Theme：Fly to Trade: Effects of International Direct Flights on Chinese Cities’Trade

Lecturer：Shihe Fu

Time：2022.05.22 10:00

Site：EMS B444

  Abstract:

  This paper estimates the causal effect of international direct flights on cities’ international trade, usingChinese customs transaction-level trade data and flight route data from 2000 to 2015 anda staggered differences-in-differences approach.On average a Chinese city’s exports to a destination country (imports from a source country) increase by 11.2% (8.6%) after a direct flight route is launched between the city and the country. This positive effect is stronger for the industries with higher face-to-face communication intensity and higher contract intensity, suggesting that international direct flights reduce cost of international trips and promote face-to-face interactions among international business people.

  Introduction to the lecturer：

  Shihe Fu received his Ph.D. in economics from Boston College in 2005. He is currently a professor at the School of Economics and Zou Zhizhuang Center for Economic Research of Xiamen University. His main research areas are urban economics, labor economics and environmental economics. The study was published in the Journal of Urban Economics, Journal of Labor Economics,Journal of Environmental Economics and Management,Journal of Public Economics,Journal of Development Economics,Review of Economics and Statistics,Economic Journal,Economic Research And other journals. He is on the editorial board of SSCI journals Growth and Change, China and World Economy, and Plos One.