Growth, Technological Change, and ICT Diffusion: Recent Evidence from OECD Countries

In this paper we present an overview of GDP and productivitygrowth patterns in OECD countries over the past decade, on thebasis of harmonized data. Our evidence suggests that fast-growingcountries generally shared three characteristics: improvementsin labour utilization; a generalized enhancement in human capital;and rapid shifts in the composition of physical capital towardsinformation and communication technology (ICT) equipment. Particularly,we show that technological change embodied in new ICT capitalgoods has been a primary source of output and productivity growthin ICT-using sectors. The international comparison allows relatinggrowth patterns to institutional and policy indicators, therebyoffering some preliminary insights into the potential sourcesof growth disparities. Cross-country evidence yields some tentativesupport to the idea that institutional factors affecting competitionin the product market are likely to affect productivity patterns,especially in a period of rapid diffusion of a general-purposetechnology (such as ICT).     

Estimating deferred taxation on dividends in business groups

In a group of companies corporate income taxation is levied on basic earnings and then on dividends paid to holding companies. The entity of this taxation depends on the tax regime, so that income may be taxed twice, first in the hands of the subsidiaries, then in the next years in the hands of holding companies. Therefore, consolidated profits may not be wholly paid to shareholders (who are the ultimate owners) and deferred taxes have to be computed in order to determine the true profitability of a group of companies. Using input–output theory, we developed a framework to estimate deferred taxation on dividends in business groups. Such relationships can be particularly useful when cross‐shareholdings exist to determine deferred liabilities under several accounting standards. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Self‐Tuning Model for Smart Manufacturing SMEs: Effects on Digital Innovation

With the changing way people live, communicate, and work, enterprises are striving to shift their existing business model into a “self‐tuning” one. Enterprises are becoming more agile, adaptive, and ambidextrous in order to boost innovation in the current digital transformation era. Nowadays, “digital innovation” is closely associated with Industry 4.0 enablers and smart enterprises. Prior research has shown that while multinational enterprises—across many sectors—have already embraced the aforementioned advancements, their adoption by small and‐medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) has so far taken place mainly in the manufacturing sector. Thus, based on a sample of 280 self‐tuned smart manufacturing SMEs and having utilized the structural equation modeling (SEM), this study was aimed to investigate how digital innovation is influenced by the three pillars of self‐tuning models—agility, adaptation, and ambidexterity. Our paper has focussed on the digital systems in which SMEs, spurred by networking and open innovation solutions, operate and innovate in response to external triggers, displaying a balance between exploration and exploitation, and a strong agile capacity.     

On the measurement of intra-industry trade: Some further thoughts

Zusammenfassung Zur Messung des intra-industriellen Handels. Einige weitere Gedanken. — Der Autor untersucht, was für und was gegen das Argument des Korrekturbedarfs bei der Messung des intra-industriellen Handels (IIH) spricht, und kommt zu dem Ergebnis, da\ eine Korrektur sowohl aus theoretischen als auch aus empirischen Gründen abzulehnen ist. Der unkorrigierte Index von Grubel und Lloyd hat sich als der beste der gegenw?rtig verfügbaren Indizes erwiesen, wenn er auch ziemlich stark auf das Ausma\ der Datendisaggregierung reagiert. Empirische Studien scheinen darauf hinzudeuten, da\ die Ebene der 4- bis 5-stelligen SITC am besten geeignet ist, um den IIH zu messen. Selbst an Hand dieser stark disaggregierten Daten ist der auf bilateraler Basis berechnete IIH sehr beachtlich, besonders wenn er mit dem hier vorgeschlagenen neuen Index gemessen wird. Dieser Index wird aus theoretischen überlegungen abgeleitet und ist nicht mit dem überlappen des Handels verknüpft.

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Résumé Des mésures du commerce intra-branche: Quelques réflexions supplémentaires. — Dans cette étude l’auteur examine les points positifs et négatifs de l’argument d'une ?nécessité de la correction? en mesurant le commerce intra-branche. Il conclue que la nécessité devrait être rejetée à cause de la théorie et l’évidence empirique. On trouve que l’indicateur de Grubel et de Lloyd est le meilleur de ceux qui sont au moment disponibles. Il réagit néanmoins de mesure considérable au niveau de la disagrégation des données. L’évidence empirique semble montrer que le niveau de 4 ou 5 chiffres CTCI est le plus adéquat pour mesurer le commerce intra-branche. Même avec ces données très hautement disagrégées le commerce intra-branche est tout considérable, particulièrement si mesuré par le nouvel indicateur du commerce intra-branche qui est proposé ici. Cet indicateur est dérivé des considérations théoriques et n'est pas lié aux échanges croisés.

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Resurnen Sobre la medición del comercio intrasectorial: algunas ideas más. — En este trabajo se examinan las ventajas y desventajas del argumente de la necesidad de corrección al medir el comercio intrasectorial y se concluye que deberia ser rechazado en base a razones teóricas y empiricas. El indice no corregido de Grubel y Lloyd es el mejor de los indices existentes; sin embargo, es sensible al nivel de desagregacón. La evidencia empírica parece indicar que el nivel de 4 a S digitos de la SITC es el nivel más apropiado para medir el comercio intrasectorial. Incluso medido a este nivel altamente desagregado, el comercio intrasectorial computado bilateralmente résulta bastante importante, especialmente si es medido con el nuevo indice propuesto aqui. Este indice es derivado de consideraciones teóricas y no esta ligado a la superposition del comertio.

     

Informational cascades with endogenous prices: The role of risk aversion

In this paper, we show that long run market informational inefficiency and informational cascades can easily happen when trades occur at market clearing prices. We consider a sequential trade model where: (i) the investors’ set of actions is discrete; (ii) dealers and investors differ in risk aversion; (iii) investors’ information is bounded. We show that informational cascade occurs as soon as traders’ beliefs do not differ too sharply. Thus, prices cannot fully incorporate the private information dispersed in the economy.     

Intangible capital,relative asset shortages and bubbles

Purely technological factors can be a fundamental force behind the emergence of asset price bubbles in developed economies. We analyze an economy in which the production technology utilizes both physical and intangible capital, where the latter cannot be used as collateral for borrowing. Technological change, in the form of increased importance of intangible capital in production, sharpens the borrowing constraints of entrepreneurs, leading to a scarcity of high-yield assets relative to low-yield ones. This can create the conditions for asset bubbles. Additionally, due to the financial frictions, standard dynamic efficiency tests are not valid, and bubbles are not Pareto improving.     

Does apprenticeship improve job opportunities? A regression discontinuity approach

In Italy the main difference between apprentices and other types of temporary workers is that apprentices must receive firm-provided training. The firm incentive in hiring apprentices consists in paying lower wages and labour taxes. Using an Italian administrative dataset containing information on the jobs started between January 2009 and June 2012, we estimate the effect of apprenticeship on the hazard function to a permanent job. Identification is based on a regression discontinuity design. We find that, for 29-year-old workers, apprenticeships are “long entrance halls” towards permanent contracts, especially within the firm where the apprenticeship is performed.

     

Geodesics on the equilibrium manifold

We show the existence of a Riemannian metric on the equilibrium manifold such that a minimal geodesic connecting two (sufficiently close) regular equilibria intersects the set of critical equilibria in a finite number of points. This metric represents a solution to the following problem: given two (sufficiently close) regular equilibria, find the shortest path connecting them which encounters the set of critical equilibria in a finite number of points. Furthermore, this metric can be constructed in such a way to agree, outside an arbitrary small neighborhood of the set of critical equilibria, to any given metric with economic meaning.