Impact of initial seeds on the growth of biotechnology startups: evidence from the U.S. and Japan

ABSTRACT

We assess the impact of initial seeds on the long-run growth of biotechnology startups, including the response of the capital market, in the U.S. and Japan. For this purpose, we collected a comprehensive dataset of the matched sample of listed firms from their foundations to the post-IPO period. We find that the quality of initial seeds predicts significantly both the level and the growth rate of the patent stock as well as those of the asset size of the U.S. startups, even controlling for their alliances and acquisitions, while it predicts only the level of the patent stock for the Japanese startups. Furthermore, the asset growth and the patent stock growth in turn account for the market value performances of the U.S. firms much more significantly than those of the Japanese firms. On the other hand, there are only small differences with respect to the time to IPO and the asset growth through the IPO. These results suggest that higher quality of initial seeds significantly enhanced long-run growth of biotechnology startups in the U.S. but not in Japan, and that the differences in fertility of the initial seeds and in efficiency of the capital market could significantly explain the difference.     

国有经济腐败的委托代理因素分析

国有经济的结构特征可以用两大等级体系的委托代理链来描述 ,第一等级的委托人是全民 ,代理人是政府 ;第二等级的委托人是政府 ,代理人是国企经理。在经济中发挥实质性作用的是第二等级的委托代理关系。国有经济的腐败问题恰恰是第二等级的委托人和代理人的共谋租金的结果。我们认为 ,政府对企业行政上的超强控制是委托人与代理人共谋租金的纽带 ,而经济中监督激励的严重缺乏 ,则是腐败泛滥的重要原因。通过理论分析与模型分析 ,我们认为加强监督 ,减少政府干预企业经济 ,是解决腐败问题的关键。     

MEASURING THE VALUE OF THE CAPITAL STOCK BY DIRECT OBSERVATION

In the Netherlands the Central Bureau of Statistics (C.B.S.) carried out two experimental investigations into the possibility of observing the actual value of the capital stock by means of enquiries at enterprises.
This article reports on the investigation into the cigar-industry. The intention is to carry out enquiries in one branch of industry after another. In due course (for instance after 10 years) it will again be the turn of the first branch of industry and so on. There are also branches of industry which have a fair amount of information regarding capital assets available at their disposal, so that enquiries are not necessary. In the long run the method described will supply statistical data on the value of the capital stock for all branches of industry together.
The gross actual value at current and constant prices is calculated for the cigar-industry, broken down by type and vintage. The enquiry was carried out in two steps. Questionnaires were not sent to the enterprises but they were visited in order that C.B.S. staff could derive the data required from the accounts available. Within the C.B.S. this information was processed, C.B.S. staff making estimates for lacking data. It may be concluded that this method of enquiry for the capital stock is difficult but useful. The results of the enquiry are comparable throughout, the valuation having been carried out in the same way for all enterprises and care having been taken that in each enterprise all means of production were asked for.
In the future this new technique of enquiry will provide good detailed information on the capital stock in the Netherlands.     

WEALTH INEQUALITY AND HOUSEHOLD STRUCTURE: U.S. VS. SPAIN

We study the link between culturally inherited household structure and wealth distribution in international comparisons using household data for the U.S. and Spain (the SCF and the EFF). We estimate counterfactual U.S. distributions relying on the Spanish household structure. Our results show that differences in household structure account for most of the differences in the lower part of the distribution between the two countries, but mask even larger differences in the upper part of the distribution. Imposing the Spanish household structure to the U.S. wealth distribution has little effect on the Gini coefficient and wealth top shares. However, this is the net result of reduced differences at the bottom and increased differences at the top. So there is distinct additional information in considering the whole distribution. Finally, we present results for the within‐group differences between the two countries using quantile regressions and find a reversing pattern by age.     

The League of Nations covenant and the United Nations charter: An analysis of two international constitutions

This paper uses the principles of constitutional economics to analyze the evolution of two international constitutions, the League of Nations Covenant and the United Nations Charter. A graphical model is used to illustrate the formation and success of the international organizations created by these documents. This paper concludes that there were two factors that resulted in the failure of the League. They were the redistribution of power in favor of the smaller nations and the free-rider problem caused by the non-binding nature of the League's decisions. Amendments were proposed to the League's Covenant which may have fixed these problems, but they were never ratified. The reasons for the failure of the League had a strong influence on the wording of the U.N. Charter. The analysis in this paper is an extension of the tools provided by constitutional economics, which have mostly been applied to national constitutions. The author would like to thank Bruce L. Benson, Charles J. Barrilleaux, Stefan C. Norrbin, three anonymous referees of this journal, and especially Randall G. Holcombe for helpful comments and suggestions. Any shortcomings remain the responsibility of the author.     

论基础专利之改进技术保护路径的完善——以确立反向等同原则为视角

我国基础专利之改进技术的实施面临诸多障碍，阻碍了改进技术的推广应用，美国司法实践中由法官创设的反向等同原则对于我国解决这一困境具有借鉴意义。对反向等同原则的制度功能与理论基础进行规范分析，并辅以比较法视角，研究发现：反向等同原则不仅可以限制专利字面侵权，平衡专利权人与改进者之间的利益，还可以作为专利政策杠杆，对专利法保护的不同行业技术进行微观调控。确立反向等同原则符合专利契约理论对公平的要求，亦与知识产权工具论的主张相契合。最后，提出建议：以反向等同原则的确立为切入点，使落入专利权利要求字面含义范围内、与专利技术不相等同的全新改进技术免于专利侵权，同时严格把握反向等同原则的适用条件，兼顾基础专利保护与全新改进技术激励。     

The Role of Political Parties in the Organization of Congress

This article examines theory and evidence on party competitionin the U.S. Congress in the allocation of members to committees.Parties allocate members to committees to maximize the jointutility of its members, taking into account how the committees'memberships affect the legislation adopted by the legislature.Parties are constrained by both institutional rules and theheterogeneity of party members' preferences. Interest groupratings from the U.S. House of Representatives provide evidencethat the parties stack committees in a manner consistent withthe predictions of the theoretical model. Alternative hypothesesexplain no more than half the committees in the U.S. Congress,while the party competition hypothesis is consistent with theoverall structure of the committees. Model selection tests thatnest the party competition and representative majority partyhypotheses reveal that the party competition hypothesis is supportedby the data while the representative majority party hypothesisis not.     

INTRODUCTION OF THE SNA INTO THE OFFICIAL STATISTICS OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES

The work on the introduction of the elements of the SNA into the official statistical practice of the former U.S.S.R. began in 1988 when estimates of the GDP using conversion keys were prepared. In 1991 the decision was made to implement the entire SNA gradually on the basis of the international standards. The methodology of compilation of the main accounts was formulated by the Statistical Committcc of the C.I.S. with the assistance of the OECD. It originally drew on the ESA with introduction of elements of the revised SNA and adaption to specific economic processes in the country. It required solution of a number of conceptual and statistical problems referring to the treatment, allocation and valuation of selected activities. The estimates of the main accounts were made for the former U.S.S.R. by sectors and by industries for 1988–90. This project has provided the basis for further work on implementation of the SNA in C.I.S. countries.     

Business cycles and economic crisis in Greece (1960–2011): A long run equilibrium analysis in the Eurozone

Empirical studies find that fluctuations in output and other macroeconomic aggregates are positively related across countries. Economic theory focuses on two main explanations: common shocks and common transmission mechanisms. In this paper, we conduct an empirical analysis of the international influences, specifically from the U.S. and E.U. on the Greek business-cycle. First, we provide an in-depth analysis of the Greek economy, summarizing crucial aspects and trends by means of relevant econometric techniques such as business cycles extraction and periodization based on filtering, spectral analysis and causality tests. Next, we assess the long-run equilibriums of the Greek economy with the rest of the E.U. countries and the U.S. economy by means of a Vector Error Correction model. Our results imply a significant shift in the long-run equilibriums of the Greek economy towards increasing convergence rates with the U.S. economy after the implementation of the common monetary policy and increasing convergence rates towards the peripheral countries of the E.M.U. Also, the Greek GDP fluctuations are found to be caused, to a certain extent, by the EMU and US fluctuations, implying a transmission mechanism of business cycles from the EMU and the US to the Greek economy.     

研发投入价值相关性研究——基于创新能力影响因素视角

持续性研发投入能否真正提高企业创新能力和市场价值？基于2008-2020年A股高新技术企业数据,通过构建真实研发增长指标检验研发投入价值相关性,考察战略投资者和管理层研发操纵行为对价值相关性的调节作用。研究发现：①研发投入提供了正向影响买入并持有收益率的盈余无关信息;②战略投资者可以提高研发投入价值相关性;③部分企业管理层为调节市场反应作出研发操纵决策;④当企业研发操纵行为被市场识别时,研发投入价值相关性下降。该结论表明,引入战略投资者有利于企业开展创新活动和提高公司治理效果,研发操纵无法提升企业创新能力。研究结论对于政府优化创新激励政策和创新监管政策,引导企业调整创新策略具有重要启示意义。     

以种植为契机的乡村社区营造——以顺德 霞石村社区实践为例

城镇化过程中传统生产生活方式的改变使得乡村的景观产生了巨大变化。传统种植业的衰退是其中的原因之一。随着社区营造的发展，乡村景观营造的方式也开始有所改变。除了对于环境本身进行干预，反思与重建乡村景观生产方式可能更有助于社区的可持续发展。高城镇化的广东顺德地区，反映了我国乡村城镇化过程中面对的一些社区困境。通过对顺德霞石村2018—2019年间的社区营造活动的实践性研究，发现“种植”对于当下乡村社区营造具有积极作用。结合霞石社区花园及自主花园营造2个项目的活动组织过程及意见反馈，以种植为契机的社区营造需要结合不同参与者特点建立多层次的种植目标，共同挖掘“种植”在现代乡村社区中的价值意义；以种植活动对于乡村社区的资源分享，促进社区居民的协作；以渐进的方式推进社区不同群体对于种植需求的“表达”以及种植经验的“交流分享”。而在霞石村的实践中，风景园林专业人员亦需要不断调整介入社区的方法。在辅助设计环境的同时，风景园林专业的介入更需要结合文化景观、环境教育、可持续理念重构“种植”的现代价值，赋能社区居民，推进乡村景观及社区的可持续营建。     

Replacing the U.S. income tax with a progressive consumption tax: A sequenced general equilibrium approach

This paper examines the welfare consequences of changing the current U.S. income tax system to a progressive consumption tax. We compute a sequence of single period equilibria in which savings decisions depend on the expected future return to capital. In the presence of existing income taxes, the U.S. economy is assumed to lie on a balanced growth path. With the change to a consumption tax, individuals save more and initially consume less. As the capital stock grows, consumption eventually overtakes that of the original path, and the economy approaches the new balanced growth path with higher consumption and a greater capital stock. Both the transition and the balanced growth paths enter our welfare evaluations. We find the discounted present value of the stream of net gains is approximately $650 billion in 1973 dollars, just over 1 percent of the discounted present value of national income. Larger gains occur if further reform of capital income taxation accompanies the change. We examine the sensitivity of the results, both to the design of the consumption tax and to the values of elasticity and other parameters. The paper also contains estimates of the time required to adjust from one growth path to the other.     

数字平台生态系统价值生成逻辑

数字平台生态系统在价值生成过程中呈现出独特的价值逻辑。随着企业核心竞争优势向平台生态竞争优势转变，从数字化创新时代价值来源转向出发，明确价值生成的新逻辑范式，系统梳理价值界面延拓，并据此论证价值配置空间演变，分析数字平台生态系统连接经济带来的价值发现。基于数字平台生态系统价值取向，阐释启动阶段用户价值共创、扩张阶段天棚战略扩容、维护阶段价值隔离机制，进而揭示平台生态系统价值生成规律。研究结论为审视数字创新背景下的价值创造规律及数字平台生态系统行动与治理提供了新理论依据。     

转型中我国农业劳动力的两种转移模式——从西方经济学的两种要素配置模型引起的思考

关于如何改变发展中国家农村经济落后状况,西方经济学家提出两种不同的要素配置模型.威廉·阿瑟·刘易斯认为,发展中国家农村经济落后的主要原因是劳动力过剩,近乎无限供给,因而,改变农村经济落后的唯一途径就是把过剩的劳动力转移到城市.西奥多·舒尔茨则不同意这种观点.他认为发展中国家农村经济落后的主要原因不是劳动力过剩,而是人口质量低与劳动力以外的其他生产要素投入不足;改变农村经济落后的唯一途径就是提高人口质量和向农村输入劳动力以外的其他生产要素.与这两种模型相关联,改革开放以来我国农村劳动力转移也呈现两种不同的模式,即异地转移与就地转移.这就存在着如何评价上述两种模型与两种模式的问题.     

Quality of governance and varieties of capitalism in the European Union: core and periphery division?

A growing body of literature suggests that the quality of governance has a significant effect on economic development. Investigations highlight that the quality of government institutions varies substantially in the European Union. These differences raise the question of whether they comply with the various models of capitalism. However, the various approaches of institutional analyses either neglect the role of the state or consider only the welfare function and the extent of state intervention. This article uses the databases of the World Bank and the World Economic Forum to classify the members of the European Union into clusters based on the quality of governance. Cluster analyses find notably clear-cut clusters in both cases. These clusters do not coincide with the usual varieties of capitalism; instead, they indicate a gap between the northern and western vs. the southern and eastern European countries, which is a core vs. periphery division. This gap indicates a long-lasting challenge in the deepening of European integration.     

美国宽松的货币政策制造了世界性高通胀吗——基于次贷危机后不同经济体通货膨胀差异的分析

为了避免次贷危机所造成的不利影响,美国自2007年底开始大幅下调利率,并从2009年以来采取了量化宽松的货币政策,大量增加流动性。与此同时,2008年以来,世界各国尤其是新兴市场和发展中经济体发生了严重的通货膨胀。现存文献大多将此归因于美国宽松的货币政策,其实并不完全如此。虽然美国次贷危机以来的宽松货币政策确实提高了2008年以来的通货膨胀率,却不能解释新兴市场和发展中经济体的通货膨胀普遍高于发达经济体的事实。因此,美国宽松的货币政策只是扩大了原有的通货膨胀,而高通胀的根本原因仍然在于各国国内的高货币供给。     

电信服务提供商的多因素激励机制研究

在电信运营商和SP合作中,电信运营商提供业务传输通道,SP主要提供业务服务,然后二者按一定比例对该业务收益进行分成。如何处理电信运营商与SP的关系,是电信产业未来几年所要研究的重点,由于电信运营商和电信服务提供商（SP）之间存在利益冲突和信息不对称,很容易导致SP的违规行为。电信运营商和SP之间的关系属于多因素的委托-代理关系。在设计委托-代理激励合同时,从多因素角度考虑了电信运营商对SP的激励,在设计委托-代理激励合同时,从两个任务的角度即：可观测到的SP发展的用户数、业务量和用户数及业务量增量和可观测到的SP的信用积分和等级。并通过风险成本和代理成本研究可知对SP进行多因素激励是非常必要的。在具体分析时采用了双因素激励模型。     

城市功能意义的城市化及其产业支持

城市化不能停留在已有的人口向城市转移的意义上，需要进入新的阶段，即进入突出城市功能的城市化阶段。生产要素、市场、公司、现代服务业向城市聚集构成了城市化的新内容。服务业是城市化特别是城市现代化的载体和依托、与城市化有互动的关系。强化城市的市场功能与提高城市中服务业比重相关。这一轮城市化，进城主体主要不是过去意义上的农村人口进城，而是先进的生产要素特别是高科技与高科技人才进城，是服务业进城。制造业出城进入城镇导致新的意义的城镇化。现代的城市化不仅是要向城市聚集的过程，同时也包括城市要素向城镇和农村扩散的过程。     

An empirical re-examination of extreme tail behavior: testing the assumptions of the power laws and the generalized Pareto distribution on the financial series

This study investigates whether the power laws and the associated generalized Pareto distribution (GPD) exist in the extreme tail behavior of financial return series. We include 10 series of five major financial categories over the period 1971–2018 for empirical analysis. For the former assumption, we test three representative power-law distributions. For the latter, we employ an innovative bootstrap goodness-of-fit test of GPD modeling. We also discuss the relationship between both assumptions. The empirical outcomes indicate that both assumptions do not necessarily hold for all tail series due to the outlying observations. The rejection of the power laws assumption leads to the rejection of the GPD assumption. This rejection does not promise the non-rejection of power laws either. However, the non-rejection of either assumption does not imply non-rejection of the other assumption. Power-law distribution and exponential distribution outperform log-normal distribution in tail fitting. GPD fits better at the 1% quantile level than at the 5% level. Overall, we need to acknowledge the considerable gap between the goodness-of-fit testing outcomes of both the power laws and GPD assumptions.     

Intersectoral default contagion: A multivariate Poisson autoregression analysis

This paper analyzes credit rating default dependencies in a multisectoral framework. Using Mergent's FISD database, we study the default series in the U.S. over the last two decades, disaggregating defaults by industry-sector group. During this period, two main waves of default occurred: the implosion of the “dot-com” bubble and the global financial crisis. We estimate a Multivariate Autoregressive Conditional Poisson model according to the biweekly number of defaults that occurred in different sectors of the economy from 1996 to 2015. We discuss the contagion effect between sectors in two ways: the degree of transmission of the probability of default from one sector to another, i.e., the “infectivity” of the sector, and the degree of contagion of one sector from another, i.e., the “vulnerability” of the sector. Our results show differences between the sectors' relations during the first and second part of our sample. We add some exogenous variables to the analysis and evaluate their contribution to the goodness of fit.