Aggregate accounting research and development expenditures and the prediction of real gross domestic product

The role of accounting information for public policy making has received increased attention in recent years. Konchitchki and Patatoukas, 2014a, Konchitchki and Patatoukas, 2014b demonstrate that growth in aggregate accounting earnings can predict future growth in nominal and real Gross Domestic Product (GDP). We extend the micro to macro literature by decomposing earnings into the R&D and pre-R&D components. Using the Almon (1965) finite distributed lag model, we find that both components can predict future real GDP growth with different lead-lag structures. Importantly, this decomposition significantly increases the explanatory power of the predictive model using accounting information. Aggregate accounting R&D can predict real GDP through the personal consumption, business investment, and net export channels of GDP. Our study extends prior research on the forecasting usefulness of accounting information at the aggregate level and has practical implications for macro forecasting and for public policy making regarding innovative activities of publicly listed firms.     

Did the 2016 election cause changes in substance use? An intersectional approach

This paper examines the impact of the 2016 election on substance use. One of Donald Trump's major campaign initiatives was to build a wall at the American/Mexican border, and he frequently made negative comments about various underrepresented groups. I hypothesize that this unorthodox rhetoric, coupled with Donald Trump's proposed policies during his campaign, created an exogenous shock of discrimination for women, and ethnic and racial minority groups when he was elected. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System dataset, which has a variety of health measures and demographic information compiled at the individual level, is utilized to empirically examine the hypothesis. I examine the average treatment effects of the election using a difference-in-differences estimation strategy. The results indicate that there has been an increase in cigarette use for Hispanic individuals. These results highlight the impact that discriminatory rhetoric by political leaders and public figures has on marginalized groups within society. Policy implications include new ways to target substance use by targeting discrimination.     

Impact of financial development on domestic investment: Evidence from West African countries

This paper investigates the effect of financial development on domestic investment in West African countries. The study uses data from 1985 to 2019 and employs the pooled mean group technique. The main finding of the study is that financial development has a positive effect on domestic investment in the long run but an insignificant effect in the short run. Furthermore, remittances, real GDP per capita and trade openness increase investment rate. The results of causality tests support the view that investment is a channel through which financial development stimulates economic growth. Therefore, it is reasonable for the selected countries to formulate policies that promote domestic credit to the private sector in order to ease liquidity constraints and increase investment and economic growth.     

Ease of doing business and investment among West African countries

This study assessed the link between ease of doing business (EBD) and investment among 11 selected countries in West Africa covering 2006–2020. The study used the fixed-effects estimator, the random-effects estimator, the augmented mean-group method, and the Half-Panel Jackknife Wald-type test. The study found a bidirectional relationship between the EBD and foreign direct investment (FDI) and a unidirectional relationship running from EBD to domestic investment. The findings further revealed that the EBD and national income have a strong influence in determining the level of domestic investment and FDI inflows, and that some indicators of EBD, such as the procedure for starting a business, access to credit facilities, tax, and security threats, discourage domestic investment and FDI inflows, in contrast to the influence of obtaining electricity and national income on investment. The study suggests that West African governments reduce taxes, ease the procedures and costs of starting a business and dealing with construction permits, and increase the availability of credit facilities at lower interest rates to promote investment in the region.     

基于人口当量法的非渗透地表径流污染负荷评估与对策

为了反映城市非渗透地表的污染程度,采用人口当量法评估非渗透地表径流污染负荷量的大小,进一步评价城市的面源污染负荷。对北京市"城六区"的地形结构及其2010年的降雨数据进行分析,结合SCS模型和地表径流水质监测数据得出研究区域中各污染物指标的负荷量,再根据居民生活污水排放指标估算出每种污染物的人口当量。结果表明,1km~2的非渗透地表产生的COD的负荷量相当于北京市112.8万人1天生活污水中的COD排放量,NH_4~+-N的负荷量相当于89.04万人1天的排放量,TN的负荷量相当于15.96万人1天的排放量,TP的负荷量相当于15.42万人1天的排放量;2010年"城六区"全年产生的非渗透径流污染负荷量相当于北京市当年常驻人口(1 962万人)48.2天的生活污水的COD排放量、38天的NH_4~+-N排放量、6.8天的TN排放量和6.6天的TP排放量。人口当量法可直观反映城市点源污染与非点源污染的负荷大小,对于解决城市的水环境问题具有重要作用,并为降低城市人口当量污染负荷提供数据参考。     

Does going abroad lead to going green? Firm outward foreign direct investment and domestic environmental performance

This study examines whether and how outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) affects firms' domestic environmental performance. We use both the reverse knowledge transfer and resource crowding perspectives to predict the association. Using a sample of Chinese firms, we find that firms' environmental performance improves after the initiation of OFDI, which is consistent with the reverse knowledge transfer perspective. Furthermore, we find that when the host countries of OFDI are developed countries, have stricter environmental regulations, and are characterized by higher values for the long-term orientation and masculinity dimensions of national culture, firms enjoy a further improvement in environmental performance. Our channel tests show that firms' domestic green patent applications and their investment in research and development increase after the initiation of OFDI.     

新兴经济大国中间产品创新驱动全球价值链攀升——基于中国经验的解释

本文在全球价值链分工框架下,基于中国的实践,提出新兴经济大国中间产品创新驱动全球价值链攀升的机制与路径,即利用低成本的比较优势获取发达经济体中低端中间产品外包,通过国内生产体系的规模经济与范围经济,引致国内中间产品的创新,实现进口替代,进而引发技能偏向性技术进步以及来自发达经济体的知识溢出与研发合作。上述机制共同推动着中国向全球价值链高端持续攀升。实证检验发现,中国制造业中间产品创新对全球价值链分工地位的影响存在显著的滞后效应和累积效应,对间接出口国内附加值率的提升作用、对高技术制造业的促进作用更明显;进口技术溢出对中国制造业全球价值链攀升有一定的负向效应,但随着中间产品创新能力的不断提升,负向效应明显下降;在向全球价值链高端攀升的过程中,随着中国制造业高技能劳动力和本土市场规模的不断增长,中间产品创新对全球价值链攀升的正向影响增强。本文的政策含义是,持续深化对外开放,尤其是促进创新、知识和科技服务贸易自由化;提高国内创新体系效率;扩大高技能劳动力教育供给与国际研发合作;提高国内中间产品R&D投入强度,逐步降低对G5发达经济体中间产品的依赖,释放国内巨大市场规模的效应,持续推动中国制造业向全球价值链高端攀升。     

A model of the U.S. food system: What are the determinants of the state vulnerabilities to production shocks and supply chain disruptions?

We adapt a Ricardian general equilibrium model to the setting of U.S. domestic agri-food trade to assess states’ vulnerability to adverse production shocks and supply chain disruptions. To this end, we analyze how domestic crop supply chains depend on fundamental state-level comparative advantages—which reflect underlying differences in states’ cost-adjusted productivity levels—and thereby illustrate the capacity of states to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of such disruptions to the U.S. agricultural sector. Based on the theoretical framework and our estimates of the model's structural parameters obtained using data on U.S. production, consumption, and domestic trade in crops, we undertake simulations to characterize the welfare implications of counterfactual scenarios depicting disruptions to (1) states’ agricultural productive capacity, and (2) interstate supply linkages. Our results emphasize that the distributional impacts of domestic supply chain disruptions hinge on individual states’ agricultural productive capacities, and that the ability of states to mitigate the impacts of adverse production shocks through trade relies on the degree to which states are able to substitute local production shortfalls by sourcing crops from other states.