We model firm adaptation to local factor markets in which firms care about both the price and availability of inputs. The model is estimated by combining firm and population census data, and quantifies the role of factor markets in input use, productivity and welfare. Considering China's diverse factor markets, we find that within an industry interquartile labor costs vary by 30-80%, leading to 3-12% interquartile differences in TFP. In general equilibrium, homogenization of labor markets would increase real income by 1.33%. Favorably endowed regions attract more economic activity, providing new insights into withina??country comparative advantage and specialization.

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1 March 2018

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Journal of Industrial Economics 66(1) , pp.126-171, 2018

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DOI: 10.1111/joie.12165

This Journal article is published under the centre's Trade programme.