Equalizing opportunity through small business development: A south african perspective

The active development of the small firm sector is thought to present a vehicle highly appropriate to the task of equalizing opportunity in a very unequal society—the developing country of South Africa. This article seeks to evaluate the merits of the above assumption. It calls for a closer understanding of the unique difficulties encountered by a minority business group that has experienced a long history of prejudice and discrimination, namely the black, essentially small business sector of South Africa. The author calls for careful appraisal of available development initiatives in order to effectively serve the interests of this group.     

Building for the future: housing-related sectors and the welsh economy

Since the establishment of the Welsh Assembly Government there has been more emphasis on indigenous enterprises in relation to economic development policy. However, the housing-related sector has received little attention. This paper¹ presents the results of research that has investigated this sector and its significance to the local economy. Whilst acknowledging the considerable data-related difficulties in this exercise, analysis of housing and housing-related functions (including construction, finance, legal services, management of housing stock) showed that the sector accounted for around 4.5% of Welsh employment, and had considerable potential for assisting in the future development of the regional economy.     

Nordic networks: patent agents and the business of technology intermediation in Sweden and Finland, 1860–1910

ABSTRACT

The article analyses Swedish and Finnish patent agents and their businesses at the turn of the twentieth century. Due to legal requirements, all foreign patent applications had to pass through the hands of patent agents. Despite the central role, this transnational business of technology intermediation has received only limited attention in the scholarship. The article studies the business relationships between the patent agents and their clients, and employs new datasets, which include information about all foreign patentees using a patent agent in 1860–1910. The main findings are that the transnational business relationships affected the specialisation of national patent agents, especially in Finland, where patent agents with a legal background contributed to the inflow of inventions managed by Swedish patent agents. Patent agent services also represented significant indirect costs of the patent systems for their foreign clients.     

Is There a Local Business Community? Explaining the non-participation of small business in local economic development

This article reports a study of the attitudes of small business owners to the localities in which their businesses are located and local economic development. The views of the owners contrasted strongly with those of representatives of local business bodies and economic agencies. The findings indicate small business owners tend to be detached from the locality and from local economic initiatives. This appears to be due to historical trends that have reduced the role of small business in local political and economic processes and the logic(s) of business practice within the sectors analysed. This has occurred despite trends soliciting more private sector involvement in local economic initiatives.     

美国服务业的经济“稳定器”作用及其对中国的启示

近二十年来,美国宏观经济波动逐渐趋于稳定,同时其服务业比重也在不断提高,本文从实证分析的角度探讨了这两种经济现象之间是否存在着必然的联系。结果表明,服务业的增加值和就业增长率的波动幅度几乎相当于工业波动的二分之一,同时,服务业的相对波动性也小于国民经济的,而工业的相对波动性则大于国民经济的波动性,所以服务业对国民经济确实具有“稳定器”作用。这对我国具有一定的启示意义。     

工资对个人劳动供给的非线性影响：部门市场化程度差异视角

从市场经济体制的建立到经济社会高质量发展，我国不同部门市场化程度有所差异，劳动供给的部门异质性随之体现。基于中国劳动力动态调查数据，结合汉森门槛回归模型和劳动供给模型，依托部门市场化程度的差异性，文章探讨了工资对劳动力个人供给的非线性影响及其部门异质性。主要得出以下研究结论：第一，我国市场部门与公共部门劳动力的个人劳动供给有所差异。第二，工资与个人劳动供给呈现非线性关系并且存在部门异质性。实证分析结果显示，工资对个人劳动供给的影响存在三个"突变点"，工资门槛均使得工资"激励效应"加强并呈现逐步增加的趋势。第三，劳动供给的工资门槛存在性别、城乡和行业异质性。第四，随着年龄增长、人力资本积累，个人劳动时间供给趋于降低，签署书面劳工合同使得市场部门劳动力工作时间显著增加，而政治面貌显著影响公共部门劳动供给。总体来看，无论是市场部门还是公共部门，我国劳动力个人供给曲线均未"向后弯曲"，国民经济高质量发展、改善收入分配格局、提升居民幸福感等议题需持续关注。     

Agricultural Productivity,Business Services,and Comparative Advantage

By explicitly incorporating both the intermediate business service sector and non-homothetic preferences, this study develops a two-good (the agricultural good and the manufactured good) model of trade that captures the role of agricultural productivity, which deepens the division of labor in the manufactured good sector. The level of agricultural productivity is found to determine the structure of comparative advantage: the country that has an absolute advantage in the agricultural sector also has a comparative advantage in the manufactured good sector.     

The informal sector in selected residential areas of Port Elizabeth

The Employment Research Unit undertook three surveys on the informal sector during 1985 and 1986, two among Blacks and one among Coloureds. The aim of the surveys was to establish the composition and nature of the sector in the Port Elizabeth/Uitenhage area. It was found that in both these sectors most of the respondents were involved in trading and that very few were involved in manufacturing. Incomes earned by most of the respondents were low. and compared to subsistence level incomes only, It also appeared that the employment creation spin‐off was low. Similar problems inhibited the growth and development of this sector for both Blacks and Coloureds. They were: short‐ and long‐term loans, accommodation, poor infrastructure, and legal restrictions.     

The permanent income hypothesis,business cycles,and regime shifts: Evidence from eight countries

Summary We provide international evidence on the joint behavior of consumption and the real rate of interest and examine the rational expectations restrictions of the permanent income hypothesis. We extend the basic model to allow for independent effects of the stage of the business cycle or a regime shift after 1979. In our eight-country sample (using 1970s–1980s data) we find a small but internationally similar rate of intertemporal substitution once we allow for a regime shift affecting the average growth of consumption after 1979. The rational expectations restrictions are formally rejected, most prominently for the United Kingdom and Japan.We thank Ivo Arnold, Eduard Bomhoff, Fanz Palm, Peter Schotman, Carlo Winder, and anonymous referees for their comments and suggestions. All remaining errors are of course our own.     

Financial Factors in the Business Cycle of a Small Open Economy: The Case of Korea

Financial factors influencing the business cycle have received considerable attention in recent years in the aftermath of the global financial crisis in 2008. This paper examines the role of financial factors in the business cycle by considering Korea, a small open economy, that experienced a severe financial crisis in 1997 as well as the recent global financial crisis. We estimate small open economy Bayesian DSGE (dynamic stochastic general equilibrium) models with financial factors and analyze the role of these financial factors in the business cycle in the context of Korea. The results indicate that the model based on an endogenous financial accelerator and a modified monetary policy rule provides a better explanation to the data than that without the financial factors and justify the recent attention to financial factors influencing the business cycle.     

Facilitating Development: The Role of Business Groups

A defining characteristic of developing countries is the inadequacy of basic services normally required to support organized economic activity. One way in which the private sector acts to facilitate development is through investments orchestrated by agglomerations of firms called business groups. Such groups dominate the landscape of virtually all developing countries. Our study of plant location decisions in India shows that group-affiliates are more likely to (profitably) locate in less-developed states than unaffiliated firms; the magnitude of this “group effect” is large and significant. Furthermore, this result is stronger for more recent location decisions that are less likely to have been driven by political economy considerations. We suggest that this is because the scale and scope of groups, and the de facto property rights enforcement within groups in environments where legal enforcement is lacking, permit them to overcome some of the difficulties that impair production in underdeveloped regions.     

Tourism,business linkages and small enterprise development in South Africa

Although considerable attention is given to the prospects for developing small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) in South Africa's tourism economy, very little relevant research has been undertaken in this regard. In this article, the findings are presented from over 60 detailed interviews conducted with key enterprises and entrepreneurs involved in tourism, outsourcing and small enterprise development in South Africa. The aim is to examine opportunities for outsourcing and business linkage development in South Africa's tourism economy, and to investigate the difficulties that confront the tourism SMME economy through examining the status of business linkages between large tourism enterprises and SMMEs in South Africa. The South African research is located within the context of existing works on tourism and small enterprise development in developing countries.     

A targeted approach to informal business development: the entrepreneurial route

The present paper maintains that initiatives to promote and support small businesses need to focus on those with growth potential rather than on the small business sector as a whole, and that the human factor, especially entrepreneurial intentions and behaviour, is the overwhelming force in small business success. Empirical evidence shows that many entrepreneurs setting up businesses in the informal economy of South Africa have little business acumen. The majority of informal businesses operate as survivalist entities with limited development and growth potential. The paper suggests that only between 10 and 15 per cent of informal entrepreneurs have sufficient business skills to expand and develop their businesses. These should be the focus of policy initiatives. Separate collective support measures should be designed to make the business environment more hospitable to low-potential informal businesses.     

保理业务的若干法律问题探讨

保理业务是商业银行的一项新型的、着力拓展的综合性金融业务。文章从法律的角度,分析了保理的法律概念、法律特征、法律关系等基本理论问题,研究了保理业务的法律风险,并就保理业务法律风险防范提出了一些具有现实针对性的对策措施和建议,以期引起立法部门和实务界的重视,规范和促进保理业务的良性发展。     

Economic transition and the determinants of self-employment in urban China: 2007–2013

Abstract

Why was there a large growth in self-employment in urban China during the economic transition period? There are two hypotheses proposed to answer this: the disguised unemployment hypothesis that there is no opportunity to access the formal sector to gain better work, and the business creation hypothesis that successful business owners create new jobs for others, new business opportunities, and many innovative new products for society, as pointed out in previous studies. Using CHIP2007 and CHIP2013, this paper tests the two hypotheses. The main conclusions are as follows: First, generally, utilizing the imputed wage premiums, which were used in previous studies, the business creation hypothesis is rejected; the disguised unemployment hypothesis is supported for both the local urban resident and the migrant groups in 2007 and 2013. Second, the results that utilized the new wage premiums based on the imputed employee wages in the private sector show that the business creation hypothesis is supported when a worker chose to become an employer for both the migrant group and the local urban resident group in 2013. Third, the business creation hypothesis is relevant for the older generation group of local urban residents in 2013.     

Minority business development: An international comparison

The migration of people from the developing nations to the industrialized world has created significant minority population concentrations in those industrialized countries. Invariably, the minority population (generally black, Hispanic, and/or Asian) occupies the lower end of the socioeconomic distribution spectrum because of lower levels of educational achievement and higher unemployment rates. The host countries confronted with these issues of minority inequities are exploring a variety of alternatives to alleviate the socioeconomic problems; one of which is minority business development. This article looks at the industrialized countries of Canada, France, Great Britain, Holland, West Germany, and the United States, and how they are addressing the issue of minority business development. The size and diversity of the minority population, the economic, social, and political conditions under which they migrate, and the host country recognition of their status affects the economic climate and the development success of this business sector, formed outside of their native habitats. Although conditions differ from country to country, minority businesses in general suffer from similar problems of capital access, market restrictions, and general management inadequacies. The developmental path of these business sectors are, however, affected by the host country policy and the official programs designed specifically to address their needs.     

An empirical test of the Dixit-Norman approach to factor price equalization, using cointegration techniques

An Empirical Test of the Dixit-Norman Approach to Factor Price Equalization, Using Cointegration Techniques. — Factor price equalization (FPE) occurs when international trade equilibrium reproduces the integrated world equilibrium (IWE). This allows a straightforward test of a necessary condition for FPE provided one has an idea of the IWE. The author considers Germany as such for France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Cointegration estimation techniques are preferred to SURE, because of endogenity and nonstationarity of the variables. Using the coefficient restrictions, estimation is performed with French and Belgian factor endowments and German sector allocations. Finally, FPE is checked by testing appropriate coefficient restrictions. Concluding, the author finds no long-term trade equilibrium with FPE for the countries considered.     

应收账款的假账甄别与防范

本文就不正当竞争行为的主体范围阐述了作者的观点,认为作为不正当竞争行为的主体应当满足三个要求：一是只有经营者才能成为这一主体,非经营者（主要是政府机关和经营者的雇员则不能;二是作为这一主体的经营者只限于同处于相关市场的经营者;三是作为这一主体的经营者不     

Determinants of external imbalances: The role of taxes, government spending, and productivity

This paper develops and estimates a dynamic optimizing model of the current account. The model focuses on real factors that determine the evolution of saving and investment and hence the external balance. Three types of shocks are at the center of the analysis: productivity shocks, shocks to labor input, and tax policy shocks. While our approach is in line with the real business cycle models of the current account, the distinguishing feature of the work is the application of econometric methods to time series data for a small open economy so as to directly estimate the parameters governing saving and investment under rational expectations restrictions.     

Is international tourism responsible for the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic? A cross-country analysis with a special focus on small islands

This article aims at analysing the role of international tourism attractiveness as a potential factor for the outbreak and the early spread of the recent COVID-19 disease across the world (also called the first wave) with a special focus on small Island economies. Econometric testing is implemented over a cross-country sample including 205 countries/territories (with 59 small islands) after controlling for several usual suspects. The results state a positive and significant relationship between COVID-19 prevalence and inbound tourism arrivals per capita. Thus in the early stages of the spread (before travel restrictions), international tourism could be seen as one of the main responsible factors for the recent pandemic, validating the “tourism-led vulnerability hypothesis”. Accordingly, considering that such health shocks should be more frequent in the near future, this finding suggests that the tourism specialization model in the context of small islands is too vulnerable to be considered as sustainable in the medium and long-run. Policymakers must opt for economic diversification when possible. Otherwise, building up a strong public-health system alongside a specialized tourism sector is required.