R&D portfolios in environmentally friendly automotive propulsion: Variety, competition and policy implications

In this article, we analyze R&D portfolios in environmentally friendly automotive propulsion including alternative fuel options. We argue that at the current stage of development, substitution of conventional car technology by a new automotive propulsion technology may lead to premature lock-in of suboptimal technology. To avoid such lock-in, one should value the variety of current R&D activity that enables organizations to learn from multiple options and to create spillovers between options. We further argue that the existence of technological variety is not a sufficient condition to avoid lock-in. Organizational variety is also required to sustain competition and avoid the dominance of few firms that possibly enforce a suboptimal technology within the sector. To assess whether recent developments in R&D have led to both technological variety and organizational competition, we analyze United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patents in low-emission vehicles (LEVs) during the period 1980–2001 using entropy statistics. Results show that both technological variety and organizational competition have increased steadily since the early nineties, suggesting that premature lock-in is unlikely to occur. From an environmental policy evaluation perspective, we consider the findings as a positive evaluation of the 1990 Californian Low Emission Vehicle program.     

The credit squeeze during Russia's early transition: A bank-based view

This paper asks whether Russia's protracted inflation stabilization might have caused a credit squeeze and hence might have contributed to the output collapse in the first three years of the Russian transition. Russian monetary policy was not restrictive as a whole. Still, the occurrence of a credit crunch is not excluded, because of the Russian central bank's heavy reliance on required reserves to curb the inflationary effects of monetized budget deficits. Due to methodological limitations, we are forced to concentrate on a cross-sectional analysis of bank liquidity in 1994, in order to find possible indications about Russia's monetary stance from the point of view of the lending channel. We cannot reject that the huge excess reserves of Russian banks in 1994 were at least partially due to excess liquidity. This suggests that there is no direct relation between the monetary policy of high required reserves and the observed credit crunch. The question of why banks preferred to hold excess liquidity deserves further attention. This question is still relevant, because Russian commercial banks have again accumulated excess reserves in 1999, in the aftermath of the banking crisis, triggered by the August-1998 crisis.     

Export variety and the economic performance of countries

We explore the relationship between export variety and economic development, using data on OECD countries between 1964 and 2003. We show that structural change in the world economy has a particular arrow of time leading to a growing variety of exports. Distinguishing between related variety (within sectors) and unrelated variety (variety between sectors), we also show that related variety stimulates growth instantaneously, while unrelated variety only promotes growth with a considerable time lag. This finding is in line with the evolutionary notions that economic development and international trade patterns are path dependent.

A New Indicator of European Integration and an Application to Collaboration in Scientific Research

The goal of this study is to develop a comprehensive indicator of integration among countries within a supranational system. Integration is not analysed in terms of the growth in interactions among countries, but in terms of the matrix distribution of interactions among countries. Integration can then be indicated in terms of interaction biases among countries measured by the difference between the observed matrix distribution and the hypothetical random distribution. The indicator is applied to data on research collaborations among European research institutions (1993-2000). Evidence is found that the European science system has indeed become more integrated. The higher level of integration has resulted exclusively from a more evenly distributed pattern of European collaborations, while the strong bias towards intra-national collaborations persisted. The results point to the persistence of national science systems. A future research agenda and science policy implications are discussed.     

Are private banks more efficient than public banks?

We study whether bank efficiency is related to bank ownership in Russia. We find that foreign banks are more efficient than domestic private banks and, surprisingly, that domestic private banks are not more efficient than domestic public banks. These results are not driven by the choice of production process, the bank's environment, management's risk preferences, the bank's activity mix or size, the econometric approach, or the introduction of deposit insurance. The policy conclusion is that the efficiency of the Russian banking system may benefit more from increased levels of competition and greater access of foreign banks than from bank privatization.     

Spatial clustering of events on a network

In this paper a methodology is proposed to compute spatial concentrations of point-based events on a network. The distance along the network is used as a measure of the spatial closeness of events. The network is divided into statistical units, based on a random distribution of points of measurement and corresponding network segments, which are the statistical units of reference. For each segment a dangerousness index is computed which indicates the distance-weighted number of traffic accidents in the neighbourhood. The statistical significance of clusters of accidents is tested using a Monte Carlo simulation. The methodology is applied to traffic accidents to detect dangerous locations on the road network of the city of Brussels in Belgium.     

Venture capitalists, investment appraisal and accounting information: a comparative study of the USA, UK, France, Belgium and Holland

The differences between the information used for the pre‐investment valuation and the valuation methods used by venture capital investors in five countries (USA, UK, France, Belgium and Holland) are empirically studied. The analysis is based on postal questionnaire surveys of representative samples of senior venture capitalists in each country. Differences are found, which may be attributed to the dominant corporate governance mechanism or the level of development of the venture capital market. Between‐country differences persist even after taking into account between‐country differences in the relative importance of investment stages and venture capital types. Apparently similar systems and venture capital markets place varying emphases on different valuation methods, with theoretically 'correct' methods not always being preferred in practice. The findings of the study highlight the need for venture capital firms entering non‐domestic markets to invest considerable effort in understanding the operation of these markets if they are to exploit fully their perceived competitive advantages and minimize the likelihood of repeating the problems experienced by venture capital entrants into foreign markets in the late 1980s.     

Retailer Pricing and Competitive Effects

Until recently, retailers have taken an either/or approach to competition: either reacting fiercely to competitive price changes or ignoring them altogether. Today, however, firms make a concerted effort to determine and quantify competitive effects. In this paper, we focus on how pricing and competitive effects interact as a general phenomenon, particularly as it applies to retailing. We attempt to construct a general framework that enhances our understanding of the emerging research issues in the area of pricing and competitive effects, and we examine their implications for practice. The areas that show high promise/opportunity are in the online setting for all types of goods—fashion, perishable and packaged staples, and durables—particularly with respect to pricing for profitability and understanding the impact of competition. Other opportunities include understanding the pricing and competitive effects in the perishable goods category sold in specialty, discount, and convenience stores.     

Models in evolutionary economics and environmental policy: Towards an evolutionary environmental economics

In this paper we review evolutionary economic modelling in relation to environmental policy. We discuss three areas in which evolutionary economic models have a particularly high added value for environmental policy-making: the double externality problem, technological transitions and consumer demand. We explore the possibilities to apply evolutionary economic models in environmental policy assessment, including the opportunities for making policy-making endogenous to environmental innovation. We end with a critical discussion of the challenges that remain.