Product differentiation, firm heterogeneity and international trade: Exploring the Alchian–Allen effect

In a model of international trade with horizontally differentiated goods, increasing returns and monopolistically competitive markets, this paper proposes that the degree of differentiation in a product mix–defined as the ratio of the number of varieties to the total value of imports–can be regarded as another aspect of quality. Furthermore, this paper draws a parallel to the Alchian–Allen effect and shows that, when firms are heterogeneous in either fixed or variable costs, the degree of differentiation is increasing in per unit transportation costs.     

Factors affecting trade in services: evidence from panel data

In the course of economic development, nations have typically progressed through stages in which agriculture, then manufacturing and, finally, services predominate. Concerns around the sustainability of manufacturing and goods export-led growth raise the importance of trade in services. In the context of a panel model, controlling for the factors that determine trade in general, we examine the determinants of trade in services in a sample of 46 countries over the decade 2004–2015. We find an ambiguous pattern of effects from institutional quality but strong evidence of the importance of trade in goods for trade in services.     

Firm survival: methods and evidence

This paper surveys the Industrial Organization literature on firm survival. We find that, in retrospect, the econometric specifications used in this area have progressively become more sophisticated, addressing issues such as discrete time, unobserved heterogeneity and competing risks. We also identify a number of firm- and industry-specific covariates that provide largely consistent results across samples, countries and periods. On the other hand, the evidence is less clear-cut with regard to ownership and spatial factors.

OEM方式对中国外贸发展的影响

随着经济全球化的发展，加工贸易在我国对外贸易中所占的比重越来越大，对我国外贸的发展也起着越来越举足轻重的作用。本文通过分析OEM方式对我国生产企业的影响来阐述其对中国对外贸易发展的影响，并提出对加工贸易的看法。     

Political economy of China’s trade policy: the evidence from industrial protection in 1990s

The theory of the political economy of trade policy, combining public choice and neoclassical trade theories, studies the level and pattern of trade intervention from the perspective of policy decision-making process, by stressing on income distribution instead of economic efficiency. The paper attempts to apply such an endogenous trade theory to an empirical study of China. On the basis of a formal revised model of political economy of trade protection, it tests theoretical hypotheses concerning the political and economic determinants of cross-sector trade protection in the Chinese industry at various periods. The results show that trade protection in China fits into China’s national development strategy of fast catching-up with the developed world.     

性别工资差异中的企业效应

现有对性别工资差异的研究大多是基于个人样本的分析而忽略了企业的作用。本文运用企业和工人匹配的调查数据研究性别工资差异中的企业效应。研究发现,在工资决定方程中加入企业效应后工人的教育回报显著下降,且在性别工资差异的分解中加入企业效应后禀赋效应和价格效应所占的比例也显著下降,企业在性别工资差异中有着非常重要的作用。进一步研究发现,企业的外部市场环境和内部制度特征是决定企业性别工资差异程度的重要因素,市场竞争激烈的企业、经常采用计件工资制的企业以及内部职工收入差距较大的企业性别工资差异较大,小规模企业和私有产权比重较大的企业也呈现较大的性别工资差异,但工人的谈判能力有缩小性别工资差异的作用。     

Trade liberalization and trade performance of environmental goods: evidence from Asia-Pacific economic cooperation members

In this article, we study the impact of trade liberalization, including reductions in both tariff and nontariff trade barriers, on environmental goods (EGs) exports. Using bilateral trade data from 20 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members, we find that tariff reduction in an exporting country has a larger positive impact on its exports of EGs than tariff reduction in an importing country. Our results also show that a lower nontariff barrier in an importing country increases its imports of EGs. A considerable amount of heterogeneity also exists in subsample results based on countries’ income levels.     

外汇风险对冲和公司价值:基于中国跨国公司的实证研究

2005年7月人民币汇改以来,人民币升值,特别是相对于美元大幅升值,其不利影响开始显现,我国不少跨国公司使用外汇衍生品来对冲人民币汇率升值带来的风险。然而,尽管不少国外学者对金融衍生品使用和公司价值的关系进行了深入研究,但以中国公司为样本的研究仍很少见。中信泰富等衍生品投机事件和2008年金融危机的发生使得我国学者对金融衍生工具的作用和性质争议不断,使用外汇衍生品对冲外汇风险是否增加公司价值仍是一个有待深入研究的问题。本文基于2007年至2009年968家中国跨国公司的数据,实证检验了外汇衍生品使用和公司价值的关系,发现外汇衍生品使用带来了约10%的价值溢价,这一重要发现和基于发达国家的不少研究相一致。该研究成果支持了外汇衍生品在汇率风险管理中的积极作用和加快发展我国外汇衍生品市场特别是交易所市场以掌握人民币汇率定价权的重要性和紧迫性。     

The J-curve: evidence from commodity trade between US and China

In testing the short-run (J-curve effect) and the long-run effects of currency depreciation on the trade balance many researchers have used either trade data between one country and the rest of the world or between one country and another trading partner. Both groups are said to suffer from aggregation bias. To reduce the bias, in this article we consider trade data between one country (the US) and her trading partner (China) disaggregated by commodity. We use imports and exports of 88 industries (2-digit and 3-digit classifications) and cointegration analysis to show that the trade balance of at least 34 of the industries react favourably to real depreciation of the dollar. The J-curve effect is detected in 22 industries. Furthermore, most of these industries that are sensitive to currency depreciation are durable commodity groupings.     

企业规模、市场结构与创新——来自不同行业的经验证据

本文利用2000~2003中国工业统计数据,选取其中的五个行业(电子、纺织、服装、化学和机械行业),研究企业规模、产业集中度等与创新的关系的行业差异。研究发现,企业规模、市场结构与创新之间一般不存在简单的线性关系。在不同的行业,它可以表现为U型或倒U型曲线。这种产业之间的差异表明,我们不能单纯地根据与企业规模有关的特性来解释企业创新。而对于产业结构,我们需要进行更加具体细致的调查和分析。单纯的产业集中度指标不足以完全反映产业的真实状况。     

企业与市场:相关关系及其性质——一个基于回归古典的解析框架

通过对科斯替代逻辑的反思 ,重新考察了企业与市场的相关关系。认为交易费用的提出虽然打开了新古典企业的“黑箱” ,但是由此来解释企业的性质 ,其结论与现实相悖。本文提出了一个趋于古典的分析框架 ,发现企业与市场是分别建立在两种不同但有紧密相关性的分工基础上的 ,因而 ,它们各自的性质及其相互关系源于一般分工与个别分工各自的性质及其相关关系———企业是要素所有者为分享“合作剩余”而达成的合约 ,而市场则是商品所有者交换比较优势的制度安排。两者互补而不相互替代。这一结论较好地解释了实体经济中不论是企业规模 ,还是企业数量都在不断扩张 ,同时市场范围随之不断扩展 ,两方面相互促进、正相关推进发展的现实。     

Trade liberalization and markups: Micro evidence from China

This paper presents evidence from highly disaggregated Chinese firm-product data that, given productivity, input tariff reductions induce an incumbent importer/exporter to increase product markups. We further investigate empirically the mechanisms underlying this trade liberalization effect, and find that input tariff reductions decrease marginal costs, and their effects on markup adjustments are more profound among firms with higher import dependence. Moreover, we exploit unique features of Chinese data by comparing results for two trade regimes: ordinary trade (wherein firms pay import tariffs to import) and processing trade (wherein firms are not subject to import tariffs). While the aforementioned trade liberalization effects and mechanisms only apply to ordinary trade, processing trade samples are used in a placebo test. The paper also shows that more productive firms charge higher markups for products. All these findings are robust to alternative markup measures including one estimate using physical-quantity output data, different production function specifications, a subsample consisting only of pure exporters, and estimations based on our theoretical derivations.     

New trade theory versus old trade policy: a continuing enigma

This paper examines the theoretical and empirical grounds fortrade liberalisation. We note that many of the conventionalarguments relating to the static and dynamic gains from liberalisationare based on fragile theoretical grounds. We also show that,although new trade theory takes account of some of the complexitiesof international trade and although the analytical thrust ofmany models justifies intervention, such policy conclusionsare rejected even by those at the forefront of these theorieson the grounds of political economy arguments which do not standup to careful scrutiny. Finally, we show that arguments favouringtrade liberalisation are not supported by existing empiricalresearch, which generally fails to capture the complex and ambiguouseffects of liberalisation and openness.     

政府控制、治理环境与公司价值--来自中国证券市场的经验证据

本文承袭刘芍佳、孙霈和刘乃全( 2 0 0 3 )一文所使用的“终极产权论”,根据上市公司披露的终极控制人数据,首次将上市公司细分为非政府控制(即民营、乡镇或外资资本控制)、县级政府控制、市级政府控制、省级政府控制以及中央政府控制这五种类型。同时,我们利用樊纲和王小鲁( 2 0 0 3 )编制的中国各地区市场化进程数据及其子数据构建各地区公司治理环境指数。在此基础上,我们以2 0 0 1年至2 0 0 3年期间的上市公司为样本,对政府控制、治理环境与公司价值的关系进行了实证分析。研究发现,政府控制尤其是县级和市级政府控制对公司价值产生了负面影响,但公司所处治理环境的改善有助于减轻这种负面影响。其政策含义是,解决中国上市公司的公司治理问题,不仅需要继续“抓大放小”,还需要从根本上改善公司治理环境。对研究者来说,需要把目光转移到影响公司治理的根本因素上来,加强对公司治理环境的分析。     

Study on the use of trade barrier of anti-dumping in China

WTO allows its members to use anti-dumping barrier to combat unfair competition. Nowadays, anti-dumping barrier has been dominant protective trade measure in the world, while in China, this measure is still not fully used and at low level. For the purpose of protecting domestic industries and enhancing national welfare, China should use this barrier cautiously and construct its own anti-dumping system at the same time.     

改善民生是中国城乡统筹改革实践的原动力

民生是中国城乡统筹改革实践的原动力。改革起始期,是民生呼唤下的自发改革与政策调整;改革深入期,是民生推动下的体制转轨与制度创新;改革攻坚期,是民生引导下的统筹发展与新农村建设。30年农村改革历程,致使民生问题的不断解决与改革的渐进式节奏相互吻合,推动着"人本"式的农村改革健康有序地发展。     

Vertical Innovation and Catching-Up: Implications of EU Integration for CEECs-5

We analyze the role of vertical innovation in trade patterns for developing economies trading with technologically advanced countries. A model is presented where the international diffusion of knowledge, promoted by economic integration, is the source of a technological catching up and leads to a convergence in the quality of traded goods, with a positive effect on exports. We then turn our attention on the evolution of trade between the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs-5) and their European Union partner countries, assessing whether economic integration has increase the quality of the goods produced. For the period 1995–2005, we find evidence of the increasing role of intra-industry trade and vertical differentiation and a process of specialization in higher quality products, especially in the medium- and high-skill sectors.

Economic gains from technology-intensive trade: an empirical assessment

National investment in technological activity is commonly justifiedin terms of the positive impacts upon productivity, internationalcompetitiveness and related aspects of national economic performance.This premise has found a supportive theoretical framework inthe new technology and growth models. Based on extended technology-gapmodels, this study examines cross-country empirical evidenceon the relationship between technology-intensive trade performance(as a proxy for technological output) and per capita economicperformance, utilising 1978 to 1992 data for around 45 nations.The results provide some support for a positive relationshipbetween trade performance and economic returns. However, theweak and often inconsistent results suggest that the unconditionalpursuit of technology-intensive trade improvements may not necessarilyhave the expected net benefits.     

Firm productivity and agglomeration economies: evidence from Egyptian data

This paper attempts to shed the light on the nexus between firms’ productivity and economies of agglomeration in Egypt. Using a large dataset of firms in 342 firms’ four-digit activities in 27 regions (62,108 firms), we introduce three measures of agglomeration which are urbanization or firm diversification measured by the number of firms by governorate, localization and specialization measured by the average productivity by governorate and sector (generating externalities and knowledge spillovers) and finally competition measured by the number of firm operating in the same governorate and the same sector. We find strong evidence for the existence of agglomeration in Egypt after controlling for firm age, location, economic activity and legal status. In the Egyptian context, productivity spillovers gained from agglomeration measures outweighed the negative effects of competition implied by congestion. The latter is chiefly due to the lack of good infrastructure. When regressions are run by firm size, location and activity, our main findings show first that micro and small firms are more likely to benefit from localization and diversification compared to medium and large firms. Service firms benefit more from high level of diversification while manufacturing firms gain more benefits from knowledge spillovers and specialization in Egypt.     

Natural gas,trade and sustainable growth: empirical evidence from the top gas consumers of the developing world

Natural gas is the key non-renewable source of energy for a low-carbon economy. The research applies heterogeneous panel techniques to investigate the impact of natural gas consumption on economic growth across a panel of top 15 natural gas consumers of the developing world. We establish long-run dynamics with cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity across the sample countries. The long-run output elasticities suggest that the natural gas consumption and trade variables have significant positive effect on the output in a panel of developing economies. Further, we establish feedback relationship among gas consumption, output and trade in the short-run. Given the significance of natural gas as the low-emission source of energy, we suggest governments and policy advisers of these major natural gas consumers to focus on developing pipeline infrastructure for adequate supply, reforming natural gas sector with a competitive price structure to combat excess demand in individual natural gas market. With trade integration, majority of these countries need to incorporate these initiatives to improve the technologies such as combined cycle power plant technology and value-added chemical production technology to achieve sustainable economic growth.