Measures for knowledge-based economic development: Introducing data mining techniques to economic developers in the state of Georgia and the US South

The contribution of knowledge to economic growth and competitiveness has attracted increased attention. Publications with a topical focus on areas related to innovation have risen dramatically from 1963 to 2005, but more slowly in local and regional development journals. In contrast to the wide use of aggregate measures of innovation, this paper presents four cases presenting disaggregated knowledge-based approaches into the policy- and decision-making processes of economic developers in the state of Georgia and the US South. The first case uses information obtained from patents and publications to inform traditional out-of-area economic development recruitment strategies in a more knowledge-oriented direction. The second case exemplifies the use of data mining to identify top researchers as part of a strategic state economic development effort. The third case illustrates how local knowledge-based capabilities can be identified in cities not traditionally viewed as innovative. Nanotechnology-related knowledge assets in the southern United States are mapped and assessed in the fourth case. Disaggregated methods used in traditional strategies were most intuitively understood and used, but new knowledge measures were found to encourage local and state economic developers to begin to embrace new paradigms.     

Unemployment Shocks and Income Distribution: How did the Nordic Countries Fare during their Crises?

We study the inequality of disposable income in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during the late 1980s and early 1990s when unemployment rose dramatically in all four countries. A standard measure of inequality — the Gini coefficient – was surprisingly stable in all countries during this period. By decomposing the Gini into income components, we test hypotheses about the reasons for this stable income distribution. Our most straightforward hypothesis, that rising unemployment benefits counteracted the impact of more unequally distributed earnings, receives only limited support. More complex mechanisms seem to have been at work.
JEL classification: D 30; D 31; J 60     

Entwicklung des Nebeneinanders von Privat- und Sozialversicherung in den Niederlanden

In the Netherlands, a “dual system” with a public and private sector has been established for health insurance. The advantage of this system is that the positive aspects of a good social policy with room for the employer are combined in order to avoid the buroc-racy and rigidity of a purely public system. In spite of the good experiences with this system over the last years, the Public Health Service is changing and innovations must be given a chance. This explains the willingness of the Netherlands to exchange practical experience with other countries and to discuss with other EU members the possibility of a combined orientated development of the Public Health Service system within the EU.     

Developing a typology of organisational forms of cooperative purchasing

This paper develops a typology for purchasing groups. In the typology, five main forms of cooperative purchasing are distinguished based on seven main dimensions. The forms are positioned in a matrix according to two distinguishing dimensions. These two dimensions are the ‘influence by all members on the group activities’ and the ‘number of different group activities’. Underlying the two-dimensional matrix, there are five other dimensions that do not distinguish all forms from each other, but further detail the forms of cooperative purchasing. The typology can serve as a guideline for purchasing groups when a suitable organisational form needs to be chosen. In a suitable form, the dimensions of a group fit together. For all groups, it is recommended to find this best fit. This is something in which the typology may help. The paper concludes by emphasising the importance of clearly defining and positioning studied forms, because different forms imply different research models and have different advantages, disadvantages, and critical success factors.     

PRODUCTIVITY AND FIRM DYNAMICS: CREATIVE DESTRUCTION IN INDONESIAN MANUFACTURING, 1994–2000

This paper examines the entry and exit, and the labour productivity, of Indonesian manufacturing firms with 20 workers or more, using a firm-level panel dataset constructed for the years 1994–2000. Overall change in manufacturing labour productivity reached 27.2%—an average growth of 3.5% per annum—between 1994 and 2000, a period that includes the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis, which hit Indonesia hard. Vibrant firm dynamics characterised this period, in which about 10% of manufacturing enterprises were renewed in any one year. By 2000, one-third of all enterprises in existence in 1994 had closed, but the number of enterprises that closed was lower than the number that entered and survived up to the year 2000. The replacement of exiting firms with newly entering firms contributed significantly to increases in overall labour productivity. Regulatory reform in support of this process should lead to gains in productive employment for Indonesian workers.     

It is Time for National Action to Reach the Lisbon Goals

Summary During the second half of 2004, the Netherlands held the Presidency of the European Union. One of the conferences during the Presidency was titled ‘More people at work: Policies to activate Europe’s labour potential’. It was organised on October 25 and 26, 2004 at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. The conference focused on four particular areas: the reconciliation of work and family life, activating social security systems, mobility and training. As a starting point for the discussions during the conference, academics who are experts in the specific policy areas were asked to write a paper. In this special edition of ‘De economist’ you will find a presentation of three of their papers. In my contribution I will explain why I have put the focus of this conference on increasing labour supply and more in particular why these four themes have been chosen as relevant for Member States and the Union. As time has not stopped after the Netherlands’ Presidency I will also take this opportunity to show that the conclusions of the conference have become an integrated part of the revitalised Lisbon strategy.     

Modeling Sovereign Yield Spreads: A Case Study of Russian Debt

We construct a model for pricing sovereign debt that accounts for the risks of both default and restructuring, and allows for compensation for illiquidity. Using a new and relatively efficient method, we estimate the model using Russian dollar-denominated bonds. We consider the determinants of the Russian yield spread, the yield differential across different Russian bonds, and the implications for market integration, relative liquidity, relative expected recovery rates, and implied expectations of different default scenarios.     

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Global convergence of adaptive learning in models of pure exchange

Summary. This paper develops an adaptive learning scheme for a standard version of the OLG model with pure exchange. Perfect forecasting rules which generate perfect foresight orbits are approximated by cubic spline functions. These approximations are successively constructed using historical data only. Trajectories generated by this scheme converge to perfect foresight orbits globally for all initial conditions. This result holds for all parameterizations guaranteeing the existence of a monetary steady state and hence is independent of consumers' savings behavior. It generalizes to all one-dimensional models of the Cobweb type. Received: October 5, 2000; revised version: February 15, 2001