FOREIGN ENTRY INTO U.S. SERVICE INDUSTRY BY TAKEOVERS AND THE CREATION OF NEW FIRMS

We study the relation between foreign entry in U.S. service sector industries and the revealed comparative advantage of the investing country using U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis firm‐level data on all foreign takeovers and new foreign‐owned firms from 1998 to 2008. We find foreign acquisitions in the service sector are in industries of U.S. comparative advantage while new foreign firms are in industries of investing country's comparative advantage. This suggests that foreign acquisitions in the service sector are not directly related to foreign investors' competitiveness in the industry of investment. In contrast foreign investors in new service sector firms come from countries with a competitive edge in the industries of investment. We also find that foreign investors of new service sector firms are from Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries with a comparative disadvantage in royalties and trademarks. (JEL F21, F23, G34)     

International Productivity Differences,Infrastructure, and Comparative Advantage*

This paper provides an empirical analysis of the effect of infrastructure provision on industry‐level productivity and international specialization, as suggested by Clarida and Findlay’s (1992 ) model. We calculate total factor productivity (TFP) for 18 developed and developing countries and 10 manufacturing industries, and study the effects of supplies of roads, telecommunications and electric power on international variations in sectoral TFP, i.e. comparative advantage. We also examine the effects of infrastructure on the sectoral composition of output across countries. Using a three‐stage least‐squares estimation strategy to control for endogeneity of infrastructure provision, we find that infrastructure, especially roads, helps to explain patterns of comparative advantage and international specialization.     

The effect of pay-for-performance contracts on wages

I investigate the role played by learning and self-selection according to comparative advantage in the often reported result that piece rate workers (including commissions) earn more on average compared to other workers. With comparative advantage, the returns to skills differ across pay methods. I find that comparative advantage along with learning about worker skills seem to play a role for workers who are either at an early stage in their career or who are observed for the first time in a given job-match. For older workers, the return to skills is basically the same across pay methods.     

Financial markets, the pattern of industrial specialization and comparative advantage: Evidence from OECD countries

Due to underlying technological and organizational differences, industries differ in their need for external finance. Since services provided by the financial sector are largely immobile across countries, the pattern of industrial specialization should be influenced by the level of financial development. Among OECD countries we find a strong causal effect of the financial sector on industrial specialization. Further, the financial sector is a source of comparative advantage in a way consistent with the Hecksher-Ohlin-Vanek model. Results are also presented on which aspects of financial systems are important for specialization and comparative advantage.     

Technology and the dynamics of comparative advantage

This paper explores how trade affects innovation in a two‐country, two‐good, two‐factor Heckscher–Ohlin model with heterogeneous firms. Trade openness induces an increase in process innovation in both industries. The increase is stronger in the comparative advantage industry. Trade openness boosts prospective entrants' profits in that industry, which leads to further increases in product innovation. Trade liberalization generates a different relative impact on innovation across industries, depending on trade costs. When they are high (low), it increases process innovation relatively more in the comparative advantage (disadvantage) industry, leading to TFP divergence (convergence) across industries.     

中印承接国际服务外包的比较优势分析

现代服务业是人力资本密集型的行业,但为什么像中国与印度这样的发展中国家却承接了大量的国际服务外包,通过比较服务外包承接国的人力资本禀赋以及分析人力资本与国际服务外包的相关性,发现中国与印度在国际服务外包中的比较优势取决于该国熟练劳动力的绝对数量,而不是熟练劳动力在该国总劳动力数量中的相对比例.这也是印度与中国这样的人口大国能够成为主要服务外包承接国的原因之一.     

Financial Dependence and International Trade

Does financial development translate into a comparative advantage in industries that use more external finance? The author uses industry‐level data on firms’ dependence on external finance for 36 industries and 56 countries to examine this question. It is shown that countries with better‐developed financial systems have higher export shares and trade balances in industries that use more external finance. These results are robust to the use of alternative measures of external dependence and financial development and are not due to reverse causality or simultaneity bias.     

契约执行效率与地区出口绩效差异-基于行业特征的经验分析

生产率差异是比较优势的重要来源,而契约执行效率又是决定行业生产率的制度因素之一.本文利用中国省区28个行业数据检验了契约执行效率对出口贸易的影响.实证结果显示,契约执行效率高的地区更倾向于专业化生产和出口契约密集度较高、物质资产专用性较强和人力资产专用性较弱的产品.在控制比较优势的其他影响因素及变量内生性之后,上述结论依然稳健.本文进一步指出,企业的一体化程度差异是解释上述结论的关键因素.     

人口老龄化与劳动力发展规划

随着人口老龄化程度的提高和劳动力短缺问题的加重,越来越多的发达国家开始研究劳动力发展与规划问题。中国目前虽然从总体来看还没有出现劳动力短缺的问题,但是随着人口老龄化高峰的到来,劳动力规模缩小和一些劳动技能出现短缺却是必然的趋势。为了应对未来人口老龄化所带来的劳动力问题,做到未雨绸缪,有必要从现在开始启动适合中国国情的劳动力发展与规划的研究,分析在人口老龄化较高程度下劳动力在宏观和微观层面上的供求格局和变化趋势,寻求未来合理有效利用劳动力的最佳途径。     

专利密集型产业再认识：一个新分析框架

利用4次经济普查数据,构建专利密集型产业经济绩效比较优势影响因素分析框架。研究结果表明,在控制区域差异和产业异质性后,相比于非专利密集型产业,专利质量比较优势会显著提升专利密集型产业竞争优势;技术标准是专利密集型产业发展的制高点,技术标准数量优势对专利密集型产业经济比较优势有正向促进作用;相比内资企业,专利密集型产业外资企业的经济比较优势更显著,这主要归功于其较强的专利运营能力和更高的专利质量。据此,提出相关对策建议。     

论我国劳动密集型产业比较优势和竞争优势的互补性

我国是一个人口大国,劳动力资源丰富是一大优势。发展劳动密集型产业符合我国的比较优势。但是,比较优势并不等于竞争优势。比较优势也可理解为比较生产费用优势,它是由各国土地、劳力、资本等有形资源禀赋上的差别引起的。比较优势强调的是各国不同产业之间的竞争力比较,而竞争优势强调的是各国同一产业之间竞争力的比较。一国产业的比较优势只有通过竞争优势的发挥,才能得到最终体现。一个国家具有比较优势的产业,如果在国际市场上缺乏竞争力,没有一定的竞争优势,就难以实现其比较优势。     

产业规模与比较优势发展战略:一个理论框架

本文根据经典的国际贸易理论发现,对于发展中国家,实行自由贸易的结果是两大产业的技术水平都上升,但劳动密集产业的规模扩张,而资本密集产业的规模收缩.因此,主要从产业规模角度、同时结合技术角度的分析,在理论上更为全面,政策上也更具可行性.据此,文章着重在比较优势的框架内探讨了产业规模、就业与技术三者间的相互影响机制,提出了在战略选择上的两个"两难选择",并认为比较优势发展战略能够较好地解决这两个"两难选择".     

Endowments,Specialization, and Policy

The paper explores the relationship between industry shares in production and their determinants including factor endowments, technology, and government policies, in a GDP–function framework. We use a new international panel dataset on production and trade compiled by the World Bank. As an intermediate step we calculate Hicks‐neutral productivity indices that vary across industries, time, and countries. We find that own‐TFP is robustly associated with industry shares across time and countries and that, after correcting for these productivity differences, output shares are related to factor endowments (Rybczynski effects) in a plausible way. Once Rybczynski effects are controlled for, we find little evidence of demand‐side policies (import tariffs) affecting the allocation of resources; we find, however, more role for supply‐side policies as the relative size of capital‐intensive industries is positively associated with infrastructure–capital endowments.     

Persistent income gaps in an occupational choice model with multi‐goods

In this study, we propose a theory to explain why income gaps persist. We model a simple overlapping‐generations economy with three consumption goods and two types of workers. We find that high‐skilled workers have comparative advantage in skill‐intensive jobs and low‐skilled workers in less skill‐intensive jobs. This pattern of comparative advantage determines occupational choices by workers. Combined with human capital accumulation, the occupational choices widen income gaps between families. At the same time, the relative price of skill‐intensive goods declines owing to productivity improvement. The decline holds back income gaps from exploding. The implications of skill‐biased technological change are also examined.     

How do the determinants of firm survival change in the course of the industry life cycle? A fuzzy-set analysis

Industry life-cycle research on firm survival often tests the effects of innovativeness, entry timing, and experience from related industries. However, findings on how these effects change over different stages of the life cycle are scarce. To fill this gap, we perform a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis on a data-set of 58 video game device producers in six product generations. We find that innovation provides a consistent survival advantage only in the mature stage of the life cycle. We also find that experience accumulated within the industry loses its value in the mature stage, and the advantage shifts to de alio entrants only after shake-out. These findings are discussed relating to technological uncertainty, the role of internal and external knowledge, and the construction of sufficient technological performance.     

Analysing Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness: An Application to Australia's Textile and Clothing Industries

Australia's comparative advantage and competitiveness in textile and clothing (TAC) industries are analysed, using Balassa's revealed comparative advantage index and Vollrath's measures of competitiveness. The analysis based on Balassa's indices shows that Australia has a strong comparative disadvantage in textiles and clothing as aggregate commodity groups, but there is comparative advantage in sub–categories of 'special textile products', 'floor coverage, tapestry etc', and 'fur clothing'. The analysis based on Vollrath's indices shows that Australia is not competitive in the world market with respect to aggregate commodity groups of textiles and clothing. Grubel–Loyd index of intra–industry trade was calculated for seven categories of textiles and two categories of clothing. The results show a rising trend in intra–industry trade in some of these categories of TAC products, implying that Australia increasingly exports and imports differentiated TAC products. Australian TAC industries may look to further promote exports of their products in the global market through increased product differentiation and improved quality and design.     

Why does China protect its labour‐intensive industries more?*

China's tariff structure favours labour‐intensive sectors, and this is at odds with traditional theory of comparative advantage. The paper argues that tariffs in China are a mechanism for protecting technology‐backward domestic – especially state‐owned enterprises (SOEs) from competition technology‐advanced foreign enterprises producing in China. With relatively integrated labour markets and cross‐firm technology differences, SOEs’ subsistence is supported by subsidized credit and limited access of foreign firms’ local production to tariff‐protected domestic markets. Labour market integration and capital subsidies increase the relative cost of labour in SOEs compared to their foreign competitors, hurting more domestic firms in industries that use labour more intensively. Restrictions to FIEs’ (foreign‐invested enterprises) access to tariff‐protected product markets, which protect more labour‐intensive industries, compensate for the greater cost disadvantage of SOEs in labour‐intensive sectors.     

The importance of worker, firm and match effects in the formation of wages

This paper estimates a Mincerian wage equation with worker, firm, and match specific effects and thereby complements the growing empirical literature started by the seminal paper of Abowd (Econometrica 67:251–333, 1999b). The analysis takes advantage of the extensive Danish IDA data which provides wage information on the entire working population in a 27-year period. We find that the major part of wage dispersion in the Danish labor market can be explained by differences in worker characteristics. However, the relative contributions of the three components vary across subgroups of workers. The match effect constitutes a non-negligible part of the overall wage dispersion. An analysis of inter-industry wage differentials shows that firm characteristics are more important at the industry level than at the worker level. Similarly, we find evidence that high-wage workers tend to sort into high-wage industries to a larger extent than they sort into high-wage firms within industries. The mobility pattern of workers is related to the quality of the firm and the match. Finally, we find that firms’ wage policies differ across subgroups.     

收益递增、发展战略与区域经济的分割

本文考察了在收益递增条件下产生重复建设和区域经济分割的根源。由于发达地区在高技术产业拥有比较优势 ,且通常具有较快的技术进步速度 ,所以往往在贸易利益的分享中得到了较大的份额。而落后地区如果选择暂时不加入分工体系 ,它将失去当期分工的收益 ,但却可以提高自己在未来分配分工收益的谈判中的地位 ,甚至可能实现对发达地区的赶超。落后地区的战略性行为虽然在一定条件下对于其自身是有利的 ,但却造成了社会总产出减少和资源配置效率的损失。中央政府的财政转移可以促使落后地区加入分工体系 ,这时 ,财政转移就兼有了改善收入分配和资源配置效率两种功能     

比较优势、劳动力流动与产业转移

劳动力流动的新趋势反映了劳动力要素成本的比较优势在我国区域之间的动态转化,东部地区逐步丧失劳动力成本的比较优势,中西部地区劳动力要素禀赋的显性优势开始呈现。产业转移直接产生于比较优势的动态变化,顺应劳动力流动的新趋势,做好产业在区域间的转移和承接,才能转变依靠廉价劳动力的外向型经济增长方式,促使东部沿海地区进行产业升级,同时带动中西部地区工业化和城镇化进程,在保持我国低劳动力成本优势的基础上实现区域间协调发展。