Hongsong Zhang
Prof. Hongsong ZHANG
經濟學
Associate Director, Institute of China Economy
Associate Professor

2859 2780

KK 906

Academic & Professional Qualification
  • Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
  • M.A., Peking University
  • B.A., China Youth University for Political Sciences
Biography

Hongsong Zhang is an associate professor of economics at the HKU Business School. He serves as the associate director of the Institute for China Economy at the University of Hong Kong. His research covers Empirical Industrial Organization and International Trade, with a focus on productivity, buyer-supplier linkages, and firm dynamics. He is interested in how trade and industrial policies influence economic growth and resource allocation. He has served as an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Industrial Organization (IJIO) since 2020, a Co-Editor for a special issue of IJIO on “IO and Industrial Policy”, and a Co-Editor for China Economic Review since 2025. His research has been published in leading Economics journals such as RAND Journal of Economics, Economic Journal, Review of Economics and Statistics, International Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics, and European Economic Review. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Pennsylvania State University in 2013.

Research Interest
  • Empirical Industrial Organization
  • International Trade
  • Productivity, Supplier Network and Firm Dynamics
Selected Publications
  • “Lessons on Industrial Policy from Industrial Organization: Introduction to the Special Issue”, with Jo Van Biesebroeck, International Journal of Industrial Organization, Volume 104, January 2026.
    (Invited. Introduction to the special issue on “Industrial Policy and Industrial Organization” as Co-Editor)
  • Output Quality, Productivity, and Demand: Evidence from the Chinese Steel Industry”, with Jing Li and Shengyu Li, RAND Journal of Economics, accepted, October 2025.
  • “How Do Large Epidemics Redistribute Market Power: Evidence from the 2003 SARS Shock in China”, with Yating Jiang. Review of Economics and Statistics, accepted, July 2025.
  • “Technology Training, Buyer-Supplier Relationship, and Quality Upgrading in an Agricultural Supply Chain”, with Sangyoon Park and Zhaoneng Yuan. Review of Economics and Statistics. 2025, 107 (3), 711-727.
  • “Input Prices, Productivity, and Trade Dynamics: Long-Run Effects of Liberalization on Chinese Paint Manufacturers”, with Paul Grieco and Shengyu Li. RAND Journal of Economics, Vol. 53, No. 3, 2022, pp. 516-560.
  • “Does External Monitoring from Government Improve the Performance of State-Owned Enterprises”,​ ​​​with Shengyu Li. Economic Journal, Volume 132, Issue 642, February 2022, Pages 675-708.
  • “What You Import Matters for Productivity Growth: Experience from Chinese Manufacturing Firms”, with Jiawei Mo, Larry Qiu, and Xiaoyu Dong. Journal of Development Economics, Volume 152, September 2021, 102677.
  • “Non-Neutral Technology, Firm Heterogeneity, and Labor Demand”, Journal of Development Economics, Volume 140, Pages 145-168, Sep. 2019.
  • “Productivity or Unexpected Demand Shocks: What Determines Firm-Level Investment and Exit Decisions?”, with Pradeep Kumar, International Economic Review, Volume 60, Issue 1, Pages 303-327, Feb. 2019.
  • “Static and Dynamic Gains from Costly Importing of Intermediate Inputs: Evidence from Colombia”, European Economic Review, Vol 91, page 118-145, Jan. 2017.
  • “Production Function Estimation with Unobserved Input Price Dispersion”, with Paul Grieco and Shengyu Li, International Economic Review, Vol 57-2, page 665-690, May 2016.
Selected Working Papers
  • “Returns to Scale, Productivity, and Markup: Revisit the Export Premium”, with Xing Hu and Yating Jiang, 2025. Submitted.
  • “Marketing and the Growth of Young Manufacturing Firms: Evidence from a Tax Incentive Policy”, with Yating Jiang, June 2024.
  • “Market Access through Production Networks: The Impact of Highway Development on Firm Performance”, ​with Guojun He, Xing Hu, and Shengyu Li.
  •  “The Risk of International Sourcing: Evidence from Chinese Export during COVID-19”, with Jiawei Mo and Larry Qiu, June 2024.
  • “Industrial Clustering with Production Networks: Micro Evidence and Aggregate Implications in China”, with Zexi Zhou, 2025.
  • “Special Economic Zones, Industrial Dynamics, and Regional Economic Growth with Production Networks”, with Zexi Zhou, 2025.
  • “Market Access through Production Networks: The Impact of Highway Development on Firm Performance”, with Guojun He, Xing Hu, and Shengyu Li, 2025. (Draft available upon request)
Recent Publications
Technology Training, Buyer-Supplier Relationship, and Quality Upgrading in an Agricultural Supply Chain

This paper examines the impacts of technology training and buyer-supplier relationship on technology adoption and quality upgrading. We randomly varied subjects of each training group across farmer–exporter clusters—farmers, exporters, both, or none—and provided training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). We find that training farmers enhances technology adoption and quality upgrading. Yet, the effects are much stronger when farmers and exporters are trained together. We document a plausible mechanism to explain this finding: joint training improves buyer-supplier relationship, which facilitates contract trade between farmers and exporters. We find no effect of GAP certification eligibility on technology adoption.

政府外部監管能否改善國企績效?

通過分析中國各地監管政策力度的變化和中國企業的地理分佈,我們研究了政府外部監管對國有企業績效的影響。該研究利用結構化的分析方法,使用常用的企業級別生產數據,估算出企業的生產率和中間投入品價格。研究顯示,加强外部監管是提高企業治理的關鍵,可大幅消減中間投入品的采購價格並大幅減少生產管理中的懈怠現象。結果表面,政府監管可以成爲改善國有企業績效的有效政策工具。

Does External Monitoring from Government Improve the Performance of State-Owned Enterprises?

Dr Hongsong Zhang of HKU Business School and Dr Shengyu Li of University of New South Wales discussed in this VoxChina piece their investigation of the impact of external monitoring from the government on state-owned enterprise performance, using the variation in monitoring strength arising from a nationwide policy change and firms’ geographic location in China. We utilize a structural approach to estimate input prices and productivity separately at the firm level using commonly available production data. We show that enhanced external monitoring, as a key component of corporate governance, can substantially reduce managerial expropriation in procurement and shirking in production management. The results suggest that government monitoring can be an effective policy instrument to improve state-owned enterprise performance.

從中國製造商看進口商品的類別對生產率增長的影響

本文研究資本品進口和中間品進口對促進企業生產率增長的不同效果,並量化分析關稅結構對發展中國家貿易自由化的重要性。團隊經過審視大量中國製造企業的數據,證明相比中間品進口,資本品進口能更大的提升企業生產率。雖然兩類進口都能即時提高進口企業的生產率,但唯獨資本品進口能產生動態生產力效應。另一方面,我們發現資本品進口和研究開發有顯著的協同效應和誘導效應:資本品進口不僅能和研究開發協同產生更大的生產率效應,而且更能誘導更多的研究開發。但未有證據證明中間品進口也能產生類似效果。團隊還研究了中國因加入世界貿易組織而下調投入品進口關稅對企業生產率的影響。我們發現,由此帶來的生產率效應中,18%可以歸結為關稅結構的改變。

政府外部監管能否改善國企績效?

通過分析中國各地監管政策力度的變化和中國企業的地理分佈,我們研究了政府外部監管對國有企業績效的影響。該研究利用結構化的分析方法,使用常用的企業級別生產數據,估算出企業的生產率和中間投入品價格。研究顯示,加强外部監管是提高企業治理的關鍵,可大幅消減中間投入品的采購價格並大幅減少生產管理中的懈怠現象。結果表面,政府監管可以成爲改善國有企業績效的有效政策工具。