Factor substitution in small and large U.S. manufacturing establishments: 1977–82

The objective of this article is to assess the possibility of differences in factor substitution in the production of small and large U.S. manufacturing establishments. For empirical implementation, we specify and estimate separate three-factor translog production factors, using confidential plant-level data for five four-digit industries extracted from the U.S. Bureau of the Census Longitudinal Research Database. Our primary finding is that for most industries under study, small establishments appear to be at least as flexible as large establishments in factor substitution. This finding, together with our previous results on economies of scale (Nguyen and Reznek, 1991), suggests that for the five industries under examination, large size is not a necessary condition for efficient production.     

Returns to Scale in Small and Large U.S. Manufacturing Establishments: Further Evidence

Nguyen and Reznek (1991) used plant-level data for five 4-digit SIC industries to estimate and compare the degrees of returns-to-scale for establishments of various size classes for the years 1977 and 1982. They found that the estimated scale elasticities of all plant sizes have values approximately equal to one. They, therefore, concluded that both small and large establishments under study are equally efficient in production. The purpose of the present study is to extend and improve upon Nguyen and Reznek's work by (1) extending the data set to cover the entire U.S. manufacturing sector, (2) improving the model by including energy as a separate input in production, and (3) relaxing the assumption of homogeneity and estimating an unrestricted (non-homogeneous, non-homothetic) production model. With the improved model and data, it is found that the estimated scale elasticities for all sizes of establishment are statistically insignificantly different from one. Thus, the result confirms and strengthens Nguyen and Reznek's finding that a large establishment size is not a necessary condition for efficient production.     

An analysis of the global position of U.S. manufacturing

This article provides an overview of the changing export and import flows of U.S. manufactured goods in the global economy, offers some thoughts on the repercussions of these changes, and outlines possible outcomes. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A new entrepreneurial drive in large and small manufacturing firms in Japan

Japan's per capita GDP growth has been decelerating for at least three decades, despite groping towards better ways of accommodating individualistic Smithian market forces. Japan has made great progress in opening markets and fostering profit seeking, yet it has not reaped the benefits anticipated so far. Facing the most severe economic downturn of the post-war period, it is now rethinking the fundaments of its economic and management system. The necessity of developing competitive advantages in new industries has been identified but a crucial question is how they will affect the way industry has organized itself to maximize quality, efficiency and flexibility. It is said that an entrepreneurial culture was not needed during the post-war period in Japan because a group-based industrial organization could generate about the same dynamism and outcome. Nevertheless, this time, a venture-type business culture may be a key factor in the renewal of the Japanese economy to put it back on a sustainable growth path. The objective of the article is to make a critical assessment of the trends in entrepreneurship in Japan, using secondary data. They are complemented by partial results of two surveys made by the author, the first one in 1997 in ten electronic companies on intrapreneurship schemes, and the second one in 1998 in 40 small companies in the Hiroshima prefecture, centred on human resource management. To these are added information obtained through interviews in the small business agency, MITI, and a number of universities on business-university research collaboration schemes.     

Gross job flows and the evolution of size in U.K. establishments

This paper analyzes a relationship between establishment size and gross job creation and destruction in the U.K. during the 1980's. I find that the gross job creation rate is highest in small plants and lowest in large ones. In contrast, the gross job destruction rate is lowest in small plants and highest in large ones. In absolute numbers, however, large plants create, but also destroy most jobs. I test convergence in plant size by computing Markov transition matrices. The advantage of this approach is that it avoids Galton's fallacy of regression towards the mean and that it reflects job creation and destruction between size classes. I find no evidence of convergence, hence no regression towards the mean.This paper benefitted from seminars at the London School of Economics and Trinity College, Dublin. I thank A. Lamo, R. Koopmans, A. Manning, A. Oswald, C. Pissarides, D. Quah, H. Vandenbussche and an anonymous referee for helpful comments and discussions. All errors are mine.     

Present barriers to technology transfer: U.S. to Eastern Europe versus U.S. to Mexico

Technological innovations offer much promise for widespread technology transfer on a global basis. Yet, without taking social, economic, or political considerations into account, companies cannot transfer technology as effectively. Of particular importance is understanding technology transfer vis-à-vis emerging markets such as Mexico and Eastern Europe.     

中国对美出口与美国GDP增长的相关性分析

本文利用1994年到2002年中国对美出口的季度数据与同期美国GDP增长率来计算并分析其相关性,两者呈现较强的负相关性。主要原因有:美国经济衰退后,居民收入水平下降,从而转向中国产品的消费;中国入世效应的体现;中关两国这些年对产品结构进行重大调整后,使两国产品的互补性提高;我国在通关税收等方面采取了重大改革等。故我国要进一步调整产业结构和产品结构,吸引外国跨国公司到中国投资高新技术产业,扩大从美国的进口等。     

International expansion of U.S. manufacturing family businesses: the effect of ownership and involvement

Family firms play an important role in today's global economy. However, limited empirical research has identified factors that spur these firms' internationalization. Highlighting the altruism that pervades family firms, this exploratory study examines the individual and interactive effects of family ownership and involvement on subsequent internationalization of a firm's operations. Results from the analyses of 409 U.S. manufacturing firms show that family ownership and involvement in the firm as well as the interaction of this ownership with family involvement are significantly and positively associated with internationalization. The implications of the findings for research and managerial practice are discussed.     

谈美国的经济现象与美元的财富效应

众所周知，美国是世界上经济实力最强的国家，同时也是贸易逆差最大的国家。那么，长期以来美国的巨额贸易逆差与经济增长却能同时并存，依然维持着美国经济的强势，这在世界上也是绝无仅有的经济现象。这里尽管原因很多，但从国际金融的角度分析，笔者赞同这样一种观点，即美元作为国际上流通量最大、流通范围最广的币种，其货币的特殊利益所带来的财富效应，已成为支撑美国经济发展的重要因素。现在，我们暂且不从理论上进行探讨，而只对美国经济现象的一系列数字加以分析，就会发现其中的奥妙，值得深入思考。在国际金融领域中，美国的国…     

China Starts to Import U.S. Cherry

China＇s trade surplus in May soared to 22.45 billion U.S. dollars, up 73% from the same period of last year, the General Administration of Customs said.     

Industry environments and new venture formations in U.S. manufacturing: A conceptual and empirical analysis of demand determinants

Through integration of theoretical perspectives from Austrian economics, industrial organization economics, and organizational theory, this study builds and examines empirically a model of the demand determinants of new venture formations in manufacturing industries. Austrian economics and other writings on market disequilibrium imply that the dynamics of industries create market opportunities that are available to economic actors. The greater the changes occurring in an industry, the greater the opportunities created, and the further the market is moved from an equilibrium state. Entrepreneurship is viewed as the process of seizing opportunities through combinations of productive inputs. The more available market opportunities in an industry, the greater is the potential for entrepreneurial activity and, more specifically, new venture formations. Entry barriers constrain the formation of new ventures by prohibiting new ventures from taking advantage of available emerging opportunities. The inertial properties of existing firms constrain their ability to move toward these opportunities and thereby increase the potential for new ventures to exploit these market opportunities.The empirical analysis utilizes the Small Business Administration's U.S. Establishment and Enterprise Microdata file to test the model on a large sample of U.S. manufacturing industries. Results indicate that dynamic industries have greater new venture formations. More specifically, new venture formations are associated with industry growth, the dynamism of industry niches, and technological development. Moreover, entry barriers were found to strongly constrain rates of new venture formations. Industry capital requirements, concentration, and excess capacity were all related negatively to the formation of new ventures. The hypothesized positive relationship between industry-level measures of organizational inertia and new venture formations was also borne out in the empirical analysis. New venture formations were related positively to the extent of vertical integration in an industry as well as to the failure of incumbent firms to invest in new capital.Overall, the independent variables explained more than 50% of the variance in rates of new venture formations in manufacturing industries. The results support an Austrian perspective on entrepreneurship and imply that demand factors and industry structural variables are important determinants of new venture creations.The results imply that dynamic industries should spawn new ventures, and industries with high sales growth, changing consumer preferences, and rapid technological change should exhibit high rates of venture formations. For potential entrepreneurs, the model presented herein might be a useful guide to focus their venture activities. Entrepreneurs who can spot the fundamental sources of market change can exploit their knowledge for economic gain. Yet, there are a number of difficulties in suggesting that the model presented herein could be directly applied by entrepreneurs. First, it is always easier to estimate the dynamics of an industry post hoc than it is ex ante. For example, whereas it is simple to catalogue the technological change that occurred in an industry over time, it is another matter to predict the nature of future technological developments. Second, entrepreneurial opportunity can persist only if other potential economic actors do not know of the presence of the opportunity or cannot act upon it. Any model that gains acceptance as a means of predicting the presence of opportunities would, through its widespread usage, neutralize those opportunities for economic profit. Nonetheless, entrepreneurs who have that unique capability to spot industry dynamics and associated profit opportunities where others do not will gain from that ability.     

美在华直接投资与中国对美出口商品结构关系研究

文章运用大量数据分别考察了美国在华直接投资的结构特征与中国对美国出口商品的结构特征,发现它们之间存在显著相关性.通过计量方法进一步论证了美国在华直接投资每增加一个百分点可带动劳动密集型和资本密集型产品及低、中、高技术产品对美国出口的不同出口效果,据此说明美国在华直接投资对中国向美国出口的商品结构产生了极大的影响.     

Gary Locke Led U.S.Business Executives to Promote Exports of U.S. Clean Energy Technologies in China and Indonesia

Forty-six U.S. business executives joined U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke in China and Indonesia May 15-25 on the first cabinet-level trade mission of the Obama Administration.     

美国海关

1776年,美利坚合众国宣布独立.然而人们的兴奋还未退去,年轻的美国就发现自己正处于破产的边缘:没有税收没有经济来源、财政十分紧张.政府不得不严肃面对这个问题,并紧急提上日程.终于,第一界国会讨论通过了乔治·华盛顿总统于1789年7月4日签署的关税行动草案,决定对进口美国的货物实施征税.美国海关正是在这个时候被正式提上日程.这份议案被当时的传媒界称为美国的"第二个独立宣言".四周之后,即1789年的7月31日,美国海关及其口岸正式建成了.     

Survival of the best fit: Exposure to low-wage countries and the (uneven) growth of U.S. manufacturing plants

This paper examines the role of international trade in the reallocation of U.S. manufacturing within and across industries from 1977 to 1997. Motivated by the factor proportions framework, we introduce a new measure of industry exposure to international trade that focuses on where imports originate rather than on their overall level. We find that plant survival and growth are negatively associated with industry exposure to low-wage country imports. Within industries, we show that manufacturing activity is disproportionately reallocated towards capital-intensive plants. Finally, we provide the first evidence that firms adjust their product mix in response to trade pressures. Plants are more likely to switch industries when exposure to low-wage countries is high.