Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/34131 
Year of Publication: 
2006
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 2118
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper estimates the returns to membership of the Chinese Communist Party using unique twins data we collected from China. Our OLS estimate shows that being a Party member increases earnings by 10%, but the within-twin-pair estimate becomes zero. One interpretation of these results is that the OLS Party premium is due to omitted ability and family background. This interpretation would suggest that Party members fare well not because of their special political status per se, but because of the superior ability that made them Party members. The estimates are also consistent with an alternative interpretation that Party membership not only has its own effect but also has an external effect on the sibling.
Subjects: 
twins
communist party membership
China
JEL: 
J31
O15
P26
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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