Tariffs and capacity utilization by monopolistically competitive firms

This paper examines the effect of a tariff imposed on a monopolistically competitive (MC) sector on firm output in a 2 × 2 × 2 model with nonhomothetic technology. If the MC sector is capital intensive, then a tariff will improve the terms of trade, lower home firm demand elasticity, but raise firm output relative to foreign firms. If the MC sector is labor intensive, then excess supply for firm output may be decreasing in price, so the tariff may worsen the home country's terms of trade. Home firm demand elasticity falls but firm output rises relative to the partner country. These results qualify conclusions based on single-sector and single-country models.     

The effects of relative country size and endowment similarity in influencing trade volume and composition in general equilibrium monopolistically competitive markets

In order to explain two-way trade, the standard H-O model has recently been modified by assuming a market structure with monopolistic competition. The factors that affect the volume of total trade and its intra-industry component have been previously specified. This paper attempts to generalize these results to the N-good, M-country case. Although endowment similarity increases the intra-industry component in the 2×2 case, this proposition does not strictly hold for bilateral trade in the N × M case. Similarity of relative income size (GNP) does increase intra-industry trade in the 2×2 case, but does not increase the intra-industry share as assumed by several authors. In the N × M case, similarity of relative income size does not affect the bilateral volume of intra-industry trade nor its intra-industry share. This article thus shows that ceteris paribus comparative static changes in a 2-country model are not equivalent to changes in that variable across a cross-section of a multicountry model.     

关于二度价格歧视原理在垄断竞争行业中的应用

当前,很多学者已对寡头垄断情形下的二度价格歧视进行了定量和定性分析,但很少对垄断竞争条件下二度价格歧视的实现问题进行讨论。本文就垄断竞争行业如何通过使用二度价格歧视原理实现利润最大化问题进行讨论。     

Sustainable market orientation: a competitive strategic tool in an emerging economy context

The purpose of this research is to test the effect of sustainable market orientation (SMO) as a strategic tool on banks’ sustainable balanced firm performance (SBFP) in an emerging economy. The research data was collected via the survey approach through self-administered questionnaires to 445 bank employees. Exploratory Factor Analysis was employed to establish the dimensionality of the research constructs, whereas multiple linear regressions were utilised to test the research hypotheses. Results suggest that SMO is positively and significantly related to sustainable balanced performance of banks. The study confirms the SMO concept promulgated in prior studies. Employees’ opinions on bank Managers incorporating sustainability management variables into market orientation as a strategy are encouraged by scholars to engender SBFP. Strategic approaches of this kind leads to balance performance of organisations and the larger society which is central to all stakeholders. This study may be the initial quantitative investigation into SMO and SBFP in the strategic marketing literature.     

Sectoral adjustment costs and real exchange rate dynamics in a two-sector dependent economy

This paper develops a two-sector model in which intersectoral capital movements involve adjustment costs, expressed as capital lost in the transformation process. These costs have important consequences for the dynamics of capital accumulation and particularly for real exchange rate dynamics. Persistent deviations of the real exchange rate from its equilibrium are derived and for plausible values of the adjustment cost parameters are consistent with the observed degree of real exchange rate persistence. For low adjustment costs the dynamics are qualitatively similar to those of the standard Heckscher-Ohlin technology. For high adjustment costs, the model converges to the specific-factors model. Thus our framework includes these two standard models as polar extremes.     

The competitive response of small,independent retailers to organized retail: Study in an emerging economy

This study aims to decipher the competitive response of small, independent retailers in an emerging economy – India – to the onset of competition from large, organized retailers. The competitive behaviour is comprehended in terms of patterns of retail functional and business strategies, in further classifying the retailers into strategic groups, and finally by assessing the performance of these clusters. The study is based on a primary field survey of 605 grocery shops in two cities in India. The findings of the research point towards the presence of distinct strategies, strategic groups, and the positive impact on small retail performance of adopting distinct retail functional and business strategies.     

The dynamics of fiscal policy in an open economy

This paper extends the work of Blinder and Solow, analyzing the dynamics of fiscal policy, to a small open economy having a fixed exchange rate. The model is developed under the assumption that domestic and foreign bonds are imperfect substitutes. The stationary properties of this system are discussed and it is shown how, in general, equilibrium requires both the government budget to be balanced and the balance of payments on current account to be in equilibrium. The stability of the system is analyzed under two extreme assumptions: zero capital mobility and perfect capital mobility. A significant result of the analysis is to show how the appropriate choice of the policy parameters, describing the mode of deficit financing and sterilization policies, is of central importance to the stability of the model.     

Inferring competitive market structure based on a model of interpurchase intervals

Market structure analysis approaches that use brand switching data at the household level have to contend with the issues of heterogeneous individual preferences and multiple usage occasions. This paper presents a technique to structure markets based on a model of interpurchase time that deals with these issues. A parameter of this model measures the substitutability for a pair of brands. The matrix of such measures for all pairs is analyzed to identify the market structure. The method is empirically applied to structuring the coffee market. Various tests are conducted to establish the robustness and validity of our approach.     

网络经济与集团财务集中管理

在网络经济下传统财务管理的弊端日益突出,其管理手段比较落后,预算控制体系不建全与资金控制失灵,不利于实现资源配置最优化。网络技术为集团公司建立集中财务管理模式提供了保证,集团公司要实现集团公司整体利益的最大化,财务管理的模式就必须从分散管理向集中式管理转变,发挥监控职能作用,强化资金的集中管理和财务人员权限设置,以适应网络经济发展的要求,实现财务管理变革与创新。     

粮食经济需要结构再造

<正> 有关资料表明,中国社会的稳定、工商业资本的原始积累、经济的软着陆以及"高增长、低通胀"的好形势,50%得益于以粮食为主的食品类商品价格的稳定。回顾历史,可以充分肯定中国粮食经过粮改已彻底走出了短缺阴影。但现实中却出现了"卖粮难"、"谷     

Population, health and risk factors in a transitional economy

This paper investigates the health status of the population in a transition economy. Against a background of falling living standards compounded by the widening income inequality a deterioration of health status has been outlined. Drawing upon a consumer survey carried out in the capital Bucharest, risk factors are highlighted. Respondents’ age, income, and health motivation are the most significant variables which differentiate between smokers and non-smokers. Respondent’s age and sex are significant factors predicting the physical exercise status. Additionally, respondent’s level of education is a significant predictor of the time spent on physical exercise. The implications of the study for health policy makers are finally discussed.     

Growth,income distribution and unemployment in a two-sector economy

We build a two-sector general equilibrium growth model with capital-intensive consumption goods and a labour-intensive investment goods sector to investigate the coexistence of growth and unemployment. The model uses heterogeneity in saving behaviour, introduces an effective demand problem, has full employment of capital with input non-substitutability and shows that the aggregate labour employment is determined by available capital along with commodity market equilibrium. The long-run growth may not be balanced, and under biased growth, the level of unemployment may monotonically increase or decrease over time, or may first increase (decrease) and then decrease (increase). Such possible unemployment paths help us tightly define “jobless growth”.     

New firm location: An equilibrium model and its disequilibrium dynamics

This paper is centered on two basic statements: i) the birth of new firms is spatially related to location factors endowment and ii) the set of location factors can support only up to a given number of firms.The paper firstly defines the regional ex-ante demand for firms as a function of location factors set. In the following step a definition of regional equilibrium stock of firms is given and a static equilibrium model of new firms birth is built up. In a dynamic disequilibrium model the net birth of firms is a function of two disequilibrium terms: a sectoral and a regional one.The sectoral disequilibrium depends on the industry production structure, the regional disequilibrium is linked to the adaptation elasticity of location factors set to an exogenous shock.Finally, a first estimation on Italian data is performed, on the basis of which some new lines of analysis are suggested.     

How foreign firms achieve competitive advantage in the Chinese emerging economy: Managerial ties and market orientation

As China experience unprecedented changes in its social, legal, and economic institutions, on what should foreign firms focus more to overcome this challenge, managerial ties or market orientation? This study investigates how managerial ties and market orientation affect competitive advantage and, consequently, firm performance in China. On the basis of a survey of 179 foreign firms in China, we find that both managerial ties and market orientation can lead to firm success—but in different ways. Market orientation enhances firm performance by providing differentiation and cost advantages, whereas managerial ties improve performance through an institutional advantage (i.e., superiority in securing scarce resources and institutional support). Institutional advantage, in turn, leads to differentiation and cost advantages and consequently superior performance.     

Offshoring in the global economy: microeconomic structure and macroeconomic implications

This article analyses the trade balance effects of Europe agreements (EA) between the EU-15 and four new EU members from Central and Eastern Europe (CEEC-4) using both static and dynamic panel data approaches. Specifically, the system generalised method of moments (GMM, Blundell, R., and S. Bond. 1998. Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models. Journal of Econometrics 87, no. 1: 115–43) and recently developed econometric methods such as the Correlated Common Estimation Pooled–Hausman-Taylor (CCEP–HT, Serlenga, L., and Y. Shin. 2007. Gravity models of intra-EU trade: Application of the CCEP-HT estimation in heterogenous panels with unobserved common time-specific factors. Journal of Applied Econometrics 22: 361–81) are applied to analyse the effects of the agreement variable. Our estimation results indicate a positive and significant impact of EA on trade flows. However, there is an asymmetric impact of the agreement variable on the trade balance, exports and imports being affected in different ways, which results in a trade balance deficit in the CEEC-4.     

Fair wages, unemployment and technological change in a global economy

This paper analyzes the effects of global and national technological change on employment and relative wages in an integrated two-country world (“Europe” and “America”), where both countries are characterized by equilibrium unemployment due to fair wage constraints. The asymmetry between the countries arises from country-specific preferences towards wage inequality, with Europe's preferences being more egalitarian. Furthermore, we look at integration between this two-country world and a third country (“low-wage south”). We derive an analytical tool, the Virtual Integrated Equilibrium, that allows us to adapt Dixit and Norman's Integrated Equilibrium approach to a situation where both countries have endogenous unemployment levels.