The Tenth International Annual Workshop on New Structural Economics (NSE) was successfully held in Peking University on December 18 to 19, 2023. The Workshop, hosted by the Institute of New Structural Economics (INSE) at Peking University, brought together worldwide scholars to exchange research ideas and findings on four main subjects including “Trade & Knowledge Diffusion”, “Macroeconomics”, “Growth & Development” and “Equity & Inclusion”.

At the opening session on December 18, Professor Justin Yifu Lin, Dean of INSE at Peking University, gave a short opening remark, expressing sincere gratitude to the participants for their support. He systematically introduced the framework and significance of new structural economics, and looked forward to the prospect of the development of new structural economics. Associate Professor Yong Wang, Academy Deputy Dean of INSE at Peking University and Secretary-General of New Structural Economics Research Alliance, chaired the opening session.

Jianjun Miao, Professor at Boston University, presented a paper entitled “Capital Income Jumps and Wealth Distribution”. This paper develops a tractable macro framework with exponential-tailed wealth distribution and derives a analytical solution to highlight how capital income jump risks affect the wealth distribution. And they also explore the implication of capital taxation (and taxing the super-rich). Professor Shenghao Zhu of University of International Business and Economics gave comments.

Session C

In the morning of December 19, Beijing time, session C “Growth and Development” was chaired by Lijun Zhu, Assistant Professor of INSE at Peking University. Four papers were discussed in this session.

Ping Wang, Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, presented a paper entitled “Britain-China Trade, Opium Wars and Bans, and the Colonization of Hong Kong: A Staged-Development Approach”. The paper suggests the international trade pattern and political economy cause behind the first and second Opium War by a staged-development model, and gives counterfactual analysis under certain parameters. Rongsheng Tang, Associate Professor at Liaoning University, discussed the paper.

Yongseok Shin, Professor at Washington University in St Louis, presented a paper entitled “The Plant-Level View of an Industrial Policy: The Korean Heavy Industry Drive of 1973”. The paper analyses the effect of heavy industry policy in Korea on the establishment size, TFP, and allocation efficiency of targeted and non-targeted industries by plant-level data. Ying Feng, Assistant Professor at National University of Singapore, discussed the paper.

Xuewen Liu, Professor at Hong Kong University, presented a paper entitled “Consumption-led Industrial Upgrading”. This paper introduces a growth model with interaction between consumption upgrading and industrial upgrading. Linyi Cao, Assistant Professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, discussed the paper.

Kaiji Chen, Associate Professor at Emory University, presented a paper entitled “Preferential Credit Subsidy with Sectoral Markup Heterogeneity”. The paper suggests that sectors with higher markups are likely to receive credit subsidy, and the sectoral-specific preferential policies can be used to improve aggregate productive efficiency by reducing sectoral markup dispersion, despite the inefficiency introduced by lower firm entering and exiting. Helu Jiang, Assistant Professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, discussed the paper.

Session D

In the afternoon of December 19, session D “Equity and Inclusion” was chaired by Chunzan Wu, Assistant Professor of INSE at Peking University. Four papers were discussed at this session.

Rachel Ngai, Professor from London School of Economics and Political Science, presented a paper entitled “ Structural Transformation over 150 Years of Women's and Men's Work”. The paper examined the evolution of employment for women and men through a structural transformation perspective, noting a U-shaped trend in women's employment due to declines in agriculture and rises in service industries, in contrast to a steady decline in male employment linked to decreases in agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Several scholars offered comments and discussions on this paper.

Branko Milanovic, professor at City University of New York, presented a paper entitled “The Three Eras of Global Inequality, 1820-2020 with The Focus on the Past Thirty Years.” This paper segmented two centuries of global income inequality into three main phases, highlighting that future trends in global inequality are more dependent on changes in India and African nations than China. Li Yang, researcher at Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research provided commentary.

Finn Tarp, professor from University of Copenhagen, presented a paper entitled “Using Role Models to Inspire Marginalized Groups: A Cautionary Tale.” The paper explored empirical evidence on the impact of role model interventions, finding no effect on business activities and a potential decrease in income for households exposed to ethnic minority role models. Branko Milanovic, Professor at City University of New York commented on the paper.

Partha Dasgupta, professor from University of Cambridge, presented a paper entitled “Economic Development the Anthropocene.” This paper addresses the profound impact of economic activities on the Earth's biosphere since the mid-20th century. He emphasizes the significant increase in global GDP and population, juxtaposed against the decline in natural capital, such as forests, wetlands, and biodiversity. The paper critically assesses the traditional GDP-centric view of economic growth, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable development strategies that balance economic growth with environmental protection. Justin Yifu Lin, Dean of INSE at Peking University, commented on the paper.