Conditional convergence in US disaggregated petroleum consumption at the sector level

We test for convergence in disaggregated petroleum consumption at the sector level for the United States using the recently proposed GARCH unit root test, suitable for high frequency data. We find evidence of convergence for just over half of the series, including total petroleum consumption in each sector and approximately three quarters of the disaggregated petroleum consumption series in transportation.     

Is There Long Run Industrial Convergence in Europe?

This paper examines whether convergence is occurring at the industry level in 11 EU countries from 1960 to 1993. Both time series and non-parametric (σ-convergence) methods are applied. Using time series analysis we test whether there is within sector convergence towards a common steady state. Although we adopt a very flexible definition of steady state, allowing for two stochastic trends, given by the sector-specific technology and by the country-specific characteristics, as well as a time trend, we find very little evidence for convergence. Results indicate that the deviation of the national trends from the European average trend are persistent, and that EU countries do not respond to the same long run driving processes, but only to the same short run shocks. From σ-convergence analysis we find that convergence in aggregate productivity does not hold uniformly at the industry level: some sectors, such as communications, distribution and non-market services, present strong evidence of convergence, and some others, mainly manufactures, show substantial divergence. However, interestingly, we find that productivity was strongly converging within all sectors in 1960–73, whereas it shows a general tendency to diverge after 1985. We interpret the switch from convergence to divergence as the effect of a process of radical change, driven by information technologies, affecting all industries in the last two decades. We arrive at the general conclusion that convergence is not an inevitable process, but rather a cyclical phenomenon alternating with divergence.     

Regional divergence and club convergence in India

This paper examines regional divergence in income across different states in India, and estimates convergence clubs endogenously. The paper makes two useful contributions. First, the data is analyzed using a novel method due to Phillips and Sul (2007) leading to different conclusions in comparison to past studies, and secondly sectoral level data is employed which to our knowledge has not been employed in the literature before. Applying the novel approach to panel data relating to fifteen major states of India for the period 1968/69–2008/09, the results display significant divergence in per capita income across states at the aggregate and sectoral levels. There is also evidence of convergence clubs and variations in the number and composition of clubs across sectors. While three clubs are identified at the aggregate level, at the sectoral level we find three clubs in the industrial sector, two clubs are identified in both the agriculture and services sectors. The final part of the paper deals with the policy implications.     

Productivity Convergence in European Manufacturing

The paper empirically investigates international productivity convergence in the manufacturing sector, which was found not converging in earlier studies. The authors analyze subsectors of aggregate manufacturing in order to compare similar technologies and to avoid the mixing of converging and nonconverging subsectors in the aggregate. Some of the subsectors converge while others, as well as aggregate manufacturing, do not. There is stronger evidence of convergence in subsectors with a smaller number of different industries. The latter serves as a proxy for the variety of technologies. Overall, the results highlight the importance of comparing similar technologies when studying productivity convergence.     

Productivity in the euro area: any evidence of convergence?

Sizable prevailing real economic disparities among countries in a currency union potentially involve costs for those countries for which the aggregate policy stance is not appropriate. This paper contributes to the literature by testing for productivity convergence among euro area countries. While no convergence can be found on the aggregate level, selected service sectors and manufacturing sub-industries indicate evidence of convergence. In a search for factors influencing productivity, investments in research and development as well as a high skill level of employees are shown to be beneficial, whereas regulations constitute a burden.     

Technical Diffusion,Productivity Convergence and Specialisation in OECD Manufacturing

A panel data regression analysis investigates the issue of total factor productivity (TFP) convergence in OECD manufacturing during the period 1970–1995. The results imply: conditional β convergence, actual catching up and stronger convergence at a disaggregate level than at the level of manufacturing as a whole. The evolution of the standard deviation of the log of TFP shows that there is also evidence of σ convergence. The stronger convergence of TFP at a disaggregate level is explained by a high level of OECD manufacturing production specialisation, which is also shown to be very persistent. The degree of research specialisation is shown to be even higher and equally sticky. A correlation analysis shows that both specialisation patterns are related.     

The Effects of Technology Changes on Sectoral Trade Patterns*

We develop a model in which sectoral trade patterns depend on both the technology common to all sectors and the technologies specific to each sector. Changes in the common technology level affect sectoral trade patterns through their impact on intertemporal optimization behavior, while changes in the sector‐specific technology levels affect sectoral trade patterns by influencing comparative advantage. The model shows: (1) unexpected increases in the common technology level worsen sectoral trade balances, but expected increases in the common technology level improve them; and (2) given other countries’ sectoral technology levels, an increase in a sector‐specific technology level relative to other sectors improves sectoral trade balances through its operation on comparative advantage. Using Japanese data, the empirical results reported in this paper support the model’s predictions.     

THE SECTORAL PRODUCTIVITY PERFORMANCE O F JAPAN AND THE U.S., 1885–1990

This paper provides a disaggregated productivity comparison between Japan and the U.S. for the period 1885–1990. It combines two detailed productivity comparisons for 1939 and 1975 with time series to provide a long-term sectoral perspective. There is much diversity in the Japanese experience. The agricultural sector has shown relative stagnation since 1885. The service sector showed considerable growth before the Second World War and reached high productivity levels in the post-war period. Within services there is great diversity in productivity levels. Japan's manufacturing sector has shown the fastest catch-up and its productivity level is currently close to that of the U.S.     

中国服务业发展悖论——基于“两波”发展模式的研究

本文借鉴最新文献对服务业发展规律的测度方法,用中国1952—2010年的地区面板数据对我国服务业比重变化的长期规律和阶段性特征进行了测度,结果认为:宏观国家层面上,我国服务业比重的变化确实有悖于世界经济整体服务化的趋势;但在地区层面上,我国服务业比重与人均GDP的关系基本符合"服务业比重随经济发展不断上升"的普遍规律,所谓经济服务化的"中国悖论"在地区层面上并不存在;对服务业发展的阶段性特征和地区差异进行分析发现,我国大部分地区仍然处于以传统服务业为主的第一波发展阶段,只有少数地区进入了以现代服务业发展为主导的第二波。文章最后对我国服务业发展规律的成因进行了一般分析和实证检验。     

循环经济理论视野下的中国制造业与文化创意产业融合模式研究

基于循环经济理论和产业融合理念,探讨了制造业与文化创意产业融合模式的表现形式和实施路径。结果表明,融合模式由基于废物循环的融合模式、基于产品循环的融合模式向基于服务循环的融合模式演进。为此,需要通过税收调节、法律规制、建立产业融合行政管理部门进行体制创新;通过提高技术水平、融合技术平台、调整产业技术结构进行技术创新;通过发挥行业协会、科研院所服务功能,建立服务众包平台和专业化服务公司等方式进行服务创新。     

Labour Markets in China: A Study of the Structure and Evolution of Wages

This paper examines the development of labour markets and the evolution of a structure of wages in China, using household surveys for 1988, 1995, 2002 and 2007. It finds evidence of both provincial and sectoral segmentation in labour markets, with eastern regions and the state-controlled sector enjoying high wage premiums in the early reform period. During the reform, China has progressed slowly towards an integrated labour market with convergence in incomes between the rural non-agriculture sector and the urban market-based sector by 1995, when industry flourished in the rural areas. The wage gap between the rural non-agriculture sector and other sectors increased and the urban state-controlled sector remained segmented with respect to all other sectors up to 2002. However, the data from 2007 show there has been increasing sectoral and spatial integration.     

A Tale of Two Sectors: Why is Misallocation Higher in Services than in Manufacturing?

Recent empirical studies document that the level of resource misallocation in the service sector is significantly higher than in the manufacturing sector. We quantify the importance of this difference and study its sources. Conservative estimates for Portugal in 2008 show that closing this gap, by reducing misallocation in the service sector to manufacturing levels, would boost aggregate gross output by around 12 percent and aggregate value added by around 31 percent. Differences in the effect and size of productivity shocks explain most of the gap in misallocation between manufacturing and services, while the remainder is explained by differences in firm productivity and age distributions. We interpret these results as stemming mainly from higher output-price rigidity, higher labor adjustment costs and higher informality in the service sector.     

Effects of exports on productivity and growth in India: an industry–based analysis

This study analyses the effects of exports on the level of output per capita using the panel estimates of an extended version of the Mankiw, Romer and Weil (The Quarterly Journal of Economics, CVII, 407-37, 1992) model, and on the total factor productivity using the time series estimators. The analysis is carried out for ten industries in the manufacturing sector in India. The results do not provide any evidence of convergence, and instead support the contrary evidence of divergence among industries. The exports do not induce convergence and instead seem to accentuate the process of divergence among industries. The study provides some evidence for the significant effects of exports on the level of output per capita and TFP in the manufacturing sector. The effects of exports on TFP are significant in half of the sample industries, while in the remaining half these are statistically insignificant.     

Convergence of the world’s energy use

This paper uses the sequential panel selection method to examine the convergence of the energy use of 107 countries. It contributes by analyzing the order of convergence and the factors affecting the difference in convergence using improved methods. We provide robust evidence to indicate that seven out of ten countries have been convergent during the period examined, and strong decoupling across countries does not exist. Additionally, high-income and upper-middle-income countries show convergence characteristics earlier than lower middle-income and low-income countries. This means that high-income and upper-middle-income countries are the first to achieve steady-state levels by adjusting their industrial structure and adopting new technologies, and energy exporters have dominant control over energy use. We find that energy-exporting countries converge before energy importers do. These results mean that the energy use of most countries is in accordance with the convergence theory. It also shows that GDP per capita, industrialization level and latitude have great impacts on convergence, especially for industrialization. Our research provides a reference for countries around the world to adjust their energy use policies and to realize a rational flow of energy resources.     

服务业分类方案探讨——以北京市为例

本文从服务业类型划分的依据出发,对国际上几种主要类型划分进行了述评,提出了针对北京目前阶段经济特征的四级划分方案。在二级分类中,提出了成熟型服务业、基于信息技术的新兴服务业和为提高科学文化素质的服务业的划分,突出了这几种行业对我国经济的引导作用。在此基础上,利用北京市2006年的数据,对新划分的类型进行了实证分析,希望能够为服务业类型的统一认识和分析提供参考。     

THE HIGH COST OF EATING: CAUSES OF INTERNATIONAL DIFFERENCES IN CONSUMER FOOD PRICES

Prices of food vary greatly among the developed countries, and some countries' food prices have been consistently far above the OECD average. The main explanation for food price difference is the extent of protection of agricultural products at the farm level. A second important influence is the level of VAT on food. A third is deviations of aggregate country price levels from the levels that would be predicted from their per capita incomes, presumably because of omitted characteristics of the countries' economies, such as, possibly, inefficient or monopolistic service sectors. In addition, there are occasional episodes of high or low price levels due to temporary factors affecting exchange rates.
The degree of protection of agricultural products is treated both as an exogenous factor and as an endogenous one. In the latter case, it is explained by climatic conditions and, presumably, the political influence of the agricultural sector or a general desire to retain an agricultural sector despite poor growing conditions.     

New Technologies And The Demand For Heterogeneous Labor: Firm-Level Evidence For The German Business-Related Service Sector

This paper investigates the impact of modern information and communication technologies on the demand for heterogeneous labor. It starts with an interrelated factor demand system. The ‘desired’ level of employment which is needed in such models, is derived from a Generalized Leontief cost function with quasi-fixed factors. Firm-level, cross-sectional data taken from an innovation survey in the service sector are used in the empirical analysis. The model is estimated by a trivariate ordered probit model. Evidence in favor of skill-biased technological change in the fast-growing German business-related services sector is found. ‘Ibe paper suggests a new method of calculating skill-specific and firm-specific labor cost from information on total labor cost and the share of each skill group in total employment only.     

Application of technology roadmaps for renewable energy sector

Technology Roadmapping (TRM) is a growing technique widely used for strategy planning and aligning technology with overall business objectives. Technology roadmaps are extensively used in many diverse fields at product, technology, industry, company and national levels. An increasing number of articles published on TRM and technology roadmaps indicate that there is a growing attention for TRM among the researchers from academia, industry and government. In this article, an overview of the application of TRM in renewable energy sector has been provided. After survey of the relevant academic literature and industry roadmaps, we tried to group the roadmaps related to the renewable energy technologies into national, industry/sector and organizational level roadmaps. Research findings indicate that goals and objectives of renewable energy roadmaps are different at these three levels. At national level, roadmaps focus on future energy security, energy dependence, energy policy formulation and environment protection. At industry/sector level, roadmaps are used to identify vision, common needs and evaluate barriers, constraints and risks faced by the industry from technical, political and commercial aspects. Organizational roadmap focuses on evaluation and prioritization of R&D projects to achieve the business goals. Similarly different methods, tools and approaches are used to develop roadmaps at different levels. Various other characteristics of these roadmaps are also discussed and analyzed. Research findings also indicate that greater numbers of roadmaps are developed for those renewable energy technologies undergoing rapid growth. Moreover, most of these roadmaps are developed in the regions where more research, development and deployment activities of renewable energy technologies is taking place.     

BIG data – BIG gains? Understanding the link between big data analytics and innovation

ABSTRACT

This paper analyzes the relationship between firms' use of big data analytics and their innovative performance in terms of product innovations. Since big data technologies provide new data information practices, they create novel decision-making possibilities, which are widely believed to support firms' innovation process. Applying German firm-level data within a knowledge production function framework we find suggestive evidence that big data analytics is a relevant determinant for the likelihood of a firm becoming a product innovator as well as for the market success of product innovations. These results hold for the manufacturing as well as for the service sector but are contingent on firms' investment in IT-specific skills. Overall, the results support the view that big data analytics have the potential to enable innovation.     

OWNERSHIP AND SECTOR PERFORMANCE IN PRESENT-DAY CHINA: A REGIONAL STUDY

Abstract.  Using the latest provincial data to investigate the different performance of different ownership sectors, we found that there are significant differences in both production technology and the determinants of performance at provincial level between state controlling sectors, collectives, domestic private enterprises, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan funded firms and foreign invested firms. Cobb–Douglas functions fit the production technologies of the state-controlled, collective and overseas Chinese funded sector very well. However, the production technologies of the domestic private and foreign funded sector are better represented by translog function. In addition, the determinants of economic performance change substantially from one ownership sector to another.