Endowment Structure, Industry Dynamics and Domestic Supply Chains in China-Theory and Evidence

Abstract

This paper proposes a theoretical model and shows that the comparative advantage of China’s factor endowment allows firms specializing in the midstream stage to gain at least as much as firms that specialize in the two ends of the supply chain (capital-intensive stage and labour-intensive stage) in terms of labour productivity and profitability, if and only if their endowment structure is more consistent with a whole economy and use intermediate level of capital intensity. The empirical results are consistent with the theory’s predictions. Our findings on China’s industry supply chain production patterns provide a new angle on the division of gains in the vertical production network driven by the endowment structure. This could have far-reaching implications for the industrial development of other middle-income countries.

Keywords: Comparative Advantage, Factor Endowment Structure, labour-intensive, capital-intensive, industry chains, labour productivity, division of the gains

JEL Classification: F12, F23, F60, L14