Spatial competition and agglomeration in the visitor attraction sector

This paper provides a theoretical and empirical contribution to understanding spatial competition by examining visitor attractions in two contrasting clusters of lower and higher levels of agglomeration of businesses in Cornwall, UK. The study found that competition is mainly for customers and labour and is related differently to the levels of agglomeration, spatial proximity and thematic product similarity between visitor attractions at the local compared with the regional scale. Location can be used differently for employing ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ competitive strategies. The study contributes to the knowledge on the spatiality of competition and the locational strategies of service businesses.     

Wage and competition channels of foreign direct investment and new firm entry

Using a rich data set of the Dutch manufacturing sector between 1995 and 2010, we investigate the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on domestic new firm entry. The emerging empirical literature has focused on the direct relationship between FDI and entry, but has not explored the mechanisms behind the observed effect. Drawing on a simultaneous equations model, our analysis features both the direct effect of FDI as well as indirect effects through two channels: industry competition and wages. We estimate the parameters through 3SLS and take into account the endogeneity of competition and wages with respect to entry. Our results show that there is a significant negative direct effect of FDI on entry. At the same time, FDI decreases competition and increases wage levels, which then impact entry positively and negatively, respectively. The total effect of FDI is negative, but small and virtually disappears after one year. Policy implications are discussed.

     

Adaptive resilience and the competition between retail and service agglomeration formats: an international perspective

This paper investigates the competitive relationship between dominant urban agglomeration formats (traditional ‘evolved’ town centres and ‘created’ shopping malls) and the drivers of competiveness in the form of key agglomeration resources (accessibility, parking condition, tenant mix, atmosphere). Based on a consumer survey (n, 2,161) across three distinctive European capital cities, covariance-based structural equation modelling reveals remarkably limited differences between formats in terms of the investigated drivers of competitiveness. Positive relationships of patronage towards both formats in all cities and the significant difference in why respondents patronise them suggest a partly complementary existence of the two types of agglomeration. We explain this apparent complementarity through the theory of adaptive resilience that has seen evolved agglomeration formats develop to provide a differentiated offer and consumer attraction compared with enclosed malls.     

入世后修船市场的竞争将更加激烈

经过15年的艰苦努力，中国加入世贸组织已进入最后阶段，不久前，中国已分别同美国，欧盟就中国入世多边谈判的遗留问题进行磋商，达成全面共识，刚刚结束的世贸组织第十六次中国工作组会议，已完成了中国加入世贸组织的实质性谈判，今年11月份，工作组会议将转向中国加入世贸组织认定书和工作报告书的审议工作，如顺利过关，中国届时即可解决加入世贸组织问题，名符其实的成为世贸组织成员。     

Preventing competition using side payments: when non-neutrality creates barriers to entry

Network neutrality is often advocated by content providers, stressing that side payments to Internet Service Providers would hinder innovation. However, we also observe some content providers actually paying those fees. This paper intends to explain such behaviors through economic modeling, illustrating how side payments can be a way for an incumbent content provider to prevent new competitors from entering the market. We investigate the conditions under which the incumbent can benefit from such a barrier-to-entry, and the consequences of that strategic behavior on the other actors: content providers, users, and the Internet Service Provider. We also describe how the Nash bargaining solution concept can be used to determine the side payment.     

规模经济、城市化和经济聚集

城市化和经济聚集是现代区域经济理论关注的核心问题。然而由于城市化现象所反映的规模收益递增因素与新古典经济的竞争性均衡不相容,因此,城市化问题很难在新古典经济学的框架内得到解释。这样,长期以来标准的经济分析很少关注经济聚集现象和城市的形成。直到20世纪70年代,迪克西特和斯蒂格利茨把垄断竞争问题重新引入到主流经济学后,垄断竞争模型才成为处理规模收益问题的有力工具,新经济地理也由之发展而来;与此同时,新兴古典经济学以超边际分析为工具深入分析了分工对城市形成和产业迁移的影响。     

Competition,agglomeration, and performance of Beijing hotels

Generally the function of marketing in many different types of organisations has been widely recognised in recent years, and accordingly various studies have described the development of the marketing department in both the manufacturing and service industries. However, surprisingly little attention has been devoted to delineating or describing the role of the marketing department in retailing organisations, in spite of evidence of increasing employment of marketing personnel to implement proactive retailer marketing strategies, and correspondingly large increases in marketing expenditures by retailers. This article seeks to redress the balance by reporting the findings of a survey of the operation of marketing departments by 70 of the largest retailing organisations in the UK.     

加入WTO后我国面临国际税收竞争的挑战与对策

WTO是经济全球化的主要表现形式和阶段性成果。WTO将促使各国政府放宽经济的管制，同时，跨国公司在全球范围内追求最佳的经济效益，而经济增长主要取决于资本与劳动力这两个生产要素的供给增长，于是各国政府为了发展本国经济，采取各种措施吸引国际上流动的资本和劳动力。其中，一个重要措施是运用税收政策，从而形成了各国政府之间的税收竞争。我国加入WTO后势必受到国际税收竞争的挑战。     

Scale economies,entry, and welfare

This study shows how scale economies, initial size differences among firms, potential competition, and adjustment costs may influence the entry of firms into a dynamic oligopoly. It also examines the effects of these factors on the final size distribution of firms in an industry, and on the welfare levels of consumers and producers. We find that low to moderate scale economies are insufficient for Cournot-Nash competition to drive small firms from the market. Only when scale economies are quite high will the distribution of firm sizes become degenerate. Potential competition and the size of incumbent firms' capital stocks are additional barriers to entry. The welfare conclusion is that there may be a government role to preserve potential competition, but also to dissuade small firms from entering certain markets where there are economies of scale.     

Top manager characteristics,agglomeration economies and firm performance

The role of agglomeration economies in firm performance has been extensively studied. Existing studies, however, almost invariably focus on firm, industry or city characteristics to examine the performance-enhancing effects of agglomeration while overlooking the attributes of the top executives involved in shaping corporate practices. In this study, we change that focus by empirically examining the moderating role of two particular top manager characteristics (age and educational level) on the agglomeration economies–firm performance relationship. Using a top manager-firm matched panel data set, we find that top manager age rather than educational level helps firms to realize the potential benefits of agglomeration. This paper contributes to the agglomeration literature by stating the importance of individual top managers.     

娱乐、创造、竞争——新媒体环境下的创意传播

目前的媒体环境发生了很大的变化，传统的电视媒体正在逐渐走向死亡，消费者的注意力严重缺乏。在这种新的媒体环境下，广告首先应该让消费者觉体验到快乐，所以有有一定的娱乐性，同时也要不断创新。     

Markups,import competition and exporting

This paper analyses the relationship between markups and international trade at the firm level using a large sample of French manufacturing firms for the period 1995–2007. In particular, the paper investigates the effect of increasing import competition from China on firms' price–cost margins and the way in which exporting interacts with this effect. The results show robust evidence that firms in more direct competition with Chinese imports decrease their markups. However, firms that become exporters experience a smaller reduction in their price–cost margins. Consistent with these findings, the results also show that firms facing tougher competition from China are more likely to start exporting to avoid such competitive pressures.     

Public procurement,competition and partnership

This paper analyses public procurement practice in Northern Ireland, in relation to a theoretical framework based upon partnership, competition and a mixed model. Characteristics of purchasing practices that enable the models to be distinguished empirically are identified, and form the basis of a questionnaire survey of purchasing managers in government departments and other public bodies. The aims of the survey are to determine the nature of current practice in public procurement in relation to the models, and to establish whether there is any relationship between the practices adopted and the achievement of value for money. Practice is found to conform to a hybrid of the models incorporating significant aspects of partnership, which meets the requirements of value for money and accountability, and from which a model of flexible competition is developed.     

Comment on Acs and Varga: Entrepreneurship, agglomeration and technological change

Acs and Varga (Small Bus Econ 24:323–334, 2005) employ GEM cross-national, industrial-level data for nine selected European countries in order to investigate the link between entrepreneurship, agglomeration and technological growth. Testing the knowledge production function in the spirit of Jones (J Polit Econ 103:759–784, 1995), they find that both agglomeration and entrepreneurship exhibit a statistically significantly positive effect on technological change. This comment mainly argues that this investigation only focuses on the growth rates but leaves out the effects induced by agglomeration and entrepreneurship on the level of knowledge. This might lead to biased estimates.     

International competition, downsizing and wage inequality

A country with Cournot competition and free entry experiences an increase of its market size either due to economic growth or international integration of its goods markets. This implied increase in competition leads to shrinking mark-ups and forces firms to reduce overhead costs relative to output. This implies a reallocation at the aggregate level from administrative to productive activities. Relative factor rewards change and wage inequality increases. The factor which loses in relative terms can even lose in real terms. From a quantitative perspective, international competition is demonstrated to be the more plausible cause of rising wage inequality.     

Increasing returns,monopolistic competition,and international trade

This paper develops a simple, general equilibrium model of noncomparative advantage trade. Trade is driven by economies of scale, which are internal to firms. Because of the scale economies, markets are imperfectly competitive. Nonetheless, one can show that trade, and gains from trade, will occur, even between countries with identical tastes, technology, and factor endowments.     

Import competition,multi-product firms,and basic innovation

How does firm strategy to produce basic innovation respond to international trade? Given the importance of basic innovation for economic growth and welfare, better understanding of this question is essential. In this vein we combine patent, firm, product, and trade data to show that when confronted with higher import penetration, the nature of firm innovation becomes less basic. We propose that underlying this result is the interplay between multi-product firms that narrow their product scope when exposed to greater import competition and the difficulty inventors face when capturing all benefits derived from their basic innovations.