技术能力与企业出口绩效间关系的经验性研究

文章通过对我国制造业企业技术能力与出口绩效关系的实证研究发现,技术人员比重对出口绩效存在负面影响;技术创新能力对出口绩效没有影响;而信息技术与技术性人力资源和技术创新能力的交叉作用均对出口绩效产生了显著而积极的作用.本研究反映出我国制造业企业在国际市场上缺乏技术竞争优势.同时,文章认为我国外向型企业在实施国际化战略时,必须重视对自身信息技术的投入.     

Income Smoothing and Discretionary R&D Expenditures of Japanese Firms*

During the recent recession (1991 to present), Japanese firms decreased their spending on R&D for the first time since World War II. The decreases have raised concerns that Japanese managers may be making suboptimal allocations to R&D. We test whether Japanese managers adjust R&D based on short‐term performance. Our results show that Japanese firms in several industries adjust their R&D budgets to smooth profits. Interestingly, adjustments to R&D are larger in expansion years. These results, similar to those documented with U.S. managers, point to myopic decision making by Japanese managers.     

Firm-Specific Characteristics and the Timing of Foreign Direct Investment Projects

This paper uses a proportional hazard model to study foreign direct investment by Japanese manufacturers in Europe between 1970 and 1994. We divide each firm’s investment total into a sequence of individual investment decisions and analyze how firm-specific characteristics affect each decision. We find that total factor productivity is a significant determinant of a firm’s initial and subsequent investments. Parent-firm size does not have a significant influence on the initial decision to invest. Large firms simply have more investments than smaller firms. Other firm-specific characteristics, such as the R&D intensity, export share and keiretsu membership, also play a role in the investment process. JEL no. F23, L20     

FDI如何影响本地企业出口——来自中国制造业的发现

文章从理论上分析了外资进入影响本地企业出口行为的机制，并在构造外资溢出三类指标的基础上，运用1998-2007年中国制造业企业数据实证检验了外资溢出对本地企业出口参与决策和出口规模的影响。研究表明：（1）外资企业通过行业内水平溢出和行业间前向关联溢出显著促进了本地企业的出口参与决策，并提高了本地企业的出口规模；（2）外资行业间后向关联溢出对本地企业出口参与决策的影响不明显，但扩大了已出口企业的出口规模，控制内生性后结论仍成立；（3）外资进入对本地企业出口行为的影响因外资来源地和本地企业所有制性质的不同而存在显著的差异性。     

R&D subsidies and business R&D: Evidence from high-tech manufacturing firms in Jiangsu

We investigate how R&D subsidies affect business R&D investments using cross-section data of high-tech manufacturing firms in Jiangsu province of China. Our estimations based on propensity score matching suggest that public subsidies positively influence business R&D investments. Further classifying firms into different groups by size, financial constraints, and ownership, we find that the stimulation effect is more significant and stronger for smaller firms, more financially constrained firms, and private-owned firms. The heterogeneity of policy effects with respect to export status, Relative Comparative Advantage index, region, and industry are also discussed.     

International Trade and R&D Investment: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms

A current concern for China's long‐term growth prospect is whether China can become an innovative economy and achieve industrial upgrading to compensate for the gradually declining competitiveness resulting from low‐cost labor. The present study examines this issue by exploring how trade participation impacts on the R&D investment of manufacturing firms through various channels. Merging China's Annual Manufacturing Survey Dataset and the Chinese Customs Dataset allows us to study such a relationship at the individual firm level. The empirical results suggest that channels such as geographical diversification of export markets, share of imports from high‐income countries, average unit value of imports, number of intermediate goods and capital goods imports, and the trade regime are significant factors that influence firm‐level R&D investment. The study discusses the policy implications of the empirical findings in relation to industrial and trade policies that may be potentially beneficial for China's transition towards an innovative economy.     

The Impact of R&D Cooperations and Mergers in Pharmaceuticals on Research Activities and Drugs Offered on the Market

In the last 10 years, the pharmaceutical industry has experienced steep, unprecedented price increases which are frequently attributed to increasing drug development costs. To cope with rocketing development costs, companies engage in Research and Development (R&D) cooperations. We study the impact of R&D cooperations on firms' research activities and drugs offered on the market. Using a comprehensive dataset, we find that R&D cooperations formed at the early stage of the drug development process increase the number of R&D projects and the number of drugs offered on the market. Late stage R&D cooperations, formed among larger firms in technology and product markets, increase firms' research activities, but reduce the number of drugs launched on the product market. Results suggest that large firms cooperating in the late research stage re‐optimize their R&D pipelines and eliminate similarly aligned research projects.     

How Does Foreign Direct Investment Affect the Export Decisions of Firms in Ghana?

Abstract: Foreign direct investment (FDI) has been identified to promote exports of host countries by augmenting domestic capital for exports, helping to transfer technology and new products for exports, facilitating access to new and large foreign markets, providing training for the local workforce, and upgrading technical and management skills. However, little is known on the role of FDI in the export behaviour of firms in developing countries. The main questions raised in this study are: how does FDI affect the export decisions of firms? How does FDI affect export performance of firms? This study examined the export‐decision and export performance within the Ghanaian manufacturing sector on a panel of plants from 1991 to 2002. Using a probit model, the results show that FDI has a positive effect on firms' decision to export. The random effect results also reveal a positive relationship between FDI and export performance. Clearly, the results of this study indicate that FDI is very relevant in influencing the export decisions and export performance of Ghanaian firms. The findings have significant implications for policy in terms of promoting initiatives to encourage more FDI inflows in the country.     

DEVELOPING EMPLOYMENT EFFECTS OF INNOVATIONS: MICROECONOMETRIC EVIDENCE FROM TAIWAN

This paper aims to identify the effects of innovation on employment and labor composition in Taiwan. Using a new and detailed firm‐level data set, the empirical results determine that innovations, measured by R&D investments or patent counts, have a positive impact on employment. Both of the estimated employment effects of product and process innovations are overall significantly positive. Although the effects of process innovations differ between high and low R&D‐intensive industries, the process innovation tends to expand the firms’ output and then increase employment for high R&D‐intensive industries. However, it frequently results in laborsavings in terms of production work and reduces jobs in low R&D‐intensive industries. Moreover, technological innovations are found to be non‐neutral, leading to a shift in labor composition in favor of skilled and more educated workers.     

R&;D and Exporting: A Comparison of British and Irish Firms

This paper investigates the two-way relationship between R&D and export activity. In particular, we concern ourselves with the question whether R&D stimulates exports and, perhaps more importantly, whether export activity leads to increasing innovative activity in terms of R&D (learning-by-exporting). We use two unique firm level databases for Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and compare the results for these two countries. We find that previous exporting experience enhances the innovative capability of Irish firms. Conversely, no strong learning-by-exporting effects are found for British firms. Arguably part of the differences between Ireland and Britain are attributable to different, cross-country exporting patterns where Irish firms have a greater interface with OECD markets. JEL no.  F14, F23     

突发事件影响下规上工业企业R&D投入产出溢出效应

2019年突发COVID-19疫情给规上工业企业R&D投入产出带来严重的影响，合理规划R&D投入产出，对规避风险具有重要理论指导意义。在分析COVID-19爆发前后规上工业企业 R&D投入产出情况的基础上，以规上工业企业R&D活动中新产品产出率、出口率、技术效率、有效技术效率为解释变量，企业R&D活动情况作为控制变量建立模型，运用改进的知识生产函数构建模型，采用SPSS26软件对模型进行回归分析，研究R&D投入产出溢出效应。研究表明，COVID-19疫情发生前后规上工业企业R&D新产品产出率和新产品出口率、技术效率和有效技术效率对溢出效应均产生了不同程度的影响；不同调节因素下表现出的显著性水平不同。其中，疫情发生后新产品出口率在5%水平下影响显著。     

Exporting, R&D, and absorptive capacity in UK establishments

This paper models the determinants of exporting (both in termsof export propensity and export intensity), with a particularemphasis on the importance of absorptive capacity and the endogenouslink between exporting and undertaking R&D. Based on a mergeddataset of the 2001 Community Innovation Survey and the 2000Annual Respondents Database for the UK, our results suggestthat establishment size plays a fundamental role in explainingexporting. Meanwhile, alongside other factors, undertaking R&Dactivities and having greater absorptive capacity (for scientificknowledge, international co-operation, and organizational structure)significantly reduce entry barriers into export markets, havingcontrolled for self-selectivity into exporting. Nevertheless,conditional on entry into international markets, only greaterabsorptive capacity (associated with scientific knowledge) seemsto further boost export performance in such markets, whereasspending on R&D no longer has an impact on exporting behaviouronce we have taken into account its endogenous nature.     

Tax Loss Carryovers in a Competitive Environment*

The fact that incumbent firms can immediately deduct research and development (R&D) investments from taxable income is generally believed to give them a strategic advantage over new firms that cannot deduct the investment cost, but instead generate a net operating tax loss carryover. Using an analytical model, we show that this conventional wisdom need not hold in a competitive environment. We examine operating and investment decisions in a duopolistic industry in which an initial investment in R&D yields an immediate tax benefit for one firm, but creates a net operating loss carryover for the other firm. If both firms invest in R&D, the firm with the net operating loss carryover makes more aggressive capital investment decisions following successful R&D. This may deter the incumbent firm from investing in R&D despite the lower aftertax costs of this investment. Changing the tax loss carryover rules would thus not only affects start‐up or loss firms, but would also affect the investment decisions of profitable firms in the same industry.     

环境规制、技术距离与异质性企业研发选择

文章从技术异质性角度,指出环境规制产生的利润削弱效应和摆脱规制效应下,异质性企业有不同的研发选择。环境规制一方面会削弱企业研发的边际收益,不利于企业研发;另一方面也会刺激企业增加研发以摆脱环境规制成本。这两种效应在不同技术企业中的差异会导致异质性企业截然不同的研发选择。为此,文章首先构建一个理论模型,推导出环境规制产生的利润削弱效应和摆脱规制效应下,不同技术企业的研发选择。发现对于高生产率企业,环境规制产生的摆脱规制效应超过利润削弱效应,环境规制力度增加会刺激企业增加研发;而对于低生产率企业,环境规制产生的利润削弱效应起主导作用,环境规制力度增加反而阻碍企业研发。进一步利用环境规制的政策实验和工业企业微观数据,对以上观点进行实证检验。发现环境规制对企业研发的影响取决于其所处的技术水平,这不仅体现在集约边际企业的研发投入上,也体现在广延边际企业是否研发的选择上。集约边际上,环境规制增加了高生产率企业的研发投入,但这种作用随着企业与技术前沿的距离增加而递减,最终逆转为减少低生产率企业研发投入。广延边际上,环境规制使低生产率企业相对高生产率企业进入研发的概率更低,而退出研发的概率却更高。     

Innovation and Firm‐Level Productivity: Evidence from Bangladesh

In this paper, the labor productivity impact of manufacturing firms’ innovation in Bangladesh, a region which has, to date, been understudied in this respect, is examined through World Bank Enterprise Survey data from 2003 to 2006. We apply the Cobb–Douglas production function, augmented with innovation‐related inputs (and other expected sources of productivity) in a simultaneous three‐equation system connecting R&D to its determinants, innovation output to R&D, and productivity to innovation output; and in a two‐equation system connecting innovation output to its determinants and productivity to innovation output. Our results reveal that Bangladeshi firms’ process innovation is an important factor for their labor productivity, whereas the significant effect of product innovation is not clearly established.     

The Stagnant Export Upgrading in Northeast China: Evidence from Value‐added Tax Reform

China's 2004 value‐added tax (VAT) pilot reform in the Northeast region, which changed the VAT from production type to consumption type, introduced a sizable tax credit for fixed investment in manufacturing industries, leading to more investment and higher productivity at firm level. This paper, however, uses difference‐in‐difference estimation and finds a negative structural effect; that is, the VAT pilot reform leads to a reduction in the export sophistication of Northeast cities relative to other cities in China, and the results hold for a battery of robustness checks. It is found that resources are reallocated towards less‐sophisticated industries. As the products with higher export sophistication are more skill and research and development (R&D) intensive, the shortfalls of skilled labor and R&D spending hinder the upgrading process. With a new round of revitalization plans in the Northeast, policymakers should be cautious with similar structural effects and focus on increasing skilled labor supply and R&D investment.     

Export spillovers and export performance in China

This paper examines the local export spillover effect on the individual decisions to start exporting (the extensive margin) and export volume (the intensive margin), using a unique dataset of Chinese export firms, at the product-level and by destination country. Based on a gravity-type equation estimated at firm-level, we find that export spillovers positively influence not only the decision of a nearby firm to start exporting, but also the volume of the exporting. Several methods are used to verify the robustness of these results. In addition, we find that the effect of export spillovers is stronger when it is product-destination-specific than that when it is either product or destination-specific alone, and also stronger than that is in general. Geographically, local export spillovers exhibit spatial decay in China: the effect is stronger for firms located in the same city than it is for firms outside the city. Small and multi-product firms are more likely to be influenced by the local export spillovers, and their impact is stronger for firms exporting complex goods and exporting to easy-entry countries. Moreover, the export spillovers from private firms are the strongest, followed by foreign-invested firms with the effect generated by state-owned firms ranking last.     

Entering new country and product markets: does export promotion help?

Entering new export markets is primarily a discrete choice. Even though several empirical papers have used modeling strategies consistent with this fact, no study has examined the effects of public policies aimed at affecting this decision within this setting. In this paper we assess the impact of trade promotion activities on export outcomes using trade support and highly disaggregated export data for the entire population of exporters of Uruguay, a small developing country, over the period 2000–2007 to estimate a binary outcome model that allows for unobserved heterogeneity. We find that trade supporting activities have helped firms reach new destination countries and introduce new differentiated products.     

Self-selection and performance of R&D input of heterogeneous firms: Evidence from China's manufacturing industries

Applying the theories of heterogeneous firms and the propensity score matching difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) method to a rich dataset of Chinese manufacturing firms, this paper examines the self-selection of firm-level R&D input and estimates the net effect of R&D on productivity. The analysis shows that (1) for Chinese manufacturing firms as a whole, R&D input is influenced by firm productivity: more productive firms are more likely to invest in R&D; (2) controlling for the self-selection effect, the net output elasticities of R&D input in one year and two years after R&D input are 3.92% and 5.25%, respectively; (3) although state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are more likely than all other ownership groups to invest in R&D, the R&D input is not productive; (4) although enterprises owned by investors outside of Mainland China are the least likely to invest in R&D, the output elasticity of R&D is more significant and larger in this group than in SOEs and privately owned Chinese firms; and (5) surprisingly, the net effect of R&D is not significant in high-tech industries. Policy implications are derived from the findings.     

Measuring Multinationals' R&D Activities in China on the Basis of a Patent Database: Comparing European,Japanese and US Firms

Using an internationally linked patent database, this paper compares the types of R&D activities undertaken by multinationals in China by home country and industry. In China, multinationals recently began investing in R&D, mainly in the areas of product and manufacturing process development. However, US firms, which are the most actively invested in R&D, are involved in some technology‐driven R&D activities; European firms are inclined toward market‐driven R&D, while Japanese firms, which lag behind the other two, focus on production‐driven R&D. This pattern may be related to the relative competitiveness of each country: Japanese firms are strong in electronics and automobiles, where production process improvement is important, while US firms flourish in science‐based industries, such as pharmaceuticals and software, where interacting with the local science base is a critical factor.