Exporting and FDI as Alternative Strategies

Exports and overseas production are alternative modes for servingforeign customers. Empirical studies usually find that foreignmarkets are served through both modes and that countries receivinghigh levels of exports also host large amounts of foreign directinvestment (FDI). This paper evaluates several possible waysto reconcile the facts about FDI and exports with the standardtheory of multinational corporations. We argue that coexistenceand correlation of FDI and exports are consistent with modelswhere the two modes are substitutes. This substitutive relationshipfinds collaborative evidence in the results of several papers.Nevertheless, a significant body of evidence suggests that FDIsometimes complements exports through the mechanism of stimulatingexports of intermediate goods for use by overseas affiliates.     

Revisiting Oligopolistic Reaction: Are Decisions on Foreign Direct Investment Strategic Complements?

Knickerbocker (1973) introduced the notion of oligopolistic reaction to explain why firms follow rivals into foreign markets. We develop a model that incorporates central features of Knickerbocker's story—oligopoly, uncertainty, and risk aversion—to establish the conditions required to generate follow-the-leader behavior. We find that rival foreign investment will make risk-neutral firms less inclined to move abroad once its rivals have done so. We show that Knickerbocker's prediction relies on risk aversion and derive an expression for the minimum amount of risk aversion needed to generate oligopolistic reaction.     

Intra- and Inter-Cultural Conflicts in China: An Exploratory Study

This study examines the causes of intra- and inter-cultural organizational conflicts among Chinese and American managers in the mainland of China. We investigated conflict between members of the same culture (intra-cultural conflict) and conflict between members of different cultures (inter-cultural conflict). Intra-culturally, both American and Chinese noted self-interest as an important dimension of the cause of conflict. Inter-culturally, both American and Chinese noted cultural differences as an important dimension of the cause of conflict. The similarities between the American and Chinese dimensions were more striking than the differences. The intra-cultural findings reinforce the validity of early Western conflict theories?focusing on self-interest vs. other interest. The inter-cultural findings are partially consistent with intergroup theory and introduce new elements to conflict theory.     

巴西结构性改革与经济增长

今年以来,巴西政府通过降息、减税、增加信贷等措施来支持经济增长。但有分析指出,巴西近十年来的较高经济增速主要得益于良好的外部环境。为应对因全球经济再平衡导致的外部环境波动,巴西经济的有力复苏不仅取决于政策放松的空间,更取决于通过继续推进结构性改革消除制约经济可持续增长的瓶颈。本文旨在梳理巴西自上世纪90年代以来经济结构性改革所取得的进展及存在的问题,分析巴西经济当前存在的结构性问题,并就巴西未来的经济增长与改革前景进行展望。     

Oligopoly in international trade: Rise,fall and resurgence

Large firms played a central role in the “new trade” models that became a major focus of trade economists in the early 1980s. Subsequent literature for the most part kept imperfect competition but jettisoned oligopoly. Instead, as the heterogeneous firms literature burgeoned in the 2000s, monopolistic competition quickly became established as the workhorse model. The use of oligopoly in trade models has been criticized for reasons that we argue are unpersuasive. Renewed incorporation of oligopolistic firms in international trade is warranted. Quantitative investigations of welfare effects of trade policy should again address the impact of such policies on the allocation of profits across countries.     

China and Globalisation

Since the initiation of economic reforms in 1978 China has become one of the world’s fastest growing economies and has emerged as a global economic and trade power. What are the implications for the world economy, in particular for the distribution of income and wealth? How will China contribute to shaping not only the globalised world economy but also the institutions and policies of global governance?The authors wish to thank the participants of the international seminar in Shanghai on 18-20 March 2005 for their valuable contributions, which have been incorporated into this paper.     

2010年1月国际金融市场运行综述

2010年1月,受投资者避险情绪升温影响,美元对主要货币总体走强,具体来看,美元对欧元、英镑走强,对日元走弱。因各主要经济体中央银行继续保持宽松的货币政策,美元、欧元、日元短期利率微降,而英镑短期利率因意外强劲的通胀数据而出现微升。主要国家中长期国债收益率总体下降;全球主要股指冲高后大幅回落。     

加强我国信用评级体系建设增强上海国际金融中心竞争力

该文分析了我国信用评级市场运行现状,指出评级市场尚处于发展初级阶段,存在市场结构单一、不正当竞争凸显、可持续发展能力弱等问题。为从制度层面有效提高我国评级行业竞争力,完善体系建设,文章提出以机构创新促发展——成立全国性的、公共征信的再信用评级公司,规范引导我国信用评级市场的发展,促进市场公信力建设,提高信用评级体系综合实力,满足全社会多层次、多样化、专业化的信用服务需求,进而增强我国金融市场竞争力。     

Non-Europe: The magnitude and causes of market fragmentation in the EU

Non-Europe: The Magnitude and Causes of Market Fragmentation in the EU. — In 1985 the European Commission diagnosed its member states as suffering from excessive market fragmentation, later referred to as “Non-Europe.” The authors examine the empirical basis for the Commission’s diagnosis using a trade model derived from monopolistic competition. They then investigate the links between the initial size and subsequent evolution of border effects within the EU. The findings support the view that European consumers act as if imports from other members were subject to high nontariff barriers. However, there appears to be almost no relationship between market fragmentation and the barriers that were identified and removed by Europe’s Single Market Programme.     

Absorbing partner knowledge in R&D collaborations – the influence of founders on potential and realized absorptive capacity

We investigate whether founder participation in research and development collaborations enhances the two dimensions of absorptive capacity (ACAP): potential ACAP and realized ACAP. Based on a longitudinal firm-patent dataset of over 700 collaborations, and using a novel measure of ACAP, we find that founder involvement enhances potential ACAP provided the knowledge bases of focal firm and partner are related. Once knowledge has been absorbed, founder involvement increases realized ACAP irrespective of relatedness. Thus, we highlight the merit of treating the dimensions of ACAP separately by showing differing effects of founder involvement. Our paper emphasizes the outstanding role founders play in the R&D process of their firms. Firms should consider carefully the allocation of team members to R&D projects because team members differ with respect to their ACAP.