How Much Did China's WTO Accession Increase Economic Growth in Resource-Rich Countries?

TY - JOUR

T1 - How Much Did China's WTO Accession Increase Economic Growth in Resource-Rich Countries?

AU - Andersen, Thomas Barnebeck

AU - Barslund, Mikkel

AU - Hansen, Casper Worm

AU - Harr, Thomas

AU - Jensen, Peter Sandholt

N1 - JEL classification: F4, F62

PY - 2014/9

Y1 - 2014/9

N2 - We provide an estimate of China's impact on the growth rate of resource-rich countries after its WTO accession on 11 December 2001. Our empirical approach follows the logic of the differences-in-differences estimator. In addition to temporal variation arising from the WTO accession, which we argue was exogenous to other countries' growth trajectories, we exploit spatial variation arising from differences in natural resource wealth. This allows us to compare changes in economic growth in the post-accession period relative to the pre-accession period between countries that were able to benefit from the surge in demand for industrial commodities brought about by China's WTO accession and countries that were less able to do so. We find that roughly one tenth of average annual post-accession growth in resource-rich countries was due to China's increased appetite for commodities. We use this finding to inform the debate about what will happen to economic growth in resource-rich countries as China rebalances and its demand for commodities weakens.

AB - We provide an estimate of China's impact on the growth rate of resource-rich countries after its WTO accession on 11 December 2001. Our empirical approach follows the logic of the differences-in-differences estimator. In addition to temporal variation arising from the WTO accession, which we argue was exogenous to other countries' growth trajectories, we exploit spatial variation arising from differences in natural resource wealth. This allows us to compare changes in economic growth in the post-accession period relative to the pre-accession period between countries that were able to benefit from the surge in demand for industrial commodities brought about by China's WTO accession and countries that were less able to do so. We find that roughly one tenth of average annual post-accession growth in resource-rich countries was due to China's increased appetite for commodities. We use this finding to inform the debate about what will happen to economic growth in resource-rich countries as China rebalances and its demand for commodities weakens.

U2 - 10.1016/j.chieco.2014.05.001

DO - 10.1016/j.chieco.2014.05.001

M3 - Tidsskriftartikel

SN - 1043-951X

VL - 30

SP - 16

EP - 26

JO - China Economic Review

JF - China Economic Review

ER -