Relative Prices and Wages in China: Evidence from a Panel of Provincial Data

Using Chinese provincial data, we examine the relationship between relative prices and wages, which can be derived on the basis of the Balassa-Samuelson theorem. First, considering cross sectional dependency in our data, we implement recently developed panel unit root tests. We report strong evidence of non-divergence in the prices of provinces vis-a-vis those of the benchmark (Beijing) and weaker evidence in wages. In the latter case, the results seem sector-specific, suggesting that wages in some industries are not following the trend in Beijing. Secondly, using sector-level data, we find evidence that relative prices can be explained by relative wages.