进口竞争与企业产品专业化--基于中国多产品企业的研究

本文以企业内部资源配置为视角,检验了进口竞争对企业内部产品专业化的影响。研究发现,进口竞争显著地促进了中国企业的产品专业化程度。进口竞争的加剧促使企业缩小产品生产范围,使其将资源集中到少数核心产品的专业化生产和销售上来。这一过程伴随着企业产品种类的减少和企业整体产品范围偏度的集中。本文利用中国对外反倾销冲击作为进口竞争程度下降的拟自然实验,考察了企业是否受反倾销保护对其产品专业化程度影响的因果效应。进一步的异质性检验表明,相比加工贸易而言,一般贸易产生的进口竞争对企业产品专业化的促进作用更大;相比低收入国家而言,来自高收入国家的进口竞争对企业产品专业化的促进作用更大。本研究对如何理解进口竞争对中国经济发展的影响,提供了来自企业内部产品配置的证据。     

Import competition,multi-product firms,and basic innovation

How does firm strategy to produce basic innovation respond to international trade? Given the importance of basic innovation for economic growth and welfare, better understanding of this question is essential. In this vein we combine patent, firm, product, and trade data to show that when confronted with higher import penetration, the nature of firm innovation becomes less basic. We propose that underlying this result is the interplay between multi-product firms that narrow their product scope when exposed to greater import competition and the difficulty inventors face when capturing all benefits derived from their basic innovations.     

Manufacturing restructuring and the role of real exchange rate shocks

Using a new and extensive micro data set we investigate the impact of a change in international competitive pressure on industrial performance and restructuring. Unlike previous studies we are able to account for the heterogeneity across firms in their exposure to foreign competition. We focus on a situation akin to a natural experiment, and examine the impact of a sharp real appreciation of the Norwegian Krone in the early 2000s on Norwegian manufacturing firms which differ substantially in their trade orientation. A change in the real exchange rate (RER) affects a firm through three different channels: (i) firm's export sales, (ii) firm's purchases of imported inputs, and (iii) import competition faced in the domestic market. Unlike previous studies, we are able to examine all three channels. Both net exporters and import-competing firms were exposed to increased competition due to the real appreciation. Both groups reacted by shedding labor, but only the first group experienced increasing labor productivity. Partly, the productivity improvements came from measured TFP gains, while capital deepening does not appear to have been affected by the shock.     

Markups,import competition and exporting

This paper analyses the relationship between markups and international trade at the firm level using a large sample of French manufacturing firms for the period 1995–2007. In particular, the paper investigates the effect of increasing import competition from China on firms' price–cost margins and the way in which exporting interacts with this effect. The results show robust evidence that firms in more direct competition with Chinese imports decrease their markups. However, firms that become exporters experience a smaller reduction in their price–cost margins. Consistent with these findings, the results also show that firms facing tougher competition from China are more likely to start exporting to avoid such competitive pressures.     

International versus domestic entrepreneurship: New venture strategic behavior and industry structure

International entrepreneurship is defined in this study as the development of international new ventures or start-ups that, from their inception, engage in international business, thus viewing their operating domain as international from the initial stages of the firm's operation.One hundred and eighty-eight new venture firms in the computer and communications equipment manufacturing industries are classified according to the percentage of their sales in the international market. Ventures with no sales derived from international activities are considered “domestic” new ventures, and ventures with sales from international activities comprising greater than 5% of total sales are considered “international” new ventures.The strategy and industry structure profiles of international new ventures are significantly different from domestic new ventures. The internationals pursue much broader market-based strategies, seeking a strategy of broad market coverage through developing and controlling numerous distribution channels, serving numerous customers in diverse market segments, and developing high market or product visibility. The internationals also emphasize a more aggressive entry strategy, building on outside financial and production resources to enter numerous geographical markets on a large scale. Securing patent technology is also an important component of their strategy. This suggests that the internationals compete by entering the industry on a large scale, seeking to penetrate multiple markets, with the recognition that external resources are necessary to support such an entry.Whereas both the domestics and the internationals characterize domestic competition as being relatively intense, the international new ventures compete in industries with higher levels of international competition. It is not clear from this research whether the new venture selects an industry with a high degree of international competition and therefore responds with an international orientation or, because the new venture has an international orientation, it perceives or recognizes a higher degree of international competition. Another industry structure difference is the internationals' perceived higher degree of restrictiveness due to government regulation. It is unclear whether this restrictiveness motivates new ventures to seek less-regulated international environments or if it indicates that when competing internationally, the new venture is confronted with increased regulatory requirements.Domestic new ventures are distinguished by their emphasis on a production expansion strategy and customer specialization strategy. The production specialization strategy consists of focusing on limited geographical markets, maintaining excess capacity, and pursuing forward integration. The customer specialization strategy incorporates the production of a specialty product that is purchased infrequently. Thus, for both of the domestic strategies, a consistent “closeness” between the producer and consumer is implied. This may be an important basis underlining the new venture's decision to compete in an exclusive domestic context.This study offers initial support for the notion of international entrepreneurship by its findings that there are significant differences between new venture firms competing domestically and new ventures choosing to also enter international markets.     

Firm factors, industry structure and performance variation: New empirical evidence to a classic debate

The quest to understand the determinants of performance has created a bifurcated view. On one side of the debate are the structural characteristics of industries. On the other side of the debate are firm-specific resources. However, in recent years, the nature of competition and the shifting of economic conditions have led to increased challenges of the assumptions upon which industry structure theories have been built. In today's business environment, arguments suggest that structural characteristics of industries are becoming less relevant determinants of performance while firm resources are becoming the basis upon which firms compete. Through studying 285 Australian firms, this research explores the relative importance of distinct resources and industry structure variables in explaining firm-level performance variation. Across the aggregated sample, the results demonstrate that resources are more important than industry structure. In service firms, resources are found to be much more important to explaining performance variation than in manufacturing firms. Lastly, in both manufacturing and services firms, intangible assets and capabilities explain performance variation while, as hypothesized, tangible resources do not.     

Competition,firm size and returns to skills: Evidence from currency shocks and market liberalisations

We investigate the impact of product market competition on returns to skills in Italy using a longitudinal dataset on individual working histories. This impact is identified using three exogenous shocks affecting competition: the unforeseen devaluation of the Lira in 1992, its return to a fixed exchange regime in 1996 and the market liberalisation in the utility and transport sectors in the late 1990s–early 2000s. We analyse how firm heterogeneity and shocks of different types and signs affect the impact of competition on skill premia. We find that opposite shocks have opposite effects: an increase (resp. decrease) in international competition increases (resp. decreases) skill premia. Moreover, international shocks have greater effects on medium sized firms, while domestic liberalisation shocks have greater effects on large incumbents.     

外包:集成整合视角

外包是企业集成整合外部资源、充分发挥自身核心能力的新商业模式。文章认为,外包一方面是企业融合市场的结果,另一方面是产品结构模块化的结果。外包架构由提供类似产品的发包商、为发包商提供竞争性组件的模块商、发包商之间的竞争性整合、模块商之间的竞争以及模块商对发包商的可能替代构成。厂商应尽可能模块化产品结构,充分利用发包商和模块供应商的制造优势,并利用模块化优势共同推动产品快速升级换代。     

The dual role of local sites in assisting firms with developing technological capabilities: Evidence from China

As strong local knowledge bases emerge in some developing countries and regions, more research efforts are devoted to examine the role of local sites in technological-capability development of firms from developing countries. However, most of these studies illuminate the direct input (e.g., knowledge, human capital) and the role of motivating multinational companies (MNCs) to upgrade their local operations in developing countries so as to perform more innovation activities. Few articles are presented that examine the role of local sites in the learning and technological-capability building processes that take place during technology import activities. This study investigates how local sites in developing countries help their firms benefit from the spillovers of international technology diffusion, by empirically scrutinizing Chinese licensee firms. The empirical results support the hypothesis that Chinese local sites assist with their firms’ technological-capacity building, driven by international technology licensing-in activities, in three indirect ways. That is, the enrollments of sufficient R&D personnel from local sites, the collaborations with local universities and research institutes, and the collaborations with local industrial community firms positively influence the relationship between firms’ international inward technology licensing and technological capabilities.     

Entry to foreign markets and productivity: Evidence from a matched sample of Turkish manufacturing firms

We examine the effects of international trading activities of firms on creating productivity gains in Turkey by using a recent firm-level data set over the period 2003–2010. We establish treatment models and investigate the productivity improvements of firms through trade by using propensity score matching techniques together with difference-in-difference estimates. Three different groups of treatment are constructed: (1) firms that are involved only with import activities, (2) firms that are involved only with export activities and (3) firms that are involved with both export and import activities. The results of the study suggest that both exporting and importing have positive significant effects on total factor productivity (TFP) and labour productivity (LP) of firms. Importing is found to have a greater impact on productivity of firms compared to exporting. Further, two-way trade is found to have more significant effects than those of one-way trade on firm productivity. Finally, our results indicate that international trade has greater impact on LP rather than TFP of firms.     

Dynamic capabilities in the context of Brexit and international wine business: An exploratory two‐country study

This exploratory study proposes a conceptual framework based on the dynamic capabilities approach (DCA) to advance the understanding of firms' responses to turbulence, illustrated by the Brexit phenomenon. The case of wine producers is examined, with a particular focus on perceived impacts of and responses to Brexit among wineries predominantly involved in exports. Data from 281 mainly micro and small exporting Italian and Spanish winery firms were gathered. Various differences emerged in how both groups of businesses perceived Brexit's impacts, and how they planned to respond. Some of these ways revealed principles associated with the DCA, such as possessing critical organizational resources, notably, tangible, intangible, and human to create capabilities. Furthermore, while various comments denoted indecisiveness and uncertainty, others underscored the vital need to exploit opportunities through engaging with new international consumer markets. Overall, the proposed framework facilitates an in‐depth understanding of winery entrepreneurs' strategic behavior in response to turbulent situations.     

The strategies of small and large international specialists

Falling trade barriers and corporate restructuring are resulting in the creation of international specialists, firms that focus on one line of business but with an international scope. International specialists compose the growing middle ground between diversified multinational companies and local firms. This study of 41 firms identifies two types—large and small international specialists—that differ substantially in their governance structures, resources, functional strategy, and approach to international markets.Large international specialists have abundant resources and high growth expectations, make a concerted push to dominate worldwide markets, and increase their reach over multiple stages of their industry. Small international specialists do not have strong growth motivations. They are upstream players that outsource extensively, serve intermediate users, and enter international markets selectively in ways that conserve their limited resources.Managers should consider the strategic option of becoming an international specialist in addition to the known strategic alternatives of being a domestic or a diversified multinational firm. To become international specialists, strategists need to implement several, consistent actions across functions that reinforce one another.     

Profit reducing international outsourcing

Recent empirical evidence shows a negative relationship between international outsourcing and profitability. This paper provides a theoretical explanation for this phenomenon. We show that, in an oligopolistic market, firms earn lower profits in the outsourcing equilibrium compared to the situation where neither firm does outsourcing, and this holds irrespective of the intensity of competition. We show that whether international outsourcing is likely to reduce profit under more intense competition (measured by the degree of product differentiation, number of firms and the type of product market competition, namely, Cournot and Bertrand competition) is ambiguous. We further show that international outsourcing may be socially ‘excessive’ for the sourced country and for the world.     

The resource dynamics of early internationalising Indian IT firms

Building on the resource-based view of the firm, this study explores how firms entering into early internationalisation combine different resources to discover the international market opportunities. Based on an in-depth analysis of case studies of five knowledge-intensive firms from India, this study suggests that the differences in the extent of resources available and their combinations influence the early stage of the internationalisation process and pace of learning in the foreign markets. This study contributes to the existing research on international entrepreneurship by explaining how new international ventures overcome the challenges of internationalisation by wisely utilising a broad set of available and potential resources during their early internationalisation efforts and gradually shift the focus on the internalisation of resources. Moreover, this study suggests that the effects of the combination of resources vary across different ventures. A strong combination can increase internationalisation and minimise the risks of failure in new international ventures.     

The Internationalization of Service Firms in China: A Comparative Analysis with Manufacturing Firms

In this article, we expand upon the springboard perspective of emerging markets in the service sector. We investigate the phenomenon of service firm internationalization in China and the distinct differences between service and manufacturing firms during international expansion. Using dynamic analysis of historical data for 363 service firms and 569 manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2007, we find that the internationalization of service firms in China is different from that of manufacturing firms in terms of resource requirement and experience exploitation. The internationalization of service firms relies more on international experience than corporate resources. Furthermore, we also identify the structural differences between hard and soft service industries. In China, identifiable intangible assets are found to be more important for the international expansion of hard service firms than they are for soft service firms. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Strategic entry or strategic exit? International presence by emerging economy enterprises

By proposing an integrated strategic choice framework, we theorize the distinctive dynamics of international expansion by emerging economy enterprises. Specifically, we explicate how these firms build international presence based on combined strategic entry (i.e., prompted by internal capabilities such as innovation and diversification) and strategic exit (i.e., pushed out by external handicaps at home such as institutional obstacles and market competition). Further, a firm’s cooperative ties with foreign multinationals in the former’s home country fortify the strategic entry intent, while ties with home government institutions weaken the strategic exit intent. We also demonstrate that building international presence helps bolster firm performance, highlighting the economic catch-up consequence of international expansion. Analyses of a two-year imbalanced panel data of 2136 firms statistically support our hypotheses.     

The Uses of Business History: A Contribution to the Discussion

This article relates the managerial enterprise (a firm in which decisions as to current production and distribution and allocation of resources for future production and distribution are made by salaried managers with little or no equity in the firms they operate in) to competitive success in the new capital-intensive industries that began to appear in the United States and Western Europe after the completion of modern transportation and communication networks. It begins by examining the reasons for the rapid rise of managerial firms in these industries, the global oligopolistic competition that ensued, and the organisational capabilities such competition engendered. It then reviews the competitive performance of such firms in global markets in chemicals, metals, electrical equipment, and heavy and light machinery in the early years of the century, motor vehicles in the inter-war years, and computers and semiconductors after World War II. These managerial firms grew by moving into foreign or related product markets. World War I, the Great Depression and World War II held back the full competitive impact of such growth until the 1960s. The response of US industrial firms to this intensive international, inter-industry competition of the 1960s brought unprecedented changes on the competitive capabilities of US managerial enterprises in such capital-intensive industries.     

The emergence of multi-sided platform MNEs: Internalization theory and networks

The rise of the digital economy provides firms across the globe with unique business opportunities. Companies such as Facebook, Alibaba, and Uber are competing in a new multi-sided platform world; the primary focus of these firms, from their inception, is to provide digital infrastructure, information and technology—intangible assets that enable direct interaction or value creation across platforms by linking different user group and complementors, often at the international level. Building on data drawn from multinational multisided Platform corporations (MMPCs) operating in China, we combine insights from internalization theory and network effects in understanding the value creation of such firms. We explore the boundaries of these new “breed” of MNEs in exploiting firm-specific advantages (FSAs) and in creating new knowledge between headquarters and subsidiaries. The findings suggest that internalization theory needs to shift its focus from the ‘boundaries of the firm’ to the ‘boundaries of the local network’. By integrating their internal and external networks of knowledge in adapting their business models in host markets, this new breed of MNEs is more likely than the traditional one to gain a sustainable competitive advantage in the new information age.     

The role of spirituality in Islamic business networks: The case of internationalizing Turkish SMEs

This paper sets out to investigate the role of religion and spirituality in a business network context, with an empirical focus on the international business development of Turkish SMEs. By drawing on the concept of homophily and tie strength, we argue that, while religion can act as a bridge and thus create a multitude of weak ties within a business network, spirituality can deepen these ties and make them stronger through increased emotional intensity, intimacy and reciprocal service. The data were collected from participants in two Islamic business associations in Turkey. The results suggest that spirituality indeed drives members’ commitment to the network and the presence of spirituality has a distinctive effect on members’ contributions to and demands on the network. More specifically, members who treat their network membership as an extension of their spiritual practice tend to mainly benefit from intangible resources, while members who view their shared religion as an entry point into the network seem to benefit from both tangible and intangible network resources. The findings have several theoretical and practical implications, including the introduction of the spirituality concept into the discussion of homophily and tie strength in business networks, and the role of home networks in the internationalization of SMEs.     

Linking market orientation to international market selection and international performance

One key strategic decision in a firm's internationalization process is the international market selection (IMS). IMS must match the firm's own-specific resources and capabilities for optimal performance. This research, drawing on the resource-based view, investigates how a firm's market orientation (MO) resources and capabilities influence the firm's IMS between culturally close and distant markets and how the matching of MO and IMS impacts on its international performance. We hypothesize that market-oriented firms tend to choose culturally distant markets that help them exploit their MO. Firms with a fit between MO and IMS tend to perform better internationally than those without such a fit. Both hypotheses are supported by our database of Chinese manufacturing firms expanding internationally.