A model of demand,productivity and foreign location decision among Taiwanese firms

We develop a theoretical framework to examine the relative importance of firm demand and productivity in firm decisions to export and where to locate foreign direct investments. The model shows that the equilibrium firm decision depends on product technology, consumer preference for product quality, fixed investment costs of establishing a foreign subsidiary, transportation costs and relative wages. Our empirical results confirm the predictions of the theoretical model. Firm-level demand and productivity components are important in explaining the decision to participate in foreign markets with their relative importance depending on the firm's organizational form (exports versus FDI) and the destination of the investments. In general, FDI firms are more productive than exporting firms regardless of FDI destinations. FDI firms also have a higher demand component than exporters and this demand component is stronger than productivity. Finally, among FDI firms, while those with a high demand index and productivity have a significantly higher propensity to invest in high-income countries, firm productivity is the sole determinant of firms undertaking FDI in low-income countries.     

The legal framework and initiatives for promoting safety in the United Arab Emirates

Injury is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The UAE is a rapidly developing country with fast economic growth, demographical and environmental changes that are associated with new hazards emerging at a similar pace. The UAE as a federal entity has federal and local systems responsible for safety policy, regulations and enforcement. To set priorities for safety promotion and injury prevention, it is necessary to have data on the most frequent external causes of injury and the main individual, equipment and environmental risk factors that contribute to injury. However good quality data for injury prevention are scarce. The aim of this paper is to describe the scale of injury as a public health problem in the UAE, and the development of safety policies, regulations and promotion efforts with special emphasis on traffic, occupational and child safety.     

Does Zero Tillage Improve the Livelihoods of Smallholder Cropping Farmers?

The biophysical benefits of zero tillage (ZT) are well documented in the literature. However, the literature on its economic benefits, especially in the context of small and medium‐scale farmers in the temperate developing world is scanty. Using a study of 621 wheat farmers in Syria, we provide empirical evidence on the impacts of adoption of ZT on farm income and wheat consumption. We use propensity score matching (PSM) and endogenous switching regression (ESR) approaches to account for potential selection biases. After controlling for confounding factors, we find that adoption of the ZT technology leads to a US$ 189/ha (33%) increase in net crop income and a 26 kg (34%) gain in per capita wheat consumption per year (adult equivalent) – an indication of meaningful changes in the livelihoods of the farm households. Besides the biophysical and environmental benefits documented elsewhere, our results suggest that adoption of ZT can also be justified on economic and food security grounds. Therefore, ZT can have sizeable impacts in transforming the agricultural sector in the temperate developing world provided that the technology is well promoted and adopted.     

Productivity and Turnover in the Export Market: Micro-level Evidence from the Republic of Korea and Taiwan (China)

Widespread empirical evidence indicates that exporting producershave higher productivity than nonexporters, although the reasonswhy are unclear. Some analysts argue that exporters acquireknowledge of new production methods, inputs, and product designsfrom their international contacts, and with this knowledge theyachieve higher productivity than their more insulated domesticcounterparts. Others argue that the higher productivity of exportersreflects the self-selection of more efficient producers intoa highly competitive export market. This article analyzes thelink between a producer's total factor productivity and itsdecision to participate in the export market, using manufacturingdata from the Republic of Korea and Taiwan (China). Differences are found between these two economies in the importanceof selection and learning. In Taiwan (China) transitions ofplants into and out of the export market reflect systematicvariations in productivity as predicted by self-selection models.In Korea there are no significant changes in productivity followingentry or exit from the export market that are consistent withlearning from exporting. A comparison of the two economies suggeststhat in Korea factors other than production efficiency are moreprominent determinants of the export decision.     

Technology,Exports And Firm Efficiency In Taiwanese Manufacturing

Using firm-level data from the 1986 Census of Manufactures of Taiwan, we examine the links between technical efficiency and firm investments in technology and exports. Stochastic production frontier techniques are used to estimate the technical efficiency of firms by investments in technology as well as by export orientation. Our results indicate that accounting for firm investments in technology is critical in explaining the strong export-productivity link in the extant literature. For the group of large, high technology firms, the differences in the mean efficiencies between exporters and non-exporters are not significantly different than zero in all nine industries under study. However, for the large number of small firms that make no formal investments in technology. exporters are significantly closer to the production frontier than their counterparts that sell in the domestic market.     

Evidence of assurance enhancing the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures: an empirical analysis

In response to investor and public concerns about harm to the environment, companies are increasingly disclosing environmental information. To enhance the quality of corporate environmental disclosures in a largely voluntary context, various stakeholders are also demanding independent assurance. This study uses a stakeholder‐agency theoretical perspective to examine whether the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures is enhanced when assured. This study also examines the difference in the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures when assurance is provided by either professional accountant assurers or private consultants. Our sample comprises listed companies voluntarily disclosing environmental information in stand‐alone reports, annual reports, and websites. We use an index based upon the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) to measure the quality of company environmental reporting. Results of this matched pairs study show that the quality of voluntary environmental disclosures scores significantly higher for assured companies than unassured companies. For assured companies, the quality is no different when assured by accountants or consultants. Additional analysis provides preliminary evidence that experience improves the quality of environmental disclosures.     

Technological Capability and Firm Efficiency in Taiwan (China)

This article highlights the importance of firms' own investmentsin technological capability. Recent research on the nature andextent of technical change in developing countries shows thatthe accumulation of technological capability should be treatednot as a by-product of some other activity but as an activityin its own right. This research also points to the criticalrole of firms and indicates that firm-level efforts to obtaininternational knowledge may have higher payoffs when accompaniedby complementary investments in the development of in-housetechnological capabilities. Using micro data from Taiwan (China), the authors estimate thetechnical efficiency of firms. They proxy firm-level effortsat modifying or adapting technology by expenditures on researchand development and on-the-job training. They then use a stochasticproduction frontier model to estimate the correlation of a firm'sefficiency both with investments in training and research anddevelopment and with international linkages (such as exporting,direct foreign investment, and foreign technology licenses).The evidence from manufacturing firms in Taiwan suggests thatefficiency is positively correlated with the firm's investmentsin training and research and development and with its informalcontacts with foreign purchasers through export sales.     

Product Choice and Market Competition: The Case of Multiproduct Electronic Plants in Taiwan*

We examine the strategies of multiproduct plants in the Taiwanese electronics sector by introducing two new measures of product dissimilarity to capture the technological gaps of product pairs within the plant. The plant‐level index is used to analyze product mix decisions of plants. We find that plants whose products have large technological gaps are more likely to give up product lines. The product‐level index is used to show that, with increased competition, multiproduct plants exit markets where production technologies are farthest away from their core products and they also perform better than plants that continue to produce a wider range of products.     

Modeling producer responses with dynamic programming: a case for adaptive crop management

Past research found agricultural producers’ conditional responses during the growing season are important adaptations to weather and other stochastic events. Failing to recognize these responses overstates the risks confronting producers and understates their ability to respond to adverse circumstances. Dynamic programming (DP) provides a means for determining optimal long‐term crop management plans. However, most applications in the literature base their analysis on annual time steps with fixed strategies within the year, effectively ignoring conditional responses during the year. We suggest an alternative approach that captures the strategic responses within a cropping season to random weather variables as they unfold, reflecting farmers’ ability to adapt to weather realizations. We illustrate our approach by applying it to a typical cereal farm in Karak, Jordan. The results show that including conditional within‐year responses to weather reduces the frequency of fallowing by 23% and increases expected income by 9%.