The Impact of Trade Liberalization on Micro Enterprises: Do Banks Matter? Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

This paper looks at the impact of trade liberalization on micro enterprises with differential access to banks. I use Indian data on rural micro enterprises employing less than ten workers in the manufacturing sector to find that trade liberalization, measured by a fall in the tariff, is associated with a larger increase or a smaller decrease in output, capital–labour ratio and labour productivity in districts with a larger number of bank branches per capita. Evidence is consistent with strong complementarities between trade liberalization effects, and the economic dynamism and access to financial intermediation associated with greater bank presence in the enterprise's location. The study underscores that trade liberalization can be beneficial to micro entrepreneurs under certain conditions and emphasizes reallocation resulting from trade liberalization. The study hence highlights the role for development policy in exploiting gains from trade.     

Financial liberalization and firms’ capital structure adjustments evidence from Southeast Asia and South America

This paper investigates the impact of financial liberalization on the adjustment of debt ratios in 12 emerging markets using firm-level data from 1991 to 2004. The results support the central hypothesis of this paper that adjustment costs are important in explaining firms’ adjustment toward their debt ratio targets. Our results show that deviations from targets are halved within 1.09 years in South America and 1.19 years in Southeast Asia, suggesting speed of adjustment is relatively faster in South American countries than Southeast Asian countries. Furthermore, our results show that after full liberalization those countries where rule of law and creditors rights were properly enforced, firms had higher adjustment speed compared to those countries where such enforcement was not present.The estimated adjustment coefficients imply that on average firms’ adjustment speeds have increased in all South American countries over the period of financial liberalization. On the contrary, firms’ adjustment speeds did not increase in Southeast Asian countries, reflecting the uneven effect of liberalization on the firms’ financing behaviour in Asian countries. There was a significant reduction in time (in years) taken to half the gap between actual debt ratios and targets only in Pakistan and South Korea. This finding supports the idea of uncertain impact of financial liberalization programs on the domestic financial markets in those emerging markets which started opening up their market and integrating with the rest of the world latter than others. These findings have significant implications for the sequence of banking sector liberalization in the emerging markets.     

贸易自由化与中国企业进口中间品质量升级

进口高质量中间品是发展中国家实现技术追赶的重要途径;贸易自由化会降低进口高质量中间产品的贸易成本和相对价格,促进企业进口中间品质量升级。基于此,本文利用细分关税数据、海关数据和工业企业数据,将加工贸易作为控制组、一般贸易作为处理组,采用倍差法经验分析贸易自由化对中国企业进口中间品质量的影响。结论发现：伴随关税下降,中国企业进口中间品质量整体增长,且一般贸易组增长速度远快于加工贸易组。同加工贸易相比,关税下降1%一般贸易进口中间品质量增长高出0.06%~3.74%。这一作用在持续进口企业中,在基础设施完善、市场化水平高、经济集聚程度高的地区更明显。上述结论通过了同趋势假设、内生性等一系列稳健性检验。     

The effects of financial liberalization on productivity: Evidence from India’s manufacturing sector

Using a panel of India’s registered manufacturing firms and both economy-wide and firm-level financial data, we investigate the effects of India’s financial liberalization on the productivity of its manufacturing sector in the 1990s and 2000s. Our dynamic panel analysis shows that the series of financial liberalization policies/measures, at both the macro and micro levels, significantly enhanced the productivity of the manufacturing sector. Total factor productivity increased for all firms, including those owned by the state government, with greater gains for the firms in the private and foreign sectors. Our results suggest that policies favoring financial liberalization should be pursued further in order for India to foster higher economic growth.     

利率市场化程度、审计师声誉与银行风险管理

采用2002—2016年我国177家银行的财务信息,并运用法规描述法对各年的利率市场化程度进行测量,检验利率市场化程度、审计师声誉与银行风险管理间的关系。研究发现：当利率市场化程度提升时,商业银行的风险管理强度会显著下降;选聘了高声誉审计师的银行会显著提高风险管理强度。在利率市场化程度提升时,相较于低声誉审计师,高声誉审计师帮助银行提高风险管理强度的作用更为显著。上述结果对监管机构利用审计声誉机制督促银行进行风险管理具有一定的借鉴意义。     

Impact of trade liberalization on firm's labour demand by skill: The case of Tunisian manufacturing

This paper investigates the impact of the trade liberalization process in Tunisia on employment by distinguishing different skills and different types of firms using micro level data covering the period of 1983–1994. There is considerable disagreement among analysts on the impact of recent trade reforms upon labour. Our contribution to these debates in this paper is essentially an empirical issue. The analysis of a Tunisian firm's data may be viewed as an attempt to apprehend how employment in Tunisia, a developing country, adjusted to the trade reforms. Using micro-level detail on individual firms, we are able to trace the relationship between changes in trade policies and manufacturing employment at firm level and by skill. Although trade reforms are generally implemented at the sector level, their effects may vary significantly across firm characteristics such as output orientation. We measure the effects of trade policy on employment according to different types of firms. We also associate changes in employment directly with a measure of change in trade protection, rather than linking them to changes in imports and exports which would be more common. The results suggest that the impact of trade liberalization on labour demand depends on a firm's characteristics. In particular, the estimates obtained suggest that trade liberalization has beneficial effects on employment for exporting-firms. Conversely, trade liberalization has negative and disciplinary effects on employment for domestically oriented firms. The reduction in tariff levels conducted in this first phase of liberalization in Tunisia seems to have had effects with different intensity on unskilled labour and on skilled labour; this justifies the examination of these two skills.     

Financial analyst coverage for U.S. firms facing foreign competition: Evidence from trade liberalization

This study examines financial analyst coverage for U.S. firms following an increase in foreign product market competition. To capture exogenous shocks to domestic firms' competitive environments, we exploit a quasi‐natural experiment from large import tariff reductions over the 1984 to 2005 period in the manufacturing sector. Using data for the years before and after large tariff reductions, our difference‐in‐differences analysis shows evidence of a significant decrease in analyst coverage for incumbent U.S. firms when they face greater entry threat from foreign competitors. We also find that analysts with less firm‐specific experience and less accurate prior‐period forecasts are more likely to stop following the domestic firm when foreign competition intensifies. Overall, the findings suggest that foreign product market competition from global trade liberalization is an important determinant of financial analysts' coverage decisions.     

资本市场开放提高了审计费用吗？——基于行业竞争和市场竞争地位的双重调节效应

资本市场开放后,互联互通机制引进了国际资本和先进治理经验,这既增加境内资本市场信息风险水平,亦带来监督效应,审计费用也发生相应变化。基于2010—2019年中国上市公司数据分析发现：在资本市场开放后,上市公司审计费用显著提高;行业竞争程度负向调节资本市场开放对审计费用的正向影响且这一调节作用在高市场竞争地位的公司中更显著,而市场竞争地位负调节效应主要体现在高竞争行业中。结果表明,行业竞争与市场竞争地位会对资本市场开放与审计费用的关系产生双重调节效应,资本市场开放有助于低竞争行业公司和高竞争行业中的低市场竞争地位公司提高审计质量需求。进一步研究表明,资本市场开放后,非国有企业和内控弱有效企业审计费用显著提高。     

Trade Liberalization and Industrial Restructuring: The Role of Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions

This paper analyzes industry adjustments to trade liberalization. It introduces cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as an alternative mode of industrial restructuring to firms' exit. In a two-country Cournot model, we examine the responses of domestic and foreign firms endowed with different technologies for different stages of trade openness. It is found that the less efficient firm loses market shares in its home market at the beginning of trade liberalization. Only for a more advanced level of liberalization, does it take advantage of a larger access to foreign demand. Trade liberalization may therefore harm its profits too strongly, forcing it to leave the market. However, although its incentives decrease with trade liberalization, the high-technology firm may be willing to take it over for low organizational and technological costs of firms' integration. In addition, it may buy it out even if the less efficient firm manages to stay. Then, trade liberalization affects M&A incentives depending on the technological gap. For low and high (medium) gap, there is an inverted U- (W-) shaped relation between trade costs and incentives to merge. Moreover, although technology transfer is assumed to be complete, M&A may lead to a reduction in consumers' welfare. Firms may capture some pro-competitive gains from economic openness. Lastly, an empirical analysis based on a data set of OECD members' multinationals gives some support to these theoretical predictions.     

陕西装备制造业集群竞争力研究

本文选取区位熵法对陕西装备制造业集群集中度进行测量,揭示了陕西装备制造业七个子行业的集群现状,结合产业集群理论和陕西省装备制造业集群特点,选取装备制造业七个子行业的十个指标,运用因子分析对陕西省装备制造业集群竞争力进行评价。结果表明:除专用设备制造业和交通运输制造业集中度比较高之外,其总体产业集群优势较低,且内部结构不合理;作为装备制造业的核心竞争力,科技创新能力是影响装备制造业综合竞争力的最关键因素。在此基础上为陕西装备制造业集群竞争力的提升提出可行的对策。     

Global bank complexity and financial fragility around the world

Using data for 123 countries from 1996 to 2020, we uncover the effect of foreign-owned banks’ geographic complexity on financial fragility in the context of financial liberalization. We compute a measure of foreign-owned banks’ geographic complexity for each country from data on the affiliate network of internationally active banking institutes. The financial effects of geographic complexity may help banks improve their survival by improving their solvency. After extensive testing for the sensitivity of the results, our main findings were threefold. First, a higher degree of geographic complexity of foreign-owned banks reduces the likelihood of a bank’s default, and these effects become more pronounced in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Second, the effects of financial liberalization vary across income groups. Third, the joint effects of foreign-owned banks’ geographic complexity and financial liberalization on financial fragility vary across forms of financial liberalization. Our findings have several policy implications: first, bank supervisors should consider the presence and structure of foreign bank ownership in their assessments; second, the government should take into account the level of economic development in choosing the proper form of financial liberalization; third, the government should promote financial freedom to strengthen the role of foreign-owned banks’ geographic complexity in alleviating financial fragility.     

The dark side of stock market liberalization: Perspectives from corporate R&D activities in China

This study explores how stock market liberalization impacts corporate research and development (R&D) activities and examines the impact channels. Based on a quasi-natural experiment on the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, we report a significantly negative relationship between stock market liberalization and R&D activities in non-state-owned enterprises (non-SOEs) using a difference-in-difference approach. For one thing, a decrease in analyst coverage will reduce the supervision of R&D activities; for another, the alleviation of financing constraints will heighten corporate financialization, resulting in a greater crowding-out effect on R&D activities. Furthermore, R&D activities in SOEs, which are guided by government policies, are not significantly affected by stock market liberalization.     

贸易开放对中国创业的影响机制及其效应

本文利用2002—2014年中国31个省级区域的相关数据,研究贸易开放对创业的影响机制与效应。研究结果表明,贸易开放可以显著地促进中国创业的产生,并且与出口贸易相比,进口贸易开放对创业的正向影响作用更大。此外,市场化程度以及技术创新是贸易开放促进中国创业的重要影响机制。本文还通过工具变量方法有效处理了贸易开放对创业影响机制与效应的内生性问题,纠正了以往研究中未考虑内生性问题而造成估计结果的偏差,实证结果在进行多维度的稳健性检验后仍然成立     

Flexible Outsourcing

Flexibility is definitely a key for success and is crucial in vertical relationships. Then, it seems worth analyzing the selection of the optimal degree of vertical integration and/or separation in a dynamic uncertain environment, where a flexible firm can switch from a certain degree of outsourcing back to vertical integration. The enterprise we investigate never throws away the vertical control of the manufacturing chain as it does not outsource the entire input requirement. On the contrary, it keeps the ability to make the intermediate good in‐house as a kind of prudential conduct. Higher uncertainty lets firms enter earlier, as vertical flexibility provides a hedge against risk. After entry, an increase in uncertainty boosts the probability of outsourcing. These results differ from received literature. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

浅析网络时代下高校团组织思想政治工作所面临的挑战与机遇

随着我国计算机网络的普及,全国信息自由化程度在不断的提高。这就给网络时代下的高校团组织思想政治工作带来了前所未有的挑战与机遇。一方面在海量自由化信息面前高校学生的思想政治倾向受到不良影响与干扰的可能性空前提高,另一方面借助于网络平台思想政治宣传的广泛性也得到了显著拓展。本文将就网络时代背景下的高校团组织思想政治工作所遇到的挑战与机遇展开分析与论述。     

The importance of diverse collaborative networks for the novelty of product innovation

Competition today is driving firms to introduce products with a higher degree of novelty. Consequently, there is a growing need to understand the critical success factors behind more novel product innovations. This paper theoretically and empirically analyzes the role of different types of collaborative networks in achieving product innovations and their degree of novelty. Using data from a longitudinal sample of Spanish manufacturing firms, our results show that technological collaborative networks are of crucial importance in achieving a higher degree of novelty in product innovation. Continuity of collaboration and the composition of the collaborative network are highly significant dimensions. Collaboration with suppliers, clients and research organizations—in this order—have a positive impact on the novelty of innovation, while collaboration with competitors has a negative impact. The greatest positive impact on the degree of innovation novelty comes from collaborative networks comprising different types of partners.     

客户集中度、现金持有与公司竞争优势

以2007—2013年沪深A股制造业上市公司为样本,实证检验了客户集中度对公司竞争优势的影响以及现金持有在其中的调节效应。研究发现,客户集中度与公司竞争优势显著负相关,尤其是在高竞争行业,客户集中度对公司竞争优势的负面影响更加显著;充裕的现金储备可以通过其风险管理职能和竞争效应显著降低客户集中度对公司竞争优势的负面影响,在高竞争行业,现金持有更有助于缓解客户集中度对公司竞争优势的负面影响。本研究从客户集中度视角揭示了公司竞争优势的影响因素,丰富了现金持有经济效应的研究。     

Services trade restrictiveness and manufacturing export sophistication

This paper highlights the importance of services trade liberalization. It is well-known that there is a strong relationship between the level of economic development of a country and the quality of its export basket. Since the pioneering work of Hausmann, Hwang, and Rodrik (2007), several studies have attempted to identify the determinants of export sophistication. In this paper, based on the existing literature, we argue that restrictiveness of services sector trade can have a negative impact on the level of export sophistication. Using panel data from 36 countries over the 2005–2014 period, we show that the impact of services sector trade restrictiveness on export sophistication is negative and statistically significant. We find that this negative effect has increased in the post-2007 period. Furthermore, restrictiveness of trade in modern services is relatively more detrimental to manufacturing export sophistication. A series of endogeneity and robustness tests confirm the reliability of our main empirical result. Our analysis suggests that services sector trade liberalization can also be used as a development strategy by developing countries.     

The Effect of Financial Liberalization on the Efficiency of Financial Institutions: The Case of Jordanian Commercial Banks

SUMMARY

Jordan undertook major financial sector liberalization starting in the early of 1990s. The effect of this reform on the efficiency of the banking sector is evaluated. A non-parametric method of Data Development Analysis (DEA) has been used to arrive at the efficiency scores for a panel data sample covering eight Jordanian commercial banks over the period 1984 to 2001. The findings suggest that liberalization program was followed by an observable increase in efficiency. Another finding of the study is that large banks demonstrated the faster productivity growth during the liberalization. The study has important implications such as guiding the government policy regarding deregulation and liberalization.     

An Assessment of the Performance of Indian State-Owned Enterprises

We examine the determinants of performance of 68 Indian state-owned enterprises in the manufacturing sector for a five-year period: 1987 to 1991. Relative performance is determined using data envelopment analysis, with variations in performance patterns subsequently explained using regression analysis. We note that the performance of firms in the Indian state-owned sector is characterized by both, low performance, as well as significant and systematic variations in the performance parameters. Size is positively associated and age negatively associated with efficiency. Further, economic liberalization and reforms aimed at improving the performance of state-owned firms induces efficiency gains over time. This heterogeneity within the state-owned sector has policy implications, which we discuss. In countries which have privatized large numbers of their state-owned firms, it is often the larger establishments which have been sold to the public. The state-owned firms in the manufacturing sector that can be candidates for privatization are the smaller and older manufacturing firms. These firms may also be easier to dispose of to private investors. This finding reinforces our central thesis that firm-level analysis within the state-owned sector is useful and important for generating pragmatic policy guidelines.