Technology and Flexibility: Enablers of Collaboration and Time‐Based Logistics Quality

Collaboration has been cited as one of the most important elements in leveraging supply chains to achieve competitive advantage. Literature in the field of collaboration tends to focus on strategic level initiatives; this research examines the benefits of implementing collaborative approaches at the logistics operations level. We find that leading strategic indicators, including technological innovativeness, technological complementarity, and flexibility are positively related to higher levels of collaboration and logistics service quality at the operational level in retail firms.     

中国与南亚地区贸易竞争性与互补性实证研究

利用2000年~2016年UN Comtrade数据库提供的数据,借助显示性比较优势指数和贸易互补性指数,对中国与南亚地区贸易竞争性及互补性进行实证研究。结果表明:中国在工业制成品上存在较为明显的比较优势,南亚地区在初级产品上的比较优势较为明显,两地虽然存在着部分比较优势重叠的商品,但在整体上,中国与南亚地区间的双边贸易仍然有着较强互补关系。     

Aggregate play and welfare in strategic interactions on networks

In recent work by Bramoullé and Kranton (2007), a model for the provision of public goods on a network was presented and relations between equilibria of such a game and properties of the network were established. This model was further extended to include games with imperfect substitutability in Bramoullé et al. (2014). The vast multiplicity of equilibria in such games along with the dramatic changes in equilibria with small changes in network structure, makes it challenging for a system planner to estimate the maximum social welfare of such a game or to devise interventions that enhance this welfare. Our main results address this challenge by providing for arbitrary networks, close approximations to the maximum social welfare and the maximum aggregate play in terms of only network characteristics such as the maximum degree and independence number. For the special case when the underlying network is a tree, we derive formulas which use only the number of nodes and their degrees. These results allow a system planner to assess aggregate outcomes and design interventions for the game, directly from the underlying graph structure, without enumerating all equilibria of the game, thereby significantly simplifying the planner’s problem. A part of our results can be viewed as a logical extension of Pandit and Kulkarni (2018) where the maximum weighted aggregate effort of the model in Bramoullé and Kranton (2007) was characterized as the weighted independence number of the graph.     

Trade development between China and countries along the Belt and Road: A spatial econometric analysis based on trade competitiveness and complementarity

This paper empirically analyses the effect of trade competitiveness and complementarity on the trade development between China and the countries along the Belt and Road (B&R). The study first measures the trade competitiveness and the complementarity between China and the countries along the B&R by using the trade competitiveness coefficient (TCC) and the trade complementarity index (TCI). Then a spatial gravity model is constructed to analyse the effect of trade competitiveness and complementarity on trade development between China and the countries along the B&R. We use generalized method of moments (GMM) and spatial filtering technology to verify the robustness of the model. The results show that the GDP of China and the countries along the B&R, the land area of countries along the B&R, trade complementarity, common language, free trade agreements (FTA), and the B&R Initiative significantly promote the trade development between China and the countries along the B&R, whereas the geographical distance between countries and trade competitiveness significantly inhibit it. Finally, to promote the trade development between China and the countries along the B&R, the present paper puts forward suggestions including improving trade promotion policies between China and the countries along the B&R and vigorously expanding cooperation with complementary industries in the countries along the B&R to enhance trade dependence.     

中国与“一带一路”国家农产品贸易的竞争性与互补性研究

［目的］文章基于UNCOMTRADE数据库和SITC，Rev3商品分类方法，结合中国与沿线国家农产品贸易现状与趋势，从总体、分区域、分种类3个方面判断了2000—2017年中国与沿线国家农产品贸易现状及特征。［方法］依次计算四种实证测度指数（RCA指数、TCI指数、TII指数、GL指数），分析了中国与沿线国家农产品贸易的竞争性和互补性。［结果］（1）中国与沿线国家农产品贸易发展迅速但中国一直处于贸易逆差的地位，贸易逆差呈N型趋势；（2）中国与沿线国家农产品贸易的集中度较高，主要集中在个别区域和几种农产品上，东南亚依然是最大的贸易市场同时产品市场结构发生改变；（3）中国与沿线国家农产品贸易的竞争性和互补性并存，但互补性明显更强，比较优势差异明显，双方以产业间贸易为主。［结论］中国与“一带一路”沿线国家应抓住新机遇，加大政策支持力度加强，优化贸易结构，充分发挥各国优势，实现互利共赢。     

Relations between technological and non-technological innovations in the service sector

In the economic literature, there is a debate on whether technological and non-technological innovations share the same determinants. As a result of this debate, two opposing views have emerged: the distinctive view argues that the determinants of both technologies are different; on the contrary, the integrative view considers that both types of technologies share determinants. The main objective that we pursue in this study is to test which of the two views is prevalent in the service sector of the Spanish economy. Analyses were performed using data from Spanish Technological Innovation Panel for the period 2008–2012. To perform hypothesis tests, the approach of complementarity was used. Our findings indicate that neither of the two approaches has been fully accredited, although the distinctive view is more prevalent. However, this radiography of relations tells us that companies can achieve further increases in productivity if technological innovation and non-technological innovation are implemented simultaneously.     

Implicit contracts and the cyclicality of the skill-premium

To examine the cyclical behavior of the skill-premium, this paper introduces implicit labor contracts in a DSGE model where production is characterized by capital-skill complementarity and the utilization of capital is endogenous. It is shown that this model can reproduce the observed cyclical patterns of wages and the skill-premium. The feature of capital-skill complementarity coupled with variable capital utilization rates does not come at odds with the acyclical behavior of the skill-premium. The paper argues that the skill-complementarity of capital is not a quantitatively significant factor at high frequencies. The key aspects are the contracts and the capital utilization margin.     

关于“管辖错误”作为再审事由的思考

新修订的《民事诉讼法》第179条将＂管辖错误＂规定为再审事由之一有其合理性。但考虑到再审制度的本质,应将＂管辖错误＂限定在违反专属管辖规定、违反专门管辖和下级法院违反级别管辖的规定受理案件等几种严重违法同时又侵害当事人程序性权利的情形。从减少以＂管辖错误＂为由申请再审的案件的数量和诉讼经济的角度考虑,宜设立再审补充性原则作为当事人提起再审的程序限制,与此相配套,在国内民事诉讼中应承认默示协议管辖。     

Atoms,Bits, and Wits: A New Economics for the Twenty-First Century—Part I

Part I: Three elementary components of economics are atoms, bits, and wits. The economics of atoms is familiar to economists, in the production of physical outputs treated as substitutes in consumption. The relation of value to scarcity with atoms is that abundance reduces the worth of material goods. The realm of bits is less understood; the issues appear in network effects, where abundance augments the worth of intangibles. The economics of networks is social: conflicts of interest (substitution) are balanced with concerts of value (complementarity) in combination. But in information networks—the realm of bits—substitution cedes to complementarity and competition defers to cooperation as efficient.     

Asset specificity and complementarity and MNE ownership strategies: The role of institutional distances

This study integrates transaction cost economics and institutional theory to propose a contingency model of multinational enterprises' design of ownership control. We posit that asset specificity and complementarity influence the design of ownership control, which is further affected by the institutional environment. Furthermore, we argue that regulatory distance and normative distance display differentiating moderations on the main effects. Regulatory distance strengthens the positive effect of asset specificity on ownership control while normative distance enhances the negative effect of asset complementarity on ownership control.