Liberalization,growth and structural change: evidence from Nepalese manufacturing

This paper presents an empirical analysis of the consequences of liberalization on industrial structure in Nepal, a least developed country with weak institutions and severe infrastructure bottlenecks. Results suggest some structural change in manufacturing output and trade orientation which appears to be due to a change in incentive structure, but no significant improvements were recorded in total factor productivity growth which is of central importance for a least developed country like Nepal. Export intensity rose significantly in the postliberalization period despite poor productivity performance of export-oriented industries while import intensity fell due mainly to improved competitiveness in import competing industries and a fall in imports for smuggling to India.     

Horizontal and vertical intra-industry trade in Australian manufacturing: does trade liberalization have any impact?

This paper contributes to the literature on intra-industry trade (IIT) by disentangling such trade into horizontally and vertically differentiated products, and investigating their determinants in the context of trade liberalization in Australia. IIT in Australian manufacturing has increased following trade liberalization in 1980s and is increasingly dominated by vertically differentiated products. Industry level evidence confirms that the failure to segregate IIT into horizontally and vertically differentiated products produces misleading results as their determinants differ. Also, structural changes brought about by the policy liberalization appear to have an impact on total as well vertical IIT.     

The labour market effects of financial crises

This paper examines how the 2008–2009 financial crisis affected labour markets in Europe, and how this impact depended on employment protection laws. Using a difference‐in‐differences approach, our estimates isolate the effect of the lack of credit on the labour market from that of the general decline in aggregate economic activity. We find large and negative impacts of the credit shock on total employment, particularly on temporary, unskilled and young workers. These impacts were significantly larger in countries with stronger legal protection of permanent workers from dismissal. This suggests that the differential impact of the crisis across countries was not entirely driven by the heterogeneity of the credit shock, but also by labour regulations. Given regulatory inflexibility in adjusting the permanent workforce, firms responded to tightening financial constraints by disproportionately laying off temporary workers (who tend to be younger and less skilled than permanent workers).     

Dynamic causality testing for EKC hypothesis,pollution haven hypothesis and international trade in India

This study examines the causality relationships between foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth (GDP) and CO₂ emissions along with the level of trade (exports and imports) taking place in India. The study uses data obtained from World Development Indicators (WDI) of World Bank Group for the period 1982–2013. The study employed the dynamic multivariate Toda-Yamamoto (TY) approach that uses the modified Wald (MWALD) test. Among the major findings of the study are: the existence of both Pollution Haven Hypothesis and Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in India. The other findings of the study are: FDI is causing exports; exports are causing imports; imports are causing CO₂ emissions; and finally CO₂ emissions and GDP are causing each other. This finding concludes mainly two things. First, India imports more of pollution-intensive manufactured goods. Second, FDI is causing GDP in India but through CO₂ emissions.     

Mode of entry and ex-post performance

In this study I develop and empirically test hypotheses delineating how a set of industry- and firm-level factors are differentially associated with postentry performance of de novo and acquisitive entrants. First, I conceptualize structural entry barriers as sunk costs or irrecoverable investments that entrants must make in the entered industry to be competitive vis-à-vis incumbents. I then argue that de novo and acquisitive entrants differ in three important ways: (1) incremental vs. up-front sunk cost investments in overcoming impediments to entry; (2) increasing productive capacity vs. changing ownership in the entered industry; and (3) low vs. high costs of integration when realizing synergies with parent firms. I use the Trinet, FTC-ALB, and Compustat data bases to construct a sample comprising de novo and acquisitive entries made during the period 1980–82. Next, I evaluate postentry survival and growth between 1982 and 1986. Overall, empirical tests provided partial support for the hypotheses, and the explained variance in my models ranged from 17 percent to 37 percent. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The biotechnology industry and strategies of biodiversity conservation: The influence of managerial interpretations and risk propensity

This article presents the results of a questionnaire‐based mail survey which was conducted to examine the influence of managerial cognitions on the strategies for biodiversity conservation undertaken by individual companies in the North American biotechnology industry. The study confirmed that managerial issue interpretations and risk propensities were significant influences on organisational actions for biodiversity preservation. More specifically, the biodiversity conservation strategies undertaken by individual companies were influenced by whether or not the managers of these companies interpreted biodiversity conservation as an opportunity or a threat as well as the propensity of these managers to undertake risk on behalf of their companies. This article concludes that opportunity interpretations of biodiversity conservation by managers of biotechnology companies will be translated into proactive environmental responsiveness strategies in uncertain environments only if these managers also exhibit a high risk propensity. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Trend-following trading strategies in commodity futures: A re-examination

This paper examines the performance of trend-following trading strategies in commodity futures markets using a monthly dataset spanning 48 years and 28 markets. We find that all parameterizations of the dual moving average crossover and channel strategies that we implement yield positive mean excess returns net of transactions costs in at least 22 of the 28 markets. When we pool our results across markets, we show that all of the trading rules earn hugely significant positive returns that prevail over most subperiods of the data as well. These results are robust with respect to the set of commodities the trading rules are implemented with, distributional assumptions, data-mining adjustments and transactions costs, and help resolve divergent evidence in the extant literature regarding the performance of momentum and pure trend-following strategies that is otherwise difficult to explain.     

Shadow Banking,Chinese Style

Shadow banks are broadly defined as entities which conduct credit intermediation outside the formal banking system. Poorly regulated, engaging in opaque forms of intermediation, deeply interconnected with the official banking system, and operating with implicit government guarantees, they pose a major source of systemic risk. Yet shadow banks provide an important service by channeling credit to excluded investors, and can complement the formal banking sector. What explains the rapid proliferation of shadow banks in China? How large are they and what forms do they take? What types of risks do they pose to the financial system? And how best can China utilise the services of shadow banks while at the same time ensuring that they do not create systemic risks for the financial system?