Vertical integration as a remedy for imbalances in the ‘Porterian’ value system. The Dutch financial securities industry at the beginning of the 20th century

The way of accounting for vertical integration, of this paper is based on the ‘Porterian’ value system and focuses on the relation between the creation and appropriation of value. The essence of a value system is that at each stage in the system value is created and added to the value created at previous stages. We propose that firms which are unable to appropriate the value they create at the stage they currently inhabit, would find it advantageous to integrate vertically towards stages offering a more attractive relation between value appropriation and value creation. This argument will be illustrated here by the case of a large Dutch bank that integrated vertically towards securities trading.     

Retailer entry conditions and wholesaler conduct: The theatrical distribution of motion pictures

I add to the empirical literature on vertical contracting and wholesaler conduct by using retailer entry conditions to infer unobserved choice variables and equilibrium responses to prices and advertising. After estimating the US demand for theatrical motion pictures from 1990–96, I apply these techniques to compare observed outcomes to predictions under various distributor-conduct hypotheses. While several caveats apply, results indicate that the hypothesis of competition among distributors fails to describe advertising levels or aggregate payments of theaters to studios. The hypothesis of some collusion among distributors, however, matches the data fairly well.     

Contractual arrangements between farmer cooperatives and buyers in China

The agrofood market in China is dominated by spot market exchanges of small farmers and various small traders, with only minor penetration of the modern supply chain at the farmgate. The emerging Farmer Professional Cooperatives (FPCs) are expected to facilitate vertical coordination. The overall goal of this study is to investigate the contractual arrangements between the FPCs and the buyers. Based on a national representative survey of 157 FPCs in China, this study shows that 32% of FPCs introduced written contracts in the primary marketing channel. Contracts are more likely to be adopted in the livestock sector and are positively related to the scale of production. While branding promotes contracts between FPCs and buyers, public certification of quality and food safety often substitutes for contracts. Furthermore, the membership heterogeneity of FPCs affects an FPC’s decision to use contractual arrangements with the buyer.     

中国地区专业化促进经济增长的实证研究:1990～2007年

地区专业化对经济增长的影响是多方面的。本文从两个层面剖析中国地区专业化对经济增长的影响。首先,运用全域专业化指数对中国地区专业化进行整体测度,考察中国地区专业化与经济发展水平之间的演变规律;设计地区加权区位商指数,分析各省区市专业化部门综合实力的演化趋势。进而,直接测度中国各地区专业化部门对地区经济增长的贡献;通过偏离份额分析法分别对四大区域专业化部门促进工业经济增长的结构效应和生产率效应进行测算和分析。最后,基于上述实证研究进行总结并提出相关建议。     

专业化、多样化与产业增长关系——基于中国省级制造业面板数据的实证研究

本文利用中国31个省区169个制造业在1999~2009年的数据,实证分析了专业化、多样化和竞争程度等因素对制造业增长的影响。研究结果表明,在全国样本范围内,专业化(MAR外部性)对制造业增长的影响为负,而多样化的产业环境(Jacobs外部性)和竞争(Porter外部性)有利于制造业的增长。在分地区、分产业和分地区分产业的分析中,专业化和多样化对不同地区和不同类型的制造业增长的影响存在显著差异,但是竞争对制造业的增长始终具有显著正面效应。     

创新住房保障模式 解决“夹心层”住房问题

为解决现有住房保障模式下存在的“夹心层”住房问题,本文从住房保障对象识别、保障方式选择、住房补贴标准确定、补贴金额计算等方面构建了一种新型的住房保障模式,该模式以货币补贴替代目前的实物补贴,实现了“收入越高补贴越少”的反向递减补贴效果,实现了住房保障的垂直公平,解决了现有模式下的“夹心层”问题,并进行了实证分析。     

Most-Favored Treatment Provisions as Nondiscrimination Guarantees

A firm employs suppliers who make specific investments. Because output demand is uncertain and the cost of enumerating contingencies high, the firm retains some unilateral control over the input quantities it purchases. To allay suppliers’ concerns over potential opportunism the firm must commit not to pit them against one another ex post by threatening to buy less from those who refuse to discount their prices. By extending most-favored treatment guarantees the firm commits not to discriminate. In some circumstances this generates efficient and opportunism-free outcomes. In others it is less effective but may remain attractive relative to other options. Evidence from field market contracts for natural gas corroborates this nondiscrimination hypothesis.     

国际垂直专业化分工与贸易:研究综述

国际垂直专业化是第二次经济全球化高潮的显著特征,国际分工与贸易的对象深入到工序层面,参与国的国民福利与收入分配以及世界贸易的性质、规模等都因此受到重要影响。对国际垂直专业化的研究使标准贸易理论的研究视野由产品间分工扩展到产品内分工,并且,产业组织与契约理论的相关概念被引入贸易模型,形成了新的分析框架。本文对该领域研究的内容、方法与结论做了归纳,就国际垂直专业化分工与贸易的基础和动因、程度度量以及经济效应分析三个方面的问题加以评述,并指明未来研究方向。     

Do alliances promote knowledge flows?

We explore the role of interfirm alliances as a mechanism for sharing technological knowledge. We argue that knowledge flows between alliance partners will be greater than flows between pairs of nonallied firms, and less than flows between units within single firms. Using patent citations as a proxy for knowledge flows, we find results that are consistent with these expectations. We then explore how firm characteristics affect knowledge flows within alliances and find positive effects due to technological, geographic, and business similarities between partners. We use alliance data from MERIT, patent data from the USPTO, and firm data from Compustat.     

Geographic concentration and vertical disintegration: Evidence from China

Existing theoretical literature predicts that geographic concentration encourages vertical disintegration of firms. Nevertheless, empirical evidence of this prediction is limited, especially in developing countries. Using data on manufacturing firms from China, this paper documents a positive correlation between geographic concentration and vertical disintegration. Additionally, this paper uses the instrumental variable approach to address the issue of endogeneity and finds that geographic concentration has a positive causal effect on vertical disintegration.