Product Innovation by Smaller, High-Technology Firms in Canada

Russell Knight has surveyed 124 small, high-technology firms in Canada to learn more about the processes they use to develop and market innovative products. The scope of his survey included an investigation of planning early in the product's development cycle, how products move from R&D to mass marketing, and how firms learn about their markets in very specialized areas. In general, Knight finds that the firms have more technical than general management expertise. Technically trained entrepreneurs have difficulty with general management skills needed to facilitate the successful introduction of new products.     

Chinese Peasant Choices: Migration,Rural Industry or Farming

A nationally representative rural labour force survey of China is analysed to explore the allocation of labour among farming, local non-farming and temporary migration activities. Various tests of labour market segmentation are conducted. The estimated returns to labour off the farm greatly exceed those on the farm. The personal and household determinants of activities, and of days worked in them, are examined for demand or supply constraints on employment; some results are consistent with the former. The relationship between days worked off and on the farm suggests that the opportunity cost to households of non-farm work is very low. The evidence is consistent with there being rationing of non-farm employment. However, tastes, imperfect information, imperfect capital markets, risk-aversion and transaction costs are also relevant. The overcoming of the obstacles to diversification away from farming is important for rural development in China.     

Promoting competitive markets: The role of public procurement

The study presented here examines how public procurement agencies address establishing and maintaining competitive markets; a topic still in its academic infancy. Cases are used to address impediments and improve understanding of strategic priorities in managing for competitive markets. Public policy academics have observed many competing policies in the wider public sector. Specifically, this paper identifies a need for research on supplier incentives at a market level, on the post contract management of suppliers and as an important sub-set, key supplier relationship management, along with professional development.     

Statik und Dynamik

Ohne ZusammenfassungÜbersetzt von A. Mahr, Wien     

Stochastic volatility model under a discrete mixture-of-normal specification

This paper investigates the properties of a linearized stochastic volatility (SV) model originally from Harvey et al. (Rev Econ Stud 61:247–264, 1994) under an extended flexible specification (discrete mixtures of normal). General closed form expressions for the moment conditions are derived. We show that our proposed model captures various tail behavior in a more flexible way than the Gaussian SV model, and it can accommodate certain correlation structure between the two innovations. Rather than using likelihood-based estimation methods via MCMC, we use an alternative procedure based on the characteristic function (CF). We derive analytical expressions for the joint CF and present our estimator as the minimizer of the weighted integrated mean-squared distance between the joint CF and its empirical counterpart (ECF). We complete the paper with an empirical application of our model to three stock indices, including S&P 500, Dow Jones 30 Industrial Average index and Nasdaq Composite index. The proposed model captures the dynamics of the absolute returns well and presents some consistent and supportive evidence for the Taylor effect and Machina effect.     

Training and employee mobility in the British private and public sectors

The realization of the value of training for employees can take time as the training contributes dynamically to an extended development process. This research examines the empirical returns to training in three post-training situations: when the employee remains in the same job and with the same employer; when the employee transfers to a different job but remains with the same employer (internal mobility); and when the employee moves to a different employer (external mobility). Panel data and fixed effects (FE) methodology are used to quantify the joint effects of in-job training and mobility, while minimizing the potentially biasing effect of unobserved ability. In a period when public sector employment in Britain was contracting sharply, the short-term returns to training are nonetheless greater in the public sector, while the medium-term returns for both public sector and private sector employees depend on remaining within sector. The general/specific training mix, institutional influences, adverse selection, and the concept of ‘transferable’ training, all contribute to interpretation.     

Some theoretical and empirical issues relating to economic stabilization in developing countries

This paper surveys some issues relating to economic stabilization in developing countries. Section 2 examines the contributions of terms-of-trade deterioration and real exchange rate appreciation to payments imbalances in non-oil developing countries during the 1970s. Section 3 distinguishes between demand-side and supply-side policies, and discusses their respective roles in stabilization programmes. The effects of exchange-rate changes are considered within this framework. In Section 4, the effects of alternative stabilization policies on output, prices and the balance of payments are illustrated using simulations of a model that incorporates the major relationships relevant to a typical programme. Section 5 summarizes the conclusions.