Time:2023/03/06 (Mon.), 9:00 -10:30 (Beijing Time)

Title:  Industrial clusters in the long run: Evidence from Million-Rouble plants in China

Zoom ID: 834 1944 1515

Password:201512

About the speaker:

Marlon Seror is an assistant professor at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). His research stands at the crossroads of Development Economics, Urban Economics, and Economic History. It relies extensively on original data and GIS techniques.

Abstract:

This paper identifies the negative spillovers exerted by large, successful factories on other local production units in China. A short-lived cooperation program between the U.S.S.R. and China led to the construction of 156 Million-Rouble plants in the 1950s. The identification exploits the ephemeral geopolitical context and exogenous variation in location decisions due to the relative position of allied and enemy airbases. We find a rise-and-fall pattern in counties hosting a factory and show that a double curse explains their long-run decline. The analysis of production linkages shows that a very large cluster of non-innovative establishments enjoys technological rents along the production chain of Million-Rouble plants. This industrial concentration reduces the local supply of entrepreneurs.