Production Costs,Scale Economies,and Technical Change in U.S. Textile and Apparel Industries

The elimination of quotas in textiles and apparel poses new threats from import competition. To survive, the sectors need to find least-cost methods of production. The production–cost structure of the U.S. textile and apparel industries is examined using a dual cost framework. A translog cost function is used to measure substitution elasticities between inputs, scale economies, and the nature of technical change. The scope for factor substitution in textiles remains limited with all substitution elasticities being less than unity. Labor and materials are complements in apparel production, but there is evidence of substitution between capital and labor. The rate of technical change is higher in textiles than in apparel. Given the intense import competition from low wage countries, in both industries, technical progress is labor saving. Overall, economies of scale are larger in apparel; however, scale economies have continued to increase in textiles.This research was supported by a grant from the National Textile Center.     

Public Infrastructure and the Productive Performance of Canadian Manufacturing Industries

This article examines the effects of public infrastructure on the productive performance of 12 two-digit Canadian manufacturing industries. A flexible cost function incorporating public capital infrastructure is estimated for each industry separately using annual time series data for 1961-1995. The effects of public infrastructure on productivity are measured in terms of both cost-saving (dual) and output-augmenting (primal) measures. We also investigate how public capital influences the input demand and cost structure in each industry and calculate the rate of return to public capital. The empirical results provide strong evidence of the important role public infrastructure plays in the productivity of manufacturing industries. The public capital serves as a substitute for both private capital and labor in most industries. The rates of return to public capital are significant and vary over the years.     

Uncovering the Relationship between FDI, Human Capital and Technological Progress in Chinese High-technology Industries

Using a panel dataset for 28 sub-industries from 5 Chinese industries from 1995 to 2006, this paper examines the impact of human capital, R＆D expenditure and FD1 spillover on the productivity improvement of Chinese high-technology industries. The whole industry sample results suggest that human capital promotes total factor productivity, technical change and technical efficiency change, but that FDI lowers all of these factors in Chinese high-technology industry. When we distinguish between types of ownership structure in the industries, we find that human capital improves technical change but lowers technical efficiency change, whereas FDI only improves technical efficiency change in state-owned and state-controlled enterprises but reduces technical change in state-owned and state-controlled enterprises and joint ventures.     

Earnings Differentials Determinants Between Skills in the Malaysian Manufacturing Sector

The Malaysian manufacturing sector has been experiencing a gradual change in its production process as it shifts from labor-intensive to more capital-intensive techniques. This has led to a change in the skills required by the industries where skilled workers are in greater demand and where the wage ratio between skills favors the skilled workers. There are many factors that can influence an indi-vidual's earnings. These include educational attainment, job location, types of industries and sex. This paper attempts to measure the determinants of earnings differentials among skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled workers in the Malaysian manufacturing sector. The analysis is based on a survey of 2065 workers in six major industries conducted in 1999. These are the electrical and electronics, textile, wood-based, transport equipment, food and chemical industries. The determin-ants of earnings differentials are obtained by using the coefficients of the earnings functions. These factors are decomposed into several categories, namely human capital, individual characteristics and the residual. The results reveal that human capital variables, which comprise education, training and experience, play a significant role in determining the earnings differentials, particularly between skilled and semi-skilled workers and between semi-skilled and unskilled workers.     

基于拓展Orr模型的中国服务业进入壁垒研究

从制度环境质量、要素使用特征以及政府干预等方面探讨了中国服务业进入壁垒的形成机理,并利用拓展Orr模型实证检验进入壁垒对中国2008年40个二位数服务行业进入率的影响。结果表明：依托行政审批制度的行业准入管制的放松有利于提高服务业进入率,但税收负担、资产规模和研发投入构成显著的进入壁垒,其中知识和技术密集型服务业对人力资本和研发投入的要求更高;政府干预形成的进入壁垒主要表现在国有企业庞大的营业额和资产规模上。     

Lumpy investments, factor adjustments, and labour productivity

This paper describes firms’ output and factor demandsbefore, during, and after episodes of lumpy investment. By usinga rich employer–employee panel data set for two manufacturingindustries and one service industry, we focus on simultaneousvariations in output, capital, materials, man hours, labourproductivity, and the skill composition and hourly cost of labour.Investment spikes are followed by roughly proportional changesin sales, labour, and materials, and significant increases incapital intensity. The changes in labour productivity that areassociated with the investment spikes are small, which indicatesthat productivity improvements are not related to instantaneoustechnological change through investment spikes. Focusing onsectoral differences, capital adjustments are found to be smootherin the service industry than in the two manufacturing industrieswhich may be related to differences in labour intensities betweenthe industries.     

开放条件下中国式技术变迁对居民消费的影响研究

改革开放以来,中国式技术变迁采取引进式技术进步方式以加快国内技术的追赶,推动了经济的快速增长。引进式技术进步以资本为载体,具有资本偏向和技能偏向的特征,导致资本报酬挤占劳动报酬和劳动报酬内部分配不均,致使消费需求增长乏力。中国式技术变迁具有强制性特征,使得技术引进更多地集中于东部沿海地区、城市工业和高新技术行业,导致生产力结构不平衡,加剧了收入分配不均衡和消费支出下降。在当前国内外技术差距缩小、国外对核心技术封锁的现实条件下,中国式技术变迁路径需要从引进式技术进步转向原发式技术进步,在实现增长动能转换的同时,激发居民消费潜力。     

日本东京圈的商务成本

日本经济高度集中于东京圈导致了地价、房租和劳动力等商务成本的增加，也导致交通拥挤和居住环境的恶化，商务成本和生活成本高对经济带来的影响导致了东京圈的功能特化，即：制造业不断撤退，居民纷纷向外迁徙，但以金融业和信息传媒产业为首的第三产业和大公司的总部以及外国大公司却看好东京，东京圈中心部降低商务成本的主要措施是促进土地合理流动和提高土地利用率以降低地价，而周边地区的主要措施则是用新的手段加强招商引资，     

资本深化对中国制造业劳动生产率的影响:市场选择与政府行为

文章基于市场选择与政府行为的视角,将资本深化分解为工资上涨引致的资本深化和政府投资引致的资本深化,利用2000-2014年中国制造业28个分行业的面板数据,实证检验了资本深化对中国制造业劳动生产率提升的影响。研究结果表明,工资上涨引致的资本深化能显著的促进中国制造业劳动生产率的提升,而政府投资引致的资本深化却对中国制造业劳动生产率的提升产生了不利的影响。进一步的研究发现,政府投资引致的资本深化与中国制造业劳动生产率之间呈现出显著的"倒U型"关系,其临界值为政府投资引致的资本深化达到0.057左右,目前越过该临界值的制造业行业有20个,且主要集中在重化工业制造业。而未越过该临界值的制造业行业有8个,主要分布于轻工业制造业。这一研究结果为中国"去库存、去产能"的供给侧结构性改革提供必要的经验支持。     

Relationship Between Domestic Research and Development Activity and Technology Importation: An Empirical Investigation of Japanese Manufacturing Industries

This paper investigates the relationship between domestic research and development (R&D) activity and technological importation. We estimate the elasticity of factor inputs with respect to input prices using a cost minimization framework and time series data for Japanese manufacturing industries over the 1971–2000 period. The results show that domestic R&D activity and imported technology correlate with each other in the R&D-intensive industries, and the relationship is affected by the characteristics of the industry. Moreover, it is found that domestic R&D activity tends to be correlated with capital saving, while imported technology tends to be correlated with increased capital formation and employment.     

外资准入如何影响中国相邻城市间生产率差距？

区域发展不平衡不充分是我国当前面临的社会主要矛盾之一，同时坚持"制度型开放"有助于增强地区间产业关联，带动欠发达地区相关产业发展，进而促进地区间的平衡发展。文章将"开放"和"协调"议题结合，以中国2002年《外商投资产业指导目录》的重新修订作为案例，研究外资准入政策对相邻城市间管制放松行业生产率差距的影响和作用机制。文章结论表明，外资准入政策显著减小了管制放松行业在相邻城市间的生产率差距。异质性检验发现，在中部和西部地区以及较低创新水平、盈利水平和外资进入程度行业的样本组，外资准入政策可以更显著地减小相邻城市间管制放松行业的生产率差距。作用机制检验发现，外资准入政策显著降低了相邻城市间管制放松行业的创新水平差距和盈利水平差距，上述变化是促使减小生产率差距的重要影响渠道。拓展性分析发现，贸易自由化加强了外资准入政策减小相邻城市间管制放松行业生产率差距的积极作用。地区之间的市场分割程度越高，外资准入政策减小管制放松行业生产率差距的作用反而越强。     

我国民营资本参与高技术产业发展的模式研究

本文从我国现实经济环境出发,以积极促进民营资本参与高技术产业发展为目的,重点分析了民营资本参与高技术产业发展的投资推动、需求拉动和服务支持等三种模式。认为,鼓励和引导民营资本参与高技术产业发展,是一个亟待研究和解决的问题,而科学合理的模式是决定民营资本参与高技术产业发展的重要方面。     

中国黄金与行业股票市场的动态相关性研究——基于DCC-GARCH模型

利用2015—2023年的黄金AU9999与十个上证行业指数日收益率数据,建立DCC-GARCH模型来分析动态相关性并计算最优投资权重和最优对冲比率。实证结果发现,黄金与行业股票市场存在动态相关性;黄金市场对十个行业的避险和对冲作用有差异,市场极端情况下黄金与行业指数均高度负相关,熊市期间黄金与原材料以外的九个行业具有不同程度负相关,黄金与工业、可选消费等七个行业长期具有负相关性;黄金平均权重在主要消费行业占比最高,原材料行业的对冲比率最高。最后提出资产组合纳入黄金、持续评估和区分行业进行风险管理的建议。     

Aging labor,ICT capital,and productivity in Japan and Korea

This study examines how aging affects labor productivity using industry-level data of Japan and Korea. The analysis shows that, for both Japan and Korea, aging has positive effects on labor productivity when older workers are working in industries with a large share of information and communication technology (ICT) in the capital stock. We also find that, on average, older workers exert positive effects on labor productivity across all industries when they are low-educated in Japan and high-educated in Korea. In addition, a complementary effect between ICT capital and older workers is observed for both high- and low-educated workers in Japan but only for low-educated workers in Korea. The complementarity between ICT and old workers existed in both manufacturing and services industries of Korea and Japan.     

FDI对我国电子工业生产率的行业内溢出效应研究——以1996—2001年43个细分行业为例

本文考察了外资对中国电子工业劳动生产率的影响。利用1996—2001年期间电子行业的9大部门和43个细分行业的面板数据,并按照无形资产比率、出口比率和国有资本比率对43个细分行业进行了分组检验,我们发现,1996—2001年期间中国电子工业的劳动生产率呈现明显的外商直接投资的溢出效应,并且在不同的行业呈现较大的波动。在无形资产比率高、出口比率高、国有资本比率高的行业,外资对劳动生产率的促进作用显著,而在国有资本比率低、技术含量低的行业,外资对劳动生产率的促进作用不显著。国有企业在促进劳动生产率提高方面具有积极作用,说明国营企业引进外资是一种长期有效的学习跨国公司经验的途径。而且,跨国公司通常被高生产率的电子行业所吸引,在这些行业溢出效应明显存在,但对于一些外资比率低的电子行业,这种正溢出效应不显著。

Abstract：

This paper examines the effect of foreign direct investment（FDI）on the labor productivity of China’s electronics industry. Using panel data of 9 major sectors and 43 sub-sectorsof the electronics industry during the period 1996—2001,and doing group test according to the ratio of intangible assets,the export ratio and the state-owned capital ratio of the 43 sub-sectors,we find that during 1996—2001,labor productivity of the Chinese electronics industry showed significant spillover effects of FDI and large fluctuations in different industries. In industries that have high intangible assets ratio,high export ratio and high state-owned capital ratio,FDI played a more significant role in promoting labor productivity than in industries that have low state—owned capital ratio and low technology contents. State-owned enterprises has a positive effect in promoting labor productivity,indicating that introducing foreign investment is an effective long term route to learn transnational corporations’ experience for state-owned enterprises. Moreover,transnational corporations are always attracted to higher productivity sub-sectors,implying significant spillover effects in these industries,while in sub-sectors with low rate of foreign invest-ment,the spillover effect is not significant.     

The Effect of the Exchange Rates on Investment in Mexican Manufacturing Industry

This paper, considering revenue and cost exposure channels, investigates the effects of exchange rate on fixed capital investment in Mexican manufacturing sector over 1994–2003. We find that i) currency depreciation has a positive (negative) effect on fixed investment through the export (import) channel; ii) exchange rate volatility impacts mostly export oriented sectors; iii) the sensitivity of investment to exchange rate movements is stronger in non-durable goods sectors and industries with low mark-up ratios.     

中国高技术产业的劳动生产率差异——基于DEA的实证分析

本文运用数据包络分析,将中国高技术产业劳动生产率变化的源泉分解成技术效率、技术进步、资本深化和人力资本积累四个部分,分析了它们对劳动生产率及其差异的影响。2000-2009年间17个高技术产业的实证分析表明:(1)中国高技术产业劳动生产率水平有了显著提升,其中技术效率改善、技术进步和人力资本积累促进了劳动生产率的提高,资本深化则阻碍了劳动生产率的提高;(2)中国高技术产业的劳动生产率差异缩小了,其中技术效率变化、资本深化是劳动生产率差距缩小的主要原因,而技术进步和人力资本积累则阻碍了劳动生产率差距的缩小。     

Audit Regulation and Cost of Equity Capital: Evidence from the PCAOB's International Inspection Regime*

This study investigates the relation between audit regulation and cost of equity capital. There is scant empirical evidence on this relation because changes in audit regulation are frequently accompanied by other major regulatory changes. We exploit variation in the timing of regulatory changes induced by foreign governments' staggered allowance of PCAOB inspections. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that foreign SEC registrants with auditors from countries that allow PCAOB inspections enjoy a lower cost of capital, relative to foreign SEC registrants with auditors from countries that prohibit inspections. Furthermore, we find that this cost of capital effect is attenuated for companies with higher-quality governance mechanisms. Finally, we document that inspection access is associated with higher-quality analyst forecasts, which suggests that this change in audit regulation reduces information risk for market participants.     

Substitutability and Accumulation of Information Technology Capital in U.S. Industries

The substitution toward information technology (IT) capital fueled by the rapid decline in IT prices is regarded as an important source of U.S. economic growth. Using data on 41 U.S. industries for the period from 1984 to 1999, this article examines the degree of substitutability between IT capital and other inputs and quantifies the contribution of IT substitution to the accumulation of IT capital per hour worked. Estimates of various elasticities of substitution indicate that IT capital and other factors of production are substitutes. In particular, the substitution of IT capital for other inputs is salient in the industries with less IT capital. Among the sources of IT capital deepening, IT substitution accounts for about 60% of growth in IT capital per hour worked.     

The Role of Human Capital in Economic Development: Evidence from Taiwan

The use of Taiwanese industrial data to investigate two potentially important roles of human capital on long-run economic growth (i.e. factor accumulation and technology progress), we find that human capital accounts for 46% of output growth in aggregate manufacturing industry and from 23 to 84% in two-digit industries. Significant knowledge spillover effects were found within Taiwan's manufacturing sector. For aggregate manufacturing, a roughly 29% of total rate of return to education gives a private return of 7% while the external knowledge spillover effect is 22%. For the two-digit industries, the inter-industry effect of education measures two to three times its intra-industry effect. Contrary to the Lau-Young proposition, we find that technology change in terms of knowledge spillover contributes 39% to the output growth of Taiwan's aggregate manufacturing and from 12 to 42% to that of the two-digit industries. Our results also suggest that, in the presence of externalities, growth accounting based on macro data may be misleading in interpreting the sources of growth.
In addition, the case study of Taiwan suggests that opening trade broadens opportunities, and hence increases the return on human-capital investment. However, our estimation results also suggest that in terms of capturing the growth benefits from trade, threshold levels of human capital exist in most industries.