Sample-selection procedures for estimating the relationship between concentration and profitability from cross-industry data

Aggregation of homogeneous product markets into industry classifications or disequilibrium in terms of differences between expected and actual market shares can lead to bias in the estimated relationship between concentration and profitability from regressions using cross-industry data. The relationship between concentration and profitability over the period from 1965 to 1980 is estimated for various samples of Canadian manufacturing industries. Regressions for the full sample of industries lead to rejection of the hypotheses from either structure-conduct-performance (structuralist) analysis or a model of oligopolistic equilibrium. However, regressions for subsamples of industries selected to remove industries subject to aggregation provide results consistent with the structuralist hypothesis, while regressions for industries selected to remove industries subject to both aggregation and disequilibrium provide results consistent with the oligopolistic equilibrium hypothesis.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 1990 Meetings of the Canadian Economics Association. Helpful comments from Jeff Church, Steve Davies, Simon Domberger, Ben Heijdra, Dave Sapsford, Pam Weidler and participants at the meetings are gratefully acknowledged. Useful suggestions were also received from an anonymous referee of this journal.     

中国企业盈利能力与竞争力

本文利用中国最新的统计数据对中国企业盈利能力现状及提升的原因进行了分析。本文认为,近几年我国工业企业的盈利能力有较大幅度的提高;并且,我国工业企业盈利能力的提升伴随了工业领域垄断程度的降低及进入壁垒的降低;除少数资源性垄断和行政性垄断产业（企业）外,总体上看,我国工业企业盈利能力的增强,确实是企业竞争力提升的表现,而非由于垄断程度的提高。中国工业企业盈利能力提升的重要原因：一是企业管理水平的提高;二是企业资产运营效率的提高;三是投资收益增加;四是职工工资的一部分转化成了企业利润。     

Effects of R & D Spillovers on the Profitability of Firms

This cross-section study of a sample of 278 firms from the COMPUSTAT II database explores the relationship between a firm's profitability and other variables, notably its own R & D capital, knowledge and market spillovers and appropriability. The proxy for knowledge spillovers is based on technological distance. Market spillovers are based on a patent input-output matrix. Both spillover proxies combine information on R & D expenditures and patent counts.The results do not reject the hypothesis that R & D has a direct, positive effect on profitability, especially in industries with effective patent protection. Information spillovers affect profits negatively, market spillovers positively.     

The Impact of High Tech Production Techniques on Productivity and Profitability in Selected U.S. Manufacturing Industries

This paper examines the impact of high technology onmultifactor productivity and price-cost margins. Principal components obtained from five technologyvariables are related to multifactor productivityand price-cost margin. A negative and significantrelationship between price-cost margin and hightechnology methods when industry effects areexcluded, becomes insignificant in the industryeffects specification. The price-cost marginequations suggest that prior findings of a negativerelationship between profitability and hightechnology may result from omitting industryeffects. For multifactor productivity, there is apositive impact from high technology regardless ofwhether the specification includes industry effects.     

Impact of Vertical Mergers on Industry Profitability: An Empirical Evaluation

Vertical integration has become an important business strategy to respond to the needs of a consumer-driven marketing system. Although one of the perceived benefits of vertical ownership integration is improved profitability of the integrated firm, empirical literature mostly ignores this issue. Using a sample of U.S. food manufacturing industries, this study examines the impact of vertical mergers on profitability. Findings show that vertical mergers negatively impact profits. This may be due to the failure of vertical mergers to create differential advantages, such as cost savings, for the integrated firm.     

并购商誉对建筑企业盈利能力的影响研究

选取2011~2017年沪深两市建筑行业中的112家上市公司为样本进行了实证研究,得出结论:并购活动产生的商誉对该行业的企业盈利能力有显著的正向影响,并购商誉的金额越大,企业盈利能力越强。同时,进一步研究还发现了产权性质影响并购商誉与企业盈利能力之间的相关关系,并购商誉对企业盈利能力显著的正向影响主要存在于国有控股企业,非国有控股企业的并购商誉并未对企业盈利能力形成显著影响。最后,本文针对相关研究结论,结合建筑行业特点提出了合理化的建议。     

The Effects of Taxes and Advertising Restrictions on the Market Structure of the U.S. Cigarette Market

A dynamic oligopoly model of the cigarette industry is developed to study the effects of anti-smoking policies on the market structure of the U.S. cigarette industry. Firms are modeled as competing in price and advertising in a dynamic game. Two commonly used anti-smoking policies – advertising restrictions and tobacco tax increases – are evaluated using calibrated parameters. The simulation results show that in the long run both advertising restrictions and tax increases can successfully reduce the smoking rate. However, advertising restrictions reduce the smoking rate mainly in an indirect way through their impact on the concentration of the market, while tax increases reduce the smoking rate directly and have little effect on the concentration of the market. In addition, in the short run, advertising restrictions have a much smaller effect on reducing the smoking rate than tax increases.     

资源型产业集聚的动态溢出效应研究

本文基于2006～2013年中国31个省市自治区的面板数据,运用两阶段系统广义矩方法,实证分 析了资源型产业集聚的动态溢出效应。结果表明：（１）资源型产业集聚对资源型产业全要 素生产率的影响是动态的,当期资源型产业集聚显著促进了资源型产业全要素生产率的提高 ,但滞后一期的资源型产业集聚会抑制其全要素生产率的增长。资源型产业集聚的“集聚效 应”和“拥塞效应”会在不同时期达到不同均衡状态。（２）资源型产业集聚与人均GDP的 交叉相乘项阻碍了资源型产业全要素生产率的提升,表明资源型产业集聚对全要素生产率影 响的积极效应受到经济发展水平的影响,验证了资源型产业“威廉姆森假说”在中国的存在 性。（３）随着经济发展水平的提升,资源型产业集聚对于技术进步的积极作用逐步显现, 而对于技术效率改进的积极意义则逐步减弱。总体而言,资源型产业集聚对于技术效率变化 的影响主导了对于技术进步所产生的影响。（４）非资源型制造业集聚、物质资本投入促进 了资源型产业全要素生产率、技术进步及技术效率的提升,政府干预程度对三者的影响显著 为负,人力资本投入对资源型产业全要素生产率增长、技术效率改进的积极作用不明显,但 显著促进了资源型产业的技术进步。     

Multilateral Vertical Contracting with an Alternative Supply: The Welfare Effects of a Ban on Price Discrimination

Rey and Tirole [Handbook of Industrial Organization. Amsterdam: Elsevier (2005)] considered a model in which a monopolist sells to downstream firms using nonlinear contracts. They showed that banning price discrimination fully restores the supplier’s ability to leverage its monopoly power by enabling it to commit not to offer side discounts. I show that the situation changes when the supplier competes against a fringe of less efficient rivals rather than being a monopolist. Then banning price discrimination may cause per-unit prices to fall and welfare to increase. The dominant supplier can take advantage of a strategic bargaining effect: reducing the per-unit price makes the outside option of buying from the fringe less profitable, allowing the dominant supplier to extract more bargaining surplus through the fixed fee.     

Profitability of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises in high‐tech industries: the case of the biotechnology industry

This paper investigates the profitability determinants of small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises in high‐tech industries. Literature review suggests that innovator position, market awareness, niche operation, and internationalization should have positive impacts on SMTEs' profitability. However, the empirical results partially agree with, and partially dissent from, the propositions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Policy Reforms on Firm Innovation

Review of Industrial Organization - The regulatory environment in a country is an important factor that affects firm performance. This study investigates the impact of a particular...     

企业规模、规模经济与产业集群

企业规模问题一直存在着截然相反的观点和主张,造成冲突的原因在于“企业规模”是一个各取所需的含混的概念。具有经济学意义的企业规模应该从两个相互正交的维度上———企业的横向规模和纵向规模———来度量。规模经济来自于横向规模的扩张,而纵向规模的扩张可能会带来规模不经济。产业集群是观察企业横向、纵向规模一个好的样本。区分企业规模的不同性质,将会使与规模经济相关的理论研究出现明晰的路径。     

陕西省石油天然气产业经济溢出效应分析

本文以陕西省为例,将国民经济分为石油天然气产业和非石油天然气产业.用Feder模型测算了陕西省石油天然气产业产值变化的经济溢出效应,同时还将石油天然气产业分为开采业和加工业两部分分别估计了各自经济溢出效应.实证检验证明:石油天然气产业的发展对经济增长不仅具有拉动效应,还具有经济溢出效应;在石油天然气的产业链中石油天然气下游加工业的经济溢出效应和拉动效应明显高于上游的开采业.最后本文根据实证结果提出了合理的政策性建议.     

Increased Buyer Concentration and Its Effects on Profitability in the Manufacturing Sector

The article details the increase in buyerconcentration that has occurred throughout themanufacturing sector in recent years and explores itseffects on manufacturers' profitability. The articledevelops a new firm-level data set derived fromSecurities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Form 10-Ksubmissions to explore this topic among 218 firms in19 industries. The article's econometric resultsconflict with economic theory's prediction thatgreater buyer concentration is likely to be associatedwith lower seller profits principally in oligopolisticindustries. To the contrary, the results suggest thatbuyer concentration reduces profitability primarily incompetitive rather than oligopolistic industries.     

The Effects of Unions on Firm Behavior: An Empirical Analysis Using Firm-Level Data

We evaluate the use of firm-level union coverage rates in empirical models of firm behavior and performance. We focus on the potential for measurement error in both firm- and industry-level data, and find that firm-level union coverage rates provide more precise estimates of union effects. Higher union coverage at a firm is associated with slower employment and sales growth, decreased productivity in nonmanufacturing firms, increased productivity in manufacturing firms, lower profitability, and less investment in durable assets, such as research and development.     

The Effect of the Repsol-YPF Merger on the Argentine Gasoline Market

This paper presents alternative models of oligopoly behaviorfor the Argentine gasoline market and applies parametric estimations to analyze the effect that the Repsol-YPFmerger had on that market. Using monthly data for the different provinces of Argentina during 1998–2000,we make an evaluation of that effect. After performing a series of nested and non-nested hypothesis tests, weconclude that we cannot reject the hypothesis that the market was a Cournot oligopoly before the merger,and after that it became one with a price leader (Repsol-YPF). This implies an efficiency loss estimatedin more than $36 million per month.     

International Diversification, Industrial Diversification and Firm Performance of Hong Kong MNCs

Although multinational corporations (MNCs) are not new to business research, Asian MNCs and their performance have yet to be widely studied. This study investigates the relationship between international diversification, industrial diversification and firm performance of MNCs from Hong Kong. In contrast to previous findings, the results show that Hong Kong MNCs are more internationally diversified, but not performed better, than domestic firms. Also, among Hong Kong MNCs, international diversification has a positive impact on profitability and sales growth, but not on the profitability. Industrial diversification also enhances profitability stability but reduces profitability significantly. Neither the hypothesized inverted U-shaped relationship between international diversification and performance nor the interaction effect from both international and industrial diversification strategies on performance can be validated. Implications are discussed with reference to the local context.     

知识溢出效应与企业集聚定位决策

知识溢出在强化企业间知识流动和创新能力的同时，也增加了知识损失的风险．其正负效应的发挥左右着企业特别是高新技术企业的集聚定位决策。借助Klaus的模型．在分析知识溢出影响因素的基础上，发现技术接近性与空间局限性一起促进了企业间知识溢出效果：分析了知识溢出正负效应对企业集聚定位决策的影响，从知识溢出联合创新效应、知识溢出时滞和企业成本敏感性三方面考察对企业集聚定位决策的影响，并针对我国高新技术产业园区发展提出了相应的对策建议。     

Firm Size and Growth Rate Variance: The Effects of Data Truncation

This paper discusses the effects of the existence of natural and/or exogenously imposed thresholds in firm size distributions on estimations of the relation between firm size and the variance in firm growth rates. We argue that these estimations are upwardly biased whenever the threshold operates on the same proxy that is used to calculate the growth rates. We show the potential impact of the bias on simulated data, suggest a methodology to improve these estimations, and present an empirical analysis on Dutch firms. The only stable relation that emerges is the negative relationship between firm size and growth rate variance.     

承接东部产业转移对陕西技术溢出效应的实证分析

根据产业转移理论,承接产业转移、引进外省资金,能够促进承接地经济的增长、优化当地产业结构、带动技术的进步、增加劳动力就业等作用。本文根据C—D生产函数建立衡量技术溢出效应的数学模型,并进行了实证分析。实证结果表明,外省市直接投资对陕西技术进步存在正负效应,正效应在于促进经济的增长,而对陕西技术进步的促进存在负效应,没能引起技术进步的提高,原因可能在于注重引资的数量,忽视引资的层次和质量。