Services as drivers of economic growth. Is there an opportunity for Latin America countries?

ABSTRACT

Considering the recent improvements in services innovation and productivity performance, the aim of the article is to analyze if they can act as a new growth driver for Latin American countries. For that, we review the literature on services and structural change in two stages. First, we apply a bibliometric methodology to identify the main trends in literature. Second, we analyze in-depth a smaller set of papers in order to extract the main lessons regarding three aspects of our question: (i) services and productivity growth, (ii) new opportunities for innovation in services and (iii) relation between services and manufacturing through servitization process. The results show that productivity and innovation growth in services are concentrated in only a few branches. Besides this, services performance depends on their links with manufacturing activities. We conclude that the current Latin American servitization process clausure opportunities for developing instead of opening them.     

Modelling with flexibility through the business cycle: using a panel smooth transition model to test for the lipstick effect

ABSTRACT

Consumer spending typically declines during periods of economic distress, but observers have noted that lipstick purchases appear to increase during recessions, which is often referred to as the lipstick effect. However, the existence of such effect has remained empirically unconfirmed. Using weekly retail scanner data on lipstick sales from 2006 to 2016 in the United States, we applied a Panel Smooth Transition Regression (PSTR) demand model to test the relationship between economic distress and lipstick sales. This flexible demand specification allows regression coefficients to vary as a function of an exogenous macroeconomic variables and fluctuate asymmetrically, non-linearly, and time-varyingly across an unlimited number of regimes. Empirical results show the income elasticity of demand for lipstick decreased rapidly from 0.31 to 0.05 during the 2007–2009 recession, then slowly rebounded to 0.31 by the second quarter of 2014, thus first empirically confirming the existence of the lipstick effect.     

Autocatalytic Growth and Development and the South-North Convergence

Abstract:

This article engages with the issue of income convergence between North and South by using the autocatalytic hypothesis of growth and development. Two system models describe positive and negative feedback loops which govern economic flows between North and South. The analysis of endogenous and exogenous negative feedbacks points to the process that would slowly push the world economy towards vanishing growth rates and, eventually, halt its material growth. The present work rejects convergence in per capita GDP between North and South from the theoretical perspective. Such an outcome would stand against one of the fundamental properties of autocatalytic dynamics—centripetality— that has its causal roots in the competitive process and capitalist institutions. In that sense, the autocatalytic hypothesis provides a theoretical explanation for those empirical analyses that dismisses convergence.     

双层摊铺技术在沥青混凝土路面施工中的应用

本文主要对双层摊铺技术在沥青混凝土路面施工中的作用、施工准备及应用进行了分析与探究。     

贵州的脱贫和发展：基于三因子耦合的解析

贵州的脱贫和发展案例表明，欠发达地区的脱贫和发展是集合“核心设施、骨干领域、环境机遇”三大因子共同发力的结果。这一发现挑战了当代主流发展理论，并在落后国家或区域具有广泛复制的价值。这种新发展观不只是一种自洽且连贯的学说，还可作为引导明智行动的机制对待，因而深具实践意义。可以把这三个强关联性词汇转换为规范且符合逻辑的陈述以激发洞见，充实当代发展理论，同时为其他不发达地区的贫困治理和经济发展提供经验和借鉴。     

环境规制、市场势力与企业创新

具有市场势力的企业面临环境规制时可以通过研发创新实现波特效应，也可以通过转嫁合规成本实现利润最大化。本文利用新《环境保护法》实施这一准自然实验，基于双重差分和三重差分模型系统地评估了环境强监管对具有不同市场势力的上市公司研发创新的影响。研究发现，新《环境保护法》的实施显著促进了企业的研发创新，市场势力本身与企业创新呈现倒“U”型关系，同时市场势力显著抑制了新《环境保护法》的波特效应。     

Can China escape the middle-income trap?

Can China continue its relatively rapid economic growth and rise to the high-income status in the coming decade? In this article we address this question by examining three issues. One, is the current slowdown mainly a cyclical or a structural phenomenon? Two, can China successfully transform its growth model? And, three, what does China need to do to foster its capability of technological innovation and industrial upgrading? We conclude that, with necessary reforms, such as improvement in the education and research capability, liberalization of the financial system and introduction of a more transparent and accountable political system, China will most likely be able to escape the middle-income trap in the next 10 years.     

South Korea’s outward direct investment and its dyadic determinants: Foreign aid,bilateral treaty and economic diplomacy

This study investigates the factors that affect South Korean outward foreign direct investment (FDI) in developing countries. Most previous studies focus on monadic factors and do not consider how and to what extent bilateral relationships between South Korea and the host countries affect the investment decisions of Korean firms. The current study finds that interstate factors such as South Korea's international investment treaties with and official development assistance to host countries have positive effects on FDI to these countries, while presidential visits have strong and statistically significant effects on FDI only in countries located in non-Asian regions, especially the African continent. The findings suggest that the effects of bilateral relations on South Korea's FDI vary depending on the geographic location of the host country.     

Out-of-stock,sold out,or unavailable? Framing a product outage in online retailing

Terms, such as “out-of-stock,” “sold out,” and “unavailable” are commonly used by retailers to communicate a product or brand outage. Although these terms are technically equivalent, prior research on product outage and product scarcity suggest that they may be interpreted and processed differently by consumers. The present research investigated whether the manner in which a product outage was framed elicited different consumer behavioral intentions, attributions, and perceptions in the context of online retailing. Data were collected by means of an online experiment. The experiment incorporated a hypothetical scenario approach in which research participants were asked to react to a particular combination of treatment and blocking factors. Results demonstrated that ceteris paribus, framing a product or brand outage as “sold out” produces fewer negative product and website reactions than does framing it as “out-of-stock” or “unavailable.”     

环境信息披露对上市公司企业价值的影响——“组织可见度”是否起到中介作用

我国现行企业环境信息披露政策下,企业对于信息披露的方式、时间等有很大的自由裁量权力。因此,企业这一社会责任的自觉履行需要企业价值最大化等动机支撑,但其作用机理是否有效,投资者的关注度及解读尤为重要,亦即“组织可见度”在环境信息披露对企业价值的影响中扮演重要角色。本文以我国化工行业上市公司2013-2017年样本,实证检验环境信息披露对企业价值的影响,并依次从分析师关注水平和媒体关注水平两个角度衡量组织可见度,检验其是否具有中介效应,并分析所有权性质差异下的不同结果。结果表明:环境信息披露能提升企业价值,组织可见度在环境信息披露对企业价值的影响过程中发挥了部分中介效应。进一步研究发现,当使用分析师关注水平衡量组织可见度时,该中介作用只体现在国有企业中;当使用媒体关注度衡量组织可见度时候,该中介作用在两种类型的企业中均只得到了部分体现。企业环境信息披露政策本意是通过其影响企业的市值表现促进企业更好地履行其环境社会责任,本文通过揭示其中组织可见度的中介作用,有助于启示企业对其市值管理、有关管理部门对企业履行环境社会责任引导时的操作思路。