Toshihiro Okubo, Keio University: Ha and Trinh conduct factor analysis of employment growth, in particular the contribution of exports to employment growth in China, using the annual China Industrial Productivity Database (1981–2010). As a result, their paper finds that the contribution of exports to job creation has significantly increased in manufacturing as well as agriculture. Their result is comparable to other countries. To understand the result, we need to pay an attention to China's peculiar economic system. Specifically, there are three main aspects that are worthwhile to consider.
The first aspect is final demand. Population concentration to urban areas in China is substantial. Urban consumers are always the drivers for final demand and consumption trends. Likewise, manufacturing sectors concentrate on urban areas and coastal areas (e.g., special economic zone, Wang 2013). In other words, regional bias in final demand is critical in understanding their empirical investigation.
The second point...