A disaggregated analysis of the export performance of some industrial and emerging countries

The paper describes the evolution of export shares and quantifies the contribution of geographical and sectoral specialization as well as that of “competitiveness” of some industrial and emerging market economies between 1985 and 2003. While the strong growth of emerging countries as world competitors has lowered the market shares of all industrial countries, the results of a constant-market-share analysis indicate that the latter have benefited from positive specialization effects. Specifically, industrial countries gained from being specialized in fast-growing sectors (high-tech) or destinations (Asia). The magnitude of these effects, however, has been quite diversified across the main countries. Among the emerging economies, the striking export growth of China was determined by a strong rise in competitiveness that allowed the country to gain market shares across all sectors and destinations.     

Prudence or Profligacy: Deficits, Debt, and Fiscal Consolidation

Over the last quarter century, public finances have been underpressure in most OECD countries as deficits and debts rose underthe pressure of relatively slow growth and high interest rates.This, in turn, has affected the welfare state, since effortsat containing deficits have often been concentrated on publicexpenditure. Much of the literature argues that this is desirable,since curbing deficits via tax increases seldom succeeds. Amedium-term survey of OECD country experience suggests a lessclear-cut conclusion. In a number of countries which were ableto curb debt/GDP ratios, the bulk of the adjustment did, indeed,come from spending cuts (but was, also, in some cases helpedby rapid growth and/or currency depreciation). In several, however,tax increases also appear to have succeeded in reducing deficitsand debt. Footnotes ¹ E-mail addresses: andrea.boltho{at}magd.ox.ac.uk; andrew.glyn{at}economics.oxford.ac.uk     

A simple note on herd behaviour

In his ‘Simple model of herd behaviour’, (Banerjee A (1992) A simple model of herd behaviour. Q J Econ CVII:797–817) shows that—in a sequential game—if the first two players have chosen the same action, player 3 and all subsequent players will ignore his/her own information and start a herd, an irreversible one. In this paper, we analyse the role played by the tie-breaking assumptions in reaching the equilibrium. We show that: players’ strategies are parameter dependent—an incorrect herd may be reversed; a correct herd is irreversible.

Screening and training inter-cultural competencies: evaluating the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies

Inter-cultural competencies have become increasingly important for international personnel selection and training. The purpose of this article is to evaluate psychometric data regarding the controversy as to whether inter-cultural competencies are culture-free or culture-bound. In two empirical research projects in the USA and Germany national differences in inter-cultural competencies are evaluated. National culture is indicated as a significant independent variable for inter-cultural competencies in both studies. However, the impact of national culture on inter-cultural competencies seems to be minor in relation to the impact of gender culture as well as of organizational culture. Therefore, inter-cultural competencies are judged to be culture-general in the two nations. Conceptual conclusions as well as practical conclusions for IHRM are discussed, based on the results. Finally, the limitations of the studies are pointed out.     

Profit rate dynamics, income distribution, structural and technical change in Denmark, Finland and Italy

Under less restrictive assumptions than in previous contributions, this paper highlights various patterns of profit rate dynamics that are common to the countries under scrutiny. Without a substantial re-distribution of income in favour of profits, the profit rate declines. When labour productivity is weak the profits/wages ratio declines leading to a decline in the profit rate, also due to capital deepening. Developments in the capital-labour ratio tend to increase the organic composition of capital while those in the ratio between the capital price deflator and the average wage tend to decrease it. Falls in the profit rate took place in countries with a weak technological change with episodes of Marxian bias. Employment shifted from low to high capital intensity sectors, from low to high organic composition industries and from low to high productivity sectors. Rising strength of labour and realization failures tend to have a greater role than rising organic composition in cyclical profit rate dynamics. Over the cycle, the first mechanism is also the first one to show up, while the others tend to follow it. Theoretical and policy implications are offered.     

Telia—a Swedish‐Finnish marriage after a failed Norwegian courtship

In 2002, the Swedish telecommunications company Telia merged with the Finnish telecommunications company Sonera. Prior to this merger, Telia had already attempted to ally with the Norwegian telecommunications company Telenor. This effort had resulted in a disaster; the “marriage” of the two companies was “divorced” after only two months in 1999. In the first part, the case study will feature an introduction to the telecommunications industry. In the second part, the unsuccessful merger between Telia and Telenor will be examined. Particular emphasis will be placed on national conflicts of interest and the power games played by politicians and leading managers. In the third part, the merger between Telia and Sonera will be described. This will be interpreted as another example of a politically and culturally difficult, but to this day successful merger. Finally, both merger episodes will be analyzed with reference to international mergerand‐acquisition (M&A) literature. The focus will be on motivations and objectives, environmental influences on the two mergers, and internal issues of the merging companies. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The technological determinants of long‐run inequality

I explore the effect of skill‐biased technological change and unbiased technological progress on long‐run inequality using a theoretical model in which the supply of skilled and unskilled workers is endogenous. The main assumption of the model is that young agents can finance their education and become skilled workers by borrowing against their future income on an imperfect credit market. I show that whenever the rate of unbiased technological progress is sufficiently high there is no steady‐state inequality, independent of the degree of skill bias. If instead the rate of unbiased technological progress is low, then the long‐run skill premium increases with the technological skill bias. Therefore, similarly to the short run, in the long run higher technological skill bias may cause higher inequality. However, contrary to the short run, in the long run unbiased technological progress is more important than technological skill bias in determining inequality. I also discuss how the efficiency of the educational technology and the degree of financial development affect long‐run inequality.     

顺流而动并非上策

正在市场环境瞬息万变的今天,为改变而改变一定是最优选择么?怎样调整才能既保留公司核心竞争力,又开拓新的领域?商海行舟,不进则退。不变革便衰败,只有挣脱束缚自己的枷锁才能更好地前行。当今世界日新月异,组织必须与时俱进以保证利润和市场份额的观念已深入人心,并被奉为金句。从百事达(Blockbuster)到柯达,从纸质报业到投币电话制造商,更给了我们"不变则死"的惨痛教训。各行各业也都有公司为自己的因循守旧埋了单。