Business type,industry value chain,and R&D performance: Evidence from high-tech firms in an emerging market

This study focuses on how the business type and technological learning mode, which a high-tech firm chooses based on its core competence, influence the firm's R&D strategies, which in turn affect firm performance. This study also explores how the interaction between a firm's business type and industry value chain stage affects the relationship between R&D investments and operating performance. We suggest that the linkage of R&D investments and operating performance will increase gradually, when firms move from contract manufacturing to own brand business. R&D investments can contribute more to performance when firms adopt the hybrid business type. Furthermore, R&D investments generate more significant benefits for the own brand companies than the contract manufacturers at the same stage of the industry value chain. R&D investments of the downstream contract manufacturers have a negative impact on firm performance. Regardless of business type, firms in the upstream (midstream) stage of the industry value chain outperform downstream stage firms in deriving benefits from R&D activities. Finally, the lagged effects of R&D investments on operating performance are affected by the interaction between business type and industry value chain.     

Global Income Divergence, Trade, and Industrialization: The Geography of Growth Take-Offs

This article formalizesthe theoretical interconnections among four post–industrialrevolution phenomena—the industrialization and growth take-offof rich northern nations, massive global income divergence, andrapid trade expansion. In stages-of-growth model, the four phenomenaare jointly endogenous and are triggered by falling trade costs.In the first growth stage (with high trade costs) industry isdispersed internationally, and growth is low. In the second (mediumtrade costs), the North industrializes rapidly, growth take-off,and the South diverges. In the third (low trade costs), highgrowth and global divergence become self-sustaining. In the fourthstage, when the cases of ``trading' ideas decreases, the Southquickly industrializes and converges.     

基于金融脱媒机理的商业银行业务转型

随着经济金融体制改革向纵深推进和金融领域的全面对外开放,中国商业银行正经历着前所未有的经营环境巨变,脱媒趋势日益显现。金融脱媒只是经济发展到一定阶段对银行传统中介功能提出的挑战,中国商业银行可从开展零售银行业务、拓展中间业务、开拓网络银行业务、推动商业银行的综合经营等方面进行业务转型来应对脱媒。     

Capacity constraints, asymmetries, and the business cycle

We study how an occasionally binding capacity constraint affects the properties of business cycles. A real business cycle model is constructed where production takes place at individual plants and the number of plants operated varies over the cycle. The capacity constraint binds in states where all plants are operated. We derive the aggregate production function for this economy, which turns out to differ from the standard Cobb–Douglas function while retaining its desirable properties. The business cycle features of this one-sector growth model are similar to those of a standard real business cycle model in most respects. Our model does, however, display some properties of actual economies that standard models do not. In particular, business cycles in our model are asymmetric—troughs are deeper on average than peaks are tall. Also, labor's share of income is counter-cyclical, as it is in US data.     

Business cycles and productivity growth: Are temporary downturns productive or wasteful?

This paper investigates the relationship between the structure of the business cycle and total factor productivity (TFP) growth in U.S. manufacturing. Previous empirical studies on cycle-growth interactions have been conducted at the aggregate level, and have produced mixed results. In contrast, we examine the dynamic linkages between temporary employment shocks and TFP at the industry level, using the NBER Productivity Database. Given the substantial differences in factor intensities, costs and the nature of innovation and productivity-enhancing activities across industries, there are good reasons why cycle-growth interactions may be more readily captured at the sectoral level. We construct an exactly identified Vector Autoregressive model for employment and TFP growth, and find strong support for the “opportunity-cost” view of business cycle-productivity growth interaction. This result suggests that recessions can lead to TFP growth through reorganization and restructuring effects. On the other hand, we find little support for the notion that temporary booms increase TFP through “learning-by-doing” effects. The responsiveness of TFP to employment shocks also seems to be related to the degree of job reallocation within individual industries and the capital intensity of the industry in question. This is further evidence in favour of the view that employment shocks can trigger reorganization effects. Finally, we suggest possible future avenues for this research, including the adjustment of TFP measures to allow for variable factor utilization over the cycle.     

Characteristics of technology transfer in business ventures: the case of Daejeon, Korea

This article explores the characteristics of venture business and entrepreneurs in Korea to (1) identify technology transfer activities, (2) analyze the differences between technology transfer in linear and nonlinear venture businesses, and (3) guide more effective venture business policy and strategy. This empirical assessment reveals that entrepreneurs have insightful evaluations about their resources and capacities as well as expectations with regard to functions and features of science parks and incubators. Respondents from “linear model”-based start-ups tend to be older and have higher education, employ more basic research and development (R&D) and have more R&D-oriented careers, and have more varied work experience than “nonlinear”-based start-ups. The functions and features of science parks and incubators were generally not considered a critical influence on start-ups nor on the growth of venture businesses. Accordingly, alternative venture-nurturing strategies are discussed as being key to accelerate venture businesses growth.     

Business cycle dynamics with duration dependence and leading indicators

Durland and McCurdy [Durland, J.M., McCurdy, T.H., 1994. Duration-dependent transitions in a Markov model of US GNP growth. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 12, 279–288] investigated the issue of duration dependence in US business cycle phases using a Markov regime-switching approach, introduced by Hamilton [Hamilton, J., 1989. A new approach to the analysis of time series and the business cycle. Econometrica 57, 357–384] and extended to the case of variable transition parameters by Filardo [Filardo, A.J., 1994. Business cycle phases and their transitional dynamics. Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 12, 299–308]. In Durland and McCurdy’s model duration alone was used as an explanatory variable of the transition probabilities. They found that recessions were duration dependent whilst expansions were not. In this paper, we explicitly incorporate the widely-accepted US business cycle phase change dates as determined by the NBER, and use a state-dependent multinomial Logit modelling framework. The model incorporates both duration and movements in two leading indexes – one designed to have a short lead (SLI) and the other designed to have a longer lead (LLI) – as potential explanatory variables. We find that doing so suggests that current duration is not only a significant determinant of transition out of recessions, but that there is some evidence that it is also weakly significant in the case of expansions. Furthermore, we find that SLI has more informational content for the termination of recessions whilst LLI does so for expansions.     

基于自组织的河西走廊新能源产业集群成长演化

基于自组织理论,从产业集群成长演化视角探讨我国新能源产业发展,选取典型地区新能源产业集群进行集聚度分析,探索新能源产业集群成长规律,分析河西走廊新能源产业集群成长演化。研究发现：我国新能源产业于2004年进入集群成长自放大阶段,2013年前集聚水平稳定上升,现阶段产业发展面临升级与衰退两种极端;结合产业集聚水平变化,基于自组织理论,可将我国新能源产业集群成长演化划分为4个阶段;河西走廊新能源产业集群在政府外生力量的推动下,已完成资源要素自增强阶段,形成了空间集聚,目前处于企业集聚能力自放大向集群系统自调整的过渡阶段。最后,提出了加快河西走廊新能源产业集群发展的对策。     

当前我国经济运行的周期性波动特征

目前我国经济运行正处于存货投资短周期波动的扩张期、固定资产投资增长短周期和中周期波动的扩张期、产业结构升级中周期波动的衰退期和中长周期波动的复苏期。与这一系列经济活动的周期性变化特征相对应 ,我国GDP增长正处于短周期波动的扩张期、中周期波动的复苏期和中长周期波动的谷底。我国经济已进入了新一轮的快速增长期 ,而且短期内不会出现大幅度波动现象 ,政府仍应采取中性宏观经济政策。     

Growth effects of leisure tourism and the level of economic development

This study examines (1) whether leisure tourism can contribute to economic growth and (2) if it does, whether its growth effects are constant across levels of economic development. Leisure tourism differs from business tourism in the causal relation with economic growth. In addition, the natural and heritage-related resources for leisure tourism are limited and not reproducible. This notion has a significant implication for the relationship between the growth effects of leisure tourism and the level of economic development. Thus, the current study focuses on leisure tourism and controls for the effects of business tourism. As an economy grows, the growth effects of leisure tourism are expected to diminish due to a lack of continued productivity improvement in the tourism industry. The empirical findings in this research reveal that leisure tourism contributes to economic growth at an early stage of economic development, but its contribution becomes weaker as the economy develops.     

集群经济发达地区经济增长与就业变动趋势实证分析——以绍兴为个案研究

绍兴GDP增长率、就业增长率和就业弹性变化趋势基本上一致,三次产业吸纳就业的能力不同。1994--2006年,第一产业的平均就业弹性为-0．77,第二产业为0．21,第三产业为0．26。绍兴经济增长与就业关系变动的特点与绍兴集群经济发达的特点密切相关。绍兴集群经济演进及就业结构变动趋势对扩大就业的启示是：发展生产性服务业;促进传统服务业转型升级;把青年劳动力作为就业和创业扶助的瞄准点;保持灵活的就业渠道,弥补经济增速下滑的失业损失;发挥政府职能,降低自然失业率。     

A re-examination of the technological catching-up hypothesis across OECD industries

This study re-examines the catching-up hypothesis at the industry level across the main OECD countries, using panel data econometric models involving technological gap indicators calculated with a nonparametric distance function suggested by Färe et al. [Färe, R.S., Grosskopf, M.N., Norris, M., Xhang, Z., 1994. Productivity growth, technical progress, and efficiency change in industrialized countries. American Economic Review 84, 66–83]. The results show that there is statistical evidence of a catching-up process at the industry level. Moreover, both tradables and nontradables sectors exhibit catching-up effects and technology adoption from abroad. This result complements the findings by Bernard and Jones [Bernard, A.B., Jones, C.I., 1996a. Comparing apples to oranges: productivity convergence and measurement across industries and countries. American Economic Review 86(5), 1216–1238., Bernard, A.B., Jones, C.I., 1996b. Productivity across industries and countries: Time series theory and evidence. Review Of Economics and Statistics 78, 135–146], Gouyette and Perelman [Gouyette, C., Perelman, S., 1997. Productivity convergence in OECD services industries. Structural Change and Economic Dynamics 8, 279–295] and Hansson and Henrekson [Hansson, P., Henrekson, M., 1997. Catching up, social capability, government size and economic growth, in V. Bergström, eds, Government and Growth, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 61–126] that there is no (or even a slow) catching-up effect in the manufacturing sector. Moreover, social capability indicators evaluated for each country show that “Non-European” and “Central European” tradables sectors have a rather similar degree of inefficiency while “North European” countries are less efficient for both tradables and non-tradables. Lastly, both the cross country and the cross sectors dispersions of inefficiency levels are smaller for tradables sectors than for non-tradables.     

Modeling Cyclical Asymmetries in European Imports

This paper applies smooth transition models to capture the nonlinear behavior in the imports data of six major European economies and to assess whether such nonlinearities are related to business cycle asymmetries. Two classes of switch between regimes are considered: endogenously determined transition that assumes nonlinearities are generated by idiosyncratic components specific to foreign trade, and exogenous transition based on GDP growth as a more direct indicator of the cyclical state of the economy. The results support the proposition that the dynamics of imports are nonlinear. In Belgium, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, regimes change over the business cycle, while in Germany and Italy the switch between regimes is endogenous. National characteristics play a role in defining the position of extreme regimes, the smoothness of the transition, and local dynamics within each state.Previous versions of this article have been presented at the 57th International Atlantic Economic Conference (Lisbon, Portugal, March 10–14, 2004) and at the VII Encuentro de Economía Aplicada (Vigo, Spain, June 3–5, 2004). The authors thank the conference participants and an anonymous referee for their comments.     

Efficiency, depth and growth: Quantitative implications of finance and growth theory

We develop a parsimonious finance and endogenous growth model with microeconomic frictions in entrepreneurship and a role for credit constraints. We demonstrate that though an efficiency–growth relation will always exist, the efficiency–depth–growth relation may not. This has implications for the connection between the theory and empirics of finance and growth. We go on to ask whether the model can account for some historical trends in growth, financial depth and financial efficiency for the UK over the period 1850–1913. The best model of finance and growth is one that departs from the standard depth–growth link.     

新世纪中国商务旅游面临的挑战及其应对策略

进入新世纪之后,中国商务旅游面临着前所未有的各种挑战,采取何种策略应对挑战,确保中国商务旅游可持续发展,成了当今中国商务旅游工作者共同关注的新课题。文章详分析了中国商务旅游在新世纪所面临的各种挑战,并从多维的角度提出了应对各种挑战的策略。     

Exports, imports, and economic growth in Portugal: evidence from causality and cointegration analysis

This paper investigates the Granger-causality between exports, imports, and economic growth in Portugal over the period 1865–1998. The role of the import variable in the investigation of exports–output causality is emphasized, enabling one to test for the cases direct causality, indirect causality, and spurious causality between export growth and output growth. The empirical results do not confirm a unidirectional causality between the variables considered. There is a feedback effect between exports–output growth and imports–output growth. More interestingly, there is no kind of significant causality between import–export growth. Both results seem to support the conclusion that the growth of output for the Portuguese economy during that period revealed a shape associated with a small dual economy in which the intra-industry transactions were very limited.     

Global Technology Policies for Economic Growth

With the end of the Cold War, nations throughout the world are placing ever greater emphasis on economic growth. Over the last 50 years, advances in technology have been the single most important factor in creating growth in many economies, and thus policies to promote technological innovation rank high on the list of priorities for both developed and developing countries. In general, as countries progress up the economic ladder, national R&D intensity, (i.e., R&D/GDP), tends to increase along with per capita income. In addition, nations move through a discernible sequence of technology policies from an initial focus on infrastructure, through a set of actions designed to encourage technology acquisition from more advanced economies, to comprehensive education and research agendas targeted to the creation and development of new technology. In the United States, national technology policy for economic growth focuses on education, building a 21st century infrastructure, and creating a business climate that encourages growth, technological innovation, and risk taking.Throughout the last 50 years there have been significant changes in the competitive position of nations. In recent years, U.S. corporations have regained some of the competitive leadership they lost in the 1980s. This has been accompanied by significantly increased R&D spending by U.S. industry, particularly in the information and health care related sectors. U.S. industry funding of R&D overtook that from the government in the early 1980s and accounts for almost two-thirds of the national total.     

Differentiated industries without entry barriers

Our objective is to predict the evolution of an industry without entry barriers where products are differentiated on the basis of quality. Each firm chooses a single brand whose characteristics and amount of production is determined by the firm. The analysis suggests two different stages in the evolution. The first is a stage of growth and the second is a stationary stage in terms of aggregate production. While during the first stage the entry of additional brands results in the reduction of average quality, during the second stage entry leads to increased average quality. Hotelling's principle of “minimum differentiation” is contradicted in the model.     

Implementing a technology strategy in developing countries: The experience of the Indonesian rolling stock industry

Integration of business and technology strategies is an attractive approach for industries in developing countries. However, to be successful, these strategies cannot be implemented according to a company's objectives alone regardless of the involvement of other players. Furthermore, consideration of interrelated technologies should be included if a product resulting from the strategy is expected to perform well and be sustainable. This article attempts to give a broader view of factors to be considered in implementing business technology strategies in developing countries. Supporting evidence is given from the rolling stock industry in Indonesia, which has been implementing a type of business technology strategy.     

Foreign Direct Investment and Contract Enforcement

A long-standing deterrent to foreign direct investment in developing countries is weak enforcement of binding contracts. A local firm may learn business skills from a cooperating multinational firm and subsequently do business on its own based on the acquired skills. In a two-period, double-moral-hazard model, non-binding contracts are shown to be preferred by all parties, implying that contract enforcement is unnecessary. Our results shed light on the puzzling phenomenon that substantial FDI has been carried out under contractual arrangements in developing countries in which contract enforcement is problematic. They can also explain some interesting stylized facts on contractual joint ventures between multinationals and local firms in the early stage of an economic transition.J. Comp. Econom.,December 1998, 26(4), pp. 761–782. School of Business, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong; and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong.