Small firms and economic growth in europe

Economic activity in manufacturing industries moved away from large firms toward small firms in many Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries during the last two decades. However, the speed of this industrial transformation process has varied considerably across countries. This paper investigates the consequences of lagging behind in this restructuring process in manufacturing. A sample of 14 manufacturing industries in 13 European countries has been constructed for this purpose. It is found that, on average, the employment share of large firms in 1990 has a negative effect on output growth in the subsequent four-year period. This provides support for specific policies introduced during the 1980s in European countries stimulating small enterprises.This study benefitted from a grant by the Research Centre for Economic Policy (OCFEB), Faculty of Economics, Erasmus University, Rotterdam.     

Factor Endowments and Production in European Regions

This paper analyses patterns of production across 14 industries in 45 regions from 7 European countries since 1975. We estimate an equation from neoclassical trade theory that relates an industry’s share of a region’s GDP to factor endowments, relative prices and technology. The strict version of the Heckscher–Ohlin model that assumes identical relative prices and technology is rejected against more general alternatives. However, factor endowments play a statistically significant and quantitatively important role in explaining production patterns. Factor endowments are more successful at explaining patterns of production in aggregate industries (Agriculture, Manufacturing and Services) than in disaggregated industries within manufacturing. JEL no. F11, F14, R13     

金融危机对日本进口汇率传导弹性的影响分析

本文通过对金融危机后的日本进口汇率弹性进行实证研究,结果表明大部分行业的进口汇率传导弹性出现了明显的上升,而机械类行业(一般机械、运输设备和精密仪器)则出现了下降,并且这些变化是在短时间内实现的。本文认为此次金融危机和日元汇率变化特征是汇率弹性急剧变化的原因,而需求价格弹性和企业内贸易的行业差别可能是导致汇率弹性变化方向不一致的根源。     

Evolving geographical concentration of European manufacturing industries

Evolving Geographical Concentration of European Manufacturing Industries. — This paper analyzes the geographical concentration of 32 manufacturing sectors over the 1972–1996 period for 13 European countries. Concentration has increased continuously over the sample period in employment terms, while remaining roughly unchanged in export terms. On average, increases in concentration were stronger prior to the launch of the Single Market than afterwards. The sectors most sensitive to the Single Market however, showed an acceleration in concentration after 1986. There is also evidence that low-tech industries are the most strongly concentrated, and that center-periphery gradients across countries are losing importance for industrial location in the EU.     

美日两国应对国际金融危机的量化宽松货币政策比较

在应对危机的政策选择上,当利率接近为零时,量化宽松的货币政策就成为部分国家的选择。本文选择了连续推出两轮量化宽松政策的美国和作为全球最早采用过量化宽松政策又在应对这轮危机时重启该政策的日本,介绍了国际金融危机对这两国经济造成的影响以及他们各自推行量化宽松货币政策的具体内容,并对两国货币政策的侧重点和执行效果进行了综合比较。     

The European Monetary Policy Responses During the Pandemic Crisis

This paper uses an event-based analysis to describe how the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) policy responses to the pandemic crisis have affected the European financial and economic system. The result of our exercise, which is based on the examination of the main measures taken by the ECB during 2020, is that these responses have positively affected the European economic system by improving banks’ lending activity and by indirectly creating room for expansionary fiscal policies in the euro area’s high-debt countries that do not have fiscal capacity.

     

欧洲债务危机:原因、症结与出路

欧洲债务危机的发生既有内部原因又有外部原因。内部原因有欧元制度设计缺陷、危机国家政策失误、福利制度等,外部原因有金融危机影响、美元势力打压等。欧债危机的症结表现为六大矛盾,即欧元区国家与非欧元区国家之间的矛盾、欧元区内部发生危机国家与未发生危机国家之间的矛盾、援助国之间的矛盾、援助国内部的矛盾、债务国内部的矛盾、欧元与美元之间的矛盾。解决欧债危机必须多策并举:欧洲内部需要树立自信、增强他信,改革欧元、实施统一财政政策,保增长、促发展,改革福利制度;对外则需加强与美元势力的斗争,寻求中国等新兴工业化国家援助。     

欧债危机对中国的影响及中国的态度与举措

文章认为,欧洲主权债务危机双重影响着中国:从消极方面来说,它影响中国对欧洲的商品出口,会导致人民币汇率大幅波动,加大了中国对欧洲投资的风险,加剧了中国金融市场的波动,影响中国的汇率机制改革;从积极方面来说,它有利于中国大规模进行海外投资,有利于提高中国的国际地位。面对欧债危机,中国一方面应积极参与解决欧债危机的行动,另一方面必须强调欧债危机的解决关键在欧洲自身的努力。     

欧元区国家主权债务危机、欧元及欧盟经济

论文认为欧元区主权债务危机的基本性质属于南欧国家寅吃卯粮所导致的财政危机,但是由于欧元区在制度设置和运行机制上存在缺陷,使债务危机演变成欧元的信任危机。欧元区成员国和欧盟业已认识到欧洲货币联盟的不足,通过加强财政政策一体化来克服欧元区的内在矛盾似乎不可避免。欧元不会因为主权债务危机的冲击而垮台,但是欧洲经济将受到债务危机的拖累,增长前景不容乐观。     

Loan interest rate pass-through and changes after the financial crisis: Japan’s evidence

We estimate interest rate pass-through in the loan market using an individual bank-based panel dataset from Japan. Previous studies using data from European countries have presented a number of common findings, including that banks with a high proportion of relationship lending tend to set lower pass-through. In this respect, we have obtained similar results using a dataset for Japan going back to the early 2000s. We further examine the influence of borrowing firms’ balance sheet characteristics on loan interest rate pass-through, and find that these additional factors are also important determinants for pass-through dispersion. However, after the recent global financial crisis, even banks with a high proportion of relationship lending have largely lowered loan interest rates by raising pass-through, and pass-through has not necessarily been determined in accordance with borrowing firms’ balance sheet characteristics. These results differ from those of recent studies on European countries. Possible background factors explaining this change are that (i) pressure to lower loan interest rates has risen due to extensive monetary easing and greater lending competition among banks, while Japan’s banking system as a whole has maintained its resilience in the post-crisis period; (ii) demand for bank loans has increased substantially due to disruptions in the market for alternative funding sources, such as commercial paper and corporate bonds; and (iii) public measures to increase bank loans have been broadly introduced in Japan.     

欧洲主权债务危机的由来、影响及其启示

全球各国为了尽快摆脱次贷危机导致的金融危机的困扰,纷纷采取＂赤字财政＂的扩张政策。当前尽管次贷危机的影响逐渐远去,但由此带来的副作用即＂主权债务危机＂却开始显现。近期,希腊、葡萄牙和西班牙等欧洲国家的主权债务问题一度引发全球资本市场的动荡并牵动投资者敏感的神经。文章通过分析欧洲主权债务危机的由来、对全球金融经济的影响以及对我国的启示来详细论述这次欧洲主权债务危机。     

Crisis and Pension System Design in the EU: International Spillover Effects Via Factor Mobility and Trade

Many European Union states have adjusted pension benefits or reformed the pension system in reaction to the recent economic crisis, while other member states have postponed this type of adjustments. In this paper we study to what extent countries that responded quickly to the crisis are harmed by the lingering in other member states via international spillover effects caused by factor mobility and trade. We show that this depends crucially on the degree of labour mobility in the short run. In fact, countries with more flexible pensions can benefit from the inflexibility of pensions in other countries if they can temporarily limit immigration.     

Technology transfer on a two-way street: R&D spillovers through intermediate input usage and supply

Intermediate input usage is known to channel R&D spillovers across countries and industries. This paper highlights that technology also diffuses across countries and industries through intermediate input supply. Technology transfer to intermediates suppliers ensues from R&D that induces a demand for technologically advanced intermediates. I analyze R&D spillovers through intermediate input usage and supply for 18 manufacturing industries in 20 OECD countries over 1987–2009. Results support both use- and supply-driven R&D spillovers. Comparing their effects reveals interesting variations. Among domestic industries, intermediate input supply is the dominant channel. For international relations, both use- and supply-driven R&D spillovers are found.     

金融危机下家庭消费心理意识对扩大内需的影响

金融危机以来,各国纷纷采取宽松的财政政策来刺激经济,加之欧洲债券危机的影响,我国经济面临非常严峻的考验。我国近14亿居民消费群,转变家庭的消费意识对于扩大内需而言的意义是不言而喻的。本文通过对于我国居民消费潜力的分析,研究我国家庭消费行为以及影响消费者心理意识的因素,浅谈金融危机下家庭消费心理意识对扩大内需的影响？     

Was the Asian crisis a wake-up call?: Foreign reserves as self-protection

Digging deeper into the self-protection rationale for holding reserves, this paper examines the empirical link between reserve holding patterns and crisis vulnerability, comparing the pre- and post-Asian crisis periods, and across different groups of developing countries. Analyzing data for 51 developing countries during the period 1982–2004, this paper finds evidence that the elasticity of developing country reserves with respect to certain crisis vulnerability indicators like foreign debt service and total external liabilities seems to be higher in the post-Asian crisis period, suggesting that policymakers’ precautionary responsiveness by holding more reserves has increased. Grouping countries according to their type of vulnerability (commodity, debt or sudden stop related), countries prone to sudden stops in capital inflows also seem to have adjusted their policies the most towards higher precautionary reserve holding. Furthermore, from the point of view of self-protection, China's reserve holding patterns appear consistent with what developing countries more generally seem to be undertaking.     

Hours worked and output growth reserves

This paper discusses the role of the indicator of average time worked per employee in assessing current market situation and output growth reserves. This indicator, considered a key one worldwide, is not published in Russia at all (though estimated). Considered are general and specific factors underlying differences in hours worked in different countries and industries, with their dynamics across 20 industries of Russia’s economy in 1959–2004. Output growth reserves due to this indicator are assessed.     

Strong sterling pound and weak European currencies in the crises: Evidence from covered interest parity of secured rates

In the post Lehman period, the interest rate of the US dollar became low on the forward contract because of“flight to quality” to the international currency. However, in the Euro crisis, that of the Sterling pound became equally low, while the other European currencies such as the Danish kroner increased its their interest rate. By using secured rates, the following analysis examines why the Sterling pound and the Danish kroner showed asymmetric features in deviations from the covered interest parity (CIP) condition. The regression results suggest that there was a structural break in the determinants of the deviations across the European currencies in the two crises. Currency-specific money market risk was critical in explaining the deviations in the global financial crisis (GFC), while EU bank credit risk and global market risk were useful in explaining the deviations in the Euro crisis. In particular, EU bank credit risk and global market risk had asymmetric effect on the deviations. The asymmetry explains contrasted features between the Sterling pound and the Danish kroner.     

Unsustainable sovereign debt—is the Euro crisis only the tip of the iceberg?

As a direct effect of the financial crisis in 2008, public debt began to accumulate rapidly, eventually leading to the European sovereign debt crisis. However, the dramatic increase in government debt is not only happening in European countries. All major G7 countries are experiencing similar developments. What are the implications of this kind of massive deficit and debt policy for the long term stability of these economies? Are there limits in debt-ratios that qualitatively change policy options? While theory can easily illustrate these limits, where are these limits in real economies? This paper examines the relationship between sovereign debt dynamics and capital formation, and accounts for the effects of the 2008 financial crisis on debt sustainability for the four largest advanced economies. We contribute to the literature on fiscal sustainability by framing the problem in an OLG model with government debt, physical capital, endogenous interest rates, and exogenous growth. For the calibration exercise we extract data from the OECD for Germany as a stabilization anchor in Europe, the US, the UK, and Japan for almost two decades before the 2008 crisis. Except for intertemporal preferences, all parameters are drawn or directly derived from the OECD database, or endogenously determined within the model. The results of the calibration exercise are alarming for all four countries under consideration. We identify debt ceilings that indicate a sustainable and unsustainable regime. For 2011 all four economies are either close to, or have already passed the ceiling. The results call for a dramatic readjustment in budget policies for a consolidation period and long-term fiscal rules that make it possible to sustain sufficient capital intensity so that these economies can maintain their high income levels. Current conditions are already starting to restrict policy choices. However, the results also make it very clear that none of these economies would survive a second financial crisis such as the one in 2008.     

国际金融危机背景下的金融交易税:从理论到实践

国际金融危机席卷全球之后,金融交易税重新受到高度关注,各国陆续提出了若干种实施方案。本文首先回顾了当前国际金融危机下的全球经济走势及各国提出金融交易税的宏观经济背景,其次阐述了金融交易税理论的内涵及效应,并结合国内外关于金融交易税的各类研究探讨交易税如何影响金融市场的有效性和稳定性。论文不仅比较了历史上各国征收金融交易税的经验及效果,而且估计了调整证券交易印花税对中国股市的实际影响。最后,分析了国际上开征金融交易税的可行性,并就中国金融交易税的方案提出政策建议。     

金融危机下我国煤炭定价机制的思考

煤炭是我国目前的主要能源,煤炭行业也是我国的支柱产业,煤炭的价格走向牵动各方的利益,煤炭的定价机制也受到各方关注。在金融危机的背景下,探讨我国煤炭行业的定价机制的改革,抓住机遇,实施改革,理顺煤炭的定价机制,以促进煤炭及相关行业又好又快发展。文章分析当前我国煤炭定价机制存在的不足,结合国外主要产煤国的先进理念,提出我国煤炭定价机制改革的建议。