On 1 June 2023, the 31st Xi Xian Academic Luncheon, co-organised by IIDPF and the School of Public Finance and Taxation, was successfully held in Conference Room 119, Wenqin Building. Dr Wan Qian, a full-time researcher at IIDPF, was the keynote speaker for this academic luncheon and gave a keynote speech entitled “Entrepreneurship during An Economic Transition”.
Whether labour market reforms in China during economic transition have contributed to the growth of entrepreneurship. Using a double difference method, Dr Wan Qian examines the impact of the massive layoffs resulting from the 1997 SOE reform on entrepreneurial activity in China during the transition period. Dr Wan's paper finds that both private firms and self-employment increased in cities where there were large layoffs after the SOE reform. For every 10,000 additional layoffs, 144 new firms entered the private sector. In contrast, the self-employed were mainly concentrated in the service and manufacturing sectors. Most of the new business start-ups were labour-intensive, while at the same time capital-intensive industries benefited from the redundancies. In the long run, while the overall survival rate of new entrants was lower over the same period, those in cities with more layoffs had higher survival rates and were more likely to create jobs. Further analysis found that laid-off executives of state-owned enterprises were more likely to become entrepreneurs than ordinary workers. The findings suggest that large-scale layoffs in state-owned enterprises during China's economic transition led to a partial reallocation of human capital into the private sector.
Dr. Wan Qian gave a wonderful lecture to the students and faculty, and at the same time triggered deep thoughts on entrepreneurship during the economic transition. During the discussion session, the participating PhDs exchanged and discussed relevant issues, and the students also spoke enthusiastically and had active interaction around research background and article identification. At this point, the academic salon came to a successful conclusion. The sharing of Dr. Wan promoted the communication and interaction of academic views between participants, and created a strong atmosphere for academic research.