Co-location and spatial wage spillovers in China: The role of foreign ownership and trade

This paper examines how wages in China are influenced by the interaction and co-location of firms across geographical space. Specifically, and with an emphasis on globally engaged firms and China’s uneven growth across regions we use a spatial econometric approach to estimate the direct and indirect impact of foreign-ownership and export participation on wages. Spatial Durbin Model results reveal an indirect effect of foreign-ownership and exporting on the compensation of workers in co-located firms as well as evidence in support of the standard direct effect that foreign firms, exporters, and firms with a highly educated workforce pay higher wages.