachers and classmates from both inside and outside the school participated in the seminar and had in-depth discussions with the keynote speakers on related issues.

(Article from Division of Teachers and Post-Doctor Affairs, NADS; Photo/Writing: Intern Liang Kun)