Scale and scope economies in Korean accounting firms around Sarbanes-Oxley regulations

This paper examines how scale and scope economies in accounting firms changed after Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) regulations. Korea enacted SOX-type legislation to improve financial reporting quality in 2005. Our sample comprises 301 firm-year observations from 2002 to 2008. The sample period is divided into the pre-SOX (2002–2004) and post-SOX (2006–2008) periods. We estimate a multi-product translog cost function to determine whether significant changes occur in scale and scope economies during the pre- and post-SOX periods. Empirical results suggest that overall and product-specific economies of scale prevailed in accounting firms during the full sample, pre- and post-SOX periods. Accounting firms were less able to exploit scale economies in the post-SOX period. The marginal costs of producing Audit and Accounting (A&A) increased, whereas those producing Tax Services (TAX) declined. Cost complementarities existed only in jointly providing TAX and Business Advisory Services (BAS) during the pre-SOX years. In contrast, scope economies occurred in the joint production of A&A and TAX or TAX and BAS during the post-SOX period. Our analysis can be applied to the accounting industry in other countries that have adopted SOX-type regulations.     

Wholesalers,indirect exports,geography, and economies of scope: Evidence from firm transaction data in Japan

This study examines wholesalers’ roles in manufacturers’ exports in Japan. First, it is shown that, like in the case of manufacturing sector, a productivity sorting on the overseas activities is also present in the case of wholesalers. Namely, only the most productive wholesaler firms can engage in foreign direct investment, and the next productive wholesaler firms can participate in export activities, and the least productive wholesaler firms do domestic transactions only. Second, we investigate how the wholesalers facilitate manufacturers’ export activities in the form of indirect exports. We have found that the wholesalers through which manufacturing firms indirectly export their goods are predominantly located in Tokyo or Osaka. The probability of indirect exports is negatively correlated with distance between manufacturers and wholesalers, but there are certain threshold distances at 300–500 kilometers, over which the chance of indirect exports turns null. Another notable finding is that wholesalers’ productivities have positive correlation with the chances of indirect exports whereas manufacturers’ productivities do not matter. The number of manufacturers from which a wholesaler purchases goods, is found to have a positive correlation with the probability of indirect exports, a type of economies of scope effect.     

Productivity, efficiency, scale economies and technical change: A new decomposition analysis of TFP applied to the Japanese prefectures

This paper aims to examine the productivity change of the Japanese economy using the data pertaining to the 47 prefectures during the period 1981–2000. The decomposition analysis of the Hicks–Moorsteen–Bjurek productivity index is conducted to explore the sources of the productivity change. In summary, technical change and efficiency change are two of the most important components driving procyclical productivity. We find that relative their importance varies over periods. Supply shocks captured by technical change component caused upturns in productivity in the mid and late 1980s and in 1999 and 2000. Supply shocks also caused downturns in the early and mid 1990s. On the other hand, demand shocks captured by efficiency change component drove upturns of productivity in 1984, 1990 and 1996, when supply shocks were not detected. J. Japanese Int. Economies 19 (4) (2005) 617–634.     

在华日韩企业的本土化之比较--以人才本土化为中心

全球金融危机后世界经济处于低迷状态,但中国经济依然高速、稳定增长。面对中国产业结构优化升级和市场日益成熟、逐渐扩大的投资环境,日韩企业开始调整其投资战略。但危机后,韩资企业的竞争力迅速提高,而日资企业却逐渐失去竞争力,造成这些差异的原因之一便是两国本土化能力的不同。作者分别于2007、2012、2014年对部分日韩企业进行调研,发现本土化是影响企业竞争力的一个重要因素,并具体比较分析了以人才本土化为中心的日韩企业本土化特点及实施方式。最后得出一些对我国企业和政府的启示。     

产业转移与区域创新耦合协调度分析——以广州都市圈为例

产业转移和区域创新存在内在耦合协调需求.在梳理了两者的耦合协调机理的基础上,通过构建评价指标体系,获取相关面板数据,并采用时间序列熵值赋权法和耦合协调度模型对2009—2019年广州都市圈的产业转移系统与区域创新系统的综合水平与耦合协调度进行测算与分析,并从时空角度探索产业转移与区域创新的耦合协调发展趋势.研究表明,在产业转移政策实施和区域创新系统不断完善的情况下,广州都市圈内产业转移与区域创新系统的综合水平与耦合协调度都呈现整体上升趋势,并且协调类型也开始从低度水平上升至中度水平,但区域内仍存在较大差异.针对以上研究结论提出了相关建议.     

创新型城市建设对革命老区地方区域发展质效分析——以龙岩市为例

聚焦创新型城市指标体系,围绕创新要素集聚能力、综合实力和产业竞争力、创新创业环境、创新对社会民生发展的支撑、创新政策体系和治理架构等方面,总结龙岩市推进创新型城市建设的特色做法,分析国家创新型城市建设对龙岩区域发展提升情况。结果显示,龙岩市通过开展国家创新型城市建设,创新治理力、原始创新力、技术创新力、成果转化力、创新驱动力均实现较大的提升。同时,与福建省内其他创新型城市进行比较,剖析龙岩市创新型城市建设存在的不足,并就建设更高水平国家创新型城市这一目标,提出相应的对策建议,为革命老区地市开展创新型城市建设提供借鉴参考。