Evaluating the Relative Innovative Position of European Union Member Countries: An Empirical Analysis

This paper aims to provide empirical evidence about the relative positions of European Union member states on innovation and, more specifically, on innovation in manufacturing. These positions were obtained from the aggregation of different innovation variables using the principal component analysis. We do not provide, from the statistical viewpoint, a synthetic indicator, even if, from the economic perspective, the information we obtained was similar to what such an indicator would provide. Our unit of analysis is the sector in each country, what we will term ‘country‐sector’, covering both innovative and non‐innovative firms.     

Chief executive scanning emphases,environmental dynamism,and manufacturing firm performance

Chief executives must allocate their scarce time for scanning efforts among relevant domains of their firms' external environment and their firms' internal circumstances. We argue that high‐performing CEOs vary their relative scanning emphases on different domains according to the level of dynamism they perceive in their external environments. The concepts of dominant logic and sector importance were used to develop predictions about which external domains and which internal domains should receive relatively more or less scanning emphasis in external environments that, overall, are more dynamic or more stable. A field survey of 105 single‐business manufacturing firms evaluated CEOs' scanning emphases and firm performance. Results indicated that, for dynamic external environments, relatively more CEO attention to the task sectors of the external environment and to innovation‐related internal functions was associated with high performance. In stable external environments, however, simultaneously increased scanning of the general sectors in the external environment and efficiency‐related internal functions produced higher performance. These relationships were strongest between relative scanning emphases among domains and sales growth. We discuss the implications of these results for researchers and practitioners. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

可持续发展主导产业选择模型研究

首先,总结了研究主导产业的理论成果,指出现有主导产业选择理论多从经济因素出发,忽视了社会因素和环境因素,与国家提倡的可持续发展观不符。接着,阐述了可持续发展理论,尝试将可持续发展的思路量化为主导产业选择指标,并在层次分析法的基础上,提出了可持续发展主导产业选择模型。     

The impact of the Uruguay Round on tariff escalation in agricultural products

Tariff escalation (i.e. higher tariffs on processed agricultural products than on their input commodities) has been one of the obstacles for developing countries in their efforts to establish processing industries for exports. This article assesses the changes in tariff escalation resulting from the Uruguay Round (UR) tariff concessions, examining the agricultural import markets of EU, Japan and the US. The approach consisted of comparing the base and bound tariffs, as listed in the UR tariff schedules, of actual input/output processing relationships, taking also specific tariffs into account. Three main conclusions can be drawn. First, more than half of the commodity pairs have positive tariff wedges (escalating tariffs), about 10 per cent have no tariff wedges (input and output tariffs are equal) and the remaining one-third of the commodity pairs have negative tariff wedges (de-escalating tariffs). These numbers are roughly the same for both base and bound tariff wedges. Second, as a result of the UR tariff concessions more than 80 per cent of the tariff wedges have decreased (in absolute values, i.e. positive wedges have become less positive and negative wedges have become less negative). Convergence towards zero is therefore a common feature. Third, after the full implementation of the UR tariff concessions, high levels of nominal tariff escalation will still remain for a number of commodity pairs, highest in Japan and lowest in US. Considering only the positive tariff wedges, these will average 17 per cent after the implementation of the UR (down from 23 per cent of the base years). Finally, the study has certain methodological shortcomings, and a degree of caution is in order for countries contemplating export diversification and investing in valued-added industries. There are well known problems with “water in the tariffs” and the difference between applied and bound rates of duty that are common to all studies on this subject. In addition, a number of factors that are beyond the scope of this study should also be taken into account when export diversification is considered. These relate, inter alia, to the competitiveness of the export commodities or industries in question, availability of appropriate technologies and infrastructure, product standards, technical regulations and a host of consumer preference issues having to do with brand recognition as well as product characteristics.     

长江三角洲地区交通、城市化及产业发展态势分析

20多年的改革开放，长江三角洲地区经济取得了飞速的发展，为其经济进一步发展奠定了良好的基础。我国加入WTO后，经济将进一步融入全球经济，这无疑又为长江三角经济发展带来新的机遇和挑战。目前，长江三角洲地区交通等基础设施、城市化以及产业发展已表现出了良好的发展态势，文章对这种态势进行了分析和思考，并对长江三角洲整体经济一体化提出了相应的对策和建议。     

制造成本法的演进及发展思路

本文在对制造成本法的历史演进进行分析的基础上,从历史逻辑的角度对目前制造业所运用的制造成本法的理论基础、实践中存在的问题以及未来发展提出了初步思考,即基于对外财务会计目的而建立的"两步"制造成本制度和基于企业内部管理为目的的作业成本制度.     

产业链定位、分工与集聚如何影响企业创新——基于江苏省制造业企业问卷调查的实证研究

本文利用对江苏省342家制造业企业的调查问卷实证研究了产业链定位、分工和集聚效应对于企业创新强度的影响,结果发现:处于产业链终端环节企业并没有表现出特定的创新优势,一定程度上反映出我国制造业产业链中的终端集成环节并未形成相应市场势力或集成创新能力;分工活动(以供应商数量作为度量指标)与创新强度之间呈现较为复杂的U型非线性关系;集聚效应并未对我国微观企业创新活动产生积极影响,未成为激发集群创新动力的有机载体。针对以上实证结果,基于我国经济转型背景和企业微观层面行为特征,我们就产业链定位、分工与集聚效应三个因素与我国制造业企业创新活动的内在关系与作用机理,结合统计性分析进一步进行了剖析和解释,并据此提出了相应的可行对策思路。     

Study on Contribution Degrees of Hubei Equipment Manufacturing Industry to the National Economy

The paper analyses and researches the contribution degrees of Hubei equipment manufacturing industry to the national economy. Using econometric methods, it carries out regression and empirical research, and finds that the contributions of Hubei equipment manufacturing industry to the national economy is very obvious in recent years, however there is plenty of room for development.     

Profitability and Media Advertising in Greek Food Manufacturing Industries

The effect of advertising intensity in four media(television, radio, newspapers and magazines) on profitability is examined in this paper. Aprofitability model is tested using a unique 1993–1996panel data set of 350 Greek food manufacturing firms.Fixed effects results for the full model show thatonly television advertising increases profitabilitysignificantly. The results for eight major foodcategories estimated separately show importantdifferences between consumer and producer groups;television advertising effects on profitability arepositive and significant only in the consumerindustries where television advertising intensity ishigh. These findings show that television is the onlymedia where persuasive advertising exists in Greekfood manufacturing firms.     

在全球生产体系中提升"中国制造"的地位

近年来的国际舆论认为,世界制造中心正向中国转移,进入了“中国制造时代”。然而,在繁荣的“中国制造”的背后,中国自有品牌廖廖无几,产品技术含量不高,自主技术能力缺乏,处在全球产业链的低端。因此,从战略上提升“中国制造”的地位,打造自主品牌,促进企业发展,则显得尤为重要。