Recently, a co-authored paper by Professor Yu Miaojie, Fellow of the International Economic Association and Party Committee Deputy Secretary and President of Liaoning University, along with Tian Wei, Tenured Associate Professor at the School of Economics of Peking University, and their jointly supervised Ph.D. student Ji Yu from the School of Economics of Peking University, titled "China Shock Versus COVID-19 Pandemic: Which Matters More for Job Losses?" has been officially published in the international economics journalThe World Economy.
Paper Abstract
Existing research has found that both import penetration from China ("China Shock") and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to job losses in the United States. However, few articles simultaneously consider and compare the impacts of trade and the pandemic on employment, thus this paper empirically fills this gap. Using U.S. state-level panel data from 2017 to 2021, this paper finds that both increased Chinese import penetration and rising COVID-19 case numbers reduced the share of U.S. manufacturing employment, but the impact of Chinese import penetration was greater. The results remain robust after controlling for macroeconomic factors, vaccinations, imports of medical supplies, and other factors. The impacts of trade and the pandemic on employment exhibit industry heterogeneity. Employment in the service sector declined significantly under the impact of the worsening COVID-19 pandemic but was not directly affected by imports from China. Compared to capital-intensive manufacturing, employment in labor-intensive manufacturing was more significantly affected by Chinese import penetration and COVID-19. Furthermore, heterogeneity analysis reveals that the influence of these two factors also varies across states with different economic conditions and emotional responses to the pandemic.
Journal Introduction
The World Economyis an important core journal (SSCI) in the field of economics published by the renowned academic publisher Wiley. It consistently focuses on international trade and open economy issues and holds significant influence in the field of international economics. Its core topics regularly cover trade policy, international finance, trade and development, environmental economics, and analysis of international economic relations.
Authors Profile
Yu Miaojie,Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President of Liaoning University.
He is a Fellow of the International Economic Association (IEA), a Distinguished Yangtze River Scholar, a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, an Outstanding Young Scientist of Beijing, and a Boya Distinguished Professor at Peking University. Currently, he serves as a Deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, a Special Supervisor of the National Supervisory Commission, and an Associate Editor of the *Economic Journal*, a top-tier international economics publication. He also enjoys the special governmental allowance from the State Council.
As an economist, he ranks among the top 1% most-cited scholars globally in economics and management and remains the only Chinese scholar to date to have been awarded the "Royal Economic Society Prize."
Tian Wei,Tenured Associate Professor at the Department of International Economics and Trade, School of Economics, Peking University.
His research focuses on trade liberalization, import-export enterprises, and foreign direct investment, among other areas. His work has been published in prominent domestic and international academic journals, including *Economic Research*, *Management World*, *The Journal of World Economy*, *Economic Journal*, *The World Economy*, and *Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions & Money*. His research achievements have been recognized with awards such as the "An Zijie" International Trade Research Award.
He is also the author of the monograph *Outward Foreign Direct Investment of Chinese Enterprises*, among other publications.
Ji Yu,Ph.D. candidate in the School of Economics, Peking University, specializing in World Economics.
Her research has been published in journals such as The World Economy and Journal of Xinjiang Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition).
