A cross section analysis of intra-industry trade in the U.K.

In this paper the inter-industry patterns of intra-industry trade in the United Kingdom are explored. A cross-section econometric model is explained and estimated for the year 1977. Two samples of 37 and 68 observations are tested using a variety of proxies for features of market structure including market concentration, product differentiation and cost conditions. The results suggest that a significant proportion of the inter-industry variation in intra-industry trade can be explained by the model.     

Firm-level interactions between exporting and productivity: Industry-specific evidence

This paper investigates interactions between exporting and productivity at the firm level, using a panel of firms in the UK chemical industry. This is both highly technology intensive and the UK’s largest exporting sector. We find exporters are more productive than non-exporters, but are also on average smaller. This superior productivity performance among exporters appears to be caused by both self-selection and learning-by-exporting effects. In contrast to other studies, we find learning effects are significantly positive among new entrants, weaker for more experienced exporters and negative for established exporters. JEL no. F14, D21, L65     

The more the better? Foreign ownership and corporate performance in China

We examine the relationship between the degree of foreign ownership and performance of recipient firms, using a panel of 21,582 Chinese firms over the period 2000–2005. We find that joint-ventures perform better than wholly foreign-owned and purely domestic firms. Although productivity and profitability initially rise with foreign ownership, they start declining once it reaches a certain point. This suggests that some domestic ownership is necessary to ensure optimal performance. We referred these findings to a model of a joint-venture, where strategic interactions between a foreign and a domestic owner's inputs may lead to an inverted U-shaped ownership–performance relationship.     

Liberalization and the terms of trade in Turkey: a causal analysis

There has been extensive trade liberalization in developing countries in recent decades. Several liberalization episodes have been completed in Turkey. In this paper we evaluate the relationship between trade liberalization in Turkey and the terms of trade. Has liberalization preceded changes in the terms of trade or vice versa. Using causality analysis we investigate several hypotheses and conclude that in this case trade liberalization follows a terms of trade change, a finding which is consistent with the trade shocks hypothesis.     

Who Benefits from Foreign Direct Investment in the UK?

The presumed higher productivity of foreign firms and resulting spillovers to domestic firms has led governments to offer financial incentives to foreign firms. We investigate if there is any productivity or wage gap between foreign and domestic firms in the UK and if the presence of foreign firms in a sector raises the productivity of domestic firms. Our results indicate that foreign firms do have higher productivity than domestic firms and they pay higher wages. We find no aggregate evidence of intra‐industry spillovers. However, firms with low productivity relative to the sector average, in low‐skill low foreign competition sectors gain less from foreign firms.