What is Antidumping Policy Really About?

Dumping is whatever you can get the government to act against under the antidumping law. J. Michael Finger (1993, p.viii). Antidumping policy has become one of the most important instruments for protection in the international trade system, but at the same time it is the subject of an intense, though rather chaotic, debate. This paper provides an overview of the antidumping literature and the current issues. First it describes the origins of antidumping policy and provides some basic statistics on its current use drawn from several empirical studies. Next the paper discusses the economic foundations of antidumping law by examining the traditional and modern theories of dumping, as well as the industrial organization literature on price discrimination and predatory pricing. It is demonstrated that those economic foundations are weak. The paper also considers the fairness rationales for antidumping policy. Finally, it addresses the criticisms of antidumping laws, in particular in the context of the current antidumping versus competition policy debate, and discusses a variety of proposals for reform that have been made. The paper shows that the 1997 'cease fire' agreement between Canada and Chile is a promising approach toward reform of antidumping policy.     

Techno-economic evaluation of 3G and beyond mobile business alternatives

Three business case scenarios in the context of emerging mobile access network technologies and business players have been studied and the economical results are presented. The aim is to cover some of the most interesting business alternatives in providing the new 3G and beyond services including cases where the operator may have an existing second-generation cellular network or not, and a license for the 3G UMTS network or not. The scenarios have been analyzed in different Western European country groups that are not exactly representative of any defined country, but rather share typical demographic characteristics. Investments and operational expenditures are identified and the results show how diverse business models and technologies lead to different revenue, cost, and profitability profiles. The business case scenarios include incumbent’s 3G evolution with UMTS compared to an alternative 3G technology deployment with mobile WiMAX, new entrant’s UMTS deployment business case, and a greenfield CDMA450 deployment business case.     

Success and Risk Factors in the Pre-Startup Phase

Why does one person actually succeed in starting a business, while a second person gives up? In order to answer this question, a sample of 517 nascent entrepreneurs (people in the process of setting up a business) was followed over a three-year period. After this period, it was established that 195 efforts were successful and that 115 startup efforts were abandoned. Our research focuses on estimating the relative importance of a variety of approaches and variables in explaining pre-startup success. These influences are organized in terms of Gartner’s (Academy of Management Review 10(4), 696–706 [1985]) framework of new venture creation. This framework suggests that start-up efforts differ in terms of the characteristics of the individual(s) who start the venture, the organization that they create, the environment surrounding the new venture, and the process by which the new venture is started. Logistic regression analyses are run for the sample as a whole as well as for subgroups within the sample, namely for those with high ambition vs. low ambition and for those with substantial vs. limited experience. The results point to the importance of perceived risk of the market as a predictor of getting started vs. abandoning the startup effort.     

The Value of Human and Social Capital Investments for the Business Performance of Startups

Small Business Economics - We investigate the manifold posed question: “To what extent does investment in human and social capital, besides the effect of ‘talent’, enhance...     

Integrierte Unternehmensplanung mit SAP R/3

Der betriebliche Planungsprozess betrifft alle Unternehmensbereiche. Eine Integration der Teilpl?ne ist notwendig, aber selten in Unternehmen realisiert.     

Choice of Ownership Structure and Firm Performance: Evidence from Estonia

This article uses panel data for a representative sample of Estonian enterprises to analyse diverse issues related to the determinants of ownership structures and ownership changes after privatisation. A key focus is to determine whether ownership changes are related to economic efficiency. While employee-owned firms are found to be much more prone than other firms to switch ownership categories, often ‘employee-owned’ firms remain ‘insider-owned’ as ownership passes from current employees to managers and former employees. Logit analysis of the determinants of ownership structures and ownership changes provides mixed support for several hypotheses. As predicted: (i) wealth and resource constraints play a crucial role in the determination of ownership, with foreigners buying firms with the highest equity levels and insiders buying firms with the lowest equity valuations; (ii) risk aversion explains subsequent ownership changes, especially away from employee ownership; (iii) allocation of ownership depends on the pre-privatisation origin and location of the firm, and these factors also influence subsequent ownership changes. Our findings provide mixed support for the hypothesis that ownership changes are related to economic efficiency.     

A Presumptive Pigovian Tax: Complementing Regulation to Mimic an Emissions Fee

If regulations are used to make cars and fuels cleaner, shouldgasoline taxes be used to manage demand for trips that pollute?Analysis of a well-composed program for Mexico City indicatesthat the emission reductions would cost 24 percent more if atax on gasoline was not introduced. A simple analytical framework is developed to analyze the useof abatement requirements to make cars cleaner, and a gasolinetax to economize on the use of cars. The two instruments shouldbe combined to mimic the incentives that would have been providedby an emissions fee. Thus, cleaner cars and fewer trips areanalogous to competing suppliers of emission reductions; theplanner should buy from both so that marginal costs are equal.Applying that rule, the marginal cost of emission reductionsis, simply, the gasoline tax rate divided by emissions per liter.