Industry and migration of farm workers

Globalization has changed economic realities. First, the competences of multinational enterprises (MNEs) are becoming increasingly mobile and knowledge-intensive. MNEs thus give more attention to the availability and quality of the created assets of alternative locations. Second, among developing countries there are now considerable differences between the catching-up countries (e.g. newly industrialized countries) and falling behind , less developed countries. These developments have helped change the opportunity sets of both MNEs and host countries. Foreign direct investment (FDI)-based development strategies are now commonplace among less developed countries, but there is also increased competition for the right kinds of investment. In general, the balance in bargaining power has shifted in favour of the MNE, and less developed countries increasingly need to provide unique, non-replicable created assets to maintain a successful FDI-assisted development strategy.     

Foreign Direct Investment and International Skill Inequality

This paper focuses on the effects of foreign direct investment (FDI) on skill inequality amongst countries. New growth models and international business studies predict that when countries liberalize their trade and investment regime in an environment of imperfect technology transfers, they will specialize in activities depending on the initial conditions such as skill endowments. Countries with few skills tend to specialize in low-skill intensive production, while countries with a high innovation rate and skill endowment tend to specialize in the production of high-skill intensive goods. The econometric evidence, based on an unbalanced panel for 111 countries over seven 5-year time periods from 1970 to 2000, confirms that FDI enhances skill development (particularly secondary and tertiary enrolment) in countries that are relatively well endowed with skills to start with. There are important policy conclusions for national governments when FDI tends to raise international skill inequalities. In particular, developing countries with low-skill endowments that attract investors would do well to co-ordinate actively their human resources policies with investor needs in order to bring the country to a higher skill path.     

Trade Policy,Equipment Investment and Growth in India

The relationship between trade policy and economic performance is one of the oldest controversies in economic development. In this paper, we examine an alternative mechanism through which trade reforms may impact on economic growth to those commonly discussed in the literature. This mechanism builds on the link between equipment investment and growth that has been observed in cross-country data. We argue that that in countries which have had highly restrictive trade policies with respect to capital goods, liberalization measures that specifically target capital goods imports may bring about a fall in the relative price of capital goods, leading to an increase in the rate of investment in equipment. Quantifying the link between trade policy, equipment investment and economic growth in the Indian case, we find strong support for this mechanism.     

Analyzing Foreign Direct Investment Decisions by Food and everage Firms: An Empirical Model of Transaction Theory

Global trends in agricultural marketing include increased trade in processed foods, less intra-industry trade, slower growth in trade of bulk commodities, and intensified adoption of processing and biological technologies. These trends temporally lead to increased investments by firms in intangible assets and tighter vertical controls. As a result of these trends, in the context of international trade governance, there is invigorated interest in the causal factors related to the boundaries of firms.
Using transaction economic theory and an empirical model, this research analyzes the determinants of international trade strategy in the food and beverage industry. The quantitative analysis involves a nested logit model of a sample of domestic and multinational firms in SIC 20. The nested logit employed is based on a two-level nest of sequential dichotomous choice decisions regarding exporting and foreign direct investment (FDI). The first sequential decision is the boundary choice between remaining domestic or engaging in international trade of some form. The second sequential decision involves exporting or FDI. Model regressors include the size of the firm, level of product differentiation, intangible assets, research and development expenditures, long-term debt, capital intensity, the country of origin and business structure.     

Economic Meltdown in Malaysia

Abstract

The economic downturn in Malaysia has encouraged a debate on the benefits of its export-oriented industrialisation strategy. There is renewed interest in the agricultural and livestock sectors. One of the beneficiaries of this policy change could be the dairy farming sector. Using desktop research and ‘key-informant’ techniques, this study reviews various factors that could influence the development of the dairy farming sector in Malaysia. The study concludes that the (a) Government may encourage the start-up of integrated plantation crop, animal feed and livestock farms, (b) investment and trade linkages with neighbouring countries could lead to diversification of import sources, and (c) consumption of dairy products may have matured, leading to increases in dairy self-sufficiency. It is postulated that these developments will produce a dynamic environment and significant threats to the interests of traditional dairy exporting countries.     

影响中国林业企业对俄直接投资的经济、资源和制度因素

以2005—2017年中国对俄罗斯的FDI数据为样本,建立多元回归模型,实证分析了影响中国林业企业对俄直接投资的经济、资源、制度因素。结果表明:提高中俄贸易关系紧密度和人民币对卢布汇率能够促进中俄两国的林业投资合作,俄罗斯森林资源禀赋和原木产量的提高推动着中国林业企业在俄罗斯开展直接投资,中俄两国的法律制度差异、话语权和问责差异与中国林业企业对俄罗斯的FDI流量为负相关,然而两国的腐败遏制差异、政府效率差异对于中国林业企业在俄罗斯开展直接投资有着显著的正向影响。因此,应加强中俄两国政府的政策沟通和经济合作,有效规避汇率风险;增加中国的人工林培育面积;积极完善俄罗斯的制度质量,降低中国林业企业在俄罗斯的投资成本。     

Terms of trade effects on endogenous growth rates in LDCs

Abstract

This paper presents a model in which long‐term GDP growth rates of LDCs are dependent upon world price levels. The model combines an endogenous growth framework a la Romer (1986, Journal of Political Economy, 94, pp. 1002–1037) with traditional Heckscher‐Ohlin‐Samuelson international trade, while assuming investment in capital to be financed solely by domestic savings. This relatively strong assumption is justified by the empirical observation that for most LDCs foreign investment constitutes only a very small part of gross capital formation. We find that an increase in the price of capital‐intensive goods will raise the long‐term growth rate. In other words, in this model protection of the capital‐intensive goods sector will cause higher economic growth.     

Foreign Direct Investment,Absorptive Capacity and Regional Innovation Capabilities: Evidence from China

Innovation has widely been regarded as one of the main drivers of economic growth in the knowledge economy. This paper investigates the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the development of regional innovation capabilities using a panel data set from China. It finds that FDI has a significant positive impact on the overall regional innovation capacity. FDI intensity is also positively associated with innovation efficiency in the host region. The strength of this positive effect depends, however, on the availability of the absorptive capacity and the presence of innovation-complementary assets in the host region. The increased regional innovation and technological capabilities have contributed further to regional economic growth in China's coastal regions but not in the inland regions. It concludes that the type and quality of FDI inflows and the strength of local absorptive capacity and complementary assets in the host regions are crucial for FDI to serve as a driver of knowledge-based development. Policy implications are discussed.     

The Technological Structure and Performance of Developing Country Manufactured Exports, 1985‐98

This paper maps out the recent manufactured export patterns of developing countries, using a new and detailed classification by technological levels. It argues that export structures, being path-dependent and difficult to change, have important implications for growth and development. Low-technology products (which have the least beneficial learning and spillover effects) tend to grow the slowest, and technology-intensive products (which have the most beneficial effects) the fastest in world trade. East Asia dominates the developing country scene, with 70% of total manufactured exports, and its role rises over time. There is also high and rising concentration at the national level. The technological specialization of different regions and the leading exporters differ greatly, as do the strategies used to achieve competitiveness. Received trade theory cannot explain these patterns without considering learning processes and the policies used to promote them.     

Determining Opportunities for U.S. Exports of Consumer-Oriented Foods to African Regional Markets

Abstract

This study examines the level of trade between the U.S. and Africa for consumer-oriented agricultural products during the 1990s. To achieve this objective, we propose six congruent regional African markets and examine patterns of U.S. trade with Africa on consumer-oriented agricultural products. The reason for such groupings is to identify trade flow differences and similarities between the U. S. and each of these regional groups. The results shed light on the extent to which U.S. exporters of consumer food products are capitalizing on the emerging markets of Africa. The graphing technique used in the study, in combination with trend stability measures for the six proposed congruent regional African markets, introduce a method for identifying market opportunity.     

How does outward foreign direct investment contribute to economic development in less advanced home countries?

In view of the rapid increase of outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) from emerging economies in recent years, this study examines how OFDI supports economic development in the world’s less advanced home countries. Drawing on theories of FDI, available literature of relevance and some recent evidence from emerging economies, this study finds that the objective of multinational enterprises to pursue assets and advantages abroad through OFDI can yield financial, intangible capability and tangible capacity returns. In the right circumstances, these returns generate important macroeconomic gains, mitigate some of the typical problems of economic development and provide broader benefits to societies. Despite some limitations, OFDI complements, sometimes in distinct ways, the development benefits many countries already realise through trade, migration and inward FDI. Emerging economies are best placed to benefit from the returns generated by OFDI.     

The Impact of FDI on CO2 Emissions in Latin America

This paper uses panel Granger causality tests to study the relationship between sector-specific foreign direct investment (FDI) and CO₂ emissions. Using a sample of 18 Latin American countries for the period 1980–2007, we find causality running from FDI in pollution-intensive industries (“the dirty sector”) to CO₂ emissions per capita. This result is robust to controlling for other factors associated with CO₂ emissions and using the ratio of CO₂ emissions to GDP. For other sectors, we find no robust evidence that FDI causes CO₂ emissions.     

中国畜产品出口贸易效率及潜力研究——以“丝绸之路经济带”沿线国家为例

目的 文章分析了中国对“丝绸之路经济带”沿线国家畜产品出口贸易效率及贸易潜力，以挖掘贸易潜力，推进双边畜产品贸易发展和畜牧产业合作。方法 运用2001—2020年面板数据构建随机前沿引力模型，测度中国对沿线国家畜产品贸易效率及潜力，并对经济规模、对外投资、地理位置等影响因素进行实证分析。结果 中国与沿线国家的经济发展水平、中国对外投资、是否加入WTO都对中国畜产品出口沿线国家有显著正向促进作用，而沿线国家的政治稳定程度和畜牧业发展水平则对中国畜产品出口该地区有抑制作用。结论 中国对沿线国家畜产品出口的贸易效率极不平衡，对亚欧经济带国家的出口效率远高于中亚及环中亚经济带；畜产品出口贸易潜力从高到依次为环中亚经济带、中亚经济带和亚欧经济带，其中，对亚美尼亚、哈萨克斯坦、阿富汗和伊朗等中西亚国家的畜产品市场潜力极大。我国应积极推进经济走廊的建设，完善自身贸易环境，以在“一带一路”倡议下提高中国畜产品出口贸易效率，释放贸易潜力，推动双边贸易的有效发展。     

Social Organization,Civic Responsibility and Collective Action: Game Theory Models of Community Participation in Development Projects

This paper assesses the extent to which foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries crowds in or crowds out domestic investment. The core of the paper is the development of a theoretical model for investment that includes a FDI variable and its estimation and testing with panel data for the period 1971–2000 and the three decades involved. The model is run for 12 countries in each of three developing regions (Africa, Asia and Latin America). The results indicate that, in all three developing regions, FDI has, at best, left domestic investment unchanged, and that there are several sub-periods for specific regions where FDI displaces domestic investment. In particular, there seems to be crowding out of domestic investment by FDI in Latin America. If these results are in fact correct, they suggests the need for policies to make FDI more effective in enhancing domestic investment in developing countries. The conclusion is that the effects of FDI on domestic investment are by no means always favourable, that simplistic policies towards FDI are unlikely to be optimal and, foremost, that more attention needs to be paid to economic policies that foster the domestic component of total investment.     

The determinants of outward foreign direct investment: a firm‐level analysis of Indian manufacturing

This paper analyses the determinants of the overseas direct investment activity of Indian manufacturing enterprises. In general, several firm‐specific characteristics such as age, size, R&D intensity, skill intensity and export orientation are observed to be important explanatory factors in the outward foreign direct investment (O‐FDI) activity of Indian firms. The impact of age and size on O‐FDI has been observed to be non‐linear. The product differentiation activities and the productivity of firms are other useful factors in overseas production expansion in certain industries. The study reveals that the performance of these firm‐specific variables is subject to sectoral dynamics. Internationalization of production activities of Indian firms has been observed to be partly fuelled by policy liberalization during the 1990s.     

The effects of Mongolia's booming mining industry on its agricultural sector: A test for Dutch disease

Dutch disease occurs when currency strengthening associated with a booming sector of an economy crowds out a lagging trade‐dependent sector. In this study, a Keynesian‐style model is specified to deduce hypotheses about how increased foreign direct investment (FDI) aimed at Mongolia's mining sector affects its agricultural sector. A key finding is that while econometric results suggest the increased FDI strengthened Mongolia's currency, its adverse effect on Mongolia's trade‐sensitive agricultural sector is not sufficiently strong to cause the sector to decline. Although Dutch disease was not detected, the posited mechanism clearly is important. Specifically, when currency strengthening is ignored the reduced‐form elasticity of agricultural value‐added with respect to FDI is 2.7 times larger than when currency strengthening is taken into account (0.103 vs. 0.038). Also, FDI‐induced currency strengthening causes the Keynesian multiplier to drop from 2.40 to 2.00 and the FDI multiplier to drop from 3.05 to 1.89.     

Real estate market efficiency

Summary

The application of modern portfolio theory to the investment in shares and bonds is integrally connected with the efficient market hypothesis. The requirement of multivariate normality of security returns is a sufficient condition for equilibrium asset pricing models such as the capital asset pricing model to theoretical work. Nevertheless the empirical relevance in decision making is firmly based on the efficiency of the capital market. If real estate investors are to avail themselves of these techniques it is first necessary to ensure the requirements of the efficient market hypothesis are satisfied in the context of the property market. This paper reports the results of such an inquiry into the British and Australian real estate markets.     

Development pressure in the metropolitan fringe

Summary

Increasing market demand for new residential development in the urban fringe, together with changes in national political ideology and planning policy over the last decade, have combined to modify a longstanding opposition to development in the greenbelt. This has heightened the need for local planners and decision‐makers to formulate development plans which incorporate a satisfactory trade‐off between pro‐growth and anti‐growth interests. This paper identifies the principal actors involved in the production of the built environment of the urban fringe and employs a multi‐indicator technique to measure the incidence and intensity of development pressure in Glasgow's metropolitan fringe.     

Trade,Technology and the Demand for Skills in Tunisia, 1998–2002

Abstract

Although many developing countries have experienced an increase in the relative demand for skilled workers leading to a rise in wage inequality, the role played by trade in this trend remains a matter of debate. Using a firm-level database covering manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors in Tunisia over the period 1998–2002, this paper investigates whether trade-induced technological change could explain the increase in the relative demand for skilled workers. The empirical analysis is based on the estimation of an employment-share equation. Controlling for potential endogeneity issues, the results confirm that trade-induced technology adoption was a channel through which openness to trade raised the relative demand for skilled workers in Tunisia. Unlike trade, however, foreign investment in Tunisia did not appear to increase the demand for skills.     

The effect of violent crime on sector-specific FDI in Latin America

ABSTRACT

This article looks at the impact of violent crime on FDI into Latin America and the Caribbean during the 1996–2010 period. FDI is disaggregated into primary, secondary and tertiary sectors and three variables related to violent crime are used: homicides, crime victimization and organized crime. Controlling for institutions and the traditional determinants of FDI, we find that the impact of crime on FDI depends on the sector and types of crime considered. Higher homicide rates are associated with less FDI in the secondary sector while organized crime reduces tertiary sector FDI. Crime victimization has a robust significant negative impact on the tertiary sector and in some estimations of the secondary sector. Crime has no impact on primary sector FDI. Our study highlights the need to continue efforts to decrease crime as we show in our analysis that crime has a negative effect on FDI in the secondary and tertiary sector.