The Industry Determinants of Exchange Rate Pass‐Through to Chinese Domestic Prices, 1980–2002

Previous research has found industry‐ and time‐varying effects of the exchange rate on domestic producer prices in China for the years 1980–2002. In this study, I examine the determinants of these variations. The variation of pass‐through elasticity across industries is explained by a set of variables that characterize market competitiveness, while the change of the pass‐through elasticity over time is interpreted by infrastructure development and the increasing proportion of non‐state‐owned enterprises in the economy, along with the structural break in years 1993–94. This study sheds light on the current debate on the effect of the urged appreciation of the Chinese Yuan.     

Prospects for the Greek Economy in the Post‐enlargement Era

This paper examines the consequences for Greece of the EU enlargement eastwards. The analysis is based on an evaluation of the Greek economy competitiveness relative to the economies of the acceding and candidate countries during the last decade. Using data disaggregated up to the third digit, the magnitude of Greek inter‐ and intra‐industry trade with the above countries is determined and contrasted to the corresponding trade with the EU. Other issues examined are the effects from factor movements such as the FDI flows and migration, and the macroeconomic effects from the reallocation of EU funds. Enlargement is expected to exert positive trade and FDI effects on the Greek economy, a negative effect on future economic growth as a result of budgetary reductions and an uncertain effect on labour markets from migration. A non‐exploited trade potential of Greece with the Balkan countries creates further opportunities for regional development.     

(De)Unionization,Trade Liberalization and Selection

The effects of union bargaining power and trade liberalization on industry selection are analysed within a two‐country heterogeneous‐firm model with firm‐specific unions and inter‐country asymmetries in size and union power. Union bargaining power is shown to have more nuanced effects on efficiency and welfare than what typically suggested by conventional wisdom. While the higher wages resulting from an unfavourable union power differential harm firms' competitiveness, by reinforcing standard market access mechanisms, they give rise to aggregate demand effects that can act as a catalyst for industry and result in a pro‐variety effect.     

中欧纺织服装国际竞争力的测度与对比分析

作为纺织服装生产和出口的主要经济体,欧盟在国际纺织服装市场上是中国厂商较强的竞争对手之一。虽然中国在纺织服装生产上具有较强的比较优势,但欧盟在纺织服装产品的现实竞争力上却具有明显的优势,因而很难确定中欧纺织服装产业的真正实力。为此,有必要进一步测度中欧纺织服装的潜在国际竞争力,以找出其长远的趋势,为中国纺织服装行业在国际市场竞争中提供一定的借鉴。     

The International Competitiveness of CEEC Agriculture

The paper surveys the price competitiveness of agricultural production in Central and East European Countries (CEECs). It draws together empirical work conducted by tje authors and other studies that have estimated domestic resource cost (DRC) ratios for agriculture in various CEECs. The paper identifies that in general CEEC crop production is more internationally competitive than livestock farming. During the mid‐1990s, wheat production in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia was internationally competitive. In contrast, during the same period, milk production was not internationally competitive. However, there is also a considerable degree of variation from country to country; very little of Slovenia's agricultural production is internationally competitive. In the livestock sector the greatest problems lie where large herds have been broken up resulting in fragmented production. This has particularly affected beef and milk production. Considering variations in DRCs by farm type, larger private farms in Hungary and the Czech Republic are more internationally competitive than smaller private farms in crop production. If CEEC producers faced average EU prices for their traded inputs and output, most could be price competitive. However, conclusions should be treated with caution due to sensitivity of DRC ratios to changes in international prices and the choice of the shadow prices for non‐tradeable inputs     

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.     

欧盟环保指令对我国手机产品出口竞争力的影响分析

从产品生命周期角度分析了欧盟新的环保指令(第2002/95/EC号和第2002/96/EC号)对生产商的影响,结合海关统计数据分析了两项指令对我国手机产业出口竞争力的影响情况,以确定我国生产者的“生产商”身份,统计我国企业受影响的波及程度,评估指令对企业的成本影响三个方面,作为今后研究的重点,为我国手机企业积极应对欧盟指今提出合理性建议。     

国内外高技术产业竞争力评价方法述评

随着世界科学技术的日益快速发展,产业竞争力已成为一个国家或地区经济发展的重要因素。通过对高技术产业竞争力评价方法现状的对比分析发现:国外学者研究的主要是针对国家和企业层面的竞争力的评价;国内学者研究的则更为深入,除了研究企业和生产效率、市场开拓能力与赢利能力等本质性内容,还扩展到了评价原则和评价方法等方面。其研究成果对于构建科学合理的评价理论以及指导实践,更好地促进高技术产业的快速健康发展具有重大意义。     

Trade Effects of the European Union's Service Directive: Contrasting ex ante Estimates with Empirical Evidence

One of the top priorities to improve the European Union's growth performance is the creation of a single market for services. The directive on services adopted by the Parliament and the Council by the end of 2006 aims at removing barriers to the free movement of service providers on the internal market. Previous studies quantified ex ante sizable effects of implementing the directive in its original form. This paper is a first attempt to evaluate ex post the trade effects induced by a directive – which excludes the country‐of‐origin principle – by performing a difference‐in‐difference‐(in‐differences) estimator on a sample of EU‐ and non‐EU countries in the period 2004 to 10. We account for non‐tariff trade barriers and the endogeneity of regional trade agreements and find that the service directive adds to a reallocation of business services trade within the EU. Accounting for the trade effect of past deregulations, the EU directive fosters a deeper integration of the new member states into the European service value‐added‐chain and promotes business service exports from third countries towards the EU significantly more than trade of country pairs in the control group. The reorientation of the EU‐15 towards the new members is in turn associated with less intense intra‐EU‐10 businesses, while business trade between EU‐15 members is not significantly affected.     

Does EU Enlargement Increase Agro‐Food Export Duration?

This paper examines the impact of EU enlargement on agro‐food export performance across 12 new EU member states and five newly independent states in the EU markets covering the period 1999 to 2007. The performance is examined by duration of export and hazard model. We find larger duration for the agro‐food exports from the new EU member states. The results confirm gains from the eastward EU enlargement and governance on export increases and longer duration for exporting higher value‐added specialized consumer‐ready food and more competitive niche agro‐food products.     

Does value chain integration dampen producer price developments? Evidence from the European Union

We draw on trade theory to empirically explore the effects of value chain integration on producer price dynamics. Using the EU as an example of an integrated area, we construct measures of backward and forward linkages with intra‐ and extra‐EU trading partners at the country‐sector level. We find that especially upstream integration and EU accession dampen inflation. The results for downstream integration indicate a price‐increasing relationship. We propose novel EU integration indicators and offer insights to both theory and applied research. We also add to the policy debate on the price effects of (dis‐)integration of EU countries.     

欧盟各国税收制度竞争与协调现状分析

伴随着欧洲经济一体化的不断扩大,欧盟各国普遍采用税收竞争的手段来吸引外来投资,改善本国企业竞争力,对于这种税收竞争所带来的后果,各国评价不一.文章试图通过对欧盟各国税收既有竞争又希望协调的现状进行分析,来探讨如何在欧盟内部消除有害税收竞争,实现税收协调的目标.     

Short‐term Consequences of Trade Reform for Industry Employment and Wages: Survey of Evidence from Colombia

Recent research has focused on the short‐ to medium‐term implications of trade reforms for the labour market outcomes and poverty in poor economies. This article summarises the evidence on the short‐term consequences of the Colombian trade reform initiated in 1985 for industry employment and industry wages. Although the reform reduced manufacturing tariffs on average by 40 percentage points from 1984 to 1994, tariff declines were not significantly associated with labour reallocation across sectors. The reform, however, was associated with bigger declines in relative industry wages in sectors that experienced bigger tariff cuts. This evidence is in line with the predictions of short‐ to medium‐run models of trade in which labour is not mobile across sectors. It is also consistent with the predictions of models where imperfectly competitive industries share rents with workers and trade reduces the firms’ profit margins and thus workers’ rents.     

The Trade Effects of the EU–Turkey Customs Union

In the present study we argue that the salient features of both the EU‐15 countries and Turkey are conducive to making the effects of the 1995 EU–Turkey customs union asymmetric among the incumbent EU countries. In order to support our argument we rely on a model in which trade involves the exchange of vertically differentiated products. This model generates the prediction that the more contiguous an incumbent country is to the joining country in terms of technological sophistication, the larger will be the crowding out of this country's exports to the other incumbent countries as a result of the CU expansion. Using a gravity model we estimate the effects of the customs union between Turkey and the EU‐15 by differentiating between exports from (a) lower‐technology EU‐15 countries (we term this group of countries ‘South’) to higher‐technology EU‐15 countries (the ‘North’), (b) North to South, (c) South to Turkey, (d) North to Turkey, and (e) Turkey to EU‐15. Our econometric results indicate that, in contrast to North's exports to the other EU‐15 countries (which have remained intact), the Southern countries’ exports to the other EU‐15 countries have declined as a result of the CU. Moreover, the extra penetration of the Turkish market by the EU‐15 countries has not been more favourable to the Southern group.     

黑龙江省装备制造业持续创新能力对策研究

装备制造业是工业发展的核心,是增强国际竞争力的根本。在对黑龙江省装备制造业发展现状进行分析的基础上,针对黑龙江省装备制造业持续创新能力存在问题提出对策研究,对于制定黑龙江省装备制造业振兴战略,及政策具有重要的理论与现实意义。     

基于国际竞争力视角的我国医药制造业结构性分析

理论界有些观点认为中国医药制造业的国际竞争力不断增强,并持较乐观的态度。文章通过实证分析却得出相反的结论：从2000年到2004年,大部分药品的贸易竞争力不断下降;同时,随着我国加入WTO和全球市场竞争日益激烈,我国医药制造业的竞争优势不稳定,并且日趋减弱,甚至消失。可见我国医药制造业的竞争力不容乐观,应引起我们的高度重视。     

A cross‐national investigation of trait antecedents of mobile‐banking adoption

Although there is a near agreement in the literature on the main predictors of consumers' attitudes toward technological innovation, the potential ways through which personal traits and national environmental differences contribute to significant variations in mobile‐banking adoption have received limited attention. Based on insights from innovation adoption and personality research, this study tested a model of mobile‐banking adoption using data from a developed and a developing country. Survey data came from a sample of 1,340 participants from the United Kingdom and Ghana. The results indicate that intrinsic traits are stronger in explaining consumers' attitude toward mobile banking in Ghana than in the United Kingdom. However, no significant variance between the two countries was observed with regard to the mediation effect of consumers' attitude on the intention to use mobile banking. The practical and theoretical implications of this study are discussed.     

欧盟东扩对我国纺织业的潜在影响分析

进入21世纪,欧盟东扩的进程不断加快。作为我国支柱产业的纺织业将面临更多的挑战:原有出口配额企业配额的丧失;贸易转移效应;反倾销、反补贴措施的严重性;技术贸易壁垒的“东扩”;保障条款的滥用以及投资转移效应的影响等。我国的纺织服装企业只有全面提高自己的适应能力,才有可能将欧盟东扩作为进入欧盟的平台,扩大对欧盟的出口。     

谈我国信用征信业加入WTO后应对欧盟数据保护指令的策略

1998年10月开始生效的欧盟资料保护指令禁止个人资料向不具备欧盟适当隐私保护水平的第三国转移,这一做法无疑增加了中欧贸易的障碍,也不利于我国信用征信业的发展,为了避开禁令限制,根据欧盟指令的让步条款,结合WTO争端解决方式及美欧安全港协议,信用报告使用者、信用征信业和政府各有可行的应对策略。     

中美贸易关系新形势下中国先进制造业升级路径研究

先进制造业是一国工业实力和竞争力的直接体现。目前,在中国先进制造业中,装备制造业竞争力明显提升、高技术制造业发展迅速、先进制造业出现集群式发展,但仍然存在创新能力较低、核心技术和零部件研发能力不强、先进制造业企业竞争力不强、缺乏有利的先进制造业发展环境等问题。应采取给予先进制造业发展更大的支持力度、坚持技术引进与自主创新融合、强化先进制造业的区域合作、引导企业提高自主创新能力等措施,推动中国先进制造业持续健康发展。