Sectoral Patterns of Interactive Learning: An Empirical Exploration of a Case in a Dutch Region

This paper pursues the development of a theoretical framework that explains interactive learning between innovator firms and external actors in both the knowledge infrastructure and the production chain. The research question is: What kinds of factors explain the interactive learning of innovator firms with distinct external actors? Our theoretical framework extends the resource-based perspective, which is predominant in network theory, with both an activity-based and a structural account of interactive learning. We contend basically that higher technological dynamics induce more complex innovative activities. But, more complex innovative activities increase the probability of internal resource deficits/shortages in the innovator firms. The lower the alignment of the innovative activities with the quality of the internal resource base, the higher the resource deficits/shortages and the more likely the search for complementary resources externally, which increases the likeliness of external relationships. In order to test the generality of our theoretical claims we analyse our models in four sectors with distinct technological dynamics as distinguished by Pavitt. For each sector we explore five models of the level of interactive learning of innovator firms with: (1) the public knowledge infrastructure (difficult to access, demands high internal competencies to utilize scientific knowledge), (2) the production chain (easy to access), (3) their users, (4) their suppliers, (5) their competitors. These analyses allow for a comparison between interactive learning with different external actors and give deeper insights into the differentiated interaction patterns involving innovation. Our findings show that patterns of interactive learning between sectors differ. Some are more resource based and others are more affected by the complexity of innovative activities. Particularly the patterns of interactive learning between, on the one hand, firms and the knowledge infrastructure, and on the other hand of firms with the production chain show important differences.     

Sectoral Patterns of Interactive Learning: An Empirical Exploration of a Case in a Dutch Region

This paper pursues the development of a theoretical framework that explains interactive learning between innovator firms and external actors in both the knowledge infrastructure and the production chain. The research question is: What kinds of factors explain the interactive learning of innovator firms with distinct external actors? Our theoretical framework extends the resource-based perspective, which is predominant in network theory, with both an activity-based and a structural account of interactive learning. We contend basically that higher technological dynamics induce more complex innovative activities. But, more complex innovative activities increase the probability of internal resource deficits/shortages in the innovator firms. The lower the alignment of the innovative activities with the quality of the internal resource base, the higher the resource deficits/shortages and the more likely the search for complementary resources externally, which increases the likeliness of external relationships. In order to test the generality of our theoretical claims we analyse our models in four sectors with distinct technological dynamics as distinguished by Pavitt. For each sector we explore five models of the level of interactive learning of innovator firms with: (1) the public knowledge infrastructure (difficult to access, demands high internal competencies to utilize scientific knowledge), (2) the production chain (easy to access), (3) their users, (4) their suppliers, (5) their competitors. These analyses allow for a comparison between interactive learning with different external actors and give deeper insights into the differentiated interaction patterns involving innovation. Our findings show that patterns of interactive learning between sectors differ. Some are more resource based and others are more affected by the complexity of innovative activities. Particularly the patterns of interactive learning between, on the one hand, firms and the knowledge infrastructure, and on the other hand of firms with the production chain show important differences.     

工业能源消耗碳排放行业差异研究——以河南省为例

通过对1999—2010年河南省工业行业能源消耗碳排放行业差异的分析,发现工业直接碳排放量呈逐年增加趋势,并没有随着经济发展而实现碳排放的"脱钩";采矿业能源消耗的直接碳排放量逐渐增长,已成为工业直接碳排放量快速增加的重要驱动行业,制造业和电力—燃气—水的生产和供应业直接碳排放的速度有减缓的趋势;工业行业间直接碳排放存在明显差异性,可以划分为直接碳排放量和直接碳排放强度都较高的高碳行业、直接碳排放量较大和直接碳排放强度较低的中碳行业、直接碳排放量和直接碳排放强度都较小的低碳行业以及直接碳排放量较小、直接碳排放强度较高的碳排放关注行业4种类型,并且河南省具有专业化优势和比较优势的行业大多集中在高碳部门。利用投入产出模型,计算了工业分行业的间接碳排放,发现产业部门关联效应所引发的间接碳排放不容忽视,并且在一些行业中占有较高比重。针对工业内部碳排放的行业差异性,应有效协调工业化进程与节能减排的关系,针对行业特性来制定减排政策。     

Cyclicality and Sectoral Linkages: Aggregate Fluctuations from Independent Sectoral Shocks

The traditional argument against the relevance of sector-specific shocks for the aggregate phenomenon of business cycles invokes the law of large numbers: positive shocks in some sectors are offset by negative shocks in other sectors. This paper hypothesizes that cancellation of sector-specific shocks via the law of large numbers is affected by interactions among producing sectors. The analysis is performed within the context of a multisector model similar in spirit to that of Long and Plosser [J. Polit. Econ.91(1983), 39–69]. It is shown that the rate at which the law of large numbers applies is controlled by the rate of increase in the number offullrows in the input-use matrix rather than by the rate of increase in the total number of sectors. Investigations of actual input-use matrices from the U.S. economy reveal that the number of full rows increases much slower than the total number of rows upon disaggregation, and when these input-use matrices are used to parameterize the model, aggregate volatility from sectoral shocks declines at less than half the rate implied by the law of large numbers. This finding leaves open the possibility that a sizeable portion of aggregate volatility is caused by “smaller” shocks to individual sectors. Simple statistics calculated from the model indicate that as much as 80% the volatility in U.S. gross domestic product growth rates could be the result of independent shocks to two-digit Standard Industrial Code sectors.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Numbers: E1, E32, C67.     

Labour Market Regulations and the Sectoral Reallocation of Workers: The Case of Trade Reforms

In this paper I highlight the importance of incorporating the institutional features of local labour markets into the analysis of trade reforms. A trade reform is often deemed beneficial because the elimination of trade barriers allows labour to reallocate towards those sectors in the economy in which the country has a comparative advantage. The amount and speed of the reallocation, however, and the post-reform behaviour of output, productivity and welfare, will depend on how regulated the labour market is. First, I document that high firing costs slow down the intersectoral reallocation of labour after a trade reform. Second, in order to isolate the effect of firing costs on labour reallocation, output and welfare after a trade reform, I build a dynamic general equilibrium model. I find that if a country does not liberalize its labour market at the outset of its trade reform, the intersectoral reallocation of workers will be 30% slower, and as much as 30% of the gains in real output and labour productivity in the years following the trade reform will be lost. From a policy standpoint, the message is that while trade reforms are desirable, they need to be complemented by labour market reforms in order to be fully successful.     

Sectoral exports dynamics of Turkey: a panel co-integration analysis

This paper analyzes the role of unit labor costs and individual cost components in determining sectoral export dynamics and the change in the impact of these costs after the sequence of structural reforms in Turkey as of 2001. It employs a multivariate panel co-integration technique across 17 Turkish manufacturing sectors at different time periods. Results suggest that average elasticity changes not only between the time periods but also across the sectors. Cross-sectional elasticity differences are mostly attributable to the sectoral competitiveness and factor intensities.     

Communication Cost,Skilled-Unskilled Wage,and Informality

Journal of Quantitative Economics - This paper establishes an interesting link between informality and time zone differences in a general equilibrium trade model for small open economy. Trading...     

Sectoral Energy- and Labour-Productivity Convergence

This paper empirically investigates the development of cross-country differences in energy- and labour productivity. The analysis is performed at a detailed sectoral level for 14 OECD countries, covering the period 1970–1997. A σ-convergence analysis reveals that the development over time of the cross-country variation in productivity performance differs across sectors as well as across different levels of aggregation. Both patterns of convergence as well as divergence are found. Cross-country variation of productivity levels is typically larger for energy than for labour. A β-convergence analysis provides support for the hypothesis that in most sectors lagging countries tend to catch up with technological leaders, in particular in terms of energy productivity. Moreover, the results show that convergence is conditional, meaning that productivity levels converge to country-specific steady states. Energy prices and wages are shown to positively affect energy- and labour-productivity growth, respectively. We also find evidence for the importance of economies of scale, whereas the investment share, openness and specialization play only a modest role in explaining cross-country variation in energy- and labour-productivity growth.      

Sectoral shifts and unemployment persistence

This paper deals with possible explanations of unemployment persistence within a sectoral approach to the Austrian labour market. First the concept of unemployment persistence is specified in terms of the time series properties of the unemployment rate. Sectoral job gains and job losses form the labour market flows in this approach. The standard matching model is replaced then by a model of the competition between the unemployed and new entrants in the labour market for new jobs as an ‘adding up’ demand system of the AIDS type. The estimations of different system specifications indicate, that the sectoral structure of job gains plays a role in the competition mechanism between unemployed workers and new entrants.     

工业适度重型化背景下的低碳路径选择：基于广东工业的实证分析

对工业适度重型化背景下的高碳发展惯性特征进行分析和预测,并以广东为重点,利用对数平均权重分解法（ LMDI）研究工业能源消费历史碳排放的驱动因素。结果表明,广东工业重型化和高碳化在未来一段时期仍将处于惯性高位区间,工业碳排放峰值预计出现在2025年左右;由技术进步诱发的能源效率提升是过去十多年来碳排放增长减缓的主要影响因素,而产业结构和能源结构调整尚未发挥足够的降碳效应。结合广东工业适度重型化发展特征,研究认为,能源效率提升仍是现阶段广东工业碳减排的主要途径。随着技术进步效应的边际递减,中远期碳减排的主要动力源于产业结构和能源结构的优化。     

Informality and productivity in the labor market in Peru

This article analyzes the evolution of informal employment in Peru from 1986 to 2001.

Contrary to what one would expect, the informality rates increased steadily during the 1990s despite the introduction of flexible contracting mechanisms, a healthy macroeconomic recovery, and tighter tax codes and regulation. We explore different factors that may explain this upward trend including the role of labor legislation and labor allocation between/within sectors of economic activity. Finally, we illustrate the negative correlation between productivity and informality by evaluating the impacts of the Youth Training PROJOVEN Program that offers vocational training to disadvantaged young individuals. We find significant training impacts on the probability of formal employment for both males and females.     

Sectoral trends and cycles in Germany

We examine the comovements between the output indexes of three German sectors (manufacturing, mining, and agriculture) and the three corresponding sectoral stock market indexes. It is found that data with and without seasonal adjustment give mixed results on the long-run interaction between the sectoral indexes. Compared with data that are non-seasonally adjusted, the adjusted data offer weaker evidence on the cointegration relationship between a) the sectoral output indexes, b) sectoral stock indexes, and c) individual pairs of real and financial indexes. On short-run comovement, seasonally adjusted data offer stronger evidence on the presence of common synchronized and non-synchronized cyclical components. First version received: March 2000/Final version received: September 2001 RID="*" ID="*"  We would like to thank Michael Dooley, Juergen von Hagen, Kenneth Kletzer, Peter Kugler, Jacky So and two anonymous referees, as well as the participants of the Fifth Global Finance Conference in Mexico City, the seminars at the University of California at Santa Cruz, University of Munich, and University of Basel for their helpful comments and suggestions. This research was supported by CGES at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz faculty research funds.     

Sectoral shocks and business cycles: a disaggregated analysis of output fluctuations in the UK

In this paper we first show that it is possible to modify linear real business cycle models to allow for disaggregate (industry-specific) factors in the generation of macroeconomic fluctuations. We then try to determine the relative importance of aggregate and sectoral shocks by doing principal components analysis on the residuals from a VAR of output growth rates in 19 UK industrial sectors. We find that a significant percentage of the innovations in sectoral output growths can be accounted for by a single unobserved component. However, since the model only sets an upper bound to the explanatory power of aggregate impulses, the importance of using sectoral data to extract additional information to bear on the analysis of economic fluctuations is confirmed by our findings.     

Sectoral labor adjustment and monetary policy in a small open economy

This paper studies the welfare implications of sectoral labor adjustment cost in a two-sector small open economy model with sticky prices. We find that, when the economy faces external shocks, if monetary policy can stabilize the real economy, then sectoral labor market adjustment cost will lead to welfare loss. However, if monetary policy such as fixed exchange rates cannot stabilize real variables, then some degree of labor market friction will improve welfare instead and the gain will be significant. As a result, the welfare gap between flexible exchange rates and fixed exchange rates decreases with sectoral labor market friction. This is because the friction can offset some of the nominal rigidity and become a substitute for monetary policy to stabilize the real economy.     

Sectoral and aggregate technology growth in Spain

In this paper we analyze technological change in the Spanish economy by constructing adjusted Solow residuals, where the adjustment attempts to correct for the bias associated with the potential presence of imperfect competition, increasing returns, variable input utilization and, especially, sectoral reallocation of inputs across sectors. We refer to this modified Solow residual as a technology index. Sectoral reallocations and variable input utilization are key determinants of the differences between the aggregate Solow residual and the technology index resulting from the aggregation of estimated sectoral technological growth. We show that starting in the mid nineties, there has been a deceleration in the aggregate growth rate of technology which is basically due to the behaviour of the manufacturing sectors. Finally, our results imply that aggregate technology growth is less volatile than aggregate productivity as measured by the Solow residual.     

Sectoral role change in transition China: a network analysis from 1990 to 2005

In this article, by using the data collected from input–output table, we conduct a detailed investigation on the evolution pattern during economy development of China from 1990 to 2005. By using network analysis at national, cluster and individual level, we find some interesting insights, also in order to identify the difference between cluster levels, we proposed a cluster centralization method to analyse the role of the cluster in the network. This study shows that during the transition process of China, there exist some similarity and differences in each selected time. Each period studied have some similar distributions of key sectors, including the cores, i.e. chemical industry, nonmetallic mineral products, construction, business. However, significant differences also exists, for example, the 2005 system is characterized as higher degrees of systemic connection and hierarchy, while the 1990s system has looser density and less centralization. Additionally, the high tech clusters (i.e. electronics and instruments) including high tech industry (i.e. electronics and telecommunications equipment manufacturers) has played a much more important role in 2005 than that in early 1990s. Also the high tech cluster and service cluster have contributed a lot to the transition and development of the whole country, the results also confirm that some theory concluded from developed country can also applied to developing economies such as China.     

Informality,public employment and employment protection in developing countries

This paper proposes an equilibrium matching model for developing countries’ labor markets where the interaction between public, formal private and informal private sectors are taken into account. Theoretical analysis shows that gains from reforms aiming at liberalizing formal labor markets can be annulled by shifts in the public sector employment and wage policies. Since the public sector accounts for a substantial share of employment in developing countries, this approach is crucial to understand the main labor market outcomes of such economies. Wages offered by the public sector increase the outside option value of the workers during the bargaining processes in the formal and informal sectors. It becomes more profitable for workers to search on-the-job, in order to move to these more attractive and more stable types of jobs. The public sector therefore acts as an additional tax for the formal private firms. Using data on workers’ flows from Egypt, we show empirically and theoretically that the liberalization of labor markets plays against informal employment by increasing the profitability, and hence job creations, of formal jobs. The latter effect is however dampened or even sometimes nullified by the increase of the offered wages in the public sector observed at the same time.     

企业多元化业务的选择和评估模型及其应用实例

本文分析了影响企业多元化的因素,建立了企业多元化业务选择和评估模型,探讨了模型在现实操作中的应用,给出了利用该模型进行业务选择和评估的实例。