The US stock market and the international value of the US dollar

We investigate the spillover effect of the US equity market on the value of the dollar and therefore on the return and volatility of US equity investments for the international investor. The data are daily observations of the S & P 500 and the US dollar in terms of seven foreign currencies covering the period 1971–2002. Using Geweke measures of feedback, we find a high percentage of contemporaneous association between daily movements in the S & P 500 index and changes in the value of the dollar. A consistently positive relationship between the S & P 500 and the dollar is found for the period 1992–2002, creating a compounding effect for the foreign investor in US equities. However, investment by foreigners in US equities did not result in consistently higher returns but in higher volatility compared to their US counterparts for the period 1971–2002.     

Exchange market intervention and the US dollar

In the past years central banks of major Western industrialised countries have repeatedly attempted to change the trend of the US-Dollar rate by means of intervention in the foreign exchange markets. Our authors analyse the objectives, effects and chances of success of such exchange market interventions.     

Engineers and management: The challenge of the challenger incident

The Challenger incident was a result of at least four kinds of difficulties: differing perceptions and priorities of the engineers and management at Thiokol and at NASA, a preoccupation with roles and role responsibilities on the part of engineers and managers, contrasting corporate cultures at Thiokol and its parent, Morton, and a failure both by engineers and by managers to exercise individual moral responsibility. I shall argue that in the Challenger case organizational structure, corporate culture, engineering and managerial habits, and role responsibilites precipitated events contributing to the Challenger disaster. At the same time, a number of individuals at Morton Thiokol and NASA were responsible for the launch failure. Differing world views, conflicting priorities of the engineers and managers on this project, and the failure of either engineers or management to take personal moral responsibility for decision-making contributed significantly to the event. Patricia H. Werhane is the Wirtenberger Professor of Business Ethics at Loyola University of Chicago. She is one of the founding members and past president of the Society for Business Ethics and editor-in-chief of Business Ethics Quarterly. Her publications include Ethical Issues in Business, coedited with Tom Donaldson, Persons, Rights, and Corporations, and Adam Smith and His Legacy for Modern Capitalism forthcoming with Oxford University Press.     

The rise of dollar credit in emerging market economies and US monetary policy

This paper examines the hypothesis that the boom in dollar credit in emerging market economies (EMEs) is associated with an excessively low interest rate in the US. For this purpose, we use a multivariate correlated unobserved component model that allows for correlation between shocks to dollar credit, cross‐border interest rate gaps—measured as the difference between emerging market interest rate and the US interest rate, and dollar index both in the short run and in the long run. In addition, it also provides us a quantitative estimate of the permanent and transitory movements in dollar credit in EMEs, interest rate gaps and dollar index. The results from this model do suggest that a temporary increase in interest rate gaps and decline in the dollar index are associated with a temporary increase in the dollar credit in EMEs with a very high degree of correlation. The estimate of the cyclical component of the dollar credit in EMEs from our model captures the recent boom and bust in this market and compares favourably to alternative trend–cycle decomposition methods.     

Factors Influencing the Early Internationalization of High Technology Start-ups: US and UK Evidence

The paper examines factors influencing the early internationalization of small high technology international start-ups in the US and UK in order to understand why small high technology start-ups are increasingly international in nature at or near inception. The study qualitatively identifies influential factors and quantitatively measures the level of importance of 25 leading factors to the firms. The study found that the principal factors influencing the early internationalization of international start-ups are the international vision of the founders, their desire to be international market leaders, the identification of specific international opportunities, and the possession of international contacts and sales leads.     

现阶段人民币国际化的进展及面临的问题

近两年来,人民币国际化在跨境贸易人民币结算、与其他国家和地区央行开展货币互换、重新启动人民币汇率形成机制改革、建设香港人民币离岸市场(CNH)、促进境外人民币交易以及推进跨境直接投资人民币结算等方面,都取得了令人瞩目的进展,但与此同时,现阶段的人民币国际化进程也面临着一些问题或困境。这其中,跨境贸易人民币结算的发展不平衡和其中存在的大量套利融资等投机活动,值得关注。总地来看,人民币国际化所面临的内在问题主要有两类:一类是发展中可以解决的问题,另一类是制度或体制等长期性、前提性的问题;而从外部环境因素来看,伴随着人民币国际化进程的加快,作为现行国际货币体系核心国家的美国和地区性大国日本的反应与对策,也将对人民币国际化进程产生日益增大的影响。对此,需要引起足够的重视并有必要开展积极的研究。     

Banking on global success: Internationalization strategy and its limitations (the case of Allied Irish Banks)

This article explores the choices and challenges facing Ireland's leading financial services corporation, Allied Irish Banks (AIB), in its strategy for international market growth. It begins with an examination of the company's internationalization strategies within the global banking context. It then considers the limitations of international market expansion and transnational management control for a company with low brand recognition outside of its home market and limited experience of international operations. Finally, it elaborates on the strategic challenges that face the organization and reflects on the lessons for other midsized international companies competing in consolidating, globalized industries.© 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The impact of the yuan‐dollar exchange rate on Mexican manufacturing exports to the US: A cointegration approach

This paper makes use of three econometric methods and three time intervals to evaluate the long‐term effects of several key variables on Mexican manufacturing exports to the US . The evidence across econometric techniques and sample periods systematically indicates that: (i) a real depreciation of the yuan‐dollar exchange rate reduces Mexican manufacturing exports by lowering the price of Chinese goods in the US market; (ii) a depreciation of the peso‐dollar real exchange rate generates a strong supply‐side effect due to the high import content of Mexican manufacturing exports, which ultimately leads to lower (rather than higher) sales in the US ; and (iii) external demand and labour productivity are positively related to manufacturing exports, whereas real wages are negatively related. Therefore, a falling external demand for Mexican manufacturing products or a real depreciation of the Chinese currency could, to some extent, be offset by increasing labour productivity faster than wages. These findings reflect two fundamental problems of the Mexican economy: (i) low investment in high‐quality formal instruction and proper training programs, which gives rise to severe bottleneck points for faster labour productivity growth and (ii) excessive reliance of the export‐oriented manufacturing industry on foreign suppliers of intermediate inputs.     

The dollar and special drawing rights

The IMF's Interim Committee recently for the first time discussed the creation of a “Substitution Account” to convert certain amounts of excess reserve currencies into SDRs. This issue is likely to be on the agenda of the next annual meeting of the IMF in the fall of this year. Prof. Feuerlein discusses the problems of such an account.     

Virtual currencies: different schemes and research opportunities

Marketing Letters - The digitization of money has led to the emergence of numerous virtual currencies. Despite their great financial relevance, virtual currencies have not received much attention...     

Internationalization of an academic invention through successive science-business networks: The case of TAVI

The aim of this paper is to explain how new technology ventures move, grow, and scale. Such ventures internationalize much faster than depicted by the traditional Uppsala model (Johanson and Vahlne, J Int Bus Stud 8:23–32, 1977; Johanson and Vahlne, Mark Rev 7(4), 1990; Johanson and Vahlne, J Int Entrep 1:83–101, 2003; Johanson and Vahlne, Manag Int Rev 46:165–178, 2006; Oviatt and McDougall, J Int Bus Stud 25:45–64, 1994). According to the Uppsala model, the main reason it takes time is that entrepreneurs need to build networks and learn. Many scholars have investigated how they may be able to learn faster and grow networks more effectively. While these explanations contribute to a better understanding of the process, they appear disturbingly insufficient. By means of an in-depth case study, we aim at identifying how learning and network-building constraints may be circumvented. We have investigated the internationalization process of an invention at a Danish university hospital that became a new technology within minimally invasive heart surgery. While the invention took place in the periphery of the international medical network, the venture circulated to the most competent international science-business networks to mobilize resources and competencies. We found that its ability to succeed resulted from its roots in international academic networks and its connecting to core nodes in these as well as in adequate business networks—including, in particular, Venture Capital firms that are in the business of developing and scaling such technology ventures. We also found that the innovation process evolved through phases that called for different resources and capabilities. It thereby offered opportunities for actors, networks, and companies that control such capabilities to move in to take control and pull the venture through the next phase. The process is less like a long distance run, and more like a relay race. This radically reduces the need to learn as the new venture expands and scales.     

Internationalization strategy,financial constraints and assets (in)tangibility. A study of euro area countries after the 2008 crisis

This paper studies the determinants of companies’ performance during the crisis based on their short-term (sales changes) and medium-term (exit) reaction, using firms’ data from the European Firms in Global Economy (EFIGE) survey and combining them with balance-sheet statistics. The results, based on the four largest euro area countries show that vulnerability to the crisis depended on a company’s mode of international operation. More sophisticated forms of internationalization increased firms’ resilience in the first and second waves of the crisis. The paper also investigates the mediating role of intangible assets and financial constraints in the relationship between internationalization and companies’ response to the crisis. While intangible assets were very important for preventing a drop in sales for internationalized firms immediately after 2008, they amplified the probability of firms’ exit five years after the crisis in weaker European countries (Spain and Italy). At the same time, financial constraints increased companies’ probability of exit. Innovation prevented a drop in firms’ sales and firms’ exit.     

Of markets,products and prices: The effects of the euro on European firms

The introduction of the euro was initially expected to boost trade by an enormous percentage. Following many downward revisions of original estimates the current consensus estimate amounts to an increase of about 5 per cent. In view of the initial high expectations this is often seen as a dismal result. It is, however, based on aggregate data and may therefore hide important microeconomic gains that arise even for a given level of trade fl ows. This paper uses detailed product and firm level data to shed light on these hidden gains. This paper is based on the EFIGE Report 2008, issued under the same title as Bruegel Blueprint Series Volume VIII. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement No. 225551 and from the Bank of France. The views expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission or the Bank of France. We are grateful to Andrew Fielding for editorial support. Opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors alone.