Topic: Agricultural Imports, Labor Mobility and Welfare
Speaker: LI Rui, School of Economics, Fudan University.
Time: December 12, 2025, 10:00
Venue: EMS 440
Abstract:
Using household- and firm-level data, we find that the reduction in soybean tariffs leads to declines in agricultural labor and output, shifts in crop choices and improvements in agricultural productivity. Through labor migration, it increases urban firms' employment but decreases their productivity, while lowering employment and income of urban workers. Our quantitative analysis indicates an overall welfare loss, with significant regional and sectoral disparities. Notably, unskilled agricultural workers are the most vulnerable group. Nevertheless, this welfare effect will be substantially improved with lowered migration cost. Gradual agricultural openness is superior to complete strategy as it provides within-agriculture buffers for workers.
Speaker Profile:
LI Rui, Assistant Professor (Associate Researcher) in Economics at the School of Economics and the Center for Chinese Economic Studies, Fudan University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Western Economics in 2023. His research focuses on development economics and the Chinese economy, with particular attention to poverty issues, rural human capital accumulation, as well as agricultural policies and economic structural transformation. His main research papers have been published in journals such as American Economic Journal: Economic Policy and Applied Economics. He has led projects including the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Youth Program (Category C) and the Ministry of Education Humanities and Social Sciences Youth Foundation Project. He has also received funding from the Shanghai "Super Postdoctoral" Talent Program.
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