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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2011‒04‒30
25 papers chosen by Joao Jose de Matos Ferreira University of the Beira Interior |
| By: | Simone Strambach (Department of Geography, Philipps University Marburg); Iris Dieterich (Department of Geography, Philipps University Marburg) |
| Abstract: | The paper focuses on the territorial shaping of knowledge dynamics as one of the driving forces for innovation. Knowledge dynamics are unfolding from processes of creation, use, transformation and diffusion of knowledge. Due to both the ongoing restructuring of global value chains and the changes in the organization of innovation ‘combinatorial knowledge dynamics’ gain a more prominent role in innovation. Firms are facing an increasing need to combine heterogeneous knowledge sources spread over organizational, technological, sectoral and spatial boundaries in innovation processes. Combinatorial knowledge dynamics imply to cope with many different cognitive, technological, intra- and inter-organizational and institutional interfaces. Deeper empirical investigation in the connected organizational and institutional change linked with knowledge dynamics is still missing, but is indeed necessary to better understand the spatio-temporality of knowledge dynamics behind innovation. Addressing the connection of space as a scope of action and space as being generated as a part of the social process, the paper chose a biographical method to explore knowledge dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Innovation, territorial knowledge dynamics, automotive industry, Baden-Württemberg |
| JEL: | D83 L62 O32 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pum:wpaper:2011-01&r=cse |
| By: | Cui, Victor; Ding, Waverly W.; Yanadori, Yoshio |
| Abstract: | Given the importance of exploration in a firm’s overall innovation program, scholarshave sought to understand organizational factors that give rise to exploration-oriented innovations. We propose theory and empirical evidence that relates firms’ use of financial incentives to their exploratory innovation performance. We expect that a larger proportion of long-term incentives in R&D employee compensation should be positively associated with the creation of exploratory innovation in a firm. In addition, we propose that a higher level of horizontal pay dispersion is negatively associated with the creation of exploratory innovation. We examine innovations reflected in the patents of a unique six-year, unbalanced panel dataset of 94 high-technology firms in the U.S. Empirical results confirm that firms with high level of horizontal pay dispersion have less exploratory patent innovations. However, surprisingly, firms that pay their R&D employees a higher proportion of long-term financial incentives in total compensation have lower level of exploratory innovation. This implies the possibility that popular longterm incentive plans in high-technology sectors (e.g., stock option plans) have failed to achieve their intended goals in practice. We discuss factors that might moderate the negative impact of long-term incentives on exploratory innovation. |
| Keywords: | Organizational Behavior and Theory |
| Date: | 2011–02–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdl:indrel:1911035&r=cse |
| By: | Marcus BERLIANT; FUJITA Masahisa |
| Abstract: | Is the paradise of effortless communication the ideal environment for knowledge creation? Or, can the development of local culture in regions raise knowledge productivity compared to a single region with a unitary culture? In other words, can a real technological increase in the cost of collaboration and the cost of public knowledge flow between regions, resulting in cultural differentiation between regions, increase welfare? In our framework, a culture is a set of ideas held exclusively by residents of a location. In general in our model, the equilibrium path generates separate cultures in different regions. When we compare this to the situation where all workers are resident in one region, R&D workers become too homogeneous and there is only one culture. As a result, equilibrium productivity in the creation of new knowledge is lower relative to the situation when there are multiple cultures and workers are more diverse. |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:11046&r=cse |
| By: | Schwalje, Wes |
| Abstract: | In Latin America and the Caribbean anecdotal evidence from business leaders, the press, and numerous government reports suggest many firms express a serious concern that they face internal employee skills deficiencies that limit performance, a phenomenon that has been labeled as a “skills gap”. This article explores the extent of national skills gaps; the importance of skills gaps relative to other business challenges; the industries facing the most severe skills gaps; and the prevalence of skills gaps by firm size. Based on international example, the article also discusses the ramifications of skills gaps on firms and regional competitiveness. (Las evidencias anecdóticas de líderes empresariales, de la prensa y de numerosos informes gubernamentales sobre América Latina y el Caribe sugieren que son muchas las empresas que muestran una seria preocupación respecto a las deficiencias en las habilidades de competencia y conocimiento de sus empleados internos y cómo estas deficiencias merman su rendimiento. El fenómeno se ha bautizado como “brecha de habilidades” y en este artículo analizamos su alcance en cada país, así como la importancia de la brecha de habilidades comparada con otros retos empresariales, los sectores industriales que se enfrentan a brechas de habilidades más graves y la prevalencia de la brecha de habilidades según el tamaño de la empresa. A partir de ejemplos internacionales, el artículo también analiza el modo en que la brecha de habilidades se extiende por la empresa y afecta a su competitividad regional.) (As provas especulativas retiradas dos relatórios de líderes empresariais, da Imprensa e de vários organismos públicos da América Latina e das Caraíbas sugerem que muitas empresas revelam uma séria preocupação, porquanto enfrentam deficiências ao nível das competências dos colaboradores internos que limitam o seu desempenho, um fenómeno que foi denominado “lacunas nas competências” (skills gap). Este artigo aborda a dimensão das lacunas nas competências a nível nacional, a importância das lacunas nas competências relativamente a outros desafios empresariais, os sectores que enfrentam as maiores lacunas nas competências e a prevalência das lacunas nas competências por dimensão das empresas. Com base em exemplos internacionais, o presente artigo também abrange as ramificações das lacunas nas competências no que diz respeito à competitividade das empresas e das regiões.) |
| Keywords: | Competitiveness; skills gaps; human capital development; knowledge-based economy; economic development; competitividad; competitividade; brecha de habilidades; lacunas nas competências; desarrollo de capital humano; desenvolvimento do capital humano; economía basada en el conocimiento |
| JEL: | J08 O54 O15 |
| Date: | 2011–03–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30247&r=cse |
| By: | Kaiser, Ulrich (University of Zurich); Kongsted, Hans Christian (University of Copenhagen); Rønde, Thomas (Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | We study the mapping between labor mobility and industrial innovative activity for the population of R&D active Danish firms observed between 1999 and 2004. Our study documents a positive relationship between the number of workers who join a firm and the firm's innovative activity. This relationship is stronger if workers join from innovative firms. We also find evidence for positive feedback from workers who leave for an innovative firm, presumably because the worker who left stays in contact with their former colleagues. This implies that the positive feedback ("social network effects") that has been found by other studies not only exists but even outweighs the disruption and loss of knowledge occurring to the previous employer from the worker leaving. Summing up the effects of joining and leaving workers, we find ample evidence for mobility to be associated with an increase in total innovative activity of the new and the old employer. |
| Keywords: | labor mobility, innovation, social network |
| JEL: | O33 O34 C23 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5654&r=cse |
| By: | Reynald-Alexandre Laurent (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper considers a probabilistic duopoly in which products are described by their specific attributes, this form of differentiation embodying the horizontal and vertical dimensions. Consumers make discrete choices and follow a random decision rule based on these attributes. A three-stage game is studied in which firms develop new attributes for their products (innovation), then may imitate the attributes of the competing product and finally compete in price. At the equilibrium, the firm selling the less appreciated product is generally incited to imitate its rival. Confronted to a threat of imitation, the benchmark firm sometimes decreases strategically its attribute index in order to diminish its unit cost of innovation and the differentiation on the market, deterring the imitation in this way. This strategy is efficient when imitation costs are sufficiently concave. In the opposite case, it is preferable for the benchmark firm to accept the imitation. Thus, according to the shape of imitation costs, equilibria with "deterrence" or with "accommodation" "accommodation" occur, completing the current typology of strategic responses to a threat of imitation. |
| Keywords: | quality choices ; differentiation by attributes ; product innovation, product imitation |
| Date: | 2011–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00586867&r=cse |
| By: | Theodore H. Moran (Georgetown University) |
| Abstract: | What is the relationship between foreign manufacturing multinational corporations (MNCs) and the expansion of indigenous technological and managerial technological capabilities among Chinese firms? China has been remarkably successful in designing industrial policies, joint venture requirements, and technology transfer pressures to use FDI to create indigenous national champions in a handful of prominent sectors: high speed rail transport, information technology, auto assembly, and an emerging civil aviation sector. But what is striking in the aggregate data is how relatively thin the layer of horizontal and vertical spillovers from foreign manufacturing multinationals to indigenous Chinese firms has proven to be. Despite the large size of manufacturing FDI inflows, the impact of multinational corporate investment in China has been largely confined to building plants that incorporate capital, technology, and managerial expertise controlled by the foreigner. As the skill-intensity of exports increases, the percentage of the value of the final product that derives from imported components rises sharply. China has remained a low value-added assembler of more sophisticated inputs imported from abroad--a “workbench” economy. Where do the gains from FDI in China end up? While manufacturing MNCs may build plants in China, the largest impact from deployment of worldwide earnings is to bolster production, employment, R&D, and local purchases in their home markets. For the United States the most recent data show that US-headquartered MNCs have 70 percent of their operations, make 89 percent of their purchases, spend 87 percent of their R&D dollars, and locate more than half of their workforce within the US economy--this is where most of the earnings from FDI in China are delivered. |
| Keywords: | Foreign Direct Investment, International Investment, China, Multinational Corporations, Exports |
| JEL: | F10 F21 F23 F52 L32 L52 L60 L62 L63 L64 O10 O14 O25 O30 O53 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iie:wpaper:wp11-11&r=cse |
| By: | Ivan Ledezma (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, LEDa - DIAL - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - Economie de la mondialisation et du développement - Université Paris Dauphine - Paris IX : EA4404, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the potentially defensive behaviour of successful innovators and its effect on aggregate R&D effort. It proposes a quality-ladders model that endogenously determines leader's technology advantages and who innovate (the leader firm or its competitors). Regulation can have either a positive or a negative effect on R&D intensity. It can be negatively associated to aggregate innovative effort in higly deregulated economies. In more regulated ones, where deterring strategies are constrained, it yields incentives to innovate. These predictions are consistent with data on manufacturing industries of 14 OECD countries between 1987-2003. |
| Keywords: | innovative leaders ; quality ladders ; R&D, regulation ; industry-level data |
| Date: | 2011–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00586709&r=cse |
| By: | Rogge, Karoline S.; Schleich, Joachim; Haussmann, Philipp; Roser, Annette; Reitze, Felix |
| Abstract: | Based on a research framework which combines environmental economics and innovation studies, we explore the relevance of the regulatory framework for innovation activities in the German paper industry, with a focus on climate poli-cies. Innovation activities considered include research and development, adop-tion and organizational change. Empirically, we mainly rely on the survey data of paper producers and technology providers. Findings suggest that innovation activities are mainly governed by market factors and (as yet) are hardly affected by the European Emission Trading System and other climate policies. Also, the impact of these policies on innovation activities is lower for technology providers than for paper producers. However, the majority of companies expect the ef-fects of the regulatory climate policy framework on innovation to increase by 2020. -- |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisisi:s12011&r=cse |
| By: | Horbach, Jens; Rammer, Christian; Rennings, Klaus |
| Abstract: | Empirical analyses of the determinants of environmental innovations were rarely able to distinguish between different areas of environmental impacts. The paper tries to close this gap by employing a new and unique dataset based on the German Community Innovation Survey conducted in 2009. The main purpose of the paper is to test whether different types of eco-innovations (according to their environmental impacts) are driven by different factors. Besides a complex set of different supply, firm specific and demand factors, the literature on the determinants of environmental innovations accentuates the important role of regulation, cost savings and customer benefits. We find that current and expected government regulation is particularly important for pushing firms to reduce air (e.g. CO₂, SO₂ or NOₓ) as well as water or noise emissions, avoid hazardous substances and increase recyclability of products. Cost savings are an important motivation for reducing energy and material use, pointing to the role of energy and raw materials prices as well as taxation as drivers for eco-innovation. Customer requirements are another important source for eco-innovations, particularly with regard to products with improved environmental performance and process innovations that increase material efficiency, reduce energy consumption and waste and the use of dangerous substances. Firms confirm a high importance of expected future regulations for all environmental product innovations. -- |
| Keywords: | Environmental Innovation,Environmental Impacts,Discrete Choice Models,Regulation,Cost Savings,Demand Pull,Environmental Policy |
| JEL: | Q55 O33 O38 C25 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11027&r=cse |
| By: | Schipper, Burkhard C |
| Abstract: | How can a rational player strategically control a myopic best reply player in a repeated two-player game? We show that in games with strategic substitutes or strategic complements the optimal control strategy is monotone in the initial action of the opponent, in time periods, and in the discount rate. As an interesting example outside this class of games we present a repeated ``textbook-like'' Cournot duopoly with non-negative prices and show that the optimal control strategy involves a cycle. |
| Keywords: | strategic teaching; learning; adaptive heuristics; dynamic optimization; strategic substitutes; strategic complements; myopic players |
| JEL: | C70 C72 C73 |
| Date: | 2011–04–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30219&r=cse |
| By: | Halkos, George; Tzeremes, Nickolaos |
| Abstract: | This paper applies a bootstrapped Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) formulation aiming to evaluate the financial performance of the firms operating in the Greek renewable energy sector. With the use of financial ratios in a DEA setting, efficiency ratios are constructed in order to analyse firms’ financial performance. The results reveal that firms’ performances are positively influenced by the high levels of return on assets and equity and by lower levels of debt to equity. In addition it appears that there are not significant differences of firms’ efficiency levels indicating high competitiveness between firms. Finally, firms producing wind energy appear to perform better than firms producing hydropower energy. It emerges that the majority of firms are operating in the wind and hydropower energy production making the Greek market of solar energy production being an emerging segment of the Greek renewable energy sector. |
| Keywords: | Renewable energy market; Data Envelopment Analysis; Financial ratios; Greece |
| JEL: | L25 C14 C02 Q20 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:30467&r=cse |
| By: | Neuhäusler, Peter; Frietsch, Rainer; Schubert, Torben; Blind, Knut |
| Abstract: | The following article systematically analyzes the question of how the results of R&D and its protection - or so to say, the technology base of a firm - can influence its market value and profits. Based on theoretical arguments it is hypothesized that large and highly valuable patent portfolios of firms have significant effects on their competitiveness in the long run. For the empirical testing a panel dataset including 479 firms from 1990 to 2007 based on the DTI-Scoreboard is used, which contains data on R&D expenditures, market capitalization, turnover etc. and structural information like firm-size and industry sector. To this database the relevant information on patenting behavior and financial performance are added, so effects of firm characteristics can be calculated. To assess the value of a firm's patent portfolio, different value measures like the number of received patent citations, opposed patents, number of inventors etc. are being applied. The results suggest that at least at the firm level, especially forward citations and family size positively influence market value. Concerning the Return on Investment, especially oppositions and family size show positive effects. This leads to the conclusion that securing international markets has a positive effect on the value of the firm in the home market. -- |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisidp:28&r=cse |
| By: | Kent Matthews (Cardiff University and Hong Kong Institute for Monetary Research) |
| Abstract: | Risk Management in Chinese banks has traditionally been the Cinderella of its internal functions. Political stricture and developmental imperative have often overridden standard practice of risk management resulting in large non-performing loan (NPL) ratios. One of the stated aims of opening up the Chinese banks to foreign strategic investment is the development of risk management functions. In recent years NPL ratios have declined through a mixture of recovery, asset management operation and expanded balance sheets. However, the training and practice of risk managers remain second class compared with foreign banks operating in China. This paper evaluates bank performance using a Network DEA approach where an index of risk management practice and an index of risk management organisation are used as intermediate inputs in the production process. The two indices are constructed from a survey of risk managers in domestic banks and foreign banks operating in China. The use of network DEA can aid the manager in identifying the stages of production that need attention. |
| Keywords: | Risk Management, Risk Organisation, Managerial Efficiency, Network DEA |
| JEL: | D23 G21 G28 |
| Date: | 2011–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hkm:wpaper:102011&r=cse |
| By: | Oded Galor; Stelios Michalopoulos |
| Abstract: | This research suggests that the evolution of entrepreneurial spirit played a signi?cant role in the process of economic development and the dynamics of inequality within and across societies. The study argues that entrepreneurial spirit evolved non-monotonically in the course of human history. In early stages of development, risk-tolerant, growth promoting traits generated an evolutionary advantage and their increased representation accelerated the pace of technological progress and the process of economic development. In mature stages of development, however, risk-averse traits gained an evolutionary advantage, di- minishing the growth potential of advanced economies and contributing to convergence in economic growth across countries. |
| Keywords: | Risk Aversion, Growth, Technological Progress, Evolution, Natural Selection |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bro:econwp:2011-9&r=cse |
| By: | Link, Albert N. (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics); Rowe, Brent R. (RTI International); Wood, Dallas W. (RTI International) |
| Abstract: | Information retrieval (IR) is the science and practice of matching information seekers with the information being sought. Research on IR focuses on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of retrieval techniques and evaluating competing retrieval mechanisms. For example, Internet search engines utilize IR techniques to provide relevant information to users. In the United States, about $29 million of public support has been devoted to IR research over the past two decades. Through the activities of the Text Retrieval Conference (TREC) program with the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Here, we show empirically that research organizations worldwide that avail themselves of this information have relatively greater IR performance. |
| Keywords: | Information retrieval; public goods; knowledge production function |
| JEL: | D80 H41 |
| Date: | 2011–04–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2011_010&r=cse |
| By: | Marco Marchese; Jonathan Potter |
| Abstract: | Andalusia has experienced remarkable growth over the last decades, only halted by the recent economic crisis. The challenge today is to renew with the "prodigious decade" (mid 1990s-mid 2000s) of Andalusia’s development, which will require endogenous development through entrepreneurship and SME growth. This report analyses Andalusia’s capacity to support entrepreneurship and SME development and how such capacity is affected by local policies. It also identifies the challenges faced by new and small firms in growing; analyses the set of local policies for entrepreneurship and SMEs; detects policy gaps; and provides recommendations to fill such gaps and improve current policies. Best practices from other OECD countries corroborate the recommendations and complement the report. |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:cfeaaa:2011/3-en&r=cse |
| By: | David Matesanz Gomez; Guillermo J. Ortega; Benno Torgler |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the business cycle co-movement across countries and regions since the middle of the last century as a measure for quantifying the ongoing globalization process of the world economy. Our methodological approach is based on analysis of a correlation matrix and the networks it contains. Such an approach summarizes the interaction and interdependence of all elements and it represents a more accurate measure of the global interdependence involved in the economic system. Our results show (1) that the dynamics of globalization has been more driven by synchronization in regional growth patterns than by the synchronization of the world economy as a whole in contrast with other empirical works and (2) that world crisis periods increase dramatically the global co movement in the world economy. |
| Keywords: | Globalization; regionalism; correlation matrix; clustering; synchronization |
| JEL: | E32 C45 O47 |
| Date: | 2011–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cra:wpaper:2011-11&r=cse |
| By: | Jeanne Hagenbach (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I, Université Panthéon Sorbonne - Paris 1 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I); Frédéric Koessler (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we consider situations in which individuals want to choose an action close to others' actions as well as close to a payoff relevant state of nature with the ideal proximity to the common state varying across the agents. Before this coordination game with heterogeneous preferences is played, a cheap talk communication stage is offered to players who decide to whom they reveal the private information they hold about the state. The strategic information transmission taking place in the communication stage is characterized by a strategic communication network. We provide a direct link between players' preferences and the strategic communication network emerging at equilibrium, depending on the strength of the coordination motive and the prior information structure. Equilibrium strategic communication networks are characterized in a very tractable way and compared in term of efficiency. In general, a maximal strategic communication network may not exist and communication networks cannot be ordered in the sense of Pareto. However, expected social welfare always increases when the communication network expands. Strategic information transmission can be improved when group or public communication is allowed, and/or when information is certifiable. |
| Keywords: | cheap talk ; coordination ; partially verifiable types ; public and private communication |
| Date: | 2011–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00586847&r=cse |
| By: | Beyer, Mila; Czarnitzki, Dirk; Kraft, Kornelius |
| Abstract: | Principle-agent theory suggests managers might under-invest into R&D for reasons of risk tied to project failure, such as reduced remuneration and job loss. However, managers might over-invest into innovation for reasons of growth implying higher remuneration, power and prestige. Using a sample of 1,406 Belgian firms, we find, first, that managers holding no company shares under-invest into R&D compared to owners giving rise to the risk argument. Second, we find an inverse u-shaped relationship between the degree of managerial ownership and R&D. Thus, managers become entrenched, i.e. powerful enough to pursue their own interests. When entrenched, managers do not fear detrimental effects of risky innovation projects on their career, and hence tend to over-invest into innovation. -- |
| Keywords: | corporate governance,managerial ownership,entrenchment,innovation,R&D investments |
| JEL: | G32 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:11026&r=cse |
| By: | Miren Lafourcade (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, Université de Valenciennes et du Hainaut Cambrésis - Université de valenciennes et du Hainaut Cambrésis, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris); Jacques-François Thisse (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris, CORE - Center of Operation Research and Econometrics [Louvain] - Université Catholique de Louvain) |
| Abstract: | The paper surveys the main contributions of new economic geography from the point of view of transport analysis. It shows that decreasing transport costs is likely to exacerbate regional disparities. However, very low transport costs should foster a more balanced distribution for economic activities across space. Thus, the spatial curve of development, which relates the degree of spatial concentration to the level of transport costs, would be bell-shaped. The paper also provides a detailed discussion of the main determinants of transport costs, which remain fairly large in most countries. It concludes with a discussion of some policy implications. |
| Keywords: | economic geography ; transport costs ; regional disparities |
| Date: | 2011–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00586878&r=cse |
| By: | Natalia Kuznetsova (Saint-Petersburg State University - Saint-Petersburg State University); Irina Peaucelle (PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - Ecole des Ponts ParisTech - Ecole Normale Supérieure de Paris - ENS Paris, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris) |
| Abstract: | This article investigates the relationships between the evolution of Russian social psychology and the transformations of the modes of education in Russia. Social psychology is a science born the last century and also a status of the social conscience of people, forged historically on the basis of proper cultural artifacts. In Russia education is mainly the process of human development and, like wherever, it is the institution of knowledge transmission. We show on the case of Russian history that the scientifically proven educational practice can contribute enriching development of social conscience after ideological and economic shocks. |
| Keywords: | analysis of education ; cultural economics ; Russia |
| Date: | 2011–04–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:psewpa:halshs-00586750&r=cse |
| By: | Brouwer, E.; Ozbugday, F.C. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research) |
| Abstract: | This paper tests whether the transition from the old Economic Competition Act, which was based on the so-called “abuse systemâ€, to the new Competition Act, which was based on “prohibition systemâ€, in the Netherlands had an impact on the price-cost margins in manufacturing industries during the period 1993-2007. The paper further investigates if the price-cost margins were higher in industries where temporary antitrust immunity was granted for subset of firms that engaged in concerted practices. The results indicate that the change in the competition law in the Netherlands had a very small and negative, yet statistically insignificant deterrent effect on the price-cost margins. Elsewhere, markups were higher in industries in which temporary antitrust immunity was granted for some class of coordinated actions. |
| Keywords: | Price-cost margins;Competition law;Antitrust immunity;Antitrust enforcement;Dynamic panel data model;the Netherlands. |
| JEL: | K21 L4 L6 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2011038&r=cse |
| By: | Michele Berardi |
| Abstract: | In a model of incomplete, heterogeneous information, with externalities and strategic interactions, we analyse the possibility of adaptive learning to act as coordination device. We build on the framework introduced by Angeletos and Pavan (2007) and extend it to a setting where agents need to learn to coordinate. We analyse conditions under which learning obtains, and show that adaptive learning can solve the problem of socially ine¢ cient coordination. |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:man:cgbcrp:157&r=cse |
| By: | Belke, Ansgar; Dreger, Christian |
| Abstract: | In the debate on global imbalances, the euro area countries did not receive much attention so far. While the current account is on balance for the entire area, divergences between individual member states have increased since the introduction of the common currency. In this paper, the imbalances are traced to catching up and competitiveness factors using paneleconometric techniques. In line with the intertemporal approach to the current account, low income countries tend to run deficits, while rich countries realize surpluses. However, the effect diminishes, if early years are dropped from the sample. The competitiveness channel is more robust and shows the expected sign, i.e. a real appreciation leads to external deficits. To restore competitiveness, a reduction of unit labour costs is on the agenda. Since a deterioration of competitiveness is not a feasible strategy for the surplus countries, an asymmetric response across countries is required in order to reduce the imbalances. -- |
| Keywords: | current account imbalances,catching up and competitiveness,euro area |
| JEL: | E44 F34 F36 |
| Date: | 2011 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:euvwdp:297&r=cse |