Industry Dynamics and Competition from Low‐Wage Countries: Evidence on Italy

This article analyses the effect of competition from low‐wage countries on domestic activity, using data on 230 Italian manufacturing sectors between 1995 and 2007. It finds that low‐wage import penetration is negatively related to employment and other measures of activity. The effect is significantly smaller in more skill, capital and R&D‐intensive sectors and in more vertically differentiated sectors. There is also evidence of significant effects of low‐wage competition through inter‐industry linkages: employment is negatively related to low‐wage import penetration in downstream sectors but positively related to low‐wage import penetration in upstream sectors.     

我国中间产品反倾销的公共利益问题探讨

自1997年我国发起第一起反倾销调查至今,我国反倾销调查绝大多数是针对中间产品的进口。本文针对我国反倾销产品的特征,结合这些产品下游产业的行业垄断特征,研究了我国中间产品反倾销的公共利益问题,指出对中间产品合理征收反倾销税可以提高我国整体福利。     

Plant Scale and Exchange‐Rate‐Induced Productivity Growth

This paper examines the impact of exchange rate movements on firm‐level productivity through changes in the scale of production. We employ plant‐level data to examine whether, and in what direction, exchange rate movements affect the scale of production, and how these changes in scale influence productivity. The paper finds that a real appreciation of the domestic currency reduces shipments and this negative effect is larger for exporters (both domestic and foreign owned). The paper also finds evidence that the appreciation‐induced reduction of scale negatively affects productivity at the plant level. This scale effect more than offsets any potential gains from the appreciation‐induced reduction in the price of imported inputs.     

The exchange rate and machinery and equipment imports: Identifying the impact of import source and export destination country currency valuation changes

This paper presents estimates of the impact of exchange rate movements on the quantity of machinery and equipment imports. Many countries have become increasingly reliant on imports of these types of products and evidence in a number of studies indicates that investment in machinery and equipment contributes to improved productivity and growth. Unlike previous studies, this study differentiates between exchange rate movements with respect to machinery and equipment import source and final good export destination countries. Data are employed for two machinery and equipment importing countries, Australia and Canada, and two exporting countries, Japan and the U.S. The results indicate that a currency depreciation with respect to an import source country has a significant negative effect on the quantity of machinery and equipment imports, while a depreciation with respect to a domestic final good export destination country has a significant positive effect. These findings imply that the net impact on the quantity of machinery and equipment imports of an exchange rate change with respect to a particular country will depend on the extent to which that country is a supplier of machinery and equipment imports and a market for domestic exports.     

Discriminatory input pricing and strategic delegation

This paper examines how discriminatory input pricing by an upstream monopolist affects the incentives that owners of downstream duopolists offer their managers. Regardless of the mode of competition (quantity or price), owners of downstream firms induce their managers to be more profit‐oriented and to behave less aggressively when the monopolist is allowed to price‐discriminate than when he charges a uniform price. If the monopolist price‐discriminates, managerial downstream firms always earn more than owner‐managed profit‐maximizing firms. However, if the monopolist charges a uniform price, managerial downstream firms earn more than profit‐maximizing counterparts under price competition and earn less under quantity competition. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

发达国家反倾销贸易保护主义探源——基于经济理性角度的分析

发达国家的反倾销从本质上看具有贸易保护主义的性质.从经济学角度考察,只有针对掠夺性倾销的反倾销才是经济理性的和具有经济效率的;从经济理性角度考察发达国家反倾销目的演化的历程,发现发达国家的反倾销以保证"公平竞争"为名偏离了经济效率的轨道,而反倾销措施直接限制进口的结果使得反倾销必然成为发达国家不顾经济效率而体现其对产业保护关注的工具.     

An input–output model of exchange-rate pass-through

The impact of the exchange rate on price formation is often debated through a mechanism called the exchange-rate pass-through. Studies of the pass-through generally rely on econometric analysis implemented on time series data. This study examines pass-through to the domestic price level through an input–output model. The proposed model is implemented on a sample of countries, and a number of different variables connected to the pass-through are examined. A comparison across countries and sectors highlights the importance of the construction sector in price formation. National income is negatively related to the pass-through. A high dependence on intermediate imports implies higher pass-through. Price level volatility and pass-through are positively related; whereas a country’s monetary policy stance has no apparent effect. The effect of exchange-rate volatility is unclear; it is negative for the real effective exchange rate, the connection is very weak in the case of the nominal exchange rate.     

我国企业应对反倾销的会计理论体系

自入世以来,反倾销已经成为国内企业国际化进程的一大障碍。会计防护机制的缺失是我国企业反倾销应诉失败的重要原因。通过分析欧美等发达国家对"市场经济地位"的定义及对应的"会计标准要求",观察其反倾销调查机构会计参与及运作程序,我国企业应对反倾销的会计理论体系应主要从反倾销应诉会计、反倾销规避会计和反倾销调查会计等方面考虑。     

Entrepreneurial size,complexity and decentralization of decision-making in the use of temporary help workers in Spain

Using data from a postal survey of Spanish firms, the present work, as its main objective, tries to evaluate the effect of entrepreneurial size, degree of decentralization in decision-making and vertical complexity on the use of temporary help workers. As complementary objectives, it also seeks to confirm the effect of entrepreneurial size on elements of the organizational structure, such as decentralization in decision-making, and on vertical complexity. To respond to the hypotheses, a LISRE model has been used. The results show that entrepreneurial size and degree of decentralization positively affect the frequency with which companies use temporary help workers. In contrast, vertical complexity negatively affects the use of this type of worker. On the other hand, it is confirmed that entrepreneurial size positively affects decentralization in decision-making and vertical complexity.     

反倾销应用的新趋势及影响因素研究:以土耳其为例

土耳其是国际反倾销的新兴使用者,在1995年-2008年间,反倾销诉讼数量达到百起的十个反倾销大国中,土耳其反倾销诉讼总量排位第九,但是其对华反倾销诉讼强度却居十国之首。文章通过对土耳其反倾销应用的新趋势及其影响因素的实证分析发现,土耳其反倾销诉讼同时受到宏观经济因素和报复性动机的影响。     

A reconsideration of the link between vertical externality and managerial incentives

Previous research revealed that the strategic role of delegation contracts disappears if two quantity‐setting firms outsource input production to a monopolistic supplier. I show that this role is restored if the assumption of a downstream duopoly is relaxed. Thus, delegation contracts allow downstream profit‐maximizing owners to commit their firms to a behavior that differs from their preferences. This behavior varies nonmonotonically with the number of firms in the downstream market. Corresponding deviations from profit maximization are larger if the upstream monopolist makes a price precommitment. But little to no deviation occurs if the number of firms is large.     

The Effect of Import Competition on Firm Productivity and Innovation: Does the Distance to Technology Frontier Matter?

How does foreign competition affect growth and innovation in China? Using our unique measures of proximity of Chinese firms and industries to the world technology frontier, we find that despite vast sectoral heterogeneity, Chinese manufacturing industries have undergone rapid technological upgrading over the period of 2000–06. The distance to the world production frontier of firms and industries plays an important role in shaping the nexus between the competition pressure from foreign imports and domestic firms' growth and innovation behaviour. Our results support the theoretical predictions of Aghion et al. (2005, The Quarterly Journal of Economics, pp. 701–728) that import competition stimulates the domestic firms' productivity growth and R&D expenditure if firms and their industries are close to the world frontier, but discourages such incentives for laggard firms and industries. The two forces highlighted by the model operate for imports under the ordinary‐trade regime, for collective and private firms, and for imports originated from high‐income countries. Our findings are robust after controlling the influence of foreign investment, the reverse causality of regressors and the short‐term business cycle fluctuations.     

United States oil and gas stock returns with multi-factor pricing models: 2008–2018

International oil demand is met by large government-owned producers, with remaining production divided between publicly traded Majors and Independents. This study compares publicly traded oil producer equity returns traded on the NYSE for the Majors and Independent US oil producers. Individual producer returns were related to equity and oil returns. Equity market risk is lower for large Majors and higher for smaller Independent rivals. Oil producers’ risk premiums associated with oil are smaller for large Majors and larger for smaller Independents. Natural gas returns generally do not affect producer returns. Major returns are inversely while smaller Independent returns are positively related to the size effect. Major oil producer returns are positively related to the value effect and negatively related to momentum.     

Capacity Investment under Demand Uncertainty: The Role of Imports in the U.S. Cement Industry

Demand uncertainty is thought to influence irreversible capacity decisions. Suppose that local demand can be sourced from domestic (rigid) production or from (flexible) imports. This paper shows that the optimal domestic capacity is either increasing or decreasing with demand uncertainty, depending on the relative level of the costs of domestic production and imports. We test this relationship with data from the U.S. cement industry, in which the difference in marginal cost between domestic production and imports varies across local U.S. markets because cement is costly to transport over land. Industry data for 1999 to 2010 are consistent with the predictions of the model. The introduction of two technologies to the production set—one rigid and one flexible—is crucial to understanding the relationship between capacity choice and uncertainty in this industry because there is no relationship between these two variables in aggregated U.S. data. Our analysis reveals that the relationship is negative in coastal districts, and significantly more positive in landlocked districts.     

Home bias and U.S. imports of processed food products

This article estimates the degree of home bias for U.S. imported food products using an Armington model (Armington, 1969), and then assesses some of its determinants. Empirical results indicate that a very strong bias toward domestic products significantly limits foreign imports of the same type of products, and that without home bias, imports would increase several-fold. The degree of home bias is found to be higher in industries with co-location of raw agricultural production, delivery of mostly finished rather than intermediate food products, protection by high non-tariff barriers, and importation from neighboring countries (Mexico and Canada).     

Leverage and firm growth: an empirical investigation of gazelles from emerging Europe

The aim of the paper is to assess the impact of leverage on gazelles’ performance while controlling for firm characteristics, macroeconomic environment, and characteristics of domestic banking sectors. Using a sample of 1105 gazelles from Central, Eastern, and South-Eastern European (CESEE) countries for the period 2006–2014, we find that leverage negatively affects firm growth. The results prove to be robust regarding the use of different estimation approaches, alternatives variables for firm growth, and different sub-samples. Our results suggest that improving access to various sources and types of financing represents a key issue for supporting gazelles’ growth. We also find that macroeconomic environment and banking sector characteristics are important determinants of gazelles’ growth. The economic growth positively influences sales and total assets growth, while the effect of financial and economic development varied with the firm growth measure used. Our findings provide empirical evidence for the need of policy initiatives at national and European Union level to facilitate the growth of small businesses.

     

Local institutions,external finance and investment decisions of small businesses in Vietnam

This study investigates the impacts of local institutions, external finance, and their joint effects on firm investment in Vietnam. Investment decisions are classified into two categories: fixed asset investment and non-fixed asset investment. Analysing a set of 1.3 million firm-year observations of businesses in Vietnam (2006–2016), we find evidence that local institutions (both formal and informal) positively influence fixed asset investment but negatively affect non-fixed asset investment. Also, we find that informal loans are positively associated with both types of firm investment while bank loans are negatively associated with both types of firm investment. More importantly, we find that the quality of local institutions is able to moderate firms’ external financing behaviour, leading to increased investment values.     

Product Differentiation and Upstream-Downstream Relations

This paper examines the relationship between a differentiated downstream market and a specialized upstream market. We analyze three different types of vertical relation between the upstream and downstream sectors when the upstream market supplies specialized and complementary inputs to a downstream product-differentiated market. The first is the benchmark case of decentralized markets, the second is a network of alliances among upstream suppliers, and the third is partial vertical integration. We identify the perfect equilibrium for a symmetric model in each case and show that there is no simple relationship between the degree of connection between upstream and downstream firms and profitability. The key factor affecting prices and the relative profitability of the different market organizations is the degree of product differentiation among the downstream firms, because it affects the intensity of competition among upstream suppliers. We show that vertical foreclosure is not an equilibrium strategy.     

Vertical externality and strategic delegation

This paper examines the effects of vertical externality generated by the upstream monopoly on the incentives that owners of competing downstream firms give their managers. It is shown that the introduction of the upstream monopoly may have significant effects on the incentive schemes for the downstream firms' managers. In particular, it is shown that in equilibrium, each owner obtains the simple Nash equilibrium outcome regardless of the mode of competition (quantity or price) in the downstream market. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Growth, development and natural resources: New evidence using a heterogeneous panel analysis

This paper explores whether natural resource abundance is a curse or a blessing. To do so, we firstly develop a theory consistent econometric model, in which we show that there is a long run relationship between real income, the investment rate, and the real value of oil production. Secondly, we investigate the long-run (level) impacts of natural resource abundance on domestic output as well as the short-run (growth) effects. Thirdly, we explicitly recognize that there is a substantial cross-sectional dependence and cross-country heterogeneity in our sample, which covers 53 oil exporting and importing countries with very different historical and institutional backgrounds, and adopt the non-stationary panel methodologies developed by Pesaran (2006) and Pedroni (2000) for estimation. Our results, using the real value of oil production, rent or reserves as a proxy for resource endowment, reveal that oil abundance has a positive effect on both income levels and economic growth. While we accept that oil rich countries could benefit more from their natural wealth by adopting growth and welfare enhancing policies and institutions, we challenge the common view that oil abundance affects economic growth negatively.