INCOME DISTRIBUTION,TECHNICAL CHANGE AND THE DYNAMICS OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

This paper explores the features of a dynamic multisectoral model that focuses on the relationship between income distribution, growth and international specialization. The model is explored both for the steady‐state properties and the transitory dynamics of integrated economies. Income inequality affects the patterns of growth and international specialization as the model uses non‐linear Engel curves and hence different income groups are characterized by different expenditure patterns. At the same time income distribution is also reflected in the relative wage rates of skilled to unskilled workers, i.e. the skill premium, and hence the wage structure affects comparative costs of industries which have different skill intensities. The model is applied to a situation that analyses qualitatively different economic development strategies of catching‐up economies (a ‘Latin American’ scenario and a ‘East Asian’ scenario).     

The Pace and Stability of Small Enterprise Innovation in Highly Dynamic Economies: A China‐Based Template*

In this paper, we analyze the dynamics of knowledge spillover entrepreneurship in the Chinese “transitional” context, as a template for the evaluation of the pace and stability of small business innovation institutionalization in many transition economies, and we also provide theory and evidence to further develop knowledge spillover entrepreneurship theory. Based on the first available cross‐sectional data set (2005 for 2004) covering 158 manufacturing sectors over the five Chinese provinces representing one‐third of China's industrial output, the empirical analysis provides evidence that local competition/specialization affect the pace/stability of innovation institutionalization in small enterprises and large‐medium enterprises differentially, suggesting new insights for research and policy in the transition‐economy/small business management context.     

Seeding the clouds for industrial relations climate change in emerging economies

As manufacturing businesses increasingly move labor‐intensive production to emerging economies, it is important for international managers to understand the sociopolitical factors that shape the climate in which management and labor interact. We present a conceptual “weather map” of industrial relations climates and use indices to plot the climates of 33 emerging, 11 transition, and 21 developed economies. As hypothesized, emerging economies, compared with transition and developed economies, are characterized by a relatively adversarial industrial relations climate and a high incidence of industrial action. Implications for international managers and future research directions are discussed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Industrial Policies in France: The Old and the New

Industrial policy is mainly sector based in France, moulding industrial specialization and often promoting “grand projects.” It intended to make use of economies of scale, specifically in technologically sophisticated sectors and has been labelled as High Tech Colbertism. The European unification and the Single Market Programme has to some extent converted European industrial policy to the horizontal approach, banning sectoral activities, promoting framework policies, and a sound macro economic policy. The Lisbon strategy then designed a new agenda for growth which acknowledged a gap in competitiveness relative to the USA. In France new initiatives were launched in the past decade, which to some extent are echoing the French type of industrial policy. Regional cluster programs (“poles de competitivité”) were introduced, an industrial innovation agency and a national research agency were founded and the Oseo program promotes small and medium firms. The history, preconditions and chances of the new initiatives are analysed.     

Emerging‐Market Firms Venturing into Advanced Economies: The Role of Context

Sociocultural, economic, political, and institutional differences between countries increase uncertainty and complexity in today's highly competitive international business environment. Moreover, the “West‐Leads‐East” to “West‐Meets‐East” shift in the global economy requires firms in both advanced economies and emerging markets to seek sustainable solutions by collaborating across geographic boundaries. Such novel collaborative partnerships may help build a stable, resilient, and sustainable world economy by leveraging the resources and capabilities of firms from both advanced and emerging economies. This article has three general objectives. First, we seek to show that context has been a long‐standing issue in management, organization, and international business research and provide an overview of the puzzles that informed and motivated this special issue. Second, we highlight the key insights and contributions of the articles included in this special issue by reviewing their theoretical underpinnings, methodological approaches, and empirical findings. Finally, we outline a future research agenda on emerging‐market firms venturing into advanced economies that can help advance international business and management studies. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Making the ‘handmade’ bike and trying to make a living: market objects,field-configuring events and some limits to market making

In line with growing interest in craft and maker economies, I examine the resurgence of handmade bicycle fabricators (“framebuilders”) in the U.S. since the early 2000s. I provide an account of one of the driving elements of this framebuilding renaissance, the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, considered as a “field-configuring event” through – and around – which forms of market-making and market object stabilization processes were achieved. I focus in particular on the way in which the “handmade bike” as a market object was stabilized and defined. Expanding on the “markets as practice” literature, I take up a larger concern with how these market-making and field-configuring dynamics connect to the material position of those within the field and their pursuit of livelihood. I find that, paradoxically, the particular successful stabilization of the “handmade” bicycle achieved around the show was difficult to sustain as a business model for many framebuilders.     

Organizational Ambidexterity and the Emerging‐to‐Advanced Economy Nexus: Cases from Private Higher Education Operators in the United Kingdom

The expansion of advanced‐market economy (AME) firms into emerging‐market economies (EME) is well documented. In recent decades, EME companies have moved increasingly into AMEs, especially within the manufacturing sector, as well as other important AME sectors such as higher education (HE). However, the latter have received less attention. This study conducts an in‐depth qualitative analysis of two EME HE organizations operating in the international HE sector in London. The argument applies a theoretical framework of organizational ambidexterity with which to examine the contexts and complexities in collaborations between EME‐HE and AME‐HE firms. These argument surfaces, inter alia: differing dynamics in relation to institutional frameworks and sense making; myopic internationalization; tensions regarding organizational reputation, place, partner, and product legitimization; unfulfilled reverse innovation and “explorative‐pull” phenomena. Overall, the article develops novel conceptual frameworks of practical relevance, which inform EME‐AME firm collaborative operations in AME settings. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

China,India and the Commodity Boom: Economic and Environmental Implications for Low‐income Countries

The international role of China has risen steadily for two decades – and has become even more important in the current global recession. The growing supply of labour‐intensive manufactured exports from China has been accompanied by a huge expansion in its imports both of raw materials and of skill‐intensive manufactured parts and components. This ‘offshoring’ of intermediates production by a large, labour‐abundant economy has economic and environmental implications for other developing economies. More recently, the rapid expansion of the Indian economy and trade indicates that it too will soon exert similar effects on global markets. We sketch a model showing how the growth of these developing‐country ‘giants’ generates adjustment pressures on other developing economies. We discuss in particular how differences in relative factor endowments of resource‐rich economies can produce quite different outcomes in the context of product fragmentation and expanding commodity trade. We also explore the effects on production, trade, environment and prospects for future growth in resource‐rich economies, particularly in the context of weak institutions and other market failures. We illustrate these different impacts by considering the cases of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and highlight implications for growth, development and policy.     

A Framework for Assessing Global Imbalances1

Since the mid‐1990s and prior to the financial crisis external balances of systemically important economies widened significantly. This paper takes a long‐run perspective and reviews the main determinants of widening global imbalances. To this aim, we first provide a set of newly derived statistical measures: while large external imbalances are not new in economic history, their persistence, their concentration on one economy (the United States) and the specific role of emerging market economies make the present episode rather unique. Second, we argue that the observed pattern of imbalances can be mostly understood as a result of various structural changes in the global economy, which have allowed a widening trend of external positions. Three main features set the most recent period apart from past episodes of growing external imbalances: (i) the emergence of new players, in particular emerging market economies such as China and India, which are quickly catching up with the advanced economies; (ii) an unprecedented wave of financial globalisation, with more integrated global financial markets and increasing opportunities for international portfolio diversification, also characterised by considerable asymmetries in the level of market completeness across countries; and (iii) the favourable global macroeconomic and financial environment, with record high global growth rates in recent years, low financial market volatility and easy global financing conditions over a long period of time, running until the outburst of the financial crisis during the summer of 2007. These structural changes that have been supplemented by cyclical or policy‐induced factors ultimately facilitated the sudden, disorderly unwinding of global imbalances that is reflected in the current financial crisis.     

优化投资环境 开发投资热土

经济发展环境是影响经济发展速度与质量的主要因素。只有具备优越宽松的投资环境 ,才能形成生产要素流动的“洼地效应” ,使招商引资的愿望变成现实。因此 ,必须树立强烈的开放意识 ,不断优化投资环境。要想将外地客商招得来、留得住 ,不仅要加强基础设施建设 ,大力优化投资的“硬环境” ,解决制约经济发展的“瓶颈”矛盾 ,而且要加大改革力度 ,积极优化投资的“软环境” ,实行优惠政策 ,提供优质服务 ,保护公平竞争 ,提高劳动力素质。从而创造适合生产力发展的外部条件 ,加快投资热土的形成 ,占领对外开放的制高点 ,赢得市场竞争的主动权。     

The Fallacy of Composition: A Review of the Literature

This paper reviews the literature on the fallacy of composition with an emphasis on labour‐intensive manufactures. It briefly addresses the protectionist and the partial‐equilibrium versions of the argument before focusing on general‐equilibrium considerations and the debate on the manufactures terms of trade of developing countries. The review indicates a potential fallacy of composition problem in labour‐intensive manufactures, where competition among different groups of developing countries for export market shares may constitute a new form of the fallacy of composition. The likelihood of a country that exports labour‐intensive manufactures to become subject to the fallacy of composition rises with the increasing integration of several strongly populated low‐income countries into world markets, while it declines with continuous structural change and favourable aggregate demand conditions particularly in developed and the advanced developing countries.     

我国蜂蜜出口美国的区域显示性对称比较优势分析

本文分析了我国蜂蜜出口美国的状况,比较了“显示性比较优势指数”、“显示性对称比较优势指数”和“区域显示性对称比较优势指数”在针对单一出口市场时的准确性,并测算了我国蜂蜜出口美国的“区域显示性对称比较优势指数”,对比分析了主要对手的竞争力和我国蜂蜜出口美国的比较优势。根据分析的优势状况,提出了相应的建议。     

US-sclerosis?

The USA is currently experiencing “jobless” economic growth, a situation which has been characteristic of European labour markets, and which has been coined “eurosclerosis”. This lack of employment growth in Europe has almost unanimously been ascribed to labour market institutions, although there has never been hard empirical support for this position. Now the US job machine does not seem to be working, although the American labour market institutions have not changed. Will we now see a decade of “US-sclerosis”?     

Industrial Policy: A Dying Breed or A Re-emerging Phoenix

Real world industrial policy is often poorly designed and always heavily opposed. Good intentions are overshadowed by bad outcomes. However, no commonly accepted definition exists; concepts differ across nations, regions, stage of development and over time. After switching from the sectoral to the horizontal approach—and facing never ending problems with targeting, large projects and specific technologies—industrial policy seemed to phase out at the end of the last century. Recently, interest has re-emerged, due to globalisation, outsourcing, low growth and high unemployment (specifically in Europe). We present evidence on past strategies and the performances of various concepts. We describe the new “matrix approach to industrial policy” developed by the European Commission. Finally, we venture to define elements of a “Systemic Industrial Policy”. This new type of industrial policy differs decisively from policies of the past, and has been receiving an impetus from the EU “Lisbon Strategy”, as well as from the rise of China and the new EU member countries. It is the complementary policy to globalisation, increasing its benefits and empowering and retraining potential losers. Systemic Industrial Policy supports basic education, training and entrepreneurship in developing countries, promotes FDI and exports in catching-up economies and merges with innovation strategies, cluster policy and dynamic competitiveness in high income countries. It goes beyond combating market failures, as it builds on economic laws, comparative and competitive advantages and changing specialisation patterns. It acknowledges limited knowledge of policy makers, mutual learning and co-operation between firms, institutions and government.     

The new EU merger regulation: Implications for EU‐U.S. merger strategies

This article examines the implications of the new EU merger regulation (EU 139/2004) on international merger strategies. Important changes in the new regulation on both a substantive and procedural level are analyzed in the comparative context of EU and U.S. merger‐control policies. In particular, the article evaluates whether the “substantial impediment to effective competition” (SIEC) test in the new regulation implies convergence with the U.S. “substantial lessening of competition” (SLC) benchmark. In this context, the article develops scenarios for convergence between EU and U.S. merger‐control policies. The EU merger process has emerged against a background of significant political and institutional development in the European Union, and this is an important explanatory element in the development of competition policy in general and for the new merger regulation in particular. It also has implications for merger strategies examined at the end of the article. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

民营企业发展现状的区域性考察——基于浙江数据

民营企业是浙江产业领域不可或缺的重要参与主体．改革开放后浙江经济奇迹般快速发展,最为突出的是民营企业异军突起并发挥了重要作用。但是,由于产品与要素市场行情变化等多种原因,简单加工和单个产品超量生产隐含着适应市场变化的能力不足,部分民营企业在“金融风暴”冲击下处于生存和发展的困境。经验表明,企业的成功整合能够提升“聚合体”的运营效率．因此民营中小企业有必要通过要素整合形成灵活的专业化分工聚合,以此来推动企业提高营运水平。     

Chinese cross‐border mergers and acquisitions in the developing world: Is Africa unique?

China has emerged as an important partner for Africa. Not surprisingly, Chinese business and investment relations with Africa have been growing. This article contends that Africa offers a different proposition to Chinese business interests in non‐African developing economies. In this optic, it takes a “comparative” institution‐based view treating factors that determine Chinese multinationals' cross‐border merger and acquisition (CBMA) decisions as comparatively different for Africa to the rest of the developing world. From a panel data estimation of the number of Chinese CBMAs from 2007 to 2016, we find among market size, natural resources, strategic assets, labor productivity, and institutional governance, only natural resources and market size have a distinctive effect, with Chinese investors being more attracted to African natural resources than the African market. The drive for natural resources provides impetus for Chinese MNEs to choose CBMAs over greenfield investment, and through majority ownership to exercise control. Our inference is that Africa is “significantly” different from other developing regions, in terms of CBMAs, as Chinese multinationals have a strong motive to control access to natural resources.     

Interpersonal Social Networks and Internationalization of Traditional SMEs

This study aims to understand the role of interpersonal social networks in the international strategies of “traditional SMEs,” namely small firms that are “born local” and that operate in low‐tech and non‐knowledge‐intensive industries. Specifically, building on the social capital approach and the international entrepreneurship literature, this study investigates how the structure and the content of interpersonal social networks affect both the activities of exploration/exploitation of opportunities abroad, as well as the path and the performance of the internationalization processes in the pre‐entry and post‐entry phases. Results show the dynamics of internationalization as a “social embedded” endeavor, by highlighting heuristics and path‐dependent phenomena connected to the features of the interpersonal social networks. Findings contribute to the literature as to the decision‐making processes, the role of trust, and the possible negative effects generated by the structure and the content of the interpersonal social networks, including the market withdrawals.     

US immigration policies and dynamics of cross‐border workforce in agriculture

Given the contentious debate on immigration, this study develops a dynamic model to analyse the effects of stricter border and domestic enforcement and streamlining the guest‐worker programme on cross‐border migration from Mexico, employment and production in US labour‐intensive and Mexican agriculture and the US and Mexican wage rates. The model incorporates labour‐leisure decisions of Mexican workers and labour market dynamics and linkages. The findings show stricter border and domestic controls exacerbate the labour‐shortage problems and reduce the US agricultural production. Streamlining the guest‐worker programme provides a steady supply of farm workers and has negligible impact on the US wage.     

A model of endogenous growth that elucidates the complexity of South–North convergence

This North–South model of Schumpeterian endogenous growth combines a market, productivity and knowledge effect. Depending upon the interaction of these effects, various convergent and divergent South–North growth paths occur: for example, full or partial convergence of the Southern technology level to the Northern one, conditional convergence or divergence depending upon the Southern initial technology level and absorptive capacity, higher or lower as well as decreasing or increasing growth rates during the phase of catching up, and equal or higher growth rates of the South compared to the North after catching up. This set of growth paths can better explain the diversity of the empirical observations for economies at different income and technology levels than those generated by existing models. In this new model, convergence based on North–South trade and associated flows of patents (innovations) is guaranteed if the knowledge effect dominates the productivity effect. A larger Southern market expands the area of convergence and can prevent divergence. Not only a larger Southern market, but also a higher Southern steady state growth rate benefit the North so that convergence is desirable for both, the South and the North.