Chinese exports and productivity gains: panel evidence

This paper examines the impact of imports from China on the labour productivity levels of importers, using unbalanced data from 1994 to 2006. It is hypothesised that imports from China increase importer countries' labour productivity levels. Using cross‐section, fixed and random‐effect models, a statistically significant, positive relationship is found between the share of a country's imports from China and labour productivity in the manufacturing sector of that country. Moreover, it is found that imports from China have a larger impact on China's main Asian‐Pacific trade partners and countries with higher manufacturing shares in their total exports.     

Foreign ownership,technological capabilities and clothing exports in Sri Lanka

Drawing on recent developments in applied international trade and innovation and learning in developing countries, this paper examines the links between firm-level export performance, foreign ownership and the acquisition of technological capabilities in a sample of 205 clothing enterprises in Sri Lanka. Econometric analysis indicates that foreign ownership, firm size, human capital, technological capabilities and geographical location are all positively associated with export shares. Furthermore, higher levels of technological capability are associated with larger firm size, university-level manpower and in-house technological effort. Micro-level investigations are a complementary input to developing policies for promoting private sector competitiveness in outward-oriented developing countries.     

Foreign direct investment, processing trade, and the sophistication of China's exports

China's export structure has shown a rapid shift towards more sophisticated industries. While some believe that this trend is a result of processing trade and foreign direct investment, the evidence is mixed. This paper examines variations in level of export sophistication across China's manufacturing industries. We find that an industry's level of export sophistication is positively related to the share of wholly foreign owned enterprises from OECD countries and the share of processing exports of foreign-invested enterprises, and negatively related to the share of processing exports of indigenous Chinese enterprises. Evidence from the relative export prices of Chinese goods, which measure within-product export sophistication, shows a similar pattern.     

Upstreamness,exports, and wage inequality: Evidence from Chinese manufacturing data

In this paper we investigate within-firm wage inequality across heterogeneous industries that hold different positions in the domestic value chain, and across heterogeneous firms that have different exposure to trade. We find that the wage inequality problem is more severe in upstream industries than in downstream ones, and among firms with greater exposure to trade (i.e., larger export share of sales). Our findings support both classic and new new trade theories on wage inequality. In downstream industries where Chinese firms are typically engaged in processing and assembly work with intensive use of unskilled labor, trade leads to less wage inequality within firms. However, trade also introduces pro-competitive effects which usually benefit exporters and their skilled labor. The results hold after various checks and controls for robustness.     

Valuing school quality, better transport, and lower crime: evidence from house prices

Housing prices within urban areas exhibit highly localized variationthat cannot be explained solely by differences in the physicalattributes of dwellings. We consider the role of local amenitiesand disamenities in generating price variation within urbanareas, focusing on three highly policy-relevant urban issues–transportaccessibility, school quality, and crime. Our survey of therecent empirical literature highlights what is known and whatis not known on these issues, and considers the relevance andreliability of this evidence for policy design and evaluation.Although there are serious empirical challenges, we argue thatresearch on housing values based on careful research designscan offer credible estimates of the social value of place-specificattributes and amenities.     

Genetic distance,cultural differences,and the formation of regional trade agreements

Review of World Economics - Genetic distance between countries’ populations has been shown to proxy cross-country differences in cultures and preferences. In an unbalanced panel of 133...     

Geography and firm exports: new evidence on the nature of sunk costs

This paper presents an examination of the trading patterns of individual firms, looking at their coverage of export markets and movements into and out of destinations. This analysis is made possible by access to a new survey data set of Irish firms, which includes detailed information on firm characteristics and on the destinations of their exports over a 2-year period. In line with Eaton et al. (Am Econ Rev 94:150–154, 2004), we find that a large number of firms serve only the domestic market and many exporting firms export to a single foreign market. Although there is little movement of firms into and out of exporting, firms’ involvement in individual export markets is much more dynamic. Over one-third of firms change their market coverage, usually by entering or exiting one additional market. This is consistent with an interpretation where the bulk of any sunk cost encountered in exporting is incurred during the initial entry to the export market. Subsequent entry to additional markets may be made easier by prior export experience, which could help reduce the sunk cost of extending market coverage.     

Trade protection and market power: evidence from US antidumping and countervailing duties

Contingent protection measures were originally intended to protect domestic producers from what were considered to be “unfairly” cheap imports. However, due to the way in which these policies are designed and implemented, they have been heavily criticised for their greatly disruptive effects on markets, and particularly on competition. The analysis presented in this paper contributes to the debate by studying the impact of US antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duties on domestic producers’ price-cost margins (PCM). To this end, the study takes advantage of a long panel of 4-digit industries in the United States covering 26 years of AD/CV activity, including the periods before and after the changes to AD/CV laws introduced following the Uruguay Round (UR). It finds evidence of a positive effect of AD/CV duties on PCM for the period prior to the UR, but the effect seems to disappear in the years following the UR. The analysis accounts for potential endogeneity in AD/CV duties, as well as the intensity of the protection granted.     

Foreign outward direct investment and exports in Austrian manufacturing: Substitutes or complements?

Foreign Outward Direct Investment and Exports in Austrian Manufacturing: Substitutes or Complements? — The relationship between foreign outward direct investment and exports is crucial for assessing the impact of increased internationalization by foreign outward direct investment on a country’s welfare. Three models of trade and FDI are reviewed to generate hypotheses on their direct relationship over time as well as on common determinants. The propositions are empirically examined with time-series cross-section data for Austrian manufacturing. The results indicate a significant complementary relationship between FDI and exports in the eighties and early nineties. Moreover, long-run multipliers of exogenously increased FDI and exports are calculated. They are found to be positive but small in magnitude.     

Foreign direct investment-led growth: evidence from time series and panel data

This paper estimates the impact of foreign direct investment(FDI) on capital accumulation, and output and total factor productivity(TFP) growth in the recipient economy. Time series and paneldata evidence are provided for a sample of OECD and non-OECDcountries in the period 1970-90. Although FDI is expected toboost long-run growth in the recipient economy via technologicalupgrading and knowledge spillovers, it is shown that the extentto which FDI is growth-enhancing depends on the degree of complementarityand substitution between FDI and domestic investment.     

Russian food exports: Trends,opportunities, and priorities

This paper considers the problems of developing Russian food exports under the conditions of neoglobalization, the formation of interstate and transcontinental free trade zones, and the complication of regional and world economic relations.     

Growth,exports and cointegration: An empirical investigation

Zusammenfassung Wachstum, Exporte und Ko-Integration. Eine empirische Untersuchung. — In diesem Aufsatz wird Johansens multivariate Ko-Integrationsanalyse auf viertelj?hrliche Daten für das BIP, den Konsum, die Investitionen und die Exporte von sechs L?ndern angewandt. Es zeigt sich, da\ in vier F?llen der Export keine ko-integrativen Beziehungen zu den anderen drei Variablen eingeht. Demgem?\ gibt es keine starke empirische Evidenz für die Hypothese vom exportinduzierten Wachstum.

---

Resumen Crecimiento, exportaciones y cointegración: una investigatión empirica. — La aplicación del análisis de cointegración multivariado de Johansen al PBI trimestral, al consumo, a la inversión y a las exportaciones de seis paises industrializados indica que en cuatro casos las exportaciones no forman parte de las relaciones de cointegración entre las tres otras variables. Por ello, no se obtiene evidencia empírica importante en favor de la hipótesis del crecimiento dirigido por las exportaciones.

---

Résumé Accroissement, exportation et co-intégration: une analyse empirique. — L’application de l’analyse de co-intégration multivariate de Johansen aux données trimestrielles du produit national brut, de la consommation, de l’investissement et de l’exportation de six pays industrialisés indique qu’en quatre cas l’exportation n’influence pas les relations de co-intégration entre les trois autres variables. Par conséquence, l’évidence empirique ne supporte pas fortement l’hypothèse que la croissance économique soit stimulée par l’exportation.

     

Concentration,diversification and earnings instability: Some evidence on developing countries' exports of manufactures and primary products

Policies aimed at diversification of the commodity composition of exports continue to be advocated as a means of reducing instability in LDCs' export earnings. The usual assumptions are that earnings from manufactures are more stable than earnings from primary products and that diversification will reduce the covariances between earnings from different pairs of products. It is suggested here that for several reasons these assumptions may not be valid. Evidence is then presented which indicates that across a sample of countries diversification has taken place but has not been accompanied by relatively greater stability in manufactures and favourable changes in covariances.     

US Foreign policy in the war against terrorism: Challenges,prospects, and ROK's desirable options

Despite the September 11 incident, the US should consider investing more resources in Northeast Asia and Europe rather than focusing all its energy on the terrorists. While consolidating its existing grand strategy of promoting democracy and the market economy, the US may need to draw more support from its major allies to be better prepared against the multi‐spectrum conflicts. As for South Korean options, it is desirable to level up its support for America's war in Afghanistan and also for the long‐term fight against terrorism. In addition, the ROK‐US readiness against potential North Korean terrorism and asymmetric threat should be improved through closer bilateral consultation and coordination.     

Domestic railroad infrastructure and exports: Evidence from the Silk Route

By exploiting a quasi-experiment affecting only non-monetary transport cost, this study tests the impact of an exogenous railroad speed enhancement and capacity expansion project (RSCP) on China's exports to Central Asia. The Longhai and Lanxin lines in China, linking the East and the West, were upgraded on October 21, 2000, improving freight efficiency between Eastern China and Xinjiang, the gateway from China to Central Asia. By employing a transaction-level export database, empirical results find that exports freighted on the upgraded rail lines increased in value by approximately 30%, compared with other freight modes. The results are robust by excluding specific observations with respect to the demand fluctuations and macroeconomic shocks, and including additional controls. The intensive margin, but not the extensive margin, played a major role in explaining the impact of railroad upgrades on exports. In addition, the project caused spatial reorganization in exporting activities. The share of Xinjiang exporters in the Central Asia market shrank, while Xinjiang's exports to other international markets expanded through better accessibility to the coast.     

从“自由主义”到“保护主义”—美国加入WTO前后的贸易政策演变

世界贸易组织(WTO)的前身--关税与贸易总协定(GTT)是由美国倡导并发起的.包括美、英、法在内的23个缔约国于1947年10月签订了"关税和贸易总协定"(GATT),1948年1月1日临时实施.     

Foreign direct investment and country risk: Further empirical evidence

Global political and economic changes over the last decade have resulted into massive capital inflows to developing countries, most of these flows are foreign direct investments. In light of threats of political instability in the forms of civil wars, illegal capital flight, financial market instability, and political corruption, etc., further assessment of country risk is warranted. We examine the relationship between FDI and political and economic risks for 26 countries for the years 1992, 1993, and 1994 by using regression analysis and cross section data. The results indicate a significant relationship between FDI and these risks. This study provides more reliable estimates by using a current and eclectic measurement of risks represented by Euromoney indexes of political and economic risks. In the previous studies the perception of risk was narrowly defined and also political instability events were mistakenly interpreted as political risks.