How headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership: Evidence from China's annual survey of industrial enterprises, 1999–2008

Industrial wages have increased significantly in China in recent years. At the same time, there have been widening gaps in wages across provinces. These trends are likely to prompt company headquarters to relocate. The relocation choices of headquarters are likely to change under different ownership...

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Main Authors: Wang, Qingtao, Chen, Kevin Z., Chiang, Longwen, Xie, Xuanli
Format: Artículo preliminar
Language:Inglés
Published: International Food Policy Research Institute 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147762
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author Wang, Qingtao
Chen, Kevin Z.
Chiang, Longwen
Xie, Xuanli
author_browse Chen, Kevin Z.
Chiang, Longwen
Wang, Qingtao
Xie, Xuanli
author_facet Wang, Qingtao
Chen, Kevin Z.
Chiang, Longwen
Xie, Xuanli
author_sort Wang, Qingtao
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Industrial wages have increased significantly in China in recent years. At the same time, there have been widening gaps in wages across provinces. These trends are likely to prompt company headquarters to relocate. The relocation choices of headquarters are likely to change under different ownership, as a result of variations in their internal capabilities as well as the distinctive nature of their businesses. This paper is the first attempt to examine the effects of rising wages on headquarters’ relocation by ownership. Data were obtained from the China Statistical Yearbook and the Annual Survey of Industrial Enterprises for the period 1998 through 2008. These data allow for differentiation among companies with regard to five types of enterprises: foreign owned, Sino-foreign owned, state owned, domestically joint owned, and privately owned. We use a conditional logit model to identify factors to determine which province headquarters chose to relocate. In addition, we consider the impact of these choices on the “minimum wage standard” introduced in 2004. Results indicate that wages insignificantly affected the relocation choice of all types of headquarters before 2004. After 2004, on average, headquarters were more likely to relocate to low-wage provinces, as predicted by “overall cost leadership.” However, we also find that relocation choices are significantly affected by ownership type. While privately owned and state-owned enterprises are likely to relocate to areas with lower wages, foreign-owned headquarters tend to relocate to high-wage areas, as predicted by the “efficiency wage theory.” Wages did not affect the relocation choices of Sino-foreign-owned companies, but had a negative effect on those of domestically joint-owned headquarters.
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spelling CGSpace1477622025-11-06T07:24:50Z How headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership: Evidence from China's annual survey of industrial enterprises, 1999–2008 Wang, Qingtao Chen, Kevin Z. Chiang, Longwen Xie, Xuanli wages ownership industrialization Industrial wages have increased significantly in China in recent years. At the same time, there have been widening gaps in wages across provinces. These trends are likely to prompt company headquarters to relocate. The relocation choices of headquarters are likely to change under different ownership, as a result of variations in their internal capabilities as well as the distinctive nature of their businesses. This paper is the first attempt to examine the effects of rising wages on headquarters’ relocation by ownership. Data were obtained from the China Statistical Yearbook and the Annual Survey of Industrial Enterprises for the period 1998 through 2008. These data allow for differentiation among companies with regard to five types of enterprises: foreign owned, Sino-foreign owned, state owned, domestically joint owned, and privately owned. We use a conditional logit model to identify factors to determine which province headquarters chose to relocate. In addition, we consider the impact of these choices on the “minimum wage standard” introduced in 2004. Results indicate that wages insignificantly affected the relocation choice of all types of headquarters before 2004. After 2004, on average, headquarters were more likely to relocate to low-wage provinces, as predicted by “overall cost leadership.” However, we also find that relocation choices are significantly affected by ownership type. While privately owned and state-owned enterprises are likely to relocate to areas with lower wages, foreign-owned headquarters tend to relocate to high-wage areas, as predicted by the “efficiency wage theory.” Wages did not affect the relocation choices of Sino-foreign-owned companies, but had a negative effect on those of domestically joint-owned headquarters. 2016-12-23 2024-06-21T09:23:17Z 2024-06-21T09:23:17Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147762 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146405 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147730 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Wang, Qingtao; Chen, Kevin Z.; Chiang, Longwen; and Xie, Xuanli. 2016. How headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership: Evidence from China's annual survey of industrial enterprises, 1999–2008. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1593. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147762
spellingShingle wages
ownership
industrialization
Wang, Qingtao
Chen, Kevin Z.
Chiang, Longwen
Xie, Xuanli
How headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership: Evidence from China's annual survey of industrial enterprises, 1999–2008
title How headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership: Evidence from China's annual survey of industrial enterprises, 1999–2008
title_full How headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership: Evidence from China's annual survey of industrial enterprises, 1999–2008
title_fullStr How headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership: Evidence from China's annual survey of industrial enterprises, 1999–2008
title_full_unstemmed How headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership: Evidence from China's annual survey of industrial enterprises, 1999–2008
title_short How headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership: Evidence from China's annual survey of industrial enterprises, 1999–2008
title_sort how headquarters relocation is affected by rising wages and ownership evidence from china s annual survey of industrial enterprises 1999 2008
topic wages
ownership
industrialization
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147762
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