Comparative Advantage and the Gains from Financial Trade: A Reappraisal

Emerging market crises have suggested that a national benefit‐cost assessment of external financial liberalisation could well prove unfavourable. This paper re‐examines the principle of comparative advantage in its application to financial trade to seek guidance on measures that might permit a fuller realisation of the potential benefits involved. Drawing a parallel with Balasubramanyam's work on the gains from FDI and international migration we distinguish between those arising in financial trade from the net transfer of capital, and those deriving from the contemporaneous exchange of financial claims or services of equivalent value. In the first interpretation a country's comparative advantage is manifested by its role in ‘intertemporal’ trade (as a borrower or lender). Our alternative emphasis is on the contractual risk‐return characteristics of the financial claims exchanged. This perspective is applied firstly to portfolio diversification gains arising from further international stock market integration. Secondly, price risk management for developing countries in international primary commodity trade is discussed. Both applications imply the need for significant institutional development but could realise approximately contemporaneous gains reminiscent both of those involved in merchandise trade and in the skills and product (or service) flows that Balasubramanyam has emphasised in relation to FDI and international migration.     

Country Competition and US Overseas Assembly

To examine the role of international competition in outsourcing production decisions, I study the decisions of producers who used the U.S. Overseas Assembly Program (OAP) to conduct assembly operations in developing countries. The evidence, which is based on U.S. OAP imports between 1991 to 2000, shows that production costs and corporate tax policies both shaped production decisions. While increases in own country costs reduced the size of a developing country's OAP shipments, increases in competitor costs helped to increase a country's shipments. The effects of competitor country cost changes were relatively large, as the analysis suggests that a ten percent increase in competing country costs would increase a country's OAP outsourcing activities by 5.8 percent, while a ten percent increase in competitor country taxes would increase a country's OAP exports by 1.6 percent.     

An analysis of the evolution of global financial network of the coordinated portfolio investment survey

In this study, we construct a directional global financial network using portfolio investment data from more than 200 countries during the first two decades of the 21st century and analyze the properties of the network. Through macroscopic analysis, we show that the network became denser and could be divided into central and peripheral groups. Microscopic analysis shows that, in addition to well-known financial-central countries, relatively less well-known countries played important roles in the global financial network. Further, each country's per capita GDP is positively correlated with its centrality in the network, and the correlation is stronger when measured with inbound investments than when measured with outbound investments.     

市场主导与银行主导:金融体系变迁的金融契约理论考察

中国应该建立以银行为主导的金融体系还是以资本市场为主导的金融体系,这是当前金融改革面临的一个问题.本文在对世界上几个主要国家的金融体系演变历史进行考察的基础上,从金融契约理论的角度分析了这一问题.研究表明,经济力量是推动金融体系演变的内在原因,而政治制度在很大程度上约束、影响着金融体系的具体技术安排;此外一些广义的技术因素,如信息收集技术、处理技术等从外部对金融体系的现实演进也有不可忽视的作用.     

Dumping in a product differentiated reciprocal trade industry emitting global pollution

By modeling an international industry where developed and developing countries’ firms reciprocally trade differentiated goods under global pollution and the incomplete internalization of the pollution externality, we examine the firms’ dumping and anti-dumping duty (ADD). We assume that the product quality, pollution emissions, and consumer's pollution internalization are worse in the developing country. We find, among others, that the developing country's firm always conducts dumping, but the developed country's firm only does so under a certain condition and that if the two countries’ internalization degrees of the pollution externality are the same, the firms’ dumping disappears, regardless of product qualities and units of pollution emissions. We also show that a rise in the developed (developing) country's ADD decreases (increases) global pollution and that a rise in a country's ADD always decreases its rival country's welfare, but there is the possibility that it also reduces its own welfare in a certain case.     

Financial socialization's impact on investment orientation and household net worth

This study investigates the role of financial socialization for investment orientation and household net worth. Combining consumer socialization literature with findings in the behavioural finance literature, survey data were analysed to (1) investigate the relationship among household net worth, financial socialization, indicators of investment orientation and socio-demographic investor characteristics; (2) examine the influence of socio-demographic investor characteristics and financial socialization on indicators of investment orientation; and (3) test whether financial socialization affects household wealth above and beyond socio-demographic and investment orientation factors. Parents emerged as a relevant socialization agent of investors, influencing investment regularity and household net worth above and beyond other factors. This result extends earlier findings about parents' role for a person's financial management and savings behaviour to the investment context. Based on our findings, educators may want to involve parents in their efforts. They may want to emphasize the importance of starting investing regularly at an early age and of continuing to increase involvement in investing over the years. Financial planners and financial counsellors may consider emphasizing these two practices for their clients and involve children of their clients when and where appropriate.     

Sustainable banking in Latin American developing countries: Leading to (mutual) prosperity

This article examines multinational banks’ (MNBs) approaches to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries’ subsidiaries, particularly in Latin America. Building on in-depth case studies of two MNBs that are based in Europe and market leaders in Latin America, we analyze their CSR motivations and outcomes in host countries. We examine institutional environments by applying the national business system framework, and we suggest missing categories in its financial and educational dimensions. We theorize how institutional necessity determines MNBs' CSR in developing countries. Finally, we examine the CSR outcomes in Latin America, where banks’ responsible conduct has led to major improvements in educational levels and financial inclusion. These improvements alleviate poverty and enhance both country's social wellbeing and MNBs’ legitimacy, leading to mutual prosperity.     

发展中国家金融自由化的路径研究

20世纪70年代中期以来，发达国家与发展中国家都先后进行了金融自由化改革。由于经济基础以及相应的金融制度的差异，发达国家与发展中国家的金融自由化路径呈现出不同的特征。本试图通过分析比较发达国家与发展中国家金融自由化路径的差异，来探索一条适合发展中国家的金融自由化之路。     

Women's self-employment: An act of institutional (dis)integration? A multilevel,cross-country study

In this paper we investigate the extent to which gender equality disintegrates women's self-employment choice (compared to that for men) and whether this is contingent upon a country's development stage and industries. We rely on symbolic interactionism to argue that employment choices emerge from an interactive conversation between individual and social institutional processes. Using data from 61 countries, we find that overall gender equality is associated with the gender gap in men's and women's self-employment choices and that this association depends upon the country's development stage and industries. Contributions are made to women's entrepreneurship and institutional theory.     

The interplay between home and host institutions on CBA ownership decision

Cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) are one of the key strategies for internationalization. However, most of what is known about CBA strategies relies on the effects of the host country's environment or the home country's conditions. In this article, we analyze the interplay between these two important factors. We show that companies from less institutionally developed countries are more influenced by poor institutional conditions found in host countries. We analyzed a dataset of 1,390 cross-border acquisitions performed by Latin American firms. The literature on the subject points out that less developed host environments lead to fewer shares of ownership acquired in CBAs. However, we confirmed that the quality of the home country's institutional environment positively moderates the effects of the host environment over ownership choice in the acquisition. This effect is due to companies from less developed environments being able to use their embedded capabilities to better navigate faulty institutional environments abroad.     

Foreign Direct Investment Policy–Friendly Business Environment in R&D Sectors: Baltic States versus Visegrad Countries

This article examines the impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) policy on inward FDI in the Visegrad and Baltic countries. The analysis of business environment highlights that the countries in both regions attempt to create a friendly business environment by means of similar methods. However, the countries in both regions focus on fiscal incentives such as taxes, which do not play a major role in attracting inward FDI in R&D. The results of attracting FDI are better in the Visegrad countries, which implement financial incentives toward inward FDI along with fiscal incentives. According to empirical analysis, it is noticed that a higher intervention level and a higher support level guarantee the volume of inward FDI. The country's introduced FDI policy enables it to orient industry and to implement economic strategic targets. FDI policy does have an impact on promoting the development of the entire country.     

Can Experiences With a Country's Foods Improve Images of That Country?

ABSTRACT

This study examines how experience with other countries’ foods affects people's images of those countries, as well as the strength of such images. The findings show that foods are effective cultural elements that can enhance country images. People who have eaten a country's foods reveal more favorable country images than those who lack such experiences. Country images are even more favorable when people have more positive and many food experiences. Furthermore, positive country image effects are greater for people in opposite-hemisphere countries than for those in neighboring countries. Finally, people who prefer certain attributes of a country's foods provide more favorable ratings for related product attributes from that country, indicating affect transfer from food experiences to other product categories. These findings have key implications, especially for policy makers and researchers who seek effective ways to improve country images.     

FOREIGN TRADE AND THE EXCHANGE RATE IN BOTSWANA

Botswana is a success story of exceptional economic performance, sound development management, and good governance. A great deal of that success can be attributed to the country's export performance and the avoidance of the 'Dutch Disease' syndrome that has plagued other natural resource based African countries. This article documents and analyzes Botswana's trade and exchange rate relationship, during the past two decades, in the context of the country's economic performance, and examines the related issue of the value of the country's currency to determine whether it is overvalued or undervalued.     

The effects of social networks on the flow of international students

International study provides many benefits to the countries that host students, to the students’ home countries and to the students themselves. We extend the empirical knowledge regarding flows of international students, using a panel of data that spans 17 years, 26 host countries and 85 countries of origin. We examine the hypothesis that social networks are an important factor motivating study abroad by including lagged variables of the levels and shares of enrolment in the analysis. The analysis shows that they are significant factors: a 1% rise in a host country's share of an origin country's international student “diaspora” is associated with a 0.09%–0.12% rise in the number of students studying in that host from that origin, 5 years later. This is consistent with the literature on the economics of immigration, which finds social networks to be important, and transitory, in inducing immigration. These effects are found in models that control for other factors as well: earnings differentials, quality of higher education system, distance, common language and colonial relationship. The results suggest that one‐off policies to better recruit or attract international students will have ongoing benefits, in terms of follow‐on recruitment of further students by the initial students.     

Corruption’s impact on foreign portfolio investment

Corruption has significant effects on a nation’s financial markets through its adverse impact on foreign portfolio investment (FPI). Yet, the effects of corruption on FPI are nonlinear and reverse J-shaped, with intermediate levels of corruption yielding the most negative effects. Highly transparent nations, where a “level playing field” exists between foreign and local investors due to lack of information asymmetries related to corruption, attract the most foreign investment. However, at the margin, very corrupt countries attract more investment than moderately corrupt countries because a “perverse level playing field” in the former countries may put foreigners and locals on an even footing in terms of resolving asymmetric information problems. This nonlinear pattern is consistent with foreign investors’ desire to trade in markets where they are not at an informational disadvantage.     

国内外金融稳定有关问题研究进展与述评

金融稳定是一个古老而又现代、历久弥新的课题,该课题引起广泛关注是与20世纪90年代以来世界各国频仍发生、带来惨重损失的金融危机、风波及动荡联系在一起的.金融稳定方面的理 论研究在国内外尚处于起步的阶段.本文总结了国内外对金融稳定几个主要问题的研究进展状况,重点就金融稳定的框架、货币政策和金融稳定与中央银行和金融稳定等问题梳理、分析和评述了现有中外基本文献,以便促进金融稳定研究的深入.     

Financial literacy: A comparative study across four countries

This study analysed differences in financial literacy across four countries: Canada, Italy, the UK and the US. The purpose was to understand whether factors associated with financial literacy in one country can be generalized to other countries as well or whether unique national characteristics make it necessary to examine financial literacy in each country individually. A financial literacy index, based on the number of correct answers to four multiple‐choice questions, was used to test the relevance of country of origin to financial literacy. Results suggest significant differences among countries indicating that there are national and cultural differences in what households know and need to know about their personal finances. Policy makers should consider these differences when developing financial literacy assessment tools for their respective countries.     

Strategic Trade Policy through the Tax System

If conventional instruments of strategic trade policy are unavailable, the system of foreign profit taxation and transfer price guidelines may serve as surrogate policy instruments. In this paper, I consider a model where firms from two countries compete with each other on a market in a third country. Both firms have affiliates in the third country where (part of) the production takes place. I analyse optimal policy choices of the firms' residence countries aiming at strategically manipulating the competitiveness of their firms. I show that, first, countries prefer the tax exemption system over the tax credit system if there is no intra‐firm trade. Second, if the headquarters provide inputs for production in the affiliate, countries prefer the tax exemption system if the transfer price for these inputs is close to the headquarters' variable cost and if the residence country's tax rate is high. However, if transfer prices are high and the residence country's tax rate is low, I show that the tax credit system is an optimal tax policy choice for both countries. From a policy perspective, the view that the tax exemption system is generally the best policy response if domestic firms' competitiveness is a policy goal has to be qualified.     

What Explains Cross‐country Industry Growth Patterns? Trade,Development and the Equity Financing Channel

We test theories that examine how economic and financial development affect cross‐country industry growth patterns. Finance theory suggests that financial development affects growth by lowering the cost of external finance. This has the implication that industries in more finance‐hungry sectors will grow faster in countries where financial markets are more developed. In addition, if financing constraints are lessened when stock market performance is high, firms in sectors more dependent on external finance should grow more rapidly following periods of good stock market performance. Trade and development theories, on the other hand, imply that a country's product‐mix and the pattern of industrial growth reflect which stage of development it is in and its factor endowments. Thus, one implication of trade/development theories is that countries that are close to each other in terms of GDP per capita should have similar patterns of industrial growth. Our tests find support for each of these theories.     

The role of intermediate demand and technology for international competitiveness of the KIBS sector: evidence from European Union countries

In this paper, it is tested whether intermediate consumption of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) in the economy and technology advancement in the KIBS sector (measured by R&D expenditures) affect the international competitiveness of a country's KIBS sector. First, the definition of KIBS trade, in light of the available data from the balance of payments statistics, is presented. Then, using a panel data set from the EU countries over the period 2000–2009, a panel cointegration approach to estimating the model is adopted. The empirical study shows that among the old EU countries only those with high income are competitive in KIBS exports. Estimation results demonstrate that their competitiveness in KIBS exports is positively determined by domestic and imported KIBS intensity in the economy, as well as by the KIBS sector's technology advancement. The new EU countries usually were not competitive in KIBS exports, and those which were successful in this field seem to have derived their success mainly from international outsourcing rather than from building their own capacities. Their competitiveness in KIBS exports was positively determined by the KIBS sector's endowment in human capital, or via domestic KIBS intensity in the economy together with lower labour costs.