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Using exogenous shocks on the ability to issue seasoned equity offerings (SEOs), we show SEOs lead to a higher employee skill composition, that is, a lower (higher) proportion of low (high) skilled workers. The decrease in low-skilled workers exceeds the increase in high-skilled workers, resulting in reduced employment at the firm level. These effects are more significant when firms invest more in technology following SEOs and face greater financial constraints before SEOs, suggesting that SEOs relieve budget constraints on technology investments. These findings demonstrate that while external equity financing helps upgrade technology to improve productivity, it has a dark side for low-skilled workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We collect worker month-level panel data from two companies in Beijing for a two-year period before and after the opening of a nearby subway station, which significantly improved public transportation commutes for some workers. We find a significant difference-in-differences increase (12.6% of the standard deviation) in bonus pay, which is strongly correlated to worker-level performance measures, for affected workers relative to unaffected coworkers. We find no evidence that the improved performance is a result of affected workers spending extra time at the workplace. We find suggestive evidence for a relative decline in turnover, consistent with a gain in utility for affected workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the changes of miR-155 expression in the serum of uremic patients before and after treatment and analyze the risk factors of efficacy. A total of 116 uremic patients admitted to the People's Hospital of Chengyang (Qingdao, China) were enrolled in the study as the uremia group, and were treated by hemodialysis combined with hemoperfusion, and 127 healthy subjects who underwent health examination during the same period were selected as the normal group. Reverse transcription quantitative PCR was used to detect the serum miR-155 levels of all the subjects in the two groups before treatment and those of uremia patients after treatment. The changes of clinically related indicators and inflammatory factors in uremic patients before and after treatment and their correlation with miR-155 were investigated. The risk factors affecting the efficacy of treatment were analyzed. Serum miR-155 levels in the uremia group were higher than those in the normal group (P<0.001); the miR-155 level in patients after treatment was significantly lower than that before treatment (P<0.001), and it was positively correlated with efficacy (r=0.6873, P<0.05). The serum miR-155 level in the invalid group was higher than that in the effective group, and the sensitivity and specificity of miR-155 for predicting the efficacy before treatment were 64.71 and 87.88%, respectively. After treatment, the sensitivity and specificity of miR-155 for evaluating the efficacy were 76.47 and 88.89%, respectively. Clinically related indicators and inflammatory factor levels in uremic patients decreased significantly after treatment, and the expression levels before and after treatment were significantly correlated with miR-155. Clinically related indicators, inflammatory factors and miR-155 were all risk factors affecting efficacy. The expression level of miR-155 in serum was significantly upregulated. Findings of this study suggest that monitoring miR-155 may reflect the efficacy and inflammatory state effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking advantage of China's send‐down movement as a natural experiment, we investigate how experiencing a political movement during adolescence affects political participation decades later. Using data from the China Family Panel Survey and the regression discontinuity design, we find that the send‐down experience significantly reduces individuals' political participation, measured by their participation in community committee elections, time spent on community service activities and how much they care about public news. Further analysis suggests that the send‐down experience negatively affects political participation through poorer mental health and less trust in local government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We identify the effect of trade liberalization on corporate income tax avoidance in a sample of Chinese manufacturing firms, taking advantage of China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO). We find that firms engage in more tax avoidance in industries with larger tariff reductions. Further analysis shows that firms with a lack of cash or a high demand for cash before WTO entry tend to engage in more tax avoidance after WTO entry. Our study also provides evidence that manipulating costs is one way that firms avoid corporate income tax. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the impact of educational fee reduction reform on children’s school enrolment in rural China. Using data from Gansu Survey of Children and Families, we find that the reform did not have significant impacts on school enrolment of 9–12 year old children, while the reform had significant impacts on school enrolment of 13–16 year old children. We also find that for children enrolled in 2004, the higher are the fee reductions, the higher is the probability for them to stay in school in 2007. Heterogeneous effects in terms of different characteristics are also found in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from China's Urban Household Survey and exploiting China's mandatory retirement policy, we use the regression discontinuity approach to estimate the impact of retirement on household expenditures. Retirement reduces total non-durable expenditures by 20 percent. Among the categories of non-durable expenditures, retirement reduces work-related expenditures and expenditures on food consumed at home but has an insignificant effect on entertainment expenditures. After excluding these three components, retirement does not have an effect on the remaining non-durable expenditures. It suggests that the retirement consumption puzzle might not be a puzzle if a life-cycle model with home production is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a sample of propensity-score matched overseas and domestically listed firms, we examine whether the effect of corporate governance reform ( CGR) in 2001 in China varies among firms with different ownership structures. The positive effect of the CGR is weaker for firms with more state-owned shares, and product market competition increases the effect of the CGR on such firms. These findings suggest that government regulations on corporate governance and market competition can serve as complementary solutions to agency problems that arise from state ownership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]