Invariances and Diversities in the Patterns of Industrial Evolution: Some Evidence from Italian Manufacturing Industries

This work explores and compares some basic properties of corporate growth process at both aggregate manufacturing level and disaggregated sectoral levels. Using an extensive dataset on Italian manufacturing firms, we investigate which properties of firm growth dynamics are robust under disaggregation. We compare the results obtained with three different definitions of firm size, namely total sales, number of employees and value added. Our analysis suggests that while different sectors are characterized by significant differences in firm size distributions, in the degrees of concentration and in the autoregressive structure of the growth processes, there are also regularities which hold across all of them, such as the approximate unit root nature of the growth process and the power exponential shape of the growth rates density. Together, these “stylized facts” suggest challenging puzzles on the drivers of corporate growth and the resulting industrial structures.     

Customs-related Transaction Costs,Firm Size and International Trade Intensity

customs are generally perceived as a time-consuming impediment to international trade. However, few studies have empirically examined the determinants and the impact of this type of government-imposed transaction costs. This paper analyses the role of firm size as a determinant of customs-related transaction costs, as well as the effect of firm size on the relationship between these costs and the international trade intensity of firms. The results of this study indicate that customs-related transaction costs repress international trade activities of firms, even at low levels of these costs. The paper identifies transaction-related economies of scale, simplified customs procedures and advanced information and communication technology as main determinants of customs-related transaction costs. It is shown that when these factors are taken into account, firm size has no effect on customs-related transaction costs. Policy implications are considered for firm strategy and public policy.     

供应链视角下“农家乐”服务品质提升探讨

当前,我国"农家乐"发展存在的诸多局限性与没有完全摆脱"大而全"、追求"纵向一体化"的经营模式有一定关系,通过"横向一体化"构建产品供应链成为突破"农家乐"发展瓶颈的明智选择。以"农家乐"产品特征为基础,构建"农家乐"产品的供应链,分析其基本特征,从优化资源配置、实现专业分工等提高"农家乐"供应链运作效益角度,提出"农家乐"服务品质提升的途径以及相关的保障机制。     

宗地规模、城市类型与土地出让溢价——基于70个大中城市住宅用地出让数据的实证分析

研究目的:确定住宅用地出让溢价率水平与宗地规模之间的关系,比较不同规模和区位城市中这一关系的差异。研究方法:理论分析,面板数据分析。研究结果:总体上宗地规模对土地溢价率的影响呈现"倒U"型变化关系,不同规模和区位城市中这一关系有差异。人口介于500万～1 000万之间的特大城市中土地溢价水平受宗地规模的影响较为强烈,东部和中部城市中宗地规模大小对土地溢价水平影响显著,西部城市不显著。研究结论:地方政府在总量既定条件下调整宗地投放规模可在一定程度上调控土地溢价率。     

Fiscal decentralization and government size: The role of democracy

This paper examines how the level of democracy in a country affects the relationship between fiscal decentralization and government size. We argue that political regimes, proxied by their democracy levels, are important for different decentralization theories to predict the impact of fiscal decentralization on government size. We test this argument using panel data from 76 developed and developing countries during 1972–2013. We find strong and robust evidence that fiscal decentralization is negatively associated with government size and that a higher level of democracy tends to mitigate the negative impact of fiscal decentralization. Therefore, our study contributes to the literature by offering a novel insight on mixed results regarding the relationship between fiscal decentralization and government size in the literature.     

Size of nested cities

Models of cities based on conventional spatial market theory are unable to replicate a realistic size distribution. The stochastic process approach to size distribution, which assumes proportionate growth, does not provide an economic foundation for spatial trades. There is an apparent irreconcilability. We propose that since there is a continuum of equilibria in models of spatial markets with endogenous location, proportionate growth can work as equilibrium selection. We present computations for an urban configuration that has not been presented in the literature before. A small city locates inside a larger city's agricultural supply zone. This generates a larger variation in city size that may include a realistic size distribution.     

企业规模对专利产出影响的实证分析——基于1998—2010年上市公司经验证据

使用1998—2010年中国A股上市公司的年度数据,研究了企业规模对专利产出和专利密度的影响。结果表明:发明专利和实用新型专利与企业规模之间存在U型关系,外观设计专利与公司规模呈倒U型关系;三类专利的专利密度都与企业规模之间存在U型关系;企业的知识存量、成立时间、财务杠杆、所有制类型等企业内部因素以及市场集中度、企业所处区域等外部环境因素都对企业的专利产出有显著影响。据此提出企业创新发展路径假说。     

Stabilizing the market with short sale constraint? New evidence from price jump activities

We re-examine the impact of short-sale constraints (SSC) on market stabilization via realized jump activities during 2002–2009 to circumvent the reverse causality in identifying the policy effects of SSC. We observed that the abnormal downturns under tighter short sale constraints are significantly larger whereas there is no difference for abnormal upturns. Our empirical results survive across a sequence of robustness examinations controlled for market illiquidity. The findings do not support the claims by regulators that restraining short-sales can stabilize prices; instead, SSC has led to a less efficient market with stronger extreme downward returns.     

Making an exciting brand big: Brand personality,logo size and brand evaluation

This research examines how brand personality (excitement) and logo size used in product design (big versus small) interacts in affecting consumer brand evaluation. We first demonstrate that combining a big logo and a high-excitement brand (versus a small logo combined with a high-excitement brand) leads to high processing fluency, further resulting in more favourable brand evaluation (Study 1). We then determine the consumption situation as a moderator of such an interaction effect: the influence of the big logo and high-excitement-brand combination on brand evaluation is significantly weakened in a private consumption situation (a T-shirt worn at home) compared to a public consumption situation (a T-shirt worn outside, Study 2a), and becomes insignificant for a private product category (slippers, Study 2b).