The determinants of FTA use in Southeast Asia: A firm-level analysis

The spread of free trade agreements (FTAs) in Southeast Asia has ignited a debate about their impact on enterprises including the business costs from the Asian ‘noodle bowl’ effect. This paper undertakes a comparative and firm-level analysis of the determinants of FTA use in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The likelihood of firms using important ASEAN+1 FTAs (e.g. the ASEAN-China FTA, the ASEAN-Japan FTA and ASEAN-Korea FTA) is positively associated with acquiring knowledge about FTAs, building technological capabilities, and membership in industrial clusters. Non-use of FTAs is explained by a lack of information about FTAs and the absence of FTAs with major trading partners. Key policy implications are the need to improve business support for FTAs, to conclude FTAs with major trading partners, and to create a database on FTA preference use.     

A new assessment of economic integration in East Asia: Application of an industry-specific G-PPP model

It is well known that intra-industry trade and cross-border production networks have promoted economic growth and regional integration in East Asia. However, regional supply and production chains may have been formed differently across industries, reflecting different degrees and a different scope of regional economic linkages at an industry level. This paper makes a threefold contribution. First, to assess industry-level differences, this study adopts the generalized purchasing power parity (G-PPP) model using industry-specific producer prices. Second, the momentum threshold autoregressive (M-TAR) model is employed to allow for possible nonlinearity arising from the dynamic nature of regional economic growth and development. Third, the Granger causality test is also conducted to assess whether regional economies have autonomously integrated. The empirical results reveal that economic integration has progressed more autonomously in the electrical industry, as well as in the transportation equipment industry, as China and the ASEAN countries have become the final destination markets for finished products in these two industries.     

Fractional integration and cointegration in merger and acquisitions in the US petroleum industry

This article employs methodologies based on fractional integration and cointegration to analyse the time-series properties of merger and acquisitions (M&A) activity and crude oil prices in the US from 1980 to 2012. Our results indicate that an increase in the crude oil price produces a significant increase in the M&A data between 2 and 3 months after the initial shock.     

基于作业过程的园林绿化项目资源清单模型

结合生产要素六元理论，对园林绿化项目资源进行界定；以作业过程为信息关联节点，通过施工工序分解和资源特征匹配，构造园林绿化项目的“产出-作业”分配关系描述矩阵和“作业-资源”消耗关系描述矩阵。XX科技园林绿化企业的应用结果表明，项目资源清单模型解决了目前园林绿化企业资源信息分离使用的现状，是企业快速构建项目资源计划表、项目施工方案以及快速估算项目成本等的基础数据信息。     

Sources of business fluctuations: Financial or technology shocks?

Despite the widespread belief that technology shocks are the main source of business fluctuations, recent empirical studies indicate that in the absence of financial frictions, a shock to the marginal efficiency of investment is the main source and is closely related to financial conditions for investment. We incorporate a financial accelerator mechanism and two types of financial shocks to the external finance premium and net worth in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model with shocks to the marginal efficiency of investment, the investment-good price markup, and the rates of neutral and investment-specific technological changes. This model is estimated using eleven US time series that include data on loan, net worth, the loan rate, and the relative price of investment. Our estimation results show that the (non-stationary) neutral and investment-specific technology shocks primarily drive output and investment fluctuations, while the external finance premium shock plays an important role for investment fluctuations. This financial shock induced substantial falls and subsequent sharp hikes in the external finance premium and caused boom–bust cycles over the past two decades.     

从“镇”到“市”实现宁波新型城镇化嬗变

推进新型城镇化,小城镇的地位和作用至关重要,宁波必须以统筹城乡发展为重要抓手,不失时机地实现由“镇”到“城”的历史性跨越.可从宁波中心镇培育历程、困境与突破出发,指出宁波小城市培育必须以“以人为本”作为发展方向,以“城乡统筹”为根本路径,以“制度创新”为发展动力.     

KIBS企业—顾客交互创新中知识整合的权变机制

引入过程互依性和项目不确定性,探讨了KIBS企业-顾客交互创新中知识整合的权变机制。基于338份服务创新项目问卷数据进行实证研究,结果显示:在KIBS企业-顾客交互四要素中,除规则正式化负向影响外部知识整合以外,决策集体化、资源共享和任务协作均正向影响内、外部知识整合;过程互依性增强了规则正式化、决策集体化和任务协作对内部知识整合的影响,但对资源共享与内部知识整合间关系的调节作用不显著;项目不确定性增强了规则正式化、资源共享和任务协作对外部知识整合的影响,但对决策集体化与外部知识整合间关系的调节作用不显著。     

The impact of vertical integration on inventory turnover and operating performance

This paper investigates how vertical integration may influence inventory turnover and firm operating performance. A causal model is developed to investigate the effects of vertical integration on three types of inventory, namely raw materials inventory (RMI), work in progress inventory (WIPI) and finished goods inventory (FGI). The model tests the interactions between inventory types and the consequences of inventory turnover performance on various aspects of firm performance including costs and profitability. In particular, path analysis supports systematic differences with respect to how vertical integration affects RMI, WIPI and FGI. Vertical integration has a positive effect on RMI and FGI turnover but no significant effect on WIPI turnover. FGI contributes to a reduction in supporting processes costs which causes an improvement in return on sales (ROSs). Vertical integration impacts ROS directly.