Economics: Sivesind Memorial Lecture
| Date/Time: | Friday, 07 Mar 2014 from 3:40 pm to 5:00 pm |
|---|---|
| Location: | 368A Heady Hall |
| Cost: | Free |
| URL: | http://www.econ.iastate.edu/about-depart...hael-song- |
| Phone: | 515-294-6740 |
| Channel: | College of Agriculture and Life Sciences |
| Categories: | Lectures |
| Actions: | Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder |
Bio
Zheng (Michael) Song is an associate professor of economics at Booth. Prior to joining Booth he served as an assistant professor in the department of economics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and as a research fellow in the school of economics at Fudan University in Shanghai, China. Song studies macroeconomics, Chinese economy, and political economy. He has published papers in leading journals including American Economic Review and Econometrica. He is an associate editor of Journal of European Economic Association, and serves as a guess editor of China Economic Review. Song earned his PhD in economics from the Institute for International Economic Studies, Stockholm University. He also holds an MPhil in economics from the University College London, an MA in economics from Fudan University, and a BA in economics from Shanghai Institute for Foreign Trade.
Abstract
Starting in the late 1990s, China undertook a dramatic transformation of the large number of firms under state control. Most small state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were privatized or closed. In contrast, large SOEs were corporatized and merged into large industrial groups under the control of the Chinese state. Detailed firm level data shows that from 1998 to 2007, (i) exit SOEs had smaller size and lower labor and capital productivity than the corporatized SOEs; (ii) labor productivity of SOEs were quickly converging to that of privately owned firms, while the convergence of capital productivity was less dramatic; (iii) total factor productivity (TFP) growth of SOEs was substantially faster than that of private firms. We find suggestive evidence that competition within SOEs and reduction of redundant workers are important for the convergence of TFP and labor productivity. The overall welfare gain of the reforms turns out to be subtle. Despite its great achievement in growing TFP and reducing labor distortions, "Grasp the Large" has surprisingly small or even negative effects on aggregate output.
Charles Sivesind Memorial Lecture
This seminar honors the memory of Charlie Sivesind, a 1975 PhD in the Department of Economics at Iowa State University. Charlie was a visiting assistant professor in this department during the 1974-75 academic year. He also taught courses at Fordham, Colombia, New York, and Pace Universities. From 1975 until early 1979 he worked as an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. From the time he left the New York Fed until his death, he was employed as a financial economist by Morgan Stanley & Co. During the five years of his professional life, Charlie became a well-known and highly respected monetary economist. In 1977, he won the Abram Award of the National Association of Business Economists for applied economic research.