Technical regulations and specialization in international trade

It is widely acknowledged that while technical regulations can improve welfare and facilitate markets, they can also impede trade. The trade impeding effects of technical regulations are especially worrisome for developing countries: they frequently lack the human and capital resources necessary to satisfy technical measures, and thus are more likely to be excluded from markets by technical measures. This paper uses highly disaggregated US data on agricultural, mining and manufacturing imports to examine the impact of technical regulations on trade patterns. Using instrumental variables estimation to correct for the potential endogeneity of technical regulations, the analysis suggests that technical regulations substantially impinge on poor countries' exports: their weaker capacities to satisfy technical regulations lead them to specialize away from industries with heavier regulatory burdens.     

中国因素与国际油价

中国有两大因素将继续推动国际原油和天然气价格走高．一是为中国铁路运力紧张导致煤炭运输中断和延误．二是中国原油进口不断增长,中国政府正在着手建立战略石油储备。     

Financial structure and the heterogeneous impact of monetary policy across industries

The two general channels by which monetary policy impacts output are the neo-classical cost of capital channel and the credit channel. This paper decomposes the output response to a change in the stance of monetary policy to each of these channels. We use a unique industry level data set that measures the financial characteristics of firms operating at the industry level through time. We bring these financial characteristics formally into the regression analysis, thus allowing for a more precise identification of the two channels. The evidence indicates that both channels are active in the Canadian economy.     

Are consumers heterogeneous in their preferences for odd and even prices? Findings from a choice-based conjoint study

While marketing theories provide some justification for the common practice of setting 9-ending prices, the results of empirical studies are not conclusive on the effects of odd pricing. Nearly all empirical studies have been conducted at the aggregate consumer level, thereby implicitly assuming that consumers respond to odd prices homogeneously. In this research, we analyze consumers' preferences for 9-ending versus 0-ending prices at the individual level. Our findings suggest that some consumers strongly prefer 9-ending prices, whereas other consumers favor 0-ending prices. We further address the existence of level effects and investigate the influence of consumer characteristics on preferences for odd prices.     

试论国际市场营销环境中的文化因素及其作用

传统观念认为,市场营销特别是国际市场营销是一种经济活动,经济因素是唯一的决定因素。但是,文化因素在国际市场营销中更起着非常重要的作用,使文化的构成要素在国际市场营销活动中有各自的影响和作用。     

Loyalty differences in the use of internal and external reference prices

Recent findings in reference price research suggest that consumer characteristics may affect whether they use an internal reference price (IPR) or an external reference price (ERP) in price judgments. In this paper, we investigate the role of one such characteristic, brand loyalty, in the use of either type of reference price. Specifically, we employ a latent class-type approach to divide consumers on the basis of their brand loyalty into an ERP and an IRP segment. Analysis of the margarine and liquid detergents categories shows that consumers who are highly loyal to a brand are likely to use external reference prices whereas less brand-loyal consumers rely on internal reference prices. We discuss the implications of this finding and suggest directions for future research.     

Structural estimation and solution of international trade models with heterogeneous firms

We present an empirical implementation of a general-equilibrium model of international trade with heterogeneous manufacturing firms. The theory underlying our model is consistent with Melitz (2003). A nonlinear structural estimation procedure identifies a set of core parameters and unobserved firm-level trade frictions that best fit the geographic pattern of trade. Our estimation model is consistent with the specified general equilibrium model, and we conduct general equilibrium counterfactual analyses to illustrate model responses. We first assess the economic effects of reductions in measured tariffs. Taking the simple-average welfare change across regions the Melitz structure indicates welfare gains from liberalization that are four times larger than in a standard trade policy simulation. Furthermore, when we compare the economic impact of tariff reductions with reductions in estimated fixed trade costs we find that policy measures affecting the fixed costs are of greater importance than tariff barriers.     

Asymmetric competition and collection rates differentials: determinants of prices in international telephone service markets

The paper investigates determinants of pricing in international telephone service markets. The analysis—focused on 24 worldwide national markets—shows the impact of several telecommunications-specific and macroeconomic variables on collection rate differentials and traffic imbalance between countries. An econometric model is aimed at performing quantitative analysis and providing support to future telecommunications policies.     

On the discursive contest of an international M&A relationship development process within financial services

The global liberalisation of national regulated financial services’ sectors has opened up a wave of international mergers and acquisitions processes. To succeed with such processes, a positive relationship needs to be developed between involved parties. But actors within and outside involved companies in international mergers and acquisitions may have conflicting interests, not least because of national resistance to changes in domestic financial sectors. In order to study the discourse among such actors, this paper presents a theoretical view based on business relationships, highlighting the concept of legitimacy. The aim is to analyse how different actors communicate in and through the media, in order to legitimise their own actions or to delegitimise the actions of their opponents in the relationship development process. The empirical investigation is a longitudinal study of an acquisition process between two insurance companies from Sweden and South Africa. A discourse analysis shows that the relationship development process is not only a matter of rational arguments. It is rather a struggle between actors drawing on discourses that change over time, as a means to affect perceptions of legitimate behaviours to reach the preferred outcome.     

提升工国产业国际竞争力——行业协会大有可为

中国加入WTO后，为了与国际接轨，政府职能进一步弱化，经济方面的诸多职能必须交给行业协会来办，这注定了行业协会将大有可为。充分发挥行业协会的作用来提升国内产业的国际竞争力，是开放经济体的必然选择。在这方面，西方发达国家有许多成功经验可供我们借鉴。我国行业协会可根据实际情况，健全行业协会自律机制，参与制定行业标准，协助企业突破非关税贸易壁垒，来达到提升国内产业国际竞争力的目的。     

Co-marketing alliances between heterogeneous industries: Examining perceived match-up effects in product, brand and alliance levels

To scrutinize the emerging phenomenon of co-marketing alliance between heterogeneous industries, this study adapts the concept of ‘perceived match-up’ as a theoretical platform.Employing two fictitious co-marketing alliance scenarios, this study empirically demonstrates the conceptual structure of how consumers evaluate a co-marketing alliance. This suggests that if consumers perceive a harmony across paired products or brands, they are more likely to engage in the association process of evaluating a brand alliance.     

On the conservation of distance in international trade

Using disaggregated bilateral trade data, we find that the elasticity of trade to distance increased (in absolute value) by about 10% since 1985. To explore the reasons for this shift, we decompose the change in the distance elasticity of trade into the part due to a shift in the composition of trade among industries and the part due to a change in the distance sensitivity within industries. We find that adjustment in the composition of trade had little effect, but for 40% of industries distance became more important, with nearly all of the remaining industries showing no significant change. We explore alternative hypotheses as to why the elasticity of trade to distance increased in some industries. We find that homogeneous goods, bulky goods, and high tariff goods became significantly more distance sensitive. In contrast, the evidence implies that changes in tariffs and freight costs have reduced the importance of distance on trade. We conclude that the increase in the importance of distance over time is related to the substitutability of goods and the level of trade costs, but not to changes in tariffs or freight costs.     

亚洲各国造船业竞争力比较分析

第二次世界大战以后,随着世界经济迅速增长,欧洲及日本船舶工业急速膨胀.欧洲造船业曾在相当长的时间内领跑国际造船市场,实力雄厚.1956年,日本造船能力和造船(商船)产量首次超过了英国,成为全球造船业的领头羊.20世纪70年代中期,韩国造船业以令人震惊的速度发展,到20世纪90年代中后期,韩国在普通货船的建造上已开始与日本平分秋色.在手持订单、年度新订单和完工量等一些指标中,数次超过日本,成为世界第一.短短50年间,世界造船业的头把交椅三次易主,也从一个侧面说明世界造船业竞争之激烈.     

On the international transmission of technology shocks

Using vector autoregressions on U.S. time series and an aggregate of industrialized countries, we find that technology shocks appreciate the terms of trade and lower the trade balance; they induce an ‘S’-shaped cross-correlation function for both variables (the S-curve). In calibrating a prototypical international business cycle model under complete and incomplete financial markets, we find two distinct sets of parameter values. While both model specifications deliver the S-curve, the underlying transmission mechanism of technology shocks is fundamentally different. Most importantly, only in the incomplete markets economy the terms of trade appreciate and thus amplify the relative wealth effects of technology shocks—as suggested by the evidence.     

On the efficiency of monetary policy rules with flexible prices and rational expectations

The classic Sargent–Wallace–Lucas (SWL) rational expectations-flexible price model is usually interpreted as implying “policy ineffectiveness”: systematic monetary rules cannot affect the distribution of real output. A contrary but not widely-appreciated result of Dotsey and King suggests that there exist “prospective feedback” rules (future money depending systematically on current but as yet unobserved information) which improve output distribution by means of improving agents’ ability to perceive relative prices.We show the Dotsey–King proposition in fact to be a colossal understatement: prospective feedback rules applied vigorously enough (and even “contemporaneous feedback” rules based on current interest rates, provided at least one prospective feedback is active) can in the limit drive price-perception errors to zero. This is not to say such a policy would be desirable. Feedback parameter combinations that reduce current price level misperception tend to produce high forecast error variances with respect to future prices, with attendant loss in capital market efficiency. Whatever the desirable frontier among these different social cost-producing variables, feedback parameters will in general be needed in order to get on the frontier as well as to move along it. Monetary policy clearly produces social gain even in a version of this model which contains no elements of price “friction,” inefficient use of available information, or asymmetry in information as between the government and the public.