Wage convergence and trade

We examine differences in wage rates across countries for workers employed in the same industry, distinguishing workers in the low, medium and high‐skill groups. These differences are large and show persistence over time. We ask, nonetheless, whether there is evidence of convergence, much as is done in studies of convergence in per capita income across countries. With our focus on the micro level, we expect convergence to reflect, at least in part, the degree of integration of a country or industry into the world economy and examine particularly the role of market integration and trade. Our results show strong evidence of convergence in a diverse sample of 39 countries, which includes most large economies whether rich or poor. The estimated convergence rate over the period from 1995 to 2008 is about 4% per year for workers in all skill groups, higher in the more integrated economies of the EU than in other economies without such open borders and lower in industries supplying services rather than manufactures. Also, we find evidence that the rate of growth of domestic output impacts positively on the growth of wages in an industry, providing a source for ongoing deviations from the convergence prediction.     

Strategy convergence

In fast-changing industries like communications, having the right strategy is critical to success. Didier Bonnet and George Yip explain why business models and strategic planning must converge into strategic formulation.     

Trade and convergence among countries

This paper examines the relationship between international trade and income convergence among countries by focusing on groups of countries comprising major trade partners. The majority of these trade-based groups exhibited significant convergence. Furthermore, a comparison of the trade-based groups with different country groupings (randomly selected, or according to other criteria) shows that the former were more likely to exhibit convergence than the latter.     

Financial liberalization,openness and convergence

All industrialized nations relied on capital account controls for significant periods of their economic development and relaxations of capital account restrictions thought to be an integral aspect of economic development. Economists long advocated the removal of capital controls as a stabilizing factor of the development process to improve efficiency and return economies from distorted factor prices to production frontiers. Empirically, however, financial liberalizations have become associated with capital flow reversals, where initial capital inflows at the onset are subsequently offset by capital outflows resulting in higher levels of accumulated indebtedness. We investigate how capital flow reversals caused by financial liberalizations affect the speed of convergence of an economy. We show that financial liberalizations reduce short run convergence speeds, implying that open economies should experience significantly less output volatility but also longer transitions. The increased smoothness in response to initial shocks comes at a cost: as foreign borrowing rises to smooth domestic income fluctuations causing an increase in the domestic interest rate OECD data confirms our findings.     

Economic development and growth convergence in China

We investigate the issue of per capita real GDP growth convergence of the Chinese economy. The shrinkage method for panel data models is used to estimate the convergence rates of the individual provinces. The empirical evidence shows that growth convergence exists in China. Our analysis allows us to estimate the convergence rates for individual provinces. The results also show that the low-income provinces of the middle and the western regions are experiencing higher convergence rates.     

Trade and the rate of income convergence

To the extent that trade policy affects trade flows between countries, the ramifications can be far-reaching from an economic growth perspective. This paper examines one aspect of these ramifications, namely the impact of changes in the extent of trade between countries on changes in the rate of reduction in the size of the income gap that exists between them. Export and import data are used as the criteria for determining bilateral trade between major trade partners, resulting in the creation of 127 pairs of countries on the basis of export data and 134 pairs on the basis of import data. An increase in trade between major trade partners - and, in particular, increased exports by poorer countries to their wealthier partners - is shown to be related to an increase in the rate of convergence between the countries.     

Globalization,regionalization and convergence in East Asia

This research paper reports the result of an investigation into the pattern of income convergence in East Asia since 1970 and the proximate role of increased regionalization and inter-regional globalization in generating regional convergence or divergence. Specifically, we apply sigma and log t convergence tests for income convergence in the East Asian region and an augmented autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to analyze the relationship between regional income dispersion and intra- and extra-regional flows of goods, capital and technology. Regardless of the measure of per capita income, the sigma convergence tests fail to find any evidence of intra-regional convergence. The log t convergence tests do not indicate overall convergence either, but, indicate the existence of convergence clubs within the region. The regression analysis suggests that intra-regional flows of capital and technology and extra- regional FDI flows unambiguously engender convergence while intra-regional trade flows and extra-regional exports have divergence effects.     

The evolution and convergence of OECD tax systems

This paper considers theory-based expectations on the evolution of tax structures in developed countries and confronts them with stylised facts from aggregate tax revenue data. A bilateral similarity index is introduced which allows the measurement of the similarity of tax systems conditional on country characteristics. A slow but steady convergence in tax revenue structures is found which depends on the proximity, similarity and exchange between a given pair of countries.     

Bringing complexity and convergence governance to consumer policy

Consumer policy is already being shaped by a combination of governance models. This position paper argues that complexity‐oriented convergence models are a timely addition. Modern day consumer policy is characterized as interactive and integrative, replete with shifting boundaries and coalitions and evolving roles for each of state, market and society. This paper focused on governance in the consumer policy arena, arguing that this process needs to acknowledge and reconcile complexity. After describing the basic tenets of complexity theory, two characteristics of contemporary tri‐sector interaction (i.e., sector blurring and sector distortion) were discussed. These boundary characteristics necessitate the need for approaches that can accommodate complexity during consumer policy governance. Three examples of the latter were profiled: sector convergence, network governance and cross‐sector governance. These conceptualizations accommodate the dynamics, complexity and emergence of contemporary consumer policy governance.     

A model of Europeanisation with and without convergence

There is a general consensus that member state interaction within the EU system will lead to convergence and an overall improvement of domestic policies and administrative systems. This article poses that non-convergence is also possible and develops a model of Europeanisation that explains both convergence and non-convergence. It also identifies the circumstances under which member states could spread negative policies to other member states, leading to convergence to the bottom.     

Managing Internal Supply Chain Integration: Integration Mechanisms and Requirements

In response to globalization, diversification, and other organizational drivers, managers continue to seek organizational designs that promote integration. We study this phenomenon by focusing on requirements and mechanisms for internal supply chain integration (SCI). Using qualitative interview data, we examine how managers in manufacturing firms integrate internal supply chain activities. We elaborate and extend the information processing view by studying why organizations integrate (integration requirements) and how integration mechanisms are associated with different integration requirements. Four patterns of integration requirement–mechanism linkages emerged from our study, depicting integration mechanisms that are associated with a particular integration requirement, and those that are not. We provide a detailed examination of the multidimensional nature of integration requirements, as well as an increased understanding of how integration mechanisms are used to manage different integration requirements. These findings offer deeper insights into organizational integration, enhancing the understanding of integration in the context of internal supply chains, while also contributing to the literature on organizational design. For supply chain managers, these findings describe ways in which organizational design decisions can support internal SCI efforts with varying aims.     

珠三角经济一体化与物流资源整合研究

随着粤、港、澳经济合作的不断加强,珠三角经济一体化的进程将会进一步加快,根据发达国家的经验,现代物流业对区域经济一体化的效率起着至关重要的作用.文章在分析区域经济一体化与物流联动、珠三角物流业发展的背景和现状的基础上,探讨了珠三角地区物流资源的整合与区域物流网络体系空间布局的发展战略.     

国际金融一体化障碍分析

国际金融市场一体化是一把双刃剑，获得收益的同时还伴随着风险。因此无论是发达国家还是发展中国家都会不同程度的管制金融市场。本讨论了各国对国内金融市场进行管制的主观原因及其表现形式：进入限制。同时还指出了限制金融一体化的翻度原因，提出了一些建议，国际社会需要一个更有权威性和执行性的国际机构。     

Market convergence and advertising standardization in the European Union

In this study, we draw on industrial organization and institutional research to explore the relationship between market convergence and standardization of advertising programs. We argue that environmental isomorphism, which maintains that the external market environment is a principal driver of firms’ institutional structures, places pressure on firms to adapt their organizational structures and strategies to changing institutional conditions. We propose that the convergence associated with European market integration will lead firms to emphasize three advertising strategies: creating a uniform brand image, appealing to cross-market segments, and increasing cost performance in advertising. Further, we hypothesize that these strategies will be associated with an overall tendency to standardize advertising strategy and execution. Results of a survey of managers of subsidiaries of Japanese and U.S. firms operating in the EU suggest that firms that believe the EU is converging are more likely to engage in these standardized advertising strategies. Additionally, our findings suggest that firms that seek to create a uniform brand image and appeal to cross-market segments are more likely to standardize their overall advertising programs. Finally, we find that firms’ desire to create a uniform brand image is a function of their goal of building brand equity, regardless of the level to which markets converge. We draw implications for research and practice regarding firm responses to market convergence.     

Buying centre consequences of technological convergence

The paper discusses how technological convergence, manifested in increased mobility in organisations, changes the way purchasing organisations buy and use telecommunications and IT systems. The aim of the paper is to analyse how the implementation of mobility in firms is linked to changes in the relationships between units within the buying centre, between the buying centre and supplying organisations, and to some extent also between the buying centre and its customers. The study builds on interviews with purchasing functions in 61 small-, medium-sized and large organisations in different industries. The concept of mobility is discussed and defined. Industrial network conceptualisations, loose coupling theory and a buying centre model constitute the theoretical framework. Results indicate that management plays a more central role in the buying centre when major IT and telecom contracts are signed. The interviews also indicate few large changes in the exchange relationships with supplying organisations as a result of the implementation of new system solutions for increased mobility.     

Trade and income convergence: Sorting out the causality

This paper studies the linkage between international trade and income convergence across countries. Different theories offer conflicting predictions regarding how they might affect each other. In the existing empirical literature estimating the trade impact on income convergence, a long-lasting problem is the reverse causality from income convergence to trade. This paper provides a disaggregated bilateral trade data analysis to solve this problem. The results show that the reverse causality from income convergence to trade exists in differentiated product sectors, but not in homogeneous product sectors. Trade in homogeneous sectors reduces the income gaps among trade partners, but it is not significantly affected by their income difference. Therefore, the negative effect of trade in homogeneous sectors on the income gap is free from the reverse causality problem. It can be taken as a pure evidence of trade-induced income convergence. This result is robust to various econometric methods.     

Global convergence of consumer spending: Conceptualization and propositions

The convergence versus divergence debate has persistently presented a puzzle in the scholarly literature. Forces of globalization created a wave of convergence. Yet, the recent worldwide events have changed the course of globalization, slowing its seemingly unavoidable forward direction. It is, therefore, incumbent upon international business scholars to reexamine the convergence versus divergence debate in the contemporary world economy. Despite the central role that global convergence plays in international business decisions, the literature is lacking a conceptualization of the convergence construct in terms of consumer spending behavior. Offering a new perspective derived from the convergence-divergence-crossvergence (CDC) framework and the coevolution theory, the authors define and conceptualize the convergence construct associated with consumer spending behavior. The proposed conceptual framework is comprehensive, offers refinements to the convergence phenomenon, and leads the way for further development of new theories in the international marketing domain.     

Market Integration and Technological Change

This paper studies the incentives of firms to introduce new technologies in markets where network effects are sensitive to the identity of the adopter. We model this sensitivity by considering a market in which consumers are located in two economies and network effects across economies are weaker than intra-economy network effects. The strength of cross economy network effects is measured by the degree of market integration. We show that the incentives for technological change are decreasing with respect to the degree of integration and that they are in excess of what is socially desirable. We also show that different generation technologies can coexist only if the market is poorly integrated and that this coexistence is characterized by a form of technological leap-frogging across economies.     

Vertical Integration and Competition Policy

Vertical integration can be a source of significant strategic advantage for firms, whether in the form of backward integration to gain security of some important supply or of forward integration to ensure adequate distribution of products or services. It may have profound effects on the competitive processes in an industry, substantially modify the threats from new entrants or substitute products, and mitigate the power of suppliers or buyers. Yet for exactly these reasons, vertical integration causes great concern to competition authorities. A number of consumer products markets with vertical ties have caused such disquiet to the UK's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in recent years that they have been referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission (MMC) for further investigation. These include beer, petrol and soft drinks. The three cases illustrate the nature and importance of the strategic advantage derived from vertical integration. They also illustrate the concern competition authorities feel about vertical integration, and provide lessons for firms regarding the objections that may be raised towards their trading arrangements.     

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