The Social Responsibilities of International Business Firms in Developing Areas

Three principles must be taken into account in assessing the social responsibilities of international business firms in developing areas. The first is an awareness of the historical and institutional dynamics of local communities. This influences the type and range of responsibilities the firm can be expected to assume; it also reveals the limitations of any universal codes of conduct. The second is the necessity of non-intimidating communication with local constituencies. This requires the firm to temper its power and influence by recognizing and responding to local concerns in the pursuit of its own objectives. The third is the degree to which the firm’s operations safeguard and indeed improve the social and economic assets of local communities. At issue is the question of adequate compensation for the inevitable disruptions that an international business brings to a local community. Beneficial returns must be shared and sustained over the long term in an equitable manner. The nine studies in this special edition illustrate in different ways the importance of these three principles. Joseph Smucker is Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University, Montreal. His research publications are in the areas of industrialization, labor markets, labor market policies, and models of economic development. Frederick Bird holds a Research Chair in Comparative Ethics at Concordia University, Montreal. He is the author of The Muted Conscience: Moral Silence and the Practice of Ethics in Business (1996), and has co-edited three volumes of essays on international business ethics: International Businesses and the Challenges of Poverty in the Developing World (2004), International Business and the Dilemmas of Development (2005), and Just Business Practices in a Diverse and Developing World 2006).     

The Effect of Tax Treaties on Multinational Firms: New Evidence from Microdata

This paper uses affiliate‐level data from Swedish multinationals to examine the impact of tax treaties on both overall affiliate sales and the composition of those sales. In line with previous results, we find little evidence for an effect of treaties on the level of total sales. We do, however, find that a tax treaty increases the probability of investment by a firm in a given country. In addition, we find that a treaty reduces exports to the parent but increases imports of intermediate inputs from the parent. This is consistent with treaties increasing the effective host tax. This suggests that tax treaties impact the behaviour of multinationals along some dimensions but not along others.     

数字贸易自由化的国际谈判进展及其对中国的启示

作为21世纪国际经贸新议题的数字贸易,在国际经贸谈判中被越来越多地涉及。在WTO谈判中,由于美欧在数字产品的原则性问题上存在严重分歧,谈判陷入僵局。尽管多边谈判受阻,以美国为代表的数字贸易大国,仍积极通过诸边和双边谈判,试图对数字贸易提出一个有约束力的全球性标准。本文通过对当前国际经贸谈判中数字贸易议题进展情况的梳理后发现,美欧等国的诸多实践经验,对中方有着重要的借鉴意义。     

国际企业社会责任标准运动及其对我国的启示

本文认为,国际企业社会责任标准的宗旨是确保生产商及供应商所提供的产品符合社会责任的要求,其主要内容包括人权、劳工权益和环境三个方面,其中劳工权益是核心。企业社会责任标准运动作为一种不可遏止的国际化运动,必然会对我国社会和经济的发展产生越来越大的影响。我们必须采取措施,积极应对,趋利避害,将其纳入我国劳动法制建设的轨道。加快完善我国相关法律法规,积极参与国际多边谈判,改善国内劳工条件,推动出口产品结构升级,加强企业社会责任意识,促使这一运动的运作规范化。     

International Trade and Health Policy: Implications of the GATS for US Healthcare Reform

This paper examines the implications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the World Trade Organization’s agreement governing trade in health-related services, for health policy and healthcare reform in the United States. The paper describes the nature and scope of US obligations under the GATS, the ways in which the trade agreement intersects with domestic health policy, and the institutional factors that mediate trade-offs between health and trade policy. The analysis suggests that the GATS provisions on market access, national treatment and domestic regulation, which are designed to eliminate ‘regulatory barriers’ to global trade in health services, limit the range of options that state and federal regulators and legislative bodies can employ to regulate the health sector and implement healthcare reforms. As such, the paper identifies the broader social and ethical implications of free trade policy.     

区域贸易协定服务贸易条款深度对增加值贸易关联的影响

本文基于区域贸易协定数据库对涉及42个国家(地区) 2000—2014年的区域贸易协定服务贸易条款深度进行测度,并利用全球价值链指标数据库考察了RTA服务贸易条款深度对增加值贸易关联的影响。研究结果表明:区域贸易协定服务贸易条款总深度对增加值贸易关联存在显著的促进作用,其中,服务章节引用《服务贸易协定》相关规则、包含国民待遇条款、允许无商业存在条件下提供贸易、允许自然人流动以及包含审议条款能够显著提高缔约国之间的增加值贸易关联。进一步研究发现:一方面,经济水平发展相似的国家深化服务贸易条款深度可以获得更高的增加值贸易关联水平;另一方面,服务贸易条款深度一体化可以通过削减双边国家的贸易成本提高企业出口预期信心,还可以通过技术溢出效应进一步吸收来自国外高效率的生产环节,提升双边国家的价值链嵌入水平。     

对外贸易中知识产权执法保护的国际经验

如何提高对外贸易中知识产权执法保护水平是中国全球化进程中面临的严峻问题。文章选取了六个先进国家或地区作为分析对象,对各国对外贸易中知识产权执法保护的做法进行了梳理和总结分析,探讨了各国对外贸易中知识产权执法保护的一般规律和趋势,发现其主要经验启示为:提高政府和社会的认识、完善立法、建立有效执法体系、形成社会合力机制、注重本国利益等。     

European Family Firms in International Business: British and Greek Tramp-Shipping Firms

This article traces the similar paths and common characteristics of British and Greek tramp-shipping companies over the last 130 years through a comparative and international perspective. Despite the tendency of companies to adopt corporate and managerial forms, British and Greek tramp-shipping firms remained first and foremost family firms. The strength and the viability of these firms were networks, on a local, national and international level – networks whose cohesion was based on trust and a particular business culture that was developed in the maritime regions whence they came, centred on family firms involved in international business.     

FOB 盛行之谜：贸易成本与异质性企业的 贸易术语选择

在《2010年国际贸易术语解释通则》规定的11种贸易术语中,企业收汇风险较大的FOB具有最高的使用频率。本文通过拓展现有异质性企业贸易模型,阐述了贸易成本对企业贸易术语选择行为的影响机制。该模型表明,二元经济结构、要素市场不完善和加工贸易居多是导致出口企业倾向于使用FOB成交的主要原因,贸易术语多元化能够通过增加企业出口机会改善社会福利水平,及时调整企业内外销的相对贸易成本对降低出口收汇风险和平衡我国内外需求水平至关重要。     

刍议国际贸易中的贸易报复

20世纪 90年代后,随着经济全球化的发展,国际贸易领域中的争端和冲突日益增多,许多国家为了维护自己的经济利益,开始越来越多地采取贸易报复。目前,贸易报复已成为制约国际贸易发展的重要障碍之一,而要减少各国之间的贸易报复,首先需要真正地认识贸易报复。     

The Interaction Between Suppliers and Fraudulent Customer Firms: Evidence from Trade Credit Financing of Chinese Listed Firms

Journal of Business Ethics - This study investigates the interaction between suppliers and fraudulent customer firms from the perspective of reputation damage and reputation recovery. Specifically,...     

Under-Reporting of R&D in Small Firms: The Impact on International R&D Comparisons

There is a widely recognised tendency for conventional measures of R&D activity to under-estimate the R&D investments of small companies. This arises due to small firms' emphasis on developmental rather than fundamental research, and because this activity is often informally organised. International survey evidence suggests a greater degree of formality in the organisation of R&D in German small firms. This reduces the likely degree of under-estimation of German small firms' R&D activity relative to that in the U.K. As a result, aggregate R&D figures may be under-estimating the true level by 13.9 per cent in the U.K. and 2.4 per cent in Germany. This is equivalent to around half of the historical difference between aggregate levels of business R&D in the U.K. and Germany.     

The Significance of Foreign Language Skills for Initial Entry Positions in International Firms

The critical selection criterion used in most U.S. firms during the process of expatriate selection is "the technical competence" of the candidate. In the case of "international track," initial entry positions, however, the evidence gathered in this study indicates that foreign language skills are as important as technical competence in the selection process. This is primarily because of the perceived value of language skills in facilitating communication and "acculturation" in overseas markets. It also reflects recruiter perceptions that many business school graduates do not possess high levels of specific technical competency, which results in other selection criteria, such as candidates' personal characteristics and language skills, being given greater weight.     

Export Policy and Strategy Implications for Small-to-Medium Sized Firms

This article reports on a study of the export efforts of 223 small-to-medium sized companies. The research tried to identify the factors that are considered to be critical to the export success of such companies. The study also investigated the use of both subjective and objective measures of export success with a view to determining the suitability of subjective performance measures in the event of non-availabity of objective data. The findings suggest that export knowledge, committment, and the technological intensity of the exported product have positive relationships with one measure of export success and that external support programs are viewed as a negative influence. The relationship of these factors to export success is different depending on whether objective or subjective measures of success are used. Public policy implications are also discussed.     

Trade,Tariffs and Total Factor Productivity: The Case of Spanish Firms

The aim of this paper is to examine the sensitivity of total factor productivity (TFP) to foreign competition in the case of a European country. Using the Olley and Pakes method, we calculate the TFP of Spanish manufacturing firms and study the impact of EU tariffs and the presence of foreign products and imports on TFP at the firm level. Applying the System‐GMM method, we find that TFP is negatively impacted by European tariffs, whereas competition in the form of the increased presence of foreign products in the domestic market and firm imports leads to improvements in the TFP. Moreover, these two effects are complementary. We also find evidence of important asymmetries among firms depending on their involvement in foreign markets.