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We develop a co-residence model between young adults and the elderly as an application of the Shapley–Shubik–Becker bilateral matching framework. This model captures competition between adult children and between parents and parents-in-law. Using microdata from China, we estimate our model by using a network simulation method to fill in partially unobservable marriage links. We find that our model explains the child-side and parent-side competitions observed in the data better than two alternative multinomial logit models with only one-sided competition. In addition, counterfactual experiments quantify the effects of changes in the one-child policy and housing prices on intergenerational co-residence.

This paper studies the effect of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) on the dynamics of the Chinese urban labor market. Using longitudinally matched monthly panel data, we document very low labor force dynamics in the state sector, which leads to a high long-term unemployment rate. We develop and estimate an equilibrium search and matching model with three differences between the state and non-state sectors: labor productivity, labor adjustment cost, and workers’ bargaining power. Counterfactual analysis shows that, among the three channels, reducing the bargaining power of state sector workers is most effective in reducing unemployment duration and unemployment rate.

Manganese (Mn) has the potential to reduce cadmium (Cd) uptake by rice; however, the efficiency depends on its soil availability. Therefore, this study designed a slow-release Mn fertilizer by employing a polyacrylate coating. Pot trials were conducted to study the effects of coated-Mn and uncoated-Mn alone or in combination with lime on the dynamics of soil dissolved-Mn and available Cd, and the transportation of Mn and Cd within rice. The results showed that coated-Mn declined the release of Mn until the 7th day of application; however, it consistently supplied more dissolved-Mn than uncoated-Mn. As a result, coated-Mn induced a greater Cd reduction (45.8%) in brown rice than uncoated-Mn (9.7%). The total Cd of rice and its proportion in brown rice were greatly reduced by coated-Mn, indicating the inhibition of root uptake and interior transport of Cd. Additionally, lime addition prominently increased the soil pH and decreased the CaCl2-extractable Cd (90.1-93.9%). However, since lime reduced the soil dissolved-Mn, downregulated the OsHMA3 expression and upregulated the OsNramp5 expression, brown rice Cd was reduced by only 43.0%. The combined addition of lime and coated-Mn alleviated the liming effect on soil Mn and gene expression in roots, thereby reducing brown rice Cd by 71.5%.

This paper evaluates the lifetime welfare and labor market consequences of experiencing a recession during youth, using a directed search equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents and aggregate shocks. In particular, the model allows for endogenous schooling decisions over the business cycles. The counterfactual analysis shows that experiencing the 1981-1982 recession in youth causes a 1.6% to 2.3% loss in lifetime welfare. Endogenizing the schooling decision avoids overestimation of welfare loss because of the selection effect and the human capital effect. I also decompose lifetime wage changes into different channels: changes from schooling, work experience, and job mobility. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Using administrative records of home mortgages in Beijing, we show that dual-income households systematically choose to buy homes that are closer to the wife’s workplace. The wife’s commute from the newly purchased home is on average 11% shorter by distance than the husband’s. We estimate a discrete home location choice model and find that households derive substantially larger disutility from the wife’s commute than from the husband’s. Through the lens of a simple collective household model, we show evidence that the gender commute gap reflects the intra-household division of labor and relative bargaining power.

Changes in soil organic matter (SOM) can affect food security, soil and water conservation, and climate change. However, the drivers of changes in SOM in paddy soils of China are not fully understood because the effects of agricultural management and environmental factors are studied separately. Soil, climate, terrain, and agricultural management data from 6 counties selected based on representative soil types and cropping systems in China were used in correlation analysis, analysis of variance, and cforest modeling to analyze the drivers of changes in SOM in paddy soils in the Middle and Lower Yangtze River Plain from 1980 to 2011. The aims of this study were to identify the main factors driving the changes in SOM and to quantitatively evaluate their individual impacts. Results showed that the paddy SOM stock in the study area increased by 12.5% at an average rate of 0.023 kg m−2 year−1 over the 31-year study period. As a result of long-term rice planting, agricultural management practices had a greater influence than soil properties, climate, and terrain. Among the major drivers, straw incorporation, the most influential driver, together with fertilization and tillage practices, significantly increased the accumulation of SOM, while an increase in temperature significantly influenced SOM decomposition. Therefore, to confront the challenge of rising temperatures, it is important to strengthen the positive effects of agricultural management. Rational fertilizer use for stabilizing grain production and crop straw incorporation are promising measures for potential carbon sequestration in this region.

The conversion of cereal to vegetable represents a significant shift in land use in China, and it causes significant changes in soil properties. Most studies have only focused on chemical or biological properties; few have investigated soil structure. Soil structure, especially macropore space, is very important for plant growth because of its relation to important soil functions and processes, such as gas diffusion and water permeability. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of land use conversion from rice to vegetable on soil macropores (>50 μm) measured by computed tomography (CT) and to examine the relationships between CT-measured pore characteristics and soil chemical properties. By using space instead of time, we sampled three land uses – rice/wheat rotation (RWR), open-field vegetable (OFV) and plastic-greenhouse vegetable (PGV) – in a tilled and plow pan layer in a suburban area of Nanjing, China, and analyzed the basic physicochemical properties and CT-measured macropore characteristics. The results showed that the tilled layer soil had a significant response to the land use change. The macroporosity decreased from 11.5% under RWR to 8.0% under OFV and 5.8% under PGV, and the decreased portion consisted mainly of elongated large macropores (>1000 μm). In addition, the macropore morphology of vegetable fields also showed degradation, with a higher degree of anisotropy (DA) and lower fractal dimension (FD) and connectivity compared to those under RWR, but PGV experienced a higher degree of degradation than did OFV. This study also showed that soil structure degradation was significantly correlated with decreasing soil organic matter (SOM). Increasing the amount of organic fertilizer applied might improve the SOM content and therefore improve the soil structure. Based on the linear regression equation, adding 1 g of SOM per kilogram of soil can improve the macroporosity by 0.54 m3 m−3.

Using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, we estimate the long-term impact of an early career recession on various health outcomes and health-related behaviors. The early career recession is measured by the state-specific unemployment rate in the year of labor market entry. Using an instrumental variable approach, we address the potential selection issues on the timing of labor market entry. We find that first, an early career recession has an adverse impact on health status, depression, smoking, heavy drinking, illicit drug use, exercise, and daily fruit intake; and second, these adverse effects are especially pronounced among lower educated individuals.

This paper evaluates the long-term welfare consequences from experiencing a recession as youths, taking into account the impact on schooling, future job mobility, human capital accumulation, labor supply and wages. The paper also explores the mechanisms that account for lifetime wage changes by decomposing those changes into different channels: changes from schooling, from work experience, and from job mobility. To achieve these goals, this paper develops and estimates a search equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents and aggregate shocks. The model is an extension of a directed search model, the Block Recursive Equilibrium framework of Menzio and Shi (2010), which remains tractable when it is solved outside of the steady state. The counterfactual analysis shows that experiencing the 1981-1982 recession at age 16-22 causes a 2.2% to 3.0% loss in lifetime welfare. Endogenizing schooling decision avoids overestimation of the welfare loss for two reasons: first, there exists the selection of labor market entry timing and high ability individuals are more likely to postpone entry into the labor market during a recession; second, the additional schooling caused by an early career recession increases future wages and employment rate. The wage decomposition shows that the loss from job mobility explains the majority of the wage loss during the recession, and the loss in experience and tenure persists long after the recession.