Global supply chains, firm scope and vertical integration: evidence from China
利用中国加工贸易的海关数据，测量城市在价值链上的位置，研究企业如何沿全球供应链组织生产，发现中间品位置和替代性影响垂直整合决策，且增加值随供应链下游递增。
This article investigates how firms organize supply chains within and across countries. Utilizing highly disaggregate customs trade statistics for Chinese processing exports, I develop a novel strategy for measuring the position of cities on the value chain. By linking variation in value chain position over time and across cities, to changes in the share of exports that are foreign owned, I assess the role of sequential production in determining optimal vertical integration and firm scope along the global supply chain. I provide evidence that the supply chain position of intermediates and the degree of substitutability across sequential stages of production provide incentives for firms to own intermediate good suppliers, consistent with the theoretical predictions of Antràs and Chor (2013, Econometrica, 81: 2127–2204). Additionally, I find evidence that the value added to gross output ratio depends critically on supply chain position—value added increases as firms move down the supply chain, toward final production—which is consistent with Fally and Hillberry (2015, Working Paper 21520, NBER).