Manufacturing growth and local employment multipliers in China

We study the impact of employment growth in manufacturing on job creation in the non-tradable sector for prefecture-level cities in China. Using the 2000 and 2010 Censuses of Population, we apply the shift-share approach to isolate the exogenous change of employment growth in manufacturing. For every hundred new manufacturing jobs, we find that 34 additional jobs are created in the non-tradable sector. We also show that the effect is heterogeneous along a number of dimensions. More specifically, one new job in high-technology manufacturing creates more jobs in the non-tradable sector while low-technology manufacturing employment growth has no significant multiplier effect. Among the non-tradable industries, the multiplier is the largest for wholesale, retail, and catering. Finally, the effect is also geographically heterogeneous, with the multiplier being greater for inland regions.     

Downstream and upstream oligopolies when retailer’s effort matters

This paper investigates the different terms of strategic interactions (non-cooperative, simultaneous move): wholesale versus retail pricing—between Bertrand competing retailers and an upstream oligopoly. The crucial extension is that retailers can play a significant role and this can turn conventional wisdom upside down, e.g.: retail competition need not benefit the upstream firms and wholesale pricing can dominate retail pricing in spite of double marginalization because of the incentives it provides to retailers. In addition, the consequences are investigated of differentiating both pricing instruments either at the downstream (this is motivated by Apple’s entry into the ebook market) or at the upstream level.     

Liberalization of Opening Hours with Free Entry

Abstract. This paper studies competition in prices and opening hours in a model with free entry. It is shown that under free competition market failures arise: Entry is excessive and opening hours are under‐provided. The larger the demand elasticity, the larger market failures are going to be. Restrictions on opening hours aggravate this failure. We analyze the impact of a liberalization of opening hours. The model predicts that prices will remain constant in the short run but increase in the long run. Concentration in the retail sector will rise. Additionally, employment in the retail sector increases.     

Capital Constraints and Employmen

Abstract
This article considers whether capital is a significant constraint on employment in Australia. We calculate the level of capital-constrained employment for seven sectors of the Australian economy. The calculations suggest that the manufacturing; transport, storage and communication; and recreation, personal and other services sectors have sufficient capital installed to increase employment. In two other sectors, mining and wholesale and retail trade, the potential for increases in employment through increased capital utilisation may be constrained by surplus labour (as of June 1993). While some sectors are capital constrained at the moment, we find that the investment requirements to increase employment in these sectors are not onerous. We also project investment requirements in each of the sectors for employment growth over the next five years. These projections suggest that a jump in investment followed by relatively modest growth is required to sustain growth in employment.     

Monitoring structural changes within the wholesale and retail trades

This research measures changes in employment trends for wholesalers and retailers by applying the entropy measure over a thirteen-year period. It was found that the trade sector is becoming more concentrated, due mainly to a higher degree of concentration within the wholesale area.     

中国城镇就业所有制结构的演变：1988-2000年

改革以来，国有部门在城镇就业中所占的比重有了大幅度下降，但在持有本地城市户口的居民中，国有部门就业的比重一直比较高。我们把职工在国有部门就业分解为两方面选择的结果，一个是职工对国有部门的偏好，另一个是国有部门的准入。使用1988年到2000年中国城镇居民住户调查6省的数据，我们联立地估计了这两方面的行为。估计结果表明，在20世纪90年代。城市居民对国有部门的偏好有所降低，但是平均而言仍然保持比较高的水平，国有部门的准入限制在20世纪90年代初期有一定程度的放松，虽然在90年代中期职工大规模下岗期间，这种趋势有些反复，但是下岗高峰期过后，国有部门又放松了准入。在90年代初期国有部门就业比例的上升，主要是国有部门准入放松的结果,在90年代后期国有部门就业比例的下降，则主要是居民对国有部门偏好有所下降的结果。进一步地对工资部门差别的分析，发现国有部门的工资持续地高于非国有部门的工资，这在一定程度上解释了90年代城镇居民与国有部门之间粘连的原因。本文的发现说明，降低国有部门的工资升水，可以使国有部门的改革更加顺利。     

Effects of wholesaler concentration on retailers by format: evidence from Japanese brand-level price data

Using unique brand-level wholesale price data, this article examines how purchase prices of commodities for retailers are influenced by wholesale concentration. Compared with studies focusing on retail prices, little empirical work has measured the impact of wholesale concentration on wholesale prices. Economic theory suggests that the sensitivity of purchase price in response to degree of wholesale concentration is smaller for large retail formats than for small retail formats in the presence of intra-format retail competition. To test the validity of the theoretical implication, I measure the impact of the concentration on purchasing prices for retailers by format. Empirical findings support the hypothesis that the large retail format tends to draw advantageous purchase prices when wholesalers become increasingly oligopolistic.     

鲜活农产品供应链协调研究——基于风险规避的收益共享契约分析

供应链协调是鲜活农产品供应链高效运作的基础。本文通过引入新鲜度因子和风险规避系数的Stackelberg博弈模型,研究了由专业合作社和超市构成的鲜活农产品供应链协调问题,分析了收益共享契约机制下供应链成员的最优定价策略及供应链成员风险规避行为对批发价和零售价的影响。数值分析结果表明,鲜活农产品批发价随着新鲜度、收益共享率的增大而增大;零售价随着零售商风险规避程度的增大而减小;而批发价随着生产商风险规避程度的增大而减小,随着零售商风险规避程度的增大而增大。要改变现状应通过大力培育农产品流通组织,提高流通主体组织化程度;设计合理的收益共享机制和风险分担机制,协调供应链成员利益;加强农产品流通基础设施建设及先进物流技术的应用等措施,提升供应链整体绩效,提高鲜活农产品流通效率。     

Do economic,institutional or political variables explain regulated wholesale unbundled local loop rate setting?

This study examines OECD fully unbundled and line-sharing monthly wholesale prices for 2002–2008. Although both series are well explained by the models, the principal contribution of the research is that economic, institutional and political factors explain mandated wholesale rate settings. The study finds evidence of both regulatory capture (to benefit incumbents) and retail margin setting to encourage entry (to benefit entrants).     

新疆批发零售业发展现状与对策分析

批发零售业作为联结生产和消费的桥梁与纽带,在拉动国民经济增长、促进消费结构升级中发挥着重要作用。通过对新疆批发零售业发展现状及其特征的系统分析,可以深刻认识到新疆批发零售业的巨大变化,同时也可明了新疆批发零售业自身存在的竞争劣势。新疆批发零售业应紧紧抓住新的发展机遇,顺应世界流通产业发展的趋势,结合新疆独特的区情,从企业的规模化和组织化程度、供应链管理与现代物流建设、零售企业转型升级、批发业改革与发展、农村市场流通主体构建等方面加快发展步伐。     

Retail and Wholesale Margins in Successive Cournot Oligopolies

This paper studies the determination of retail and wholesale prices in successive Cournot oligopolies. It is shown that (i) the ratio of retail to wholesale margins increases (decreases, resp.) as the retail part of the market becomes less (more, resp.) competitive; (ii) the ratio of margin in one part of the market to total margin increases (decreases, resp.) as that part of the market becomes less (more, resp.) competitive; (iii) the decline in final consumer price is larger (smaller, resp.) if the entry of additional firm occurs in less (more, resp.) competitive part of the market. The results of the paper are applied to the case of third degree price discrimination.     

The impact of Sunday shopping on employment and hours of work in the retail industry: Evidence from Canada

Between 1980 and 1998 every Canadian province passed legislation that in some way relaxed restrictions on Sunday shopping. This study exploits the variation in deregulation dates between provinces to identify how retail employers adjust employment and hours of work when deciding to open on Sundays. A major complication of this analysis is to first determine for which provinces the deregulation dates are useful indicators of increases in Sunday store openings. This paper uses a unique trading-day regression approach to identify these provinces and then uses aggregate data from the selected provinces to estimate a simple dynamic labour demand model that allows employment and hours to be imperfect substitutes in production. The results suggest that retailers’ needs for Sunday labour were disproportionately satisfied through increases in employment levels. Comparison of the estimates at three levels of the retail industry suggests that the employment and hours gains were larger among general merchandise stores than among more specialized retail establishments and relatively modest at the aggregate retail industry level. In addition, despite evidence of an immediate shortfall in the employment level below the long-run optimal level, the results suggest that firms were unable to compensate by temporarily increasing the hours of their existing employees.     

Does asymmetry in price transmission exist in the rice market in Sri Lanka?

This study analyses asymmetry in price transmission between wholesale and retail rice markets in Sri Lanka, using the threshold autoregressive model. We found that the wholesale and the retail rice markets in Sri Lanka are integrated, with price changes moving from the wholesale to the retail market. However, the price transmission process is asymmetric. In particular, price increases at the wholesale market transmit immediately to the retail market while price decreases transmit more slowly. Parameter stability test and follow-up analysis indicated that the price transmission process is asymmetric only during periods of price surges, suggesting that the rice market is not efficient during these periods.     

Buying power and strategic interactions

Abstract.  This paper shows that buying power at the retail level can lead to a rise in wholesale price. As a result, retailers without buying power may increase their retail price. Nevertheless, total surplus is non‐decreasing in the degree of buying power possessed by the 'dominant' retailer. JEL classification: L13     

Gross job flows in Ukraine

This paper documents and analyses gross job flows and their determinants in Ukraine using a dataset of more than 2200 Ukrainian firms operating in manufacturing and non‐manufacturing for the years 1998–2000. Job destruction dominates job creation in both 1999 and 2000. Another clear‐cut result of our analysis is the strong positive effect of new private firms on net employment growth. We also find an inverse relationship between job reallocation and size for both manufacturing and non‐manufacturing, while only in the latter sector is employment growth inversely related with size. The main focus of the paper is the effect of trade flows on employment adjustment in manufacturing. Our results show that both employment growth and job reallocation at the firm and two‐digit sector level are affected by strong exposure to import competition and product market competition in export markets. These effects are more pronounced when we consider trade flows to the world at large and to the EU than when the analysis is based on trade flows to the CIS. JEL Classifications: E24, F14, J63, P23.     

流通产业增长中的批发依赖性研究 ——基于工业品分类样本的实证检验

改革开放以来，我国流通产业取得长足发展，现代流通方式加快发展，流通产业已是国民经济的基础性和先导性产业。理论上，批发流通在现代流通产业发展中占据重要地位，对促进流通产业良性增长具备重要作用。本文基于工业品分类样本对批发业在流通总体增长以及零售增长中的双重贡献进行实证测度，整体上验证了流通增长过程中的批发依赖性，并在分类检验中验证了生产资料工业品、快速消费品以及耐用消费品行业对批发增长的较高依赖性。在新时期的流通增长中，应重视在批发依赖性较为明显的行业中集中实现批发的聚集优势。     

Competition and price asymmetries in the Greek oil sector: an empirical analysis on gasoline market

This article attempts to investigate the issue of asymmetries in the transmission of shocks to input prices and exchange rate onto the wholesale and retail price of gasoline respectively. For this purpose, we utilise the error-correction methodology in the Greek gasoline market. The sample consists of monthly data covering the period of January 1988 to June 2006. We also try to analyse by using impulse response functions the effect of competition on the dynamic adjustment of gasoline price to which has been paid scant attention in the past. The results favour the common perception that retail gasoline prices respond asymmetrically to cost increases and decreases both in the long and the short-run. At the wholesale segment, there is a symmetric response of the spot prices of gasoline towards the adjustment to the short-run responses of the exchange rate. Lastly, after the deregulation, wholesale prices of gasoline tend to gradually restore equilibrium triggered by a price shock compared to the regulated period.     

浙江省区域块状经济和城市化的关系

针对浙江省城市化进程是否与高速发展的区域块状经济适应的问题,用空间自相关的方法,从区域块状经济类型(城市化和本地化集聚经济)着手进行解答。结果表明,浙江省1998年和2001年批发零售贸易和餐饮业拥有城市化和本地化集聚经济,且后者比前者的程度更高。随着时间的推移,两者都有不同程度的减弱。其次,同期制造业仅有本地化集聚经济,且水平随时间而增加。     

河北农村商品流通产业创新的对策研究

农村商品流通产业常常被人们所忽视,而农村本身又是一个巨大的市场。文章在调查研究的基础上,针对河北农村流通产业(主要指零售业和批发业)存在的主要问题,指出了河北农村零售业和批发业的组织和业态创新的目标及具体思路。     

Oil Discovery,Political Institutions and Economic Diversification

Diversification is touted as a desirable policy objective for oil‐rich nations because it reduces exposure to volatility. However, the empirical relationship between petroleum and diversification is not well understood. Here, we test the effect of giant oil discoveries on diversification using a panel dataset of 136 countries observed over the period from 1962 to 2012. We notice non‐oil sector export concentration 8 years after a discovery. However, we do not observe any effect on the structure of employment in non‐resource and manufacturing sectors. Democratic political institutions moderate the export and employment concentration effects of petroleum discovery.