Nam Seok Kim: Trade liberalization of China in the early 2000s is one of the most widely studied shocks in the international trade literature. Both direct and indirect impacts of Chinese trade liberalization have provided active discussions across economists, policymakers, and political parties. In understanding the economic and political outcomes of Chinese trade liberalization, different perspectives focus on different channels between Chinese trade liberalization and its outcome. For example, the change in wages in counterpart nations’ local labor markets is widely mentioned as the most notable phenomenon.1 Also, consequential results from the wage effect are understood as the key driving force behind the political phenomenon in counterpart nations.2 Or, firm-level productivity requires careful empirical attention when the impact of Chinese trade liberalization needs to be studied in terms of firm dynamics, such as firm-level entry and exit, learning by trading, and firm growth.
Even though insights from these...