Organization,technology and management innovations through acquisition in China’s pork value chains: The case of the Smithfield acquisition by Shuanghui

This paper reviews the changes in Shuanghui’s operations after the Smithfield acquisition as well as transformations in China’s pork industries. As income grows and diets change, there has been an increasing demand for high-quality pork and more processed pork products. However, China’s swine and pork industries are still at an early stage of development as evidenced by the low market concentration, intensive use of labour, a proliferation of intermediaries, and low levels of technology. Bounded by the established consumer preferences for freshness and the status quo in the midstream and upstream segments, Shuanghui is in a slow process of upgrading its domestic operations with Smithfield’s leading brands, import of chilled and frozen pork, advanced technologies, and the vertically integrated business model after this acquisition. In particular, it remains unclear whether Shuanghui can follow Smithfield’s experience to establish stable and safe hog supplies by multiplying self-owned hog farms, maintain and expand its current contracts with large-scale commercial hog farms, or rely more on global sourcing of pork primarily from the U.S.     

Club convergence and drivers of digitalization across Indian states

Disparity in the level of digitalization is a crucial driver of economic inequality in an economy. Although a pocket of its population is still bereft of the benefits of digitalization, India currently has the second highest number of internet subscribers in the world despite the nation's late adoption of digital technology. An accurate assessment of the current state of digitalization in the country is required for devising effective initiatives towards building a Digital India and bridging the nation's internal digital divide. Considering 17 major Indian states and 21 variables for 10 years, we constructed a composite index of digitalization with the help of Principal Component Method (PCM). This paper identifies factors responsible for the digitalization divide across states. In the second part of the analysis, the study confirms, with the help of club convergence test, the absence of overall convergence towards digitalization and the existence of the non-convergent group. This paper also shows that the non-convergent group of states are at the bottom of the ranking table which indicates the need for greater attention to initiatives to bridge the digital divide.     

FDI与我国城乡居民收入差距之间是否存在倒U形关系

本文以我国大陆1997-2006年期间的分省面板数据作为研究样本,以库兹涅茨基本模型为基础,实证分析了外商直接投资等因素对我国城乡居民收入差距的具体影响。基于面板数据的固定效应模型估计结果表明,库兹涅茨基本模型中所提到的人均GDP与城乡居民收入差距之间的倒U形关系仍显著存在。不仅如此,外商直接投资与城乡居民收入差距之间也存在着显著的倒U形关系,并且我国现阶段正位于该曲线的左半部区间。因此,如果外资利用结构等方面继续保持不变,那么在未来的很长一段时期内,我国FDI依存度的上升都会进一步恶化我国城乡居民收入差距。     

行业内不对称地位的外资企业与内资企业的动态博弈及启示

外商直接投资企业在我国一些行业内处于强势地位,这对内资企业提出了严峻的挑战。本文从行业的层面将处于强弱不对称地位的外商直接投资企业与内资企业放在一个相互作用的系统中,采用动态博弈的方法定量研究在我国一些行业的外资企业与内资企业所处地位的不对称性对双方得益的影响,并由此得出结论与启示。     

基于专利技术关联度的中间人角色划分方法研究

基于专利数据构建的发明人合作网络有助于分析发明人中间人角色,揭示发明人创新合作规律,对于企业研发人才管理和知识管理具有重要指导意义。群体划分是中间人角色划分的一个关键步骤,以往文献大多基于网络结构或者给定网络边界进行群体划分,忽视了专利发明人的知识交流环境和特征。鉴于此,基于专利技术关联度,利用专利著录项中的IPC分类号信息判断企业发明人所属技术知识领域,再以技术知识领域为边界设计一套算法,将发明人归入互斥子群,最终对中间人角色进行高效划分,寒武纪公司数据验证了中间人角色划分算法具有较高的准确性和有效性。     

对外直接投资逆向技术溢出的行业内与行业间路径检验 ——基于对空间计量方法的嫁接

创造性地对空间计量经济学中的空间相关性思想进行嫁接利用,在思路方法上进行开拓,构建反映同行业内企业间相互联系与各行业间相互关联的空间权重矩阵,建立空间杜宾模型,并以制造业为例,对ODI逆向技术溢出效应的行业内和行业间路径进行实证检验。对行业内路径的检验表明,企业全要素生产率受到同行业内其它企业ODI活动的影响,行业内企业通过ODI促进自身技术进步之后,又通过企业间各种竞争合作关系促进同行业其它企业生产率提高,行业内路径由此得以验证。对行业间路径的检验表明,各行业通过ODI促进本行业技术进步之后,又通过行业间前向与后向产业关联,对其它关联行业的技术进步和生产率提高起到促进作用,且产业完全关联下的促进作用大于直接关联,由此行业间路径得以验证。     

Diversification and sophistication of livestock products: The case of African countries

This study assesses the level of sophistication of livestock products in Africa by evaluating technology intensity and economic complexity of each product. Using trade data from 1995 to 2012, livestock commodity exports are classified based on technology intensity. Employing a method of reflection in computing the economic complexity of export products, we find that one fifth of African livestock commodity exports are manufactured with low technology while the rest is composed of raw materials. The results also show that the ten most complex livestock commodities represent about a third of African livestock total exports while the world level is almost double this figure. Yet African countries spend a huge share of their wealth on importing complex products. The results imply that by exporting non-complex products Africa loses nearly a third of the total value of its livestock exports. To boost the value of livestock products, African countries should exploit their untapped potential while securing the domestic market to achieve import substitution. This can be done by integrating with global value chains or developing niche markets at the regional or international markets and improving productive capabilities.     

Understanding MNEs׳ decline in the adoption of locally developed technology standard in China: A positioning and cognitive perspective

Asian countries are becoming more and more active in participating technology standard development. In this paper we study the impact of this change on multinational enterprises (MNEs) using the case of TD-SCDMA, an international technology standard of 3G mobile communications. During the development of this technology standard, MNEs׳ market share dropped dramatically. A major contribution of this study is analyzing the underlying mechanism governing MNEs׳ interpreting TD-SCDMA as a threat rather than an opportunity by integrating two streams of literature. We also discuss the possible strategies for MNEs to maintain their market leadership position when local firms are able to lead international technology standard development.     

The cost of deviating from the optimal monetary policy: A panel VAR analysis

Exploiting the panel VAR GMM estimator's features, macroeconomic country factors are combined with micro-economic bank data to test for the risk taking channel in the Euro Area. According to prior expectations based on an extended DSGE model, the analysis demonstrates that the monetary policy incentives bank risk taking by increasing the bank leverage, but it is not able to influence the level of credit risk. However, deeper investigations indicates the Taylor gap adds to the bank risk appetite in all its forms, while regarding the reactions to target variables, movements in the interest rate smooth the bank risk.     

基于云计算技术的铁路调度集中系统架构设计研究

为使铁路调度集中系统更好地满足运输组织需求,提升运输组织效率,阐述我国铁路调度集中系统运用现状,针对存在的系统功能区域化割裂、系统部署灵活性较低、系统建设和运用成本高等问题,结合铁路调度集中系统运用特点,提出基于云计算技术的铁路调度集中系统架构方案,将铁路调度集中系统部署在由云平台资源层、云平台服务层、云平台用户与接口层组成的云平台上,按需分配系统资源并动态扩充系统边界,提升系统资源利用率,提高业务协调性和计划编制的统一性,减轻运输人员的劳动强度,保障铁路运输生产的安全稳定。