Does the Establishment of Free Trade Zones Raise Labour Income Shares: From the Perspective of Employment Structure and Skill Wages of Workers
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Abstract Based on the data of A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2022, this paper constructs the theoretical framework of “ the establishment of FTZ-employment structure and skill wage allocation-labour income share ”, and adopts the multi-period DID model system to examine the impact and mechanism of the establishment of FTZ on the labour income share of enterprises. There are following findings: Firstly, the establishment of a free trade zone has significantly increased the share of enterprises’ labor income. This conclusion is still valid after considering the heterogeneity treatment effect and passing the robustness test; Secondly, the heterogeneity analysis shows that the effect of the FTZ on the labour income share of enterprises is more significant in the non-state-owned enterprises, labour-intensive enterprises, low-financing-constraint enterprises and high-tech industries; Thirdly, the mechanism test indicates that the FTZ promotes the increase of labour income share through the dual path of optimizing the labour skill structure and expanding the skill wage premium; Finally, the FTZ policy significantly promotes the growth of total factor productivity of enterprises through the enhancement of labour income share, which helps enterprises to achieve the high-quality development goal of efficiency and fairness. This study provides micro-evidence for the policy of the free trade zone to optimize the allocation of labor factors and promote high-quality development, and has policy implications for improving the income distribution system and achieving the goal of common prosperity.
HE Xiaogang,MAO Shenya,CAO Yan. Does the Establishment of Free Trade Zones Raise Labour Income Shares: From the Perspective of Employment Structure and Skill Wages of Workers. Economic Survey, 2025, 42(4): 092.
2025, Vol. 42 
