International Trade as Determined by Income and Income Distribution

Abstract

In standard trade theory, consumption is normally assumed to be homothetic. Consequently, income and its distribution have no role in determining international trade patterns. This paper examines the assumption and its implications. The assumption of homothetic preferences is rejected at the 1% level. It further demonstrates that the Heckscher–Ohlin–Vanek (HOV) model modified by allowing for non-homothetic taste improves the performance of HOV prediction and explains some of the trade puzzles and paradoxes.     

Nonlinear Mean Reversion across National Stock Markets: Evidence from Emerging Asian Markets

This paper seeks empirical evidence of nonlinear mean-reversion in relative national stock price indices for Emerging Asian countries. It is well known that conventional linear unit root tests suffer from low power against the stationary nonlinear alternative. Implementing the nonlinear unit root tests proposed by Kapetanios et al. (2003 Kapetanios, G., Shin, Y. and Snell, A. 2003. Testing for a unit root in the nonlinear STAR framework. Journal of Econometrics, 112: 359–379. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) and Cerrato et al. (2009 Cerrato, M., de Peretti, C., Larsson, R. and Sarantis, N. 2009. “A nonlinear panel unit root test under cross section dependence”. Working Papers 28, Department of Economics, University of Glasgow [Google Scholar]) for the relative stock prices of Emerging Asian markets, we find strong evidence of nonlinear mean reversion, whereas linear tests fail to reject the unit root null for most cases. We also report some evidence that stock markets in China and Taiwan are highly localized.     

Micro evidence on international patenting

Globalization, high growth rates in high-tech industries, growing emerging markets and harmonization of patent institutions across countries have stimulated patenting in foreign markets. We use a simple model of international patenting, where the decision to patent in a foreign country depends on country characteristics and the quality of the patented invention. With access to a detailed database on individual patents owned by small Swedish firms and inventors, we are able to estimate some of these relationships and test their validity. Our results indicate that the propensity to apply for international patent protection increases with indicators of the quality of the invention, technological rivalry and market size in the host market.     

The two sides of academic research: do basic and applied activities complement each other?

It is generally acknowledged that the cuts in government funding for research implemented in several European countries will induce academic researchers to increase their interaction with non academic entities to promote the acquisition of external funding for research. Indirectly this implies that there will be a shift in the focus of academic scientific activity from basic to applied research via private research contracts and consultancy work. The aim of our paper is to assess the extent of the trade-off between basic research and applied activity in academic research departments. We use data for the universe of Italian academic departments over the period 2006–2011 and estimate whether increased applied activity is substituting or complementing basic research activity. We provide empirical evidence of a strong substitution effect for life sciences departments and, to a lesser extent, for engineering and technology departments, while there does not seem to be evidence of a substitution effect for departments whose scientific activity revolves around basic science.     

How to rescue a failing pension regime: the British case

Recent analysis on New Regionalism has, for Björn Hettne, raised important ontological questions over ‘what we study when we study regionalism’. The paper contributes to this debate by focusing on the shared beliefs, norms and rituals that hold a region together. Working between the New Regionalism literature and thinking on international regimes, this paper – to paraphrase Friedrich Kratochwil and John Ruggie – outlines the ‘inescapable inter-subjective quality’ of a region. This focus on inter-subjectivity seeks to improve on existing approaches that consider shared social structures as already fixed, and/or as autonomous constructs operating over and above regional actors. In order to appreciate how inter-subjective structures and regional agents interact with each other, the paper explores the social construction of Latin America. Specifically, it examines the politics of regionness – understood here in relation to identity, space and agents – to demonstrate how various regional actors operate within, and reconstruct, shared meaning. In so doing, it interrogates the practices that govern and continually produce the region.     

欧盟气候政策的利益导向及对中国的启示

自20世纪90年代以来,欧盟一直是全球气候谈判的主导者,其低碳技术领先全球,将世界各国尤其是美国、中国等排放大国纳入其主导的全球气候谈判体系符合欧盟三大布局主导下的核心战略目标.全球气候谈判的焦灼,迫使欧盟通过欧盟—拉美峰会、非加太—欧盟联合大会等平台,拉拢利益合作伙伴,以增加其主导气候谈判走向的砝码.欧盟气候政策的转变,削弱了气候谈判中以中国为代表的发展中国家谈判阵营的力量,使中国日益面临谈判伙伴减少,乃至被孤立的风险,增加了未来的谈判压力和难度.为此,中国要加紧对欧盟气候外交长期战略布局的研究,密切关注欧盟今后的气候外交政策动向,制定长期气候外交政策战略,同时加紧国内低碳转型的速度与力度.     

国际多元化、控股股东与公司增长

本文利用2009年-2011年中国制造业上市公司的数据实证研究了国际多元化与公司增长之间的关系,并与行业多元化进行比较分析。结果发现,国际多元化与公司增长之间存在统计上显著的正相关关系,而行业多元化与公司增长之间不存在统计上显著的关系。进一步分析表明。国际多元化与公司增长之间的正相关关系仅存在于无控股股东的企业。这从侧面反映了所有者与管理者之间的委托代理问题。在跨国公司内部,国际多元化程度与公司增长之间存在先下降后上升然后再下降的水平的S型关系。     

中国税制的国际竞争力研究

国际税收竞争是经济全球化发展的产物,是各国以税收为载体、以促进本国经济增长为目的的竞争,其实质是经济竞争。在此,基于国际税收竞争视角,重点对中国税制的国际竞争力进行评析,分析表明中国税制具有一定的国际竞争力,但诸多方面仍有待完善。在此基础上,借鉴国际经验建立具有竞争性的中国税制,确定合理的宏观税负水平,同时还需加强"税收文化"的建设,建立国际税收协调机制,以应对日益激烈的国际税收竞争。     

国内外形势新变化与我国煤炭产业政策调整的必要性

《煤炭产业政策》自2007年发布以来,对加快转变煤炭经济发展方式、调整产业结构、提高产业整体质量、推动产业健康发展,发挥了积极作用。随着近年来国内外形势的新变化,以及煤炭产业自身长期积累的深层次矛盾日益突出,特别是党的十八届三中全会做出的《关于全面深化改革若干重大问题的决定》,对煤炭产业发展提出了新要求,有必要对《煤炭产业政策》加以完善。文章从国内外形势发生的新变化及对我国煤炭产业发展产生的新要求,阐述产业政策调整的必要性。     

合力打造应用技术研发平台——电子专业校企合作模式探索与实践

本文在主要介绍了高职院校校企业合作的现状,阐述了电子信息类专业校企合作切入点问题,提出了一种应用技术研发平台的电子专业校企合作模式,通过此模式开展了一系列探索和实践,并取得了良好效果.文中重点分析了建立应用技术研发平台效果,从中得出初步结论.