Cooperative and Non-Cooperative R&D Policy in an Economic Union

What are the consequences of decentralized R&;D policies within an economic union? Do non-cooperative policies generate too high R&;D subsidies? To address such questions, we construct a simple model where firms invest in quality-improving R&;D. With goods produced in different countries within an economic union, we compare non-cooperative and cooperative R&;D policies. We show that non-cooperative policies imply too small R&;D subsidies for horizontally differentiated goods and too high subsidies for close substitutes. Furthermore, small countries have less incentive to subsidize R&;D than large countries, resulting in an unwarranted vertical product differentiation between goods produced in different countries.     

Do imports crowd out domestic consumption? A comparative study of China,Japan and Korea

A decline in the relative price of imported goods compared to that of domestically produced goods, e.g., caused by domestic currency appreciation, may have different effects on domestic consumption. Such effects may not be accurately detected and measured in a classical permanent-income model without considering consumption habit formation as pointed out by Nishiyama (2005). To resolve this problem, this paper employs an extended permanent-income model which encompasses consumption habit formation. Both cointegration analysis and GMM are used to estimate the (modified) intertemporal elasticities of substitution (IES) between imports and domestic consumption and the parameters of habit formation as well as the (modified) intratemporal elasticities of substitution (AES). We find that import and domestic consumptions are complements in China, but substitutes in Japan and Korea. Different per capita incomes and consumer behaviors between China and the other two countries are two possible reasons for different relationships between import and domestic consumptions.     

简论国际货物买卖合同标的物所有权的转移

在国际货物买卖合同中,标的物所有权何时起从卖方转移到买方,是一个十分重要的问题。由于各个国家的立法角度和立法背景不尽相同,对买卖合同标的物所有权转移有不同的规定。随着全球经济一体化进程的加剧,各国之间的经济交往越来越密切,国际贸易活动越来越频繁,为促进各国之间贸易活动的顺利进行,尽量减少因各国法律规定不同而造成的贸易障碍,有必要对如何确定买卖合同中标的物所有权转移的问题进行探讨。     

Pension Reform,Factor Mobility and Trade with Country-Specific Goods

This paper studies the effects of pension reform in a two-country model with country-specific goods. It shows that in the case of dynamic efficiency, a switch from a pay-as-you-go to a more-funded pension scheme leads to an inflow of labour to the reforming country. Reallocation of capital depends on the degree of substitutability between goods produced in the countries. If the goods produced in the countries are substitutes (complements), capital stock grows (declines) in the reformed country relative to the neighbouring country. Social security reform makes goods produced in the reformed country cheaper; this has an additional negative effect on the old generation in the reformed country, but compensates the old generation in the neighbouring country with cheaper imports due to a reduction in the tax base arising from emigration.     

Rise of China and India in International Trade： From Textiles to New Technology

China and India are two demographic giants that have become big developing economic powers. They have maintained their specialization in textiles and developed outward-oriented sectors linked to new technologies, taking advantage of offshoring and outsourcing. Their increasing contribution to international trade is changing the world supply and demand of manufactured goods, primary goods and services. They are new leaders in the international division of labor, but beyond technological catch-up, their challenge is quality upgrading. Both countries are increasingly contributing to global economic growth, but they cannot yet trigger the growth of the rest of the world by themselves.     

De gevolgen van de directe prijsbeheersing voor de internationale handel

Summary This paper contains a theoretical analysis of how a maximum price being put on homogeneous commodities affects international trade if rates of exchange are fixed. The consequences of a calculation scheme for fixing prices of differentiated products are also investigated.A maximum price that is lower than the import price is an impediment to import. This leads to oscillations of the import price if demand in the importing country is sufficiently high. The maximum price has no influence if it is higher than the import price. A maximum price that is equal to the export price (which is independent of the supply of the exporting country) retards the decline of export that would occur in consequence of a rise in home demand or a rise in costs of production. As soon as the average revenue per unit of product exported exceeds the maximum price, suppliers will try to export as much as possible. Importation of substitutes is stimulated indirectly and exportation of substitutes is discouraged, whereas the opposite effects occur with respect to complementary goods, materials used in the production process, and goods for the production of which the same materials and factors of production are used.If demand rises, a calculation scheme used for price control will reduce imports and stimulate exports. The calculation scheme reacts only on rises in costs of production that are not recognized officially by the government: imports will be smaller, and exports higher, than in the case of a free determination of prices. Calculation schemes check the importation of substitutes and stimulate their exportation, whereas the opposite effects may occur with respect to complementary goods, or due to changes in the production.In case of a general control of prices when inflation prevails, the whole set of price effects will affect the balance of payments. However, the final result will be uncertain, since some price effects tend to enhance the surplus of the balance of payments whereas others tend to reduce it. At the same time, income effects may affect the balance of payments in the adverse sense.National price control impedes the optimum allocation of resources in an economic community. This is due to the fact that it distorts trade.     

国际公共产品中集体行动困境的克服

关于国际合作的现有研究通常不对公共产品与私人产品进行具体区分,从而忽略了国际公共产品的特性对国际合作的影响。作者从国际公共产品消费的非排他性和非竞争性等主要特性出发,建立并运用博弈模型分析了国际合作的主要障碍及其可能的解决方式。公共产品如果不具有完全的消费的非排他性或非竞争性,那么排他性的消费机制和成本分担机制就有可能建立,使国际合作成为可能。国家可以局部而渐进地克服集体行动的障碍,使得公共产品在较高水平上得到提供。这一过程形成了公共产品领域在国际合作上的特殊路径,即从不平衡到逐渐平衡,从小范围合作到广泛合作。这种非平衡性和层叠性同时也受到国家间关系、现存国际机制和国家之间在其他议题上的合作程度等因素的影响。以非排他性和非竞争性程度为考察对象,作者建立了分析国际合作可能性和路径特征的简明框架,为解释公共产品领域内的国际合作提供了新的研究视野。     

The New International Financial Architecture: Progress and Challenges

Recent economic crises have affected different countries in the last decade. Crises shook not only countries that were directly affected but also other more developed countries. Part of the risk of crises derives from the considerable negative effects imposed on economies by the volatility and reversibility of short-term capital flow. International financial reforms should consider (1) regulation and supervision, (2) statistical standards, (3) the goods and services trade, (4) liquidity and lender of last resort, (5) unified action, (6) private-sector involvement, and (7) other contingency measures. The Venezuelan experience suggests some other domestic reforms, but reforming the international financial system, in the direction of globalization, has to be the principle goal of international organizations.     

EXPLORING THE SPECTRUM OF EXPORT DESTINATION: THE GEOGRAPHIC SPREAD OF KOREAN EXPORTS,ITS DETERMINANTS,AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Recent research in international trade has explored the stylized facts and causes and effects of export diversification. A simple model in this paper drawing on the work of Melitz suggests that there is an order in which a country spreads its goods to foreign countries. We estimate the order by using a methodology which takes account of the fact that most goods are not exported to several countries in our sample (unbalanced panel). We find that Korea exports its new goods first to the United States, followed by Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and most recently to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Finally we find that the countries that Korea has exported to first are those with large GDP, low tariff rates, geographic proximity, language familiarity, in-country Korean export promotion offices, and high-quality institutions.     

Dynamic products in world exports

The values of three product categories have grown most rapidly in world exports during the period 1980–2000: electrical and electronic goods (including parts and components for such goods), goods from other technology-intensive industries, and labour-intensive products, particularly clothing. A strong geographical concentration at both regional and country levels is discernable regarding the origin of these products from developing countries. There appears to be a sustained movement in world exports towards the growing significance of a limited number of products and it would seem that there has been a rapid and sustained technological upgrading in the export composition of developing countries. However, since the involvement of developing countries is usually limited to the labour-intensive stages in the production process of technology-intensive goods in the context of international production sharing, simple measures of growth in gross export values are poor guides for an assessment of the nature of participation of developing countries in world trade.     

世界经济一体化中的全球存货变化及其对产业发展的影响

本文以世界经济一体化发展为背景,在文献概览的基础上,以跨国公共产品有效供给为切入点,从实证角度分析全球存货变化对产业发展的影响效应并提出相关政策建议。本文认为:全球存货的增减变动已经成为衡量全球经济运行和相关产业发展景气状况的重要指标;20世纪90年代以来,全球存货总体表现出下降趋势,根本原因在于全球经济运行中的存货控制能力和效率上升,与商品流通相关的公共产品有效供给能力提高;与全球存货变化紧密相关,一些传统产业例如建筑业、制造业在全球经济体系中地位下降,除农业、牧业、渔业、森林业、公用事业、制造业、建筑业、批发、零售、餐饮、旅馆业、交通、仓储和通信业以外的一些新型产业发展较快;我国必须加快传统产业的调整步伐,才能适应经济全球化背景下新型产业发展并需要并创造新的发展优势。     

LATIN AMERICAN EXPORT SPECIALIZATION IN RESOURCE‐BASED PRODUCTS: IMPLICATIONS FOR GROWTH

Given Latin America's general specialization in resource‐based products, this paper focuses on the question of whether or not a country specialized in resource‐based products can have high rates of export and economic growth. To examine this question, an attempt is made to develop and apply a new taxonomy to a sample of resource‐based products exported by Latin American countries to the United States. This taxonomy is based on the role played by prices in the mechanism through which countries compete in specific international product markets. Resource‐based products are then classified as homogeneous, differentiated, or highly differentiated goods. The paper argues that exports of countries specialized in differentiated or highly differentiated goods tend to be much more dynamic than of those specialized in homogeneous goods.     

新兴市场国家制成品出口技术构成的收敛趋势研究

新兴市场国家在国际市场上的贸易竞争日益加剧,其主要原因在于这些国家处于相同的经济发展阶段,出口产品的技术构成呈明显的收敛趋势,产品之间有较高的可替代性。对新兴市场国家与高收入国家出口产品技术结构的欧氏距离测算表明,大多数新兴市场国家出口技术结构正在向高收入国家靠近,特别是中国、印度等亚洲国家,而且这些国家之间的技术结构差距也在明显缩小,技术结构的高度化和同步化趋势十分明显。进一步对不同技术水平出口产品的收敛性分析表明,中高技术水平和中低技术水平的产品收敛速度最快,表明这一技术层次的产品出口竞争最为激烈。新兴市场国家之间应当建立积极的协调机制,避免技术结构上的同步效应带来的冲突和对抗,谋求政治和经济上的共生共赢。     

Monetary basis of trade imbalance

The purpose of this paper is to lay simple yet elegant, formal microeconomic foundations for the theory that monetary policy is a principal determinant of international trade imbalance. Foreign exchange is a different form of real liquidity, not a perfect substitute for domestic currency. As a result, foreign money is traded as a commodity in exchange for consumption goods. If the monetary policies of two countries differ, a permanently unbalanced flow of goods may arise. Specifically, this paper argues that a high-inflation regime is likely to induce a perpetual trade deficit.     

The role of production fragmentation in international business cycle synchronization in East Asia

This paper analyzes factors contributing to the observed increase in international business cycle synchronization between eight East Asian developing countries and the major developed economies of Japan and the United States. To this end, a two-country dynamic general equilibrium (DGE) model is proposed which focuses on the role of production fragmentation among these countries. A key feature of the model is that it includes the trade in differentiated capital goods, which are added to the capital stock for production, and the technology embodied in these capital goods. The parameters of the model are calibrated using actual data of the countries included. Model simulations are conducted for two periods (1993–1997 and 1999–2005), before and after the Asian financial crisis, showing that the increase in business cycle synchronization can be attributed mainly to the growing fragmentation of production activities.     

Employment in domestic plants and foreign affiliates: A note on the elasticity of substitution

Conclusions For a high-wage country like Austria, it is commonly expected that growing employment in foreign affiliates substitutes jobs at home. This paper provides a simple framework for estimating the determinants of relative labor demand (abroad in relation to that at home) bilaterally. It is based on the relationship of (dis)economies and transportation costs under the hypothesis that goods trade is an imperfect substitute for foreign production in the case of horizontal investments, while with respect to vertical investments, goods trade is solely dependent on relative market size. The estimates are based on bilateral industry-level data on foreign affiliates and the domestic activities of Austrian manufacturing firms, covering the period 1990–1996, the 10 most important host countries and 7 industrial sectors.     

Product price differences across countries: determinants and effects

A substantial part of international differences in prices of individual products, both goods and services, can be explained by differences in per capita income, wage compression, or low wage dispersion among low-wage workers, and exchange rate fluctuations. Higher per capita income is associated with higher prices and higher wage dispersion with lower prices. The effects of higher income and wage dispersion are moderated for the more tradable products. The effects of wage dispersion, on the other hand, are magnified for the more labor-intensive products, particularly low-skill services. The differences in prices across countries are reflected in differences in the composition of consumption. Countries in which prices of labor-intensive services are very high, such as the Nordic countries, consume much less of them. For some services, the shares of GDP consumed in high-price countries are less than 20% of the shares in low-price countries. Since these are services of very low tradability, the low consumption levels of these services imply low employment in them.     

Impact of ICT on trade in different technology groups: analysis and implications

The link between ICT use and trade flows has been widely discussed in the literature. It has been argued that the use of ICT contributes to the fall of trade costs. The analysis presented identifies the role of a specific ICT variable, namely the extent of use of Internet by the business community, in international trade. The export flows between 40 countries (OECD countries plus Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia and South Africa) are analyzed. The results are presented for different technology groups of products, from high-tech to low-tech. The relationship between the use of Internet and trade in ICT goods is also considered.     

Trade and Convergence: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach

The objective of this paper is to provide, theoretically and empirically, an interpretation of comovement between the scale of an economy and its growth rate. I paid special attention to human capital accumulation and international trade environment and emphasized their spillover effects on growth and convergence among countries. 1 employed a technique using a cross-sectional and time series panel. The estimations in my empirical models were done using the nonlinear least-squares method in which I applied a dynamic procedure for an economy along its balanced growth path. I arrived at mixed results. The empirical results show that international spillover effects of human capital accumulation and intermediate goods production have positive and significant effects on the growth process of a nation. The national level of human capital, however, has negative and insignificant effects on this process.     

Patterns and determinants of intra-industry trade in Asia

Intra-industry trade (IIT) has gained in importance across Asia as a result of the rapid growth of Asian economies and their key role in the international fragmentation of production. This paper examines the level of IIT for 22 countries in East, Southeast, South, and Central Asia in 2003. IIT is measured as a multilateral trade-weighted index and is reported for ten different categories of goods in the primary and secondary sectors. In addition, the determinants of IIT are investigated using a Tobit regression model. The results indicate that ASEAN and the high-income countries in East Asia exhibit the highest levels of IIT, followed closely by China and India. R&D spending, openness, and a higher share of manufactured exports were found to promote IIT, while geographical distance and the difference in economic size had an adverse effect, especially for manufactured goods. The ASEAN free trade area was most prominently associated with IIT across all SITC categories. Central and South Asian regional trade agreements had a positive influence on IIT in primary products.