Exclusive Dealing,Preferential Dealing,and Dynamic Efficiency

Several recent antitrust cases brought by the U.S.Department of Justice have challenged exclusivedealing by firms with market power. This paperreviews the legal treatment of exclusive dealing andanalyzes the economic implications of contracts thatpenalize customers for trading with a rival supplier. These contracts include arrangements that make it morecostly for customers to trade with a rival(preferential dealing) as well as contracts thatprohibit such trades (exclusive dealing). Theanalysis assumes that buyers and sellers negotiateefficiently, so the focus is on the implications ofcontract terms for investment behavior (dynamicefficiency). When investment is limited to theentrant, the optimal contract between a monopolyseller and a buyer imposes a socially excessivepenalty for trade with a rival. The paper contraststhe dynamic efficiency consequences of contractualpenalties and volume discounts. Both penalties andvolume discounts reduce a customer's gains from tradewith rival firms. However, in many circumstances,penalties harm dynamic efficiency because they lowera rival firm's marginal incentives to invest.     

美国量化宽松政策的原因及其影响

美国在财政政策和传统货币政策空间有限、国会的贸易保护主义环境和政党竞争激烈的情况下,为了刺激本国经济复苏,采取了量化宽松政策。短期来看对刺激美国经济有一定的作用,但是由于美元在国际货币体系中的中心地位,该政策会加大全球通货膨胀压力、助推大宗商品价格上涨、引起货币竞相贬值和更广泛的贸易保护主义。长期来看该政策增加的流动性大量外流,对美国经济刺激作用有限,并影响美元的地位。因此需要国际社会广泛合作审慎应对该政策的影响。     

The impact of trade liberalization in telecommunications services: The case of APEC countries

This paper examines the impact of liberalizing the telecommunications services sector on investment and output in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries by estimating a system of four structural equations that takes into account the causal relationship between national income and telecommunications infrastructure. The degree of openness to trade in telecommunications is represented by a carefully constructed index that reflects a country’s trade and investment policy in terms of market access, national treatment and regulatory principles. One interesting finding from the empirical analysis is that the effects of trade liberalization depend on the risk rating of a country. In countries with relatively high risk ratings liberalization reduces investment in telecommunications.     

中国—东盟自由贸易区成效与问题分析

经济之间的互补与竞争,是决定和制约双边经贸关系发展的基础。中国东盟自由贸易区各国之间存在着较大的互补性,而这种多层次的经济互补性有利于双方取得贸易双赢。与此同时,随着中国东盟自由贸易发展进入新的阶段,两者在某些方面表现出越来越强的竞争性,说明我国与东盟在一个比较长的时间内出口贸易竞争将比较激烈。这就给我们在评价中国东盟自由贸易区建立的效果时带来诸多不便,如果仅仅考虑其中一个方面都会得出不完整的结论。本文从贸易互补和贸易竞争两个角度分析中国东盟自由贸易区所取得的成果和所遇到的问题,并基于出口相似性指数和贸易互补指数显示的不同结果提出对策建议。     

Effects of trade and agricultural policies on the structure of the U.S. tomato industry

Over the last few decades, accelerated growth of Mexican tomato imports to the United States has caused several trade disputes with U.S. growers. A data-driven approach was used to analyze trade flows in the tomato industry from 1970 to 2015 and all structural changes to policy interventions implemented during the same period were linked. Tests for endogenous breakpoints reveal that NAFTA and trade pricing policies are two of the main factors that caused structural changes in the tomato industry in 1992 and 1999. While U.S. agricultural policies sought to protect domestic tomato producers, they did not stop Mexican tomatoes from taking an important share of the U.S. market. Mexican imports to the United States, especially post-NAFTA, have a high explanatory power for U.S. domestic production.     

Reducing transatlantic barriers on U.S.-EU agri-food trade: What are the possible gains?

In recent years, the EU and the U.S. have engaged in discussions to lower trade and investment barriers and strengthen transatlantic integration. For food and agricultural trade, non-tariff measures (NTMs) such as sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) stand out as significant barriers. This study combines sector-level econometric modeling with an agriculture-focused computable generable equilibrium (CGE) model to simulate various transatlantic liberalization scenarios on U.S.-EU agri-food trade. The simulations quantify the effect from tariff removal and addressing NTMs. The magnitude of the gains depend upon the level of tariff liberalization, the depth of integration, and possible consumer demand changes.     

Intermedia Substitutability and Market Demand by National Advertisers

We assess substitute and complementary relationships among eight national advertising media classes, as well as the magnitude of their own-price elasticities. We employ a translog demand model, whose parameters we estimate by three-stage least squares, based on 1960–94 annual U.S. data.We find aggregate demand by national advertisers for each of the eight media isown-price inelastic, and that cross-price elasticities suggest slightly more substitutethan complementary relationships, although both are rather weak. These patterns areconsistent with long prevailing institutional arrangements and media selection practices.     

Research Note: A Comparison of the Financial Characteristics of U.S. and Japanese Electronics Firms

The growing U.S. trade deficit with Japan has provided the motivation for a number of comparative studies of U.S. and Japanese business firms in recent years. In this study, the financial characteristics of U.S. and Japanese electronics firms are compared using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) method. The findings indicate that the financial characteristics of U.S. and Japanese electronics firms are significantly different.     

Creating barriers for foreign competitors: a study of the impact of anti-dumping actions on the performance of U.S. firms

This study investigates whether anti-dumping statutes are effective at improving the performance of U.S. firms. As international trade grows and competitors increasingly cross national borders to enter new markets, U.S. trade law becomes a potentially important tool for managers as they consider how to create barriers for foreign competitors. The results of this study suggest that the anti-dumping laws significantly increase returns of U.S. firms that pursue anti-dumping protection. The average petitioner between 1980 and 1992 received a $46 million increase in market value as a result of filing an anti-dumping petition. However, no significant change in market value was associated with preliminary or final determinations of the International Trade Commission, except when petitions received a negative determination at the final stage of the process. A negative determination at the final stage of the process resulted in a loss of market value. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

CONTRACTING FOR GOVERNMENT SERVICES: THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM U.S. CITIES*

Local governments can provide services with their own employees or by contracting with private or public sector providers. We develop a model of this ‘make‐or‐buy’ choice that highlights the trade‐off between productive efficiency and the costs of contract administration. We construct a dataset of service provision choices by U.S. cities and identify a range of service and city characteristics as significant determinants of contracting decisions. Our analysis suggests an important role for economic efficiency concerns, as well as politics, in contracting for government services.     

长安开门红，开门红世界

To enhance the energy security in Asia, it is important to clarify the policy goals for the energy security. China‘s continuing economic growth and increasing energy demand, increasing oil consumption in the US marketare the^°°factors to be considered for the energy security policies.     

NAFTA as a Means of Raising Rivals' Costs

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was designed to reduce tariff rates between Mexico, Canada and the U.S.A. over a period of ten years. However, lower tariff rates are only available to firms that comply with complicated and costly NAFTA filing regulations. Such regulations raise costs of small firms relative to large firms in a domestic industry which engages in trade between NAFTA countries. This implication of NAFTA regulations can lead to increased concentration in domestic industries, an hypothesis which can be tested as the transition period comes to an end. Finally, our model suggests an explanation for why the levels of trade from the U.S.A. to Mexico have been lower than general expectations.     

The U.S. industrial marketer's position in international trade

The purpose of this article is to examine some of the interests served by international trade and several of the factors that will affect the environment in which the marketing manager will operate in the next decade. The diverse forces that influence foreign trade are of increasing importance to marketing strategy. Although salesmen are still counseled to “sell-like-hell”, senior marketing people need to have a perspective that permits them to anticipate the threats and oppurtunities these forces create. We will suggest some of the trends and issues to which the marketer must be alert. While our analysis will be most appropriate for American companies, this approach is also applicable for firms based in other countries.The article is divided into five parts. In the first part we examine the importance and motives for U.S. international trade. We then explore U.S. patterns of imports and exports. In the third section we consider the role of technology in trade. Next we consider some of the trends that seem to apply for the next decade. Finally we raise some issues that will probably demand the marketer's attention in the future.     

Domestic Market Structure and Performance in Global Markets: Theory and Empirical Evidence from U.S. Food Manufacturing Industries

This paper formally articulates Porter's hypothesis that the degree of competition in domestic markets is positively linked to performance in international markets. Hypotheses are tested using measures of the trade performance of U.S. food manufacturing industries as proxies for international competitiveness. Empirical results are generally consistent with Porter's hypothesis; net export share is negatively related to industry concentration. The competitiveness of agricultural inputs, R & D intensity, and trade barriers of other countries were also found to be important determinants of the performance of these industries in global markets.     

The Stability of Market Shares in Liner Shipping

The Ocean Shipping Reform Act (OSRA) of 1998 significantly shifted the industrial structure of liner shipping markets from one that was dominated by price-fixing liner shipping conferences to one that is dominated by non-binding discussion agreements, global alliances, and long-term confidential contracting. The objective of this paper is to determine the extent to which the abandonment of the liner conference system on U.S. trade lanes affected the market share stability of individual steamship lines. The approach is to estimate a model of market share variation in U.S. liner shipping markets and compare the results under the two separate regulatory regimes.     

中国在东亚地区的自由贸易区建设研究

目前,贸易自由化席卷全球,世界各国都在积极与贸易伙伴谈判缔结FTA／EPA。我国在自由贸易区建设方面起步较晚,而且伙伴国主要在东亚地区。我国在东亚地区的自由贸易区建设面临两难困境：加快自由贸易区建设会给国内部分产业带来冲击和影响;放慢自由贸易区建设叉会遭遇日本以及东盟自由贸易发展的竞争和挑战。我国的策略应该是积极应对竞争和挑战,提高相关产业的国际竞争力,制定明确的自由贸易区战略,争取东亚贸易自由化和东亚一体化的主导权。     

How national systems differ in their constraints on corporate executives: a study of CEO effects in three countries

Do CEOs matter more in some countries than in others? Based on a theoretical consideration of three fundamental national‐level institutions—national values, prevailing firm ownership structures, and board governance arrangements—we argue that CEOs in different countries face systematically different degrees of constraint on their latitudes of action, and hence they differ in how much effect they have on firm performance. To test these ideas, we apply a variance components analysis methodology to 15‐year matched samples of 100 U.S. firms, 100 German firms, and 100 Japanese firms. Results provide strong, robust evidence that the effect of CEOs on firm performance—for good and for ill—is substantially greater in U.S. firms than in German and Japanese firms. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Unions and the U.S. Comparative Advantage

Analysis of data covering 134, three-digit (SIC) manufacturing industries from the mid-sixties to the mid-eighties undermines the claim that unions are responsible for altering the composition of U.S. trade flows. Heavily unionized industries are not found to have lost any more to imports nor gained any more in exports than comparable U.S. industries. On the other hand, industrial concentration appears to be a significant disadvantage.     

Market structure and U.S. trade flows

Using samples of input-output table detailed industries, we test the impact of various elements of market structure on U.S. trade flows, at the industry level, holding factor proportions constant. Industry demand characteristics and the extent of scale economies have significant impacts on trade flows. Labor intensity at the industry level has the effects on trade flows which are predicted by the factor proportions theory. Capital intensity increases both import and export flows; this result, together with certain others, suggests the importance of trade among industrialized countries in producer goods.     

Location,governance, and strategic determinants of japanese manufacturing investment in the united states

A firm's decision to manufacture abroad depends on location, governance, and strategic factors. Governance factors are firm-specific. In spite of this, most empirical studies of foreign direct investment (FDI) have been conducted at the industry level (making it impossible to look at firm-specific determinants), and only a handful have considered governance, location, and strategic factors simultaneously. This paper is the first large sample study of the determinants of foreign direct investment at the product and firm-level. It examines the impact of location and governance factors, and of four types of strategic interactions, on a Japanese firm's propensity to manufacture in the U.S. The results support the view that foreign direct investment is explained by location, governance, and strategic variables. Economies of scale and trade barriers encourage Japanese FDI in the U.S. The larger a Japanese firm's R & D expenditures, the greater the probability it will manufacture in the U.S., but this is not the case for advertising expenditures. Some strategic factors are also important: Japanese firms with medium domestic market shares have the highest propensity to invest in the U.S. There is evidence of follow-the-leader behavior between firms of rival enterprise groups, but none of ‘exchange-of-threat’ between American and Japanese firms. Japanese investors are also attracted by concentrated and high-growth U.S. industries.