The allocative and welfare effects of disrupting supply chains by government interventions: Local content requirement in China
89 Pages Posted: 2 May 2022 Last revised: 26 Mar 2024
Date Written: October 30, 2023
Abstract
Local content requirement (LCR) by local governments protects local interests and disrupts buyer-supplier chains since it requests local firms to buy the outputs of other local firms as inputs. Hence, they affect firms' location choices, as buyer-supplier chains affect cost-effectiveness. I find that LCR shapes the spatial distribution of firm entry through this mechanism. Favoritism by local career-driven leaders under economic decentralization is the main driver. A novel spatial quantitative model indicates that eradicating LCR enhances welfare, by reducing mismatches between buyers and suppliers and between firms and locations.
Keywords: local protectionism, production networks, spatial allocation of firms, favoritism, internal trade barrier, non-cooperative game, welfare
JEL Classification: D22, D73, F13, L5, L14, L98, P16
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