Effects of financial constraints on export performance of firms during the global financial crisis: microeconomic evidence from Korea

This study uses a manufacturing firm-level panel data set of South Korea for 2006–2013 to investigate the effect of financial constraints on the export performance of firms, with particular emphasis on the corporate ownership structure. The empirical results show that foreign multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries are not affected by financial constraint during both crisis and noncrisis periods, implying advantages of foreign ownership. However, domestic firms suffer more from financial constraints on exports during crisis years. In particular, domestic firms without parent firms are financially constrained during both crisis and noncrisis periods. However, those with parent firms do not experience financial constraints during noncrisis periods, although they too suffer from them during crisis periods. Thus, parent–subsidiary linkage among domestic firms plays an important role in alleviating financial constraints on export activity in noncrisis years but not as much during crisis years. Therefore, domestic parent firms exhibit less resilience to the global financial crisis, in comparison to foreign MNC parent firms.     

土地市场扭曲如何影响制造业出口产品质量升级*——基于土地市场交易数据和制造业企业数据的实证分析

地方政府“以地谋发展”的策略在促进各地区制造业大规模集聚和出口贸易快速增长的同时，也势必会给企业出口产品质量带来深刻影响。本文综合利用中国土地市场网城市土地交易数据、中国工业企业数据、中国海关进出口产品数据和中国城市面板数据，实证检验了土地市场扭曲对企业出口产品质量升级的影响，并对其内在机制进行了探讨。研究发现：中国城市建设用地配置存在明显的工业偏向性，进而导致工业用地价格被低估，产生工业用地应得收益大于实际价格的反向扭曲问题。这种反向扭曲可通过抑制技术进步、阻碍产业结构高级化、弱化集聚经济效应等机制显著降低制造业企业出口产品质量。土地市场扭曲对企业出口产品质量升级的影响具有明显的异质性特征。具体而言，土地市场扭曲不利于一般贸易企业与混合贸易企业出口产品质量提升，但对加工贸易企业出口产品质量提升具有促进作用。土地市场扭曲对企业出口产品质量升级的抑制作用由东到西依次递增。土地市场扭曲不利于外资企业和国有企业出口产品质量提升，对集体企业及民营企业的影响不显著。     

Designing a Model for Competitiveness Measurement of Selected Tourism Destinations of Iran (The Model and Rankings)

Destination competitiveness is the ability to sustain or improve market position and market share of a destination over a period of time. Different markets have different expectations which increase the importance of features a destination should provide in order to achieve competitive advantage. The results of this study show that the domestic model of Iran’s destinations competitiveness comprises 9 major indices. These indices are made of 64 variables which have been derived from literature reviews and qualitative surveys. The results of running the model for all selected destinations are consistent with the destinations’ tourist statistics except for one destination (Qom).     

单位劳动力成本、汇率变动与出口的互动关联研究——基于面板向量自回归(PVAR)模型的分析

基于我国34个工业行业的面板数据，采用面板向量自回归模型（PVAR）对单位劳动力成本、汇率风险与我国出口之间的互动关系进行研究。结果显示，单位劳动力成本与出口存在双向抑制作用，即工资上涨不利于出口规模的扩张，出口也无法促进工资增长率的上升，但出口显著地提升了劳动生产率；汇率变动对出口脉冲响应函数值正负交替，呈现出不确定性，出口对汇率变动产生了超调现象；我国存在"进口引致出口"机制，且出口也能通过收入效应和汇率两条路径影响进口；产出对出口的影响关系呈现不确定性，但出口可以带动产出。在方差分解中，单位劳动力成本变量对出口具有较强的解释能力，是导致我国出口变动的主要因素，汇率变动对出口的短期解释能力较强，进口在长期解释能力较强，产出在三个不同时期解释能力基本一致，但出口对其他变量的解释能力普遍较低。     

Contracting Institutions,Agro‐food Trade and Product Quality

The agro‐food sector has experienced a profound transformation of contractual arrangements along the value chain, coinciding with important technological innovations and product quality upgrading. Our understanding of the impact that this transformation has had on trade flows in the agricultural sector is very limited. In particular, we have limited knowledge about the extent to which the patterns in agro‐food trade have been driven by the quality of contractual institutions. Using existing measures which capture the sensitivity of agro‐food products to contractual imperfections, we show that countries with better contract enforcement specialise in the production of food which requires higher level of relationship‐specific investments. We also find that countries with better contracting institutions and producing contract‐intensive goods specialise in exporting high quality foods. In addition, we show that the quality of contracting institutions might importantly affect the process of product quality upgrading.     

Does aid for trade diversify the export structure of recipient countries?

The importance of aid for trade as a tool for facilitating trade, economic growth and social development has received attention since the concept was introduced in 2005. While one of the main targets of aid for trade is export diversification, reflecting the fact that the exports of many developing countries are concentrated in a small range of items, there have not been many efforts to measure the effect of aid for trade on export structure. This study, therefore, attempts to trace the relationship between aid for trade and 133 aid recipients' export structure between 1996 and 2013. Using the Herfindahl–Hirschman Index to measure the degree of export concentration, the findings suggest that total aid for trade has reduced the concentration level in the short run. In the long run, on the other hand, aid for trade has had no significant effect on export structure of recipient countries. Only aid for building productive capacity, which is one of the three categories of aid for trade, contributes to lower concentration. Yet, this change is not caused by an increase in export diversity but by the redistribution of shares of existing products of a similar sophistication level.     

山西省特色农业产业集群集中度和竞争力分析*——以运城苹果、朔州羊肉、晋城大豆为例

[目的]文章选取了山西省3个具有代表性的特色农业产业集群(运城苹果、朔州羊肉、晋城大豆)进行研究,通过探索山西省特色农业产业集群发展的优势与不足,有助于提升产品竞争力和助力区域经济发展,进而达到促进农业发展、带动农民增收的目的。[方法]文章运用2005年、2010年、2015年3个时期的数据,首先基于波特的钻石模型分析了3个产业的发展情况,然后运用区位商和集中系数指标、产业效率优势指数和规模优势指数指标分别分析了3个特色农业产业集群的集中化程度和竞争力。[结果]从集中化程度来看,运城苹果产业发展进入成熟阶段,专业化程度和集中化程度近几年一直较为稳定,进一步提升空间不大;朔州羊肉产业处于大幅上升阶段,集中化程度明显,且优于专业化程度;晋城大豆产业专业化程度优势优于集中化程度优势,但二者均呈先升后降趋势。从竞争力评价角度来看,运城苹果产业已初具产业效率优势且稳定上升,规模优势稳定且变化不明显;朔州羊肉产业具有极高的产业效率优势且高位运行,规模优势稳定且处于成熟阶段;晋城大豆产业正在形成产业效率优势,规模优势近年来稍有下降。从综合比较优势来看,运城苹果产业处于成熟阶段,朔州羊肉产业具有极强的综合比较优势,晋城大豆产业受规模优势下降的影响而下降。[结论]总体来看,3个产业作为山西省的特色农业产业,其集中化程度和竞争力均较高,且具有发展优势和发展空间,区域布局合理,已经形成或正在形成特色农业产业集群,但同时也存在一定的问题。从微观层面来说,农户、企业等微观主体应该继续发挥产品的品质优势,同时努力扩大市场份额和拓展销售渠道,积极延伸产业链,加强与科研院所的合作;从宏观层面来说,应该加强政府支持和引导,减少市场风险的不确定性。     

Corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage: A developing country perspective

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has attracted wider research interests over recent decades. While some studies have examined the impact of CSR activities on firm competitive advantage (CA), the findings so far remain contradictory. Moreover, the role of export orientation, firm strategy, and structure on the association between CSR and CA has not been explicitly examined. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of export orientation, firm strategy, structure, and firm size on the association between CSR and CA. Using a sample of 179 responses from management staff in organizations across five sectors in a developing country context of Ghana, the study found positive effects of CSR on CA. The study contributes to the resource‐based view (RBV) scholarship by confirming the important complementary effect of export orientation and organizational structure as important resources and capabilities on the CSR–competitiveness relationship. However, no evidence of a moderating effect of firm strategy, or firm size on the CSR–CA relationship was found. These findings are instructive, impactful, and enrich the existing literature on CSR and strategy. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.     

Relative-to-rival corporate philanthropy,product market competitiveness,and stakeholders

Unlike most of the literature that examines the relationship between corporate philanthropy and financial performance, this study investigates the mechanisms through which corporate socially responsible behaviors produce financial outcomes. We propose that corporate philanthropy improves corporate competitiveness by eliciting positive responses from stakeholders, who assess a firm’s philanthropic contribution in relation to its rivals to determine what level of support they wish to provide to the firm. We predict that a firm’s philanthropy relative to its rivals has a positive effect on its product market competitiveness, and that this positive effect is moderated by three conditions that influence stakeholder response: stakeholder attention to philanthropy, its perceived legitimacy, and expectations of corporate giving. Our predictions are generally supported by our analyses. Overall, this paper shows that strategic philanthropy has a quantitative dimension, and firms obtain the market competitiveness associated with corporate philanthropy by integrating their rivals’ positions into their decision making.     

Financial constraints on export market exit of domestic firms versus foreign multinational corporation subsidiaries in South Korea

Using a Korean manufacturing firm-level data set covering a range of years from 2006 to 2013, this study investigates how the financial condition of firms, such as liquidity, leverage, and cash flow ratio, affects exit from export markets. It also analyses whether the financial status of foreign multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiaries differs from that of domestic firms with respect to the hazard of export market exit, especially during a global financial crisis. The empirical results confirm that, for domestic firms, the hazard of export market exit is affected by the firms’ financial condition only during a financial crisis. In other words, the financial vulnerability of domestic firms increases during the crisis, resulting in the hazard of export market exit. However, financial situations for foreign MNC subsidiaries do not affect exits from export markets, indicating a ‘finance-factor comparative advantage’.