Export wage premium in China's manufacturing sector: A firm level analysis

This paper investigates whether exporting firms in Chinese manufacturing sector pay higher average wages than non-exporting firms by analyzing a large firm-level dataset derived from the Chinese Enterprise Census in 2004. Through rigorous exercises involving robust regressions, quantile regressions and nonparametric matching methods, we find that the wage premium of exporting activities is not a prevailing phenomenon in China. It is related to the heterogeneous characteristics of the firms such as ownership, export-orientation and locations. Overall, exporters located in coastal regions but Guangdong province are more likely to pay higher average wages than nonexporters, while those producing in Guangdong on average offer a lower pay.

► We analyze the export wage premium in Chinese manufacturing sector. ► Export wage premium is highly related to firm heterogeneity. ► The impact of employment structure on wages is controlled. ► Wu use the quantile regression and non-parametric matching methods.