FDI facilitated by agglomeration economies: evidence from manufacturing and services joint ventures in China

The open door policy of China’s economic reform since the 1980s has attracted heavy foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into China and especially to Guangdong (particularly the Pearl River Delta region, PRD) and induced significant economic growth during the past two decades. While there exist various classical theories of FDI in attempting to identify the determinants of FDI inflow and to explain the behavior of FDI flows, limited attention has been given from the perspective of agglomeration effects generated by a core-periphery (CP) relation.This paper intends to study the impacts of agglomerations on FDI inflows in the context of Krugman’s CP relation (1991) by investigating (1) the formation of a CP relation via gravity model analysis; (2) whether different types of industry FDI flows will respond differently in the CP-system, given agglomeration effects; and (3) whether FDI origin and firm scale matter in affecting FDI flows.A database consisting of a population frame of 37,742 firm-level manufacturing and services joint ventures investing in Guangdong in 1998 was used. Empirical results show that the agglomerations of the CP relation have affected FDI flow patterns. While both manufacturing and services FDI and sources of investment responded differently to the impacts, smaller firms were found more responsive to the CP-agglomeration settings regardless of FDI by industry type and by source. The significance and implications of the CP-system to further facilitate FDI in the region are discussed.     

Principal components estimation and identification of static factors

It is known that the principal component estimates of the factors and the loadings are rotations of the underlying latent factors and loadings. We study conditions under which the latent factors can be estimated asymptotically without rotation. We derive the limiting distributions for the estimated factors and factor loadings when N$N$ and T$T$ are large and make precise how identification of the factors affects inference based on factor augmented regressions. We also consider factor models with additive individual and time effects. The asymptotic analysis can be modified to analyze identification schemes not considered in this analysis.     

Person–organization fit and the war for talent: does diversity management make a difference?

This study investigates the importance of diversity management in applicants' job choice decisions. According to the person–organization fit theory, individuals make assessments of fit between their personal values and the values of the organizations, and they make job choice decisions based on these assessments. A survey of 113 MBA job seekers concluded that women and ethnic minorities found diversity management to be important when accepting offers of employment. In addition, high achievers and new immigrants rated organizations with diversity management as more attractive as potential employers. The findings suggest a need to place a higher emphasis on diversity management in women and minority applicant attraction.     

The impact of job embeddedness on innovation‐related behaviors

It has often been argued that low turnover leads to less innovation in organizations, not only because fewer job vacancies are available for outsiders with new ideas, but also because longer‐tenured employees might be more resistant to change. In this study, we propose that job embeddedness may actually strengthen employees' motivation to generate, spread, and implement innovative ideas in organizations. In a longitudinal study with a diverse sample, we found that job embeddedness was positively and significantly related to innovation‐related behaviors, even after controlling for demographic variables, the job attitudes, and the job perceptions that are frequently associated with job embeddedness. In addition, we found some support for the proposed moderating effects of career stage; that is, the relationship between job embeddedness and implementing innovative ideas was stronger for individuals in the mid‐ and late stages of their careers than for those in the early stage of their careers. This article concludes with directions for developing future theory. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

消费文化、认知偏差与消费行为偏差

本文放松了理性经济人假设,在行为经济学双曲线贴现模型框架下,以"自我控制"认知偏差及相应的模型参数设定对东西方消费文化差异进行了技术表达,进而阐明了消费过度(欧美国家)和消费不足(东亚国家)这两类消费行为偏差的形成机制。本文采用全球48个国家和地区1978—2007年的面板数据,以儒家虚拟变量和性生活指数作为消费文化的替代变量检验了文化与消费的关系。结果表明,在解释东西方消费率差异时,预防性储蓄等传统理论的解释力远低于不可观测的国家个体效应。儒家虚拟变量和性生活指数能分别解释国家个体效应的28%和58%。这表明消费文化等不随时间改变的个体因素比传统变量更能解释各国居民的消费差异。实践层面上,双曲线贴现模型中锁定技术能有效纠正"自我控制"认知偏差,从而消解儒家文化对消费的深度抑制,可为扩大内需政策创新提供思路启发和技术支撑。     

Levels of computer self-efficacy, computer use and earnings in China

Levels of self-efficacy in computer use were found to be positively related to computer use at work among a sample of workers in Shanghai. The simultaneous estimation of computer use and earnings indicated that an earnings premium for computer use accrues only to females, not to males.     

A video game to supplement a hybrid principles of microeconomics course

In this article, the author describes the structure and content of a video game that she developed for a hybrid principles of microeconomics course that consists of two 50-minute lectures and a 50-minute online portion per week. The game comprises seven modules, each of which was assigned to be played during the course of the semester for the online portion of the class. The concepts covered in the game include the circular flow model, demand and supply, externalities, comparative advantage, types of market structure, sunk costs, and game theory, and the article explains in detail how the gameplay was related to these concepts. The game can be downloaded for either Windows or Mac computers, or played online at https://sites.google.com/site/gamesforecon/.