The extensive and intensive margins of Spanish trade

Recent empirical research highlights that differences in trade flows across countries, products and years are governed by two margins: the intensive margin and the extensive margin. The analysis of the relative contribution of each margin is very important to determine which policies can be more efficient to foster trade at the aggregate, geographic, product or firm level. We use the whole universe of firm level transaction data to analyse the relative contribution of these margins to changes in Spanish trade flows during the 1997–2007 period. We first apply the methodology proposed by Bernard et al. (2009 Bernard, A.B., Jensen, J.B., Redding, S.J. and Schott, P.K. 2009. The margins of US trade. American Economic Review: Papers & Proceedings, 99(2): 487–93. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] [Google Scholar]) to decompose trade variation over time into three components: net entry of firms, product-country switching and value growth by regular trading firms. The first two components correspond to the extensive margin and the last one refers to the intensive margin. We find that short-run changes in exports and imports are governed by firms’ intensive margin; however, in the long-run, both the extensive and the intensive margins are equally important to foster trade. We also examine the importance of the trade margins at the cross-sectional level for the year 2007. We find that large differences in the Spanish trade flows across countries and products, especially in the case of exports, are explained by the number of firms that participate in trade, which is consistent with the fact that the number of trading partners decline significantly with distance.     

Do vertical spillovers differ by investors’ productivity? Theory and evidence from Vietnam

Developing countries are eager to host foreign direct investment to receive positive technology spillovers to their local firms. However, what types of foreign firms are desirable for the host country to achieve spillovers best? We address this question using firm‐level panel data from Vietnam to investigate whether foreign Asian investors in downstream sectors with different productivity affect the productivity of local Vietnamese firms in upstream sectors differently. Using endogenous structural breaks, we divide Asian investors into low‐, middle‐, and high‐productivity groups. The results suggest that the presence of the middle group has the strongest positive spillover effect. The differential spillover effects can be explained by a simple model with vertical linkages and productivity‐enhancing investment by local suppliers. The theoretical mechanism is also empirically confirmed.     

Does the stock market affect investment by Chinese firms? Some new evidence

During the 1990s, the Chinese government increasingly relied on the stock market as the major tool for state‐owned enterprise (SOE) reform and for the allocation of investment resources. This paper investigates the impact of stock market development in China on firm‐level capital investment by using a panel data set constructed by the author of all Chinese listed firms for the period 1992 to 1999. The results show that stock market valuation, as measured by Tobin’s q, has a highly independent, significant and positive influence on listed firms’ investment decisions, particularly during the stock market boom from 1996 to 1999. Given the sizable real effects of the stock market, deviations of stock prices from fundamentals can have substantially negative consequences. As a result, this study suggests that sensible regulation of the Chinese stock market is needed in order to enhance the efficiency of stock prices and facilitate an effective channeling of investment funds.     

进出口产品质量测度方法的比较与中国事实——基于微观产品和企业数据的实证分析

如何科学合理地测算贸易产品质量是研究企业产品质量异质性的一个关键问题,但目前仍缺乏一个被广泛认可的方法,也没有相关研究对不同方法的结果进行比较和检验.文章基于国家层面的进口质量、企业层面的出口质量和企业层面的进口质量三个视角,将已有研究方法进行归类,并利用中国数据进行测算和检验,力求找到不同视角下最符合中国现实的测算方法.研究表明:(1)国家层面的进口质量测算使用KHW方法,而企业层面的出口质量测算则使用SHIBZ方法更加符合中国现实;(2)对于企业层面的进口质量测算,通过引入运输成本和汇率作为产品价格的工具变量对现有方法加以改进,可以克服其存在的样本选择偏差等问题;(3)对贸易产品质量测算方法在国家层面与企业层面、进口方面和出口方面进行划分,其测算结果能够合理地解释我国近年来的进出口产品质量变动趋势,且国家层面与企业层面的一般贸易进口产品质量的变动趋势一致.文章不仅为今后研究中国进出口产品质量问题提供了测算依据,而且有助于我们廓清我国进出口产品质量的现实情况及其变动趋势.     

Biodiversity measures based on species-level dissimilarities: A methodology for assessment

Biodiversity is widely recognized as a valuable natural asset to conserve. Yet biodiversity is often reported to be declining worldwide. Biodiversity measures can help evaluating it and conserving it, but need to be clearly defined and assessed. In this paper, I review several biodiversity measures and develop a new one, all based on a matrix of species-level dissimilarity data. The data can be used in its raw form, regardless of its origin (e.g. studies of morphological traits, DNA hybridization experiments…) or of any graphical representation. Then, I propose a two-step assessment of the measures. First, I assess them in terms of their deviation from a strict additive law determining the contribution of each species to the diversity of the set in an ideal setting. This setting refers to a case where the data exactly determines the hierarchical ordering of the species. Second, I assess the measures based on their compliance with a list of axioms. These axioms reflect basic mathematical properties regarded as desirable for diversity measures, such as their monotonicity in species and dissimilarities. Finally, I show the importance of applying the new quantitative assessment and the axiomatic approach together when selecting a dissimilarity-based diversity measure.     

Intangibles,Can They Explain the Dispersion in Return Rates?

It is proven that the observed return rates on capital have an upward bias if firms are producing with unobserved intangible capital. Using a comprehensive firm level database for Germany, this theoretical preposition is supported empirically. Furthermore, by making unobserved intangible capital observable, dispersion in return rates is dramatically reduced. The results support the assumption that a considerable part of the observed dispersion in return rates among firms is attributable to unobserved capital formation in intangible capital.     

Has Labor Income Become More Volatile? Evidence from International Industry‐Level Data

Changes in labor market institutions and the increasing integration of the world economy may affect the volatility of capital and labor incomes. This article documents and analyzes changes in income volatility using data for 11 industrialized countries, 22 industries and 35 years (1970–2004). The article has four main findings. First, the unconditional volatility of labor income has declined in parallel to the decline in macroeconomic volatility. Second, the industry‐specific, idiosyncratic component of labor income volatility has hardly changed. Third, cross‐sectional heterogeneity is substantial. If anything, the labor incomes of high‐ and low‐skilled workers have become more volatile relative to the volatility of capital incomes. Fourth, the volatility of labor income relative to the volatility of capital income declines in the labor share. Trade openness has no clear‐cut impact.     

Innovation strategies and firm performance: Simple or complex strategies?

This paper analyzes the effect of various innovation strategies (ISs) of firms on their future performance, captured by labor productivity. Using five waves of the Community Innovation Survey in Sweden, we have traced the innovative behavior of firms over a decade, that is, from 2002 to 2012. We defined ISs to be either simple or complex (in various degrees). We call an IS a simple IS when firms engage in only one of the four types of Schumpeterian innovations, that is, product, process, marketing, or organizational, while a complex IS is when firms simultaneously engage in more than one type. The main findings indicate that those firms that choose and afford to have complex ISs are better off in terms of their future productivity in comparison with those firms that choose not to innovative (base group) and also in comparison with those firms that choose simple ISs. The results are mostly robust for those complex innovators that have a higher degree of complexity and also keep the balance between technological (product and process) and non-technological (organizational and marketing) innovations.     

WAGE‐RISE CONTRACT AND QUANTITY COMPETITION WITH PROFIT‐MAXIMIZING AND LABOUR‐MANAGED FIRMS

This paper examines the behaviours of a profit‐maximizing firm and a labour‐managed profit‐per‐worker‐maximizing firm in a two‐stage quantity‐setting model with a wage‐rise contract as a strategic commitment. The paper then shows that there exists a unique equilibrium that coincides with the Stackelberg solution where the profit‐maximizing firm is the leader and the labour‐managed firm is the follower.     

审计重要性水平、事务所规模与审计意见

文章以财务重述公司为样本,探讨了审计重要性水平、事务所规模与审计意见之间的关系.研究发现,重要性水平影响审计意见的类型,超过重要性水平的错误更容易被出具非标意见;不同规模的事务所对重要性水平的执行标准是有差异的,规模大的事务所对超过重要性水平的错误更加敏感,"大所"在执行审计业务时,时超过重要性水平的错误报表更容易出具非标意见.研究结论支持"大所"出具的审计意见更严格、审计服务质量更高这一论断.     

Effects of exchange rate volatility on bilateral import performance of Vietnam: A dynamic Generalised method of Moments panel approach

The paper examines to what extent exchange rate volatility affects Vietnam’s bilateral import value. The two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) was employed on panel data over a 10-year period. Exchange rate volatility was generated by two measures, including generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic (GARCH) and moving standard deviation (MOVSD). A variety of diagnostic tests which ensure the consistency of GMM estimates were discussed. The main findings confirm that all explanatory variables demonstrated the expected signs, and exchange rate volatility has positive impacts on Vietnam's import flows. However, there is a large overall difference between the results produced with those two volatility measures.