Market timing and corporate capital structure: a transatlantic comparison

This article provides comparative international evidence on the effect of market timing on corporate capital structures using panel data for US, UK and continental European firms. We document that the empirical regularity found for US firms, that historical market-to-book ratios and corporate leverage correlate negatively does not extend to UK and continental European firms. The latter tend to raise debt rather than equity when stock prices are high, thus sticking more closely to a pecking order in which debt is preferred over external equity.     

Redistributive innovation policy,inequality, and efficiency

We examine the efficiency and distributional effects of regressive and progressive public R&D policies that target high‐tech and low‐tech sectors using a heterogenous‐agent growth model with in‐house R&D and incomplete capital markets. We find that such policies have important implications for efficiency and inequality. A regressive public R&D investment financed by income tax could boost growth and welfare via a positive effect on individual savings and effort. It could, however, also lower growth and welfare via its effect on the efficiency–inequality trade‐off. Thus, the relationship between public R&D spending and welfare is hump‐shaped, admitting an optimal degree of regressivity in public R&D spending. Using our baseline model, and the US state‐level GDP data, we derive the degree of regressiveness of public R&D investment in US states. We find that US states are more regressive in their R&D investment than the optimal regressiveness implied by our growth model.     

产业政策中的资金配置:市场力量与政府扶持

产业政策具有重要的国家战略意义,如何有效引导经济资源流向政策支持产业,是产业政策发挥成效的关键.现有相关研究未深入考察经济资源在扶持行业之间及行业内部配置的规律,而且没有综合探讨不同资金配置的关联.文章考察了市场力量与政府扶持两种机制如何引导产业政策下的资金配置.研究发现,产业政策支持的企业获得了更多的债务融资和政府补助.其中,债务融资更多地流向了成长行业中规模较大的企业,政府补助使成长行业中的小规模企业和成熟行业中的大规模企业受益更多.研究结果表明,市场看重企业的增长机会,政府补助则会顾及当前成长性较弱而相对不受市场青睐的企业,对产业政策下的市场化资金配置起到了补充作用.文章的研究为如何协调市场机制和政府扶持两种力量提供了一定的借鉴.     

Productivity spillovers through backward linkages: The role of the origin of investors and absorptive capacity of domestic firms

We argue that multinationals from different home countries have different technologies and input sourcing behavior. These differences impinge on potential productivity spillovers through backward linkages of multinationals and such effects also differ across host local firms depending on their absorptive capacity. Using a panel of Cameroonian manufacturing firms over the period 1993 to 2005, we find supportive evidence of these arguments. There is a negative relationship between the presence of American and European affiliates in downstream sectors and the productivity of Cameroonian firms in the supplying industries and a positive correlation in the case of Asian affiliates. The absorptive capacity of Cameroonian firms mainly explains these divergent results.     

Does the analysis of innovation barriers perceived by high growth firms provide information on innovation policy priorities?

High growth firms and reducing innovation barriers figure high in the European innovation policy debate. Do high growth firms face specific innovation barriers which are relevant for innovation policy? In this paper we study the robustness of the perception of innovation barriers when alternative definitions of high growth firms are used. Using data from two waves of the European Innovation survey (CIS 4 and CIS 2006) we show not only that different definitions of high growth firms lead to quite different results across country groups, but also that the results are quite different for the CIS 4 and CIS 2006 samples. We argue that in the light of the available empirical evidence this non-robustness should not come as a surprise and that this negative result makes it difficult to specifically target high growth firms with public policies. Fostering the emergence of high growth innovative firms in Europe may not be feasible with targeted funding policies only but needs a systemic approach.     

Indigenous technological capabilities,emerging market firms and the aerospace industry

While emerging market economies have developed significant technological capabilities and increased their share of global value-added in aerospace, they have done so largely through utilising foreign direct investment (FDI) and offset arrangements to enter supply chains that remain dominated by European and American firms. The paper examines whether emerging markets are developing indigenous technological capability in aerospace technologies. Drawing on patent data from the Thomson Innovation database, the study seeks to understand whether anchor tenant capability is indeed forming in emerging markets. A tech-mining method is applied. The study suggests that China, in particular, has dramatically increased its innovative capacity in the area. However, the data also demonstrate the significant advantages enjoyed by incumbent firms from Europe and the USA, suggesting that the complexity of aircraft R&D remains a formidable barrier that can only be surmounted by determined government policies and anchor firms equipped with substantial innovation capabilities.     

The Motives for Joint Ventures: A Transaction Costs Analysis of Japanese MNES in the UK

What factors determine the choice of Japanese companies between part and full ownership of their UK subsidiaries? In seeking to answer this question, this study employs data of Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI), through joint ventures, in the UK, not previously used. The main findings of the econometric work presented is that transaction costs are the principal consideration when Japanese firms choose between part and full ownership of their UK subsidiaries{softhyphen}. Variables that have featured prominently in studies relating to either US parents or for subsidiaries in the US do not appear to play a significant role. The European Union (EU) market appears to be the target of Japanese foreign direct investment in the UK.     

Firms in New Technologies: The Case of Superconductivity

This article deals with three main questions. First, what types of firms are engaged in the development and exploitation of a young and perhaps future key technology? Second, on which subfields of that particular technology do certain types of firms concentrate? Third, are there any differences in industry structure and firm activity with respect to national technology policies? These aspects are discussed in terms of a case study on superconductivity. The article is empirical in character. The main pillar of the analysis rests on European patent applications, which we use for comparisons among the United States, Japan, and Germany at the corporate and national levels. To discover differences in national technology policies and their impact on corporate activity, we screened available information on sources, volumes, and aims of national programs concerning superconductivity. The period covered ranges from 1981 to 1992 and thus includes the “paradigm” shift to high-temperature superconductivity around 1987. We find that large multinational firms account for the largest part of all external patent applications in this area. Another outcome of the analysis clearly points to rising shares of patenting by small firms after the technological breakthrough in 1987. But most of these small firms have confined their activities to the national environment so far. One possible explanation may be found in differences in national technology programs supporting the start-up new firms in niche markets. Most of these small new firms are located in the United States, where public programs have created favorable conditions and an increasing domestic demand for them. Thus, although the development of new technologies is increasingly international in scope, current industry patterns and firms’ traditional specialization in related fields of activity still determine the building up of new science- and technology-based industries. At least in the United States, however, the impact of national technology policy may be felt widely in creating new and shaping existing structures in favor of more competition and faster diffusion.     

The Role of Multinational Corporations and National States in the Globalization of Innovatory Capacity: The European Perspective

The recent ability of multinational corporations (MNCs) to develop integrated technological networks, increasingly motivated within Europe by the further progress of economic integration, is argued to affect and be affected by national technological competitiveness. This paper examines the precise geographical dispersion of technological activity in Europe by the largest MNCs, and the potential impact of those MNCs on the level and structure of the technological capacity of European home and host countries, using data on patents granted to the world largest firms in the US. Since the late 1980s, the majority of the technological activity conducted in foreign-owned research facilities located in Europe, has taken place in affiliates of European-owned companies. This paper examines whether the much higher degree of internationalization of corporate technology in European MNCs than in their US or Japanese counterparts is attributable to cross-border activity within Europe, or extends to European-owned research facilities in the US and Japan. While intra-European activity matters more for Dutch, Belgian and Swedish MNCs (and in the electrical equipment and computing industries), whose strategies are substantially based on corporate European integration, investments in the US are of greater significance for French and Swiss companies, and of the greatest importance for German and British firms (and in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries), representing a more widely 'globalized' technological strategy.     

产业政策如何影响企业绩效：不同政策与作用路径是否存在影响差异?

文章将产业政策分成供给型、需求型与环境型,依托中国战略性新兴产业分析了不同政策通过政策资源的直接配置以及企业间配置两种作用路径对企业(产业)绩效的影响。研究发现：与供给型政策相结合的补贴行为通过以上两个路径抑制了企业绩效提升;产业政策对不同大小企业的影响存在差异,供给型政策资源的配置在小企业间并未呈现显著的集中特征,但在大企业间政策资源更为集中;供给型政策主要通过政策资源在企业间的配置路径降低大企业绩效,而通过补贴直接配置路径抑制小企业绩效提升;整体看环境型政策对投资、补贴等行为没有显著影响,但对大企业而言,其对政策资源在企业间的分散配置具有负向作用,而这一影响在小企业中则为促进作用。研究还发现,需求型政策有利于资源再配置,供给型政策则尚未显示出积极的资源再配置作用。     

私有化更有效率吗

本文对始自里根和撒切尔夫人主政时期的私有化浪潮提出了批评和质疑。本文认为,以解决政府失灵问题的私有化浪潮,可能导致更为严重的市场失灵问题。虽然在总体上私有企业比国有企业有更强的盈利能力,但这并不意味着私有企业比国有企业更有效率。即使能够证明私有企业比国有企业更有效率,也不能说私有化是可取的。     

Technological Constraints,Firm Heterogeneity,and Location Choice of Multinational Enterprises

This paper aims to examine the relationship between the location choices of multinational enterprises and their productivity considering the North–South differences in regard to technological constraints. We find that home firms with the highest level of productivity choose to undertake foreign direct investment (FDI) in the developed countries and they choose to export to, rather than do FDI in, developing countries. This result explains why not many high tech industries exist in developing countries. Using Japanese firm level data, we also confirm that Japanese high tech firms tend to undertake FDI in developed countries, but hesitate to invest in developing countries empirically.     

The Role of Multinational Corporations and National States in the Globalization of Innovatory Capacity: The European Perspective

The recent ability of multinational corporations (MNCs) to develop integrated technological networks, increasingly motivated within Europe by the further progress of economic integration, is argued to affect and be affected by national technological competitiveness. This paper examines the precise geographical dispersion of technological activity in Europe by the largest MNCs, and the potential impact of those MNCs on the level and structure of the technological capacity of European home and host countries, using data on patents granted to the world largest firms in the US. Since the late 1980s, the majority of the technological activity conducted in foreign-owned research facilities located in Europe, has taken place in affiliates of European-owned companies. This paper examines whether the much higher degree of internationalization of corporate technology in European MNCs than in their US or Japanese counterparts is attributable to cross-border activity within Europe, or extends to European-owned research facilities in the US and Japan. While intra-European activity matters more for Dutch, Belgian and Swedish MNCs (and in the electrical equipment and computing industries), whose strategies are substantially based on corporate European integration, investments in the US are of greater significance for French and Swiss companies, and of the greatest importance for German and British firms (and in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries), representing a more widely ‘globalized’ technological strategy.     

HIGH‐TECH AND HIGH CAPABILITY IN A GROWTH MODEL*

A growth model is developed to substantiate the conventional wisdom that regards high‐tech high‐capability firms as an engine of sustained technological progress. High‐tech industries are characterized by abounding technological opportunities, which promote endogenous high capability firms due to a competitive escalation mechanism. While high‐tech high‐capability firms capitalize on and discharge the existing innovation potentials, they also contribute to recharge (due to knowledge spillovers). They are a source of growth and high wage rate. An inquiry into the reasons why the high‐tech/high‐capability growth mechanism is not widely adoptable across countries points to the role of the underlying corporate governance systems.     

欧盟反倾销政策特征及涉案企业战略行为分析

在分析欧盟反倾销政策的基础上,建立一个两阶段动态竞争模型,对进口国和出口国企业在反倾销博弈中的战略行为及其动机进行了分析。在此分析基础上可得,当中国企业遭遇欧盟反倾销措施时,需要在调查期间减少出口量．欧盟企业在反倾销税的影响下为追求利润最大化会改变产出,中国企业应关注欧盟企业的战略行为以对抗其反倾销措施,为中国企业应对欧盟反倾销措施提出了对策建议。     

CONVERGENCE IN THE UK SERVICE SECTOR: FIRM LEVEL EVIDENCE, 1988–1998

Bernard and Jones (1996) have previously argued that similarity in the technologies used by firms in the service sector helps to explain evidence of absolute convergence at the cross‐country level. This paper searches for convergence at the firm level using data for the UK service sector over the period 1988–1998. Initial mixed support for this view is partly explained by strong business cycle effects in the data. Upon closer examination we find evidence that convergence was more likely in industries that had high levels of technology investment, greater exposure to new technologies and high levels of absorptive capacity.     

The transatlantic productivity gap: Is R&D the main culprit?

The literature has pointed to different causes to explain the productivity gap between the EU and the US in the last decades. This paper tests the hypothesis that the lower European productivity performance in comparison with the US can be explained not only by a lower level of corporate R&D investment but also by a lower capacity to translate R&D investment into productivity gains. The proposed microeconometric estimates are based on a unique longitudinal database covering the period 1990–2008 and comprising 1,809 US and EU companies for a total of 16,079 observations. Consistent with previous literature, we find robust evidence of a significant impact of R&D on productivity; however, using different estimation techniques, the R&D coefficients for the US firms always turn out to be significantly higher. To see to what extent these transatlantic differences in the R&D/productivity relationship may be related to the different sectoral structures in the US and the EU, we differentiated the analysis by sectors. The result is that bothin manufacturing, services and high‐tech manufacturing sectors US firms are more able to translate their R&D investments into productivity increases.     

经济政策不确定性与企业退出决策:理论与实证研究

经济政策影响微观企业经营是现有研究的共识.在已有文献基础上,文章考察了经济政策不确定性对企业退出决策的影响.文章基于一个代表性企业最优退出决策的框架,构建了经济政策不确定性影响企业退出决策作用机制的理论模型,并利用1998?2011年中国工业企业微观数据对理论模型进行了实证检验.研究结果显示,经济政策不确定性通过增加市场预期收益的机制降低了企业的退出概率,即面对高水平的经济政策不确定性时,企业对未来市场形成了良好的预期,倾向于采取理性的"延迟退出"决策.进一步分析发现,企业退出决策的"延迟现象"在不同企业、行业和区域间呈现出异质性,经济政策不确定性更多地延迟了具有优越发展前景的企业、行业及区域的市场退出.从企业方面来看,这一现象在规模小、跨产业经营、出口、政府补贴的企业及创新企业中更加显著;从行业方面来看,这一现象在资金技术密集型的行业及生产率高的行业中更加显著;从区域来看,这一现象在市场化程度高的区域及经济增长快的区域更加显著.可见,政府的经济政策变动,不仅引导了企业制定理性的战略决策,而且激励了优势资源和市场的持续发展.     

Capitalism, profits and innovation in the new techno-economic paradigm

Innovative profits (of the kind conceptualized by Schumpeter) are today being increasingly created through international corporate networks for technological development. Such profits through innovation are encouraged by newer more flexible organizational forms, and further encouraged (unlike in the conventional perspective on profits and on the incentive to innovate) by knowledge flows between firms. Our empirical evidence, based on US patent data, shows that multinational companies are currently more likely to develop abroad technologies which are less science-based, and less dependent upon tacit knowledge. However, within the science-based industries firms may generate abroad some technologies which are heavily dependent on tacit knowledge, but normally in fields that lie outside their own core technological competencies. We find some evidence of a convergence in corporate technological diversification across large firms, facilitated by the now common spread in the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) as an integrator of formerly separate technological systems. This has led smaller firms to diversify, but giant firms to consolidate activity around those technologies that have become most interrelated.     

Skill-replacing process innovation and the labour market: Theory and evidence

I study the differential impacts of product innovation and process innovation on the labour market. Using European data from 2000 to 2018, I find that industries with proportionally more firms reporting product innovation than process innovation also tend to exhibit a lower income share of low-skilled workers. To better understand the mechanism, I develop a dynamic growth model in which firms conduct both types of innovation endogenously. In the model, product innovation introduces new intermediate goods, which tend to require high-skilled workers to implement. Process innovation simplifies existing production technologies and thereby allows firms to replace high-skilled workers with low-skilled ones. I calibrate an extended version of the model to the largest two industries in UK in 2014 and 2018, respectively. I find that product innovation has become less costly but increasingly demanding for skills, and the cost of process innovation has increased on average and become more diverse across firms.