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on Economics of Strategic Management |
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Issue of 2014‒06‒02
58 papers chosen by Joao Jose de Matos Ferreira University of the Beira Interior |
| By: | Narula R.; Martinez-Noya A.; Ashok M. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | This paper focuses on how to improve process innovation in service sectors. To do so, we analyse how the interplay of external knowledge sources specifically, the intensity of end-user collaboration and the breadth of external collaboration and the firms internal resources impact process innovation at the firm level. Survey data from 166 Information Technology Services firms provide the empirical data, which is tested using the partial least squares structural equation model. Our results demonstrate that benefits from collaboration are not automatic, as the firms commitment of internal resources fully mediates the impact of the intensity of end-user collaboration and breadth of external collaboration on process innovation. Thus, internal resources become critical to make effective use of the knowledge residing both internally and externally, and key managerial practices that enable a firm to extract benefits from external collaboration are identified. Keywords end-user collaboration; external knowledge sources; internal resources; process innovation; service industry |
| Keywords: | IT Management; Management of Technological Innovation and R&D; |
| JEL: | M15 O32 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2014019&r=cse |
| By: | Danakol, Seçil Hülya; Estrin, Saul; Reynolds, Paul; Weitzel, Utz |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the effects of foreign direct investment, measured by mergers and acquisitions, on domestic entrepreneurial entry. We use a micro-panel of more than two thousand individuals disaggregated by industry in seventy countries including both developed and developing economies, 2000-2009. The theory yields ambiguous predictions about the relationship between FDI and entrepreneurship; positive spillovers via dissemination of technology or negative because of crowding out. Our empirical analysis is conducted at three levels of aggregation. We find the relationship between FDI and domestic entrepreneurship in aggregate and intra-industry to be negative. Policies need to consider how to counteract this effect. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; foreign direct investment; new firm entry; spillovers |
| JEL: | F23 L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9793&r=cse |
| By: | Martin, Philippe; Mayer, Thierry; Mayneris, Florian |
| Abstract: | Clusters have already been extensively shown to favor firm-level economic performance (productivity, exports, innovation etc.). However, little is known about the capacity of firms in clusters to resist economic shocks. In this paper, we analyze whether firms that agglomerate in clusters and firms that have been selected to benefit from the "competitiveness cluster'' industrial policy, implemented in France in 2005, have performed better on export markets during the recent economic turmoil. We show that, on average, both agglomeration and the cluster policy are associated with a higher survival probability of firms on export markets, and conditioning on survival, a higher growth rate of their exports. However, these effects are not stronger during the 2008-2009 crisis; if anything, the opposite is true. We then show that this weaker resilience of competitiveness cluster firms is probably due to the fact that firms in clusters are more dependent on the fate of the ``leader'', i.e. the largest exporter in the cluster. |
| Keywords: | clusters; competitiveness clusters; crisis; exports; resilience |
| JEL: | F1 R10 R11 R12 R15 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9667&r=cse |
| By: | Crescenzi, Riccardo; Nathan, Max; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how physical, organisational, institutional, cognitive, social, and ethnic proximities between inventors shape their collaboration decisions. Using a new panel of UK inventors and a novel identification strategy, this paper systematically explores the net effects of all these ‘proximities’ on co-patenting. The regression analysis allows us to identify the full effects of each proximity, both on choice of collaborator and on the underlying decision to collaborate. The results show that physical proximity is an important influence on collaboration, but is mediated by organisational and ethnic factors. Over time, physical proximity increases in salience. For multiple inventors, geographic proximity is, however, much less important than organisational, social, and ethnic links. For inventors as a whole, proximities are fundamentally complementary, while for multiple inventors they are substitutes. |
| Keywords: | Collaboration; Ethnicity; Innovation; Knowledge spillovers; Patents; Proximities; Regions |
| JEL: | O31 O33 R11 R23 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9777&r=cse |
| By: | Raphaël Suire (CREM UMR CNRS 6211, University of Rennes 1, France); Jérôme Vicente (PACTE-CNRS, Sciences-Po Grenoble) |
| Abstract: | After an abundant literature on the crucial role of cluster development for innovation and growth in knowledge-based economies, cluster policies have been recently and increasingly called into question in the aftermath of several empirical evidences. Our aim is to show that, in spite of this growing scepticism, new opportunities for cluster policy and collective management exist. They require moving their focus from the “connecting people” one best way that gets through the whole of cluster policy guidelines to more surgical and targeted incentives for R&D collaborations, as well as renewed coordination mechanisms, which favour a set of particular network failures along the life cycle of clusters. |
| Keywords: | Network theories, cluster policy, cluster management |
| JEL: | B52 D85 O33 R11 R12 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tut:cremwp:201409&r=cse |
| By: | Jonathan Bainée (UEA - Unité d'Économie Appliquée - ENSTA ParisTech, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | Entrepreneurship and, thus, small- and middlesized firms (SMEs) have had a growing interest for the past two decades, from the academic world as well as from public authorities. This interest is part of many economic changes. In particular, technological change and the increasing incidence of innovation in most developed countries have reduced the importance of the size of the companies in the industry and favored the development of entrepreneurial activities. In addition, globalization would have dragged the comparative advantages of North American and European countries toward knowledge-based activities, while the "knowledge-based economy" would be relatively more conducive to entrepreneurship and to SMEs. The issues in terms of ability to manage the creation, transition, and business development are primordial, both in their qualitative and quantitative dimension. It is in this context, conducive to new needs of knowledge, that emerge entrepreneurship teachings designed to inspire and enable individuals to start and to grow entrepreneurial ventures. They can be addressed in two steps. First, a historical approach will show how teachings in entrepreneurship have evolved in their implementation based on a double dynamic of empowerment and "complication" of training programs in entrepreneurship, which seems structured around the controversy over the ability to learn to undertake business or initiate the risk culture. Second, practical teaching methods of entrepreneurship will be analyzed, making sure to highlight the multifaceted reality of innovative approaches and actions through an international benchmark conducted by the PIMREP (ParisTech Innovation Management Research and Education Program) network (PIMREP 2010, 2011) |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneuriat ; management de l'innovation ; enseignements ; Eco-système |
| Date: | 2013–04–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-00980385&r=cse |
| By: | Agrawal, Ajay; Cockburn, Iain M; Galasso, Alberto; Oettl, Alexander |
| Abstract: | Large firms spawn spin-outs caused by innovations deemed unrelated to the firm's overall business. Small firms generate demand for specialized services that lower entry costs for others. We study the interplay of these two localized externalities and their impact on regional innovation. We examine MSA-level patent data during the period 1975-2000 and find that innovation output is higher in regions where large and small firms coexist. The finding is robust to across-region as well as within-region analysis and the effect is stronger in certain subsamples in a manner that is consistent with our explanation. |
| Keywords: | cities; externalities; firm size diversity; innovation; patents; spin-outs |
| JEL: | L16 O18 O47 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9766&r=cse |
| By: | König, Michael; Liu, Xiaodong; Zenou, Yves |
| Abstract: | We study a structural model of R&D alliance networks in which firms jointly form R&D collaborations to lower their production costs while competing on the product market. We derive the Nash equilibrium of this game, provide a welfare analysis and determine the optimal R&D subsidy program that maximizes total welfare. We also identify the key firms, i.e. the firms whose exit would reduce welfare the most. We then structurally estimate our model using a panel dataset of R&D collaborations and annual company reports. We use our estimates to identify the key firms and analyze the impact of R&D subsidy programs. Moreover, we analyze temporal changes in the rankings of key firms and how these changes affect the optimal R&D policy. |
| Keywords: | key firms; optimal subsidies; R&D networks |
| JEL: | D85 L24 O33 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9872&r=cse |
| By: | Acharya, Viral V; Xu, Zhaoxia |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between innovation and firms' dependence on external capital by analyzing the innovation activities of privately-held and publicly-traded firms We find that public firms in external finance dependent industries generate patents of higher quantity, quality, and novelty compared to their private counterparts, while public firms in internal finance dependent industries do not have a significantly better innovation profile than matched private firms. The results are robust to various empirical strategies that address selection bias. The findings suggest that public listing is beneficial to the innovation of firms in industries with a greater need for external capital. |
| Keywords: | finance and growth; financial constraints; innovation; private firms; public firms; R&D |
| JEL: | G31 G32 O16 O30 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9829&r=cse |
| By: | Triulzi G. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | Catching-up, leapfrogging and falling behind in terms of output and productivity in high-tech industries crucially depends on firms ability to keep pace with technological change. In fast changing industries todays specialization does not guarantee tomorrows success as changes in the technological trajectories reward and punish firms specialization patterns. This highlights the importance of studying the relationship between technology life cycle and specialization patterns of new and incumbent innovators. From an empirical point of view life cycles have been extensively analysed at the industry and product level but not so deeply at the technology one even though plenty of theoretical contributions exist. We define a methodology to describe the life cycle stages of the main technological paradigm within an industry and of the technological areas it is composed of. The methodology is based on the analysis of the age composition of the different areas and of the characteristics of their technological trajectories. We use the classification of the life cycle stages of the single areas to investigate specialization patterns of new and incumbent innovators. Our results show that up to the end of the 1990s firms from Taiwan, Korea and Singapore specialized mainly in areas at the later stages of their life cycles, whereas US and Japanese firms were comparatively better in younger areas. Specialization patterns changed in the beginning of the 2000s, when the Asian Tigers started to become comparatively stronger in emerging areas. Keywords Technology Life Cycle, Industry Life Cycle, Product Life Cycle, Specialization Patterns, Technological Paradigms, Technological Trajectories, Main Path Analysis, Catching-up, Semiconductors, Citation networks, Community Detection |
| Keywords: | Development Planning and Policy: General; Management of Technological Innovation and R&D; Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes; Technological Change: Government Policy; |
| JEL: | O20 O32 O33 O38 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2014012&r=cse |
| By: | Susan Marlow (University of Nottingham) |
| Abstract: | The role of network relationships has become topical in research on the internationalization process of firms. Research has focused on the internationalization process of firms in developed nations. This research adds to the literature by looking at the use of network relationships in Ethiopian small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs2) exporting spices, meat and shoes. Propositions are formulated from findings in the literature. Using a multiple case study of three Ethiopian firms, the influence of different networks on the foreign market entry process (FME) was researched. The focus was on the effect of network relations on the foreign market choice (FMC) and market entry mode choice (MEMC). The outcomes show that network relations play an important role in the internationalization. Contrary to expectations, the internationalization of the Ethiopian case firms depended completely on foreign firms initiating contacts and therewith the entrance into foreign markets. The foreign firms also influenced market entry mode choices of the firms under study. None of the firms did market research or had a strategic plan to enter the market, reflecting a reactive approach to internationalization. The vertical network, based on strong formal relations with the foreign product buyers, played a significant role in the foreign market and market entry mode choice. An important finding from the research is the notion that horizontal networks, especially the intermediary role played by foreign country governments and foreign and Ethiopian export organizations, had a big influence in the early stages on the contact relations between the foreign buyer and the Ethiopian exporter. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2014/18&r=cse |
| By: | Hottenrott H.; Czarnitzki D.; Hall B.H. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | Information about the success of a new technology is usually held asymmetrically between the research and development RD-performing firm and potential lenders and investors. This raises the cost of capital for financing RD externally, resulting in financing constraints on RD especially for firms with limited internal resources. Previous literature provided evidence for start-up firms on the role of patents as signals to investors, in particular to Venture Capitalists. This study adds to previous insights by studying the effects of firms patenting activity on the degree of financing constraints on RD for a panel of established firms. The results show that patents do indeed attenuate financing constraints for small firms where information asymmetries may be particularly high and collateral value is low. Larger firms are not only less subject to financing constraints, but also do not seem to benefit from a patent quality signal. Keywords Patents, Quality Signal, Research and Development, Financial Constraints, Innovation Policy |
| Keywords: | Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives; Management of Technological Innovation and R&D; Technological Change: Government Policy; |
| JEL: | O31 O32 O38 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2014013&r=cse |
| By: | Lionel Fontagné (CEPII - Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales - Centre d'analyse stratégique, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, Department of Economics - European University Institute); Pamina Koenig (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, PSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - CNRS : UMR8545 - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC) - École normale supérieure [ENS] - Paris - Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA)); Florian Mayneris (UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain - Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) - Belgique, CORE - Center of Operation Research and Econometrics [Louvain] - Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) - Belgique); Sandra Poncet (EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we shed light on the selection of the benefi ciaries from the French competitiveness cluster policy which was launched in 2005 and extended to 2012. We disentangle the selection and self-selection eff ects, as emphasized in the theoretical literature on regional and industrial policy. Our main conclusion is that winners were (self-)selected at both steps of the procedure, and that this holds for the three cluster types: worldwide clusters , potentially worldwide clusters and national clusters . We thus provide a methodology which allows us to contrast the e ffective outcomes of the selection process and the official objectives of cluster policies in terms of targeting, and which thus helps in their econometric evaluation. |
| Keywords: | Competitiveness, clusters, international trade, fi rm selection |
| Date: | 2013–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-00975554&r=cse |
| By: | Negin Salimi; Rudi Bekkers |
| Abstract: | The increasing involvement of industry in academic research raised concerns whether university-industry projects actually meet the same academic standards as university projects in-house. Looking at the academic output and impact of collaborative versus non-collaborative Ph.D. projects at Eindhoven University of Technology, we observe – unexpectedly – that doctoral candidates who conducted a collaborative Ph.D. project outperform their peers in academic performance. Less surprisingly, collaborative projects also lead to more patents and patent citations compared to non-collaborative projects. Science policy implications follow. |
| Keywords: | university-industry relations, technology transfer, collaborative and non-collaborative Ph.D. projects, performance, publication performance, patenting performance, citations, bibliometric data |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ein:tuecis:1409&r=cse |
| By: | Heggedal, Tom-Reiel; Moen, Espen R; Preugschat, Edgar |
| Abstract: | Do firms have the right incentives to innovate in the presence of productivity spillovers? This paper proposes an explicit model of spillovers through labor flows in a framework with search frictions. Firms can choose to innovate or to imitate by hiring a worker from a firm that has already innovated. We show that if innovation firms can commit to long-term wage contracts with their workers, productivity spillovers are fully internalized. If firms cannot commit to long-term wage contracts, there is too little innovation and too much imitation in equilibrium. Our model is tractable and allows us to analyze welfare effects of various policies in the limited commitment case. We find that subsidizing innovation and taxing imitation improves welfare.Moreover, allowing innovation firms to charge quit fees or rent out workers to imitation firms also improves welfare. By contrast, non-pecuniary measures like covenants not to compete, interpreted as destruction of matches between imitation firms and workers from innovation firms, always reduce welfare. |
| Keywords: | efficiency; imitation; innovation; productivity; search frictions; spillovers; worker flows |
| JEL: | J63 J68 O38 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9850&r=cse |
| By: | Nour S. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | This paper provides an overview of knowledge transfer and explains the factors that enable or impede absorption capacity and knowledge transfer in the MENA countries, with particular reference to the case of Egypt. We employ the conceptual framework used in the international literature on absorption capacity and international knowledge transfer channels including FDI, international trade, ICT, education, human capital mobility and university-industry linkage, and we examine the factors that enable or impede absorption capacity and knowledge transfer channels in the MENA region and Egypt respectively. One interesting element in our study is that we present a systematic framework for the factors that enable or impede knowledge transfer in Egypt and the MENA region. We find that the factors hindering absorption capacity and knowledge transfer are related to institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, higher education and training, goods market efficiency and labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness and capacity for innovation. Our results are consistent with the stylized facts in the MENA literature regarding the impediment factors hampering the transfer of knowledge in the MENA region. Our results are also in line with the stylized facts in the international literature regarding the interaction and linkage between the different knowledge transfer channels. The major policy implication from our findings is that knowledge transfer is facilitated by supporting the linkages between the different knowledge transfer channels within this systematic framework. Knowledge transfer through utilization of FDI is facilitated by the sound institutions for the provision of sufficiently qualified labour, ICT infrastructure, opening up to international trade, good university-industry cooperation, RD and innovation capacity. Knowledge transfer through utilization of international trade is facilitated by the sound institutions for the provision of sufficiently qualified labour and ICT infrastructure. Finally, knowledge transfer through utilization of human capital and ICT is facilitated by supporting the complementary relationship between them. Keywords Absorption capacity; knowledge transfer; MENA Region; Egypt |
| Keywords: | Economic Development: General; Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; Technological Change; Research and Development; Intellectual Property Rights: General; |
| JEL: | O10 O11 O30 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2014017&r=cse |
| By: | Lerner, Josh |
| Abstract: | Since the 2008-09 global financial crises, interest among policy makers in promoting innovative, ventures has exploded. The emerging great hubs of entrepreneurial activity, like Bangalore, Dubai, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, and Tel Aviv, bear the unmistakable stamp of the public sector. Enlightened government intervention played a key role in each region's emergence. But for each effective government intervention, dozens, even hundreds, disappointed, with substantial public spending bearing no fruit. This paper sheds light on how governments can avoid mistakes in stimulating entrepreneurship. In recent decades, efforts have increased to provide the world's poorest with financing and other assistance to facilitate their entry into entrepreneurship or the growth of their small ventures. These are typically subsistence businesses offering services like snack preparation or clothing repair. Such businesses typically allow business owners and their families to get by, but little else. The public policy literature, along with academic studies of new ventures, often does not distinguish among the types of businesses being studied. The author will focus here exclusively on high-potential new ventures and the policies that enhance them. This choice, not intended to diminish the importance of efforts to boost microenterprises, reflects the complexity of the field: the dynamics and issues involving micro firmsare quite different from those of their high-potential counterparts. A substantial literature suggests that promising entrepreneurial firms can have a powerful effect in transforming industries and promoting innovation. |
| Keywords: | Microfinance,Debt Markets,Emerging Markets,Investment and Investment Climate,Small Scale Enterprise |
| Date: | 2014–05–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6880&r=cse |
| By: | Brixiova, Zuzana (African Development Bank); Ncube, Mthuli (African Development Bank); Bicaba, Zorobabel (African Development Bank) |
| Abstract: | The shortages of entrepreneurial skills have lowered search effectiveness of potential young entrepreneurs and the rate of youth start-ups. Our paper contributes to closing a gap in the entrepreneurship and development literature with a model of costly firm creation and skill differences between young and adult entrepreneurs. The model shows that for young entrepreneurs facing high costs of searching for business opportunities, support for training is more effective in stimulating productive start-ups than subsidies. The case for interventions targeted at youth rises in societies with high costs of youth unemployment. We test the role of skills and training for productive youth entrepreneurship on data from a recent survey of entrepreneurs in Swaziland. |
| Keywords: | youth entrepreneurship, model of skills and structural transformation, policies, Africa |
| JEL: | J11 J08 L26 O11 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8192&r=cse |
| By: | Jason P. Davis (INSEAD); Yulia Muzyrya (University of Michigan); Pai-Ling Yin (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research) |
| Abstract: | Although experimentation is critical to the innovation process in startups, little research has explored the link between different experimentation strategies and entrepreneurial innovation. We use unique data on experimentation strategies and innovation outcomes of firms producing iPhone applications to show that the appropriateness of different strategies depends on market characteristics. Simultaneous experimentation strategies are better suited to markets characterized by strong market inheritance, where innovative know-how, development technologies, and heterogeneous preferences from established markets can be leveraged by entrepreneurs. In markets with fewer skills, fewer developmental technologies, and less understood demand expectations, innovations are more likely to result from sequential product improvements based on customer feedback, allowing the entrepreneur to develop skills and clarify what may be singular customer preferences |
| Keywords: | Keywords: Entrepreneur; Innovation; Technology; Strategy; Mobile Apps |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sip:dpaper:13-029&r=cse |
| By: | Giovanni Cerulli (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth,Rome,Italy); Bianca Potì (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth,Rome,Italy) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies at firm level the relation between managerial capacity in doing innovation and profitability. Moving along the intersection between the evolutionary/neo-Schumpeterian theory and the Resource-Based-View of the firm, we prove econometrically that managerial efficiency in mastering the production of innovation is an important determinant of firm innovative performance and market success, and that it complements traditional Schumpeterian drivers. By using a Stochastic Frontier Analysis, we provide a “direct” measure of innovation managerial capacity, then plugged into a profit margin equation augmented by the traditional Schumpeterian drivers of profitability (size, demand, market size and concentration, technological opportunities, etc.) and other control-variables. We run both a OLS and a series of Quantile Regressions to better stress the role played by companies’ heterogeneous response of profitability to innovative managerial capacity at different points of the distribution of the operating profit margin.Results find evidence of an average positive effect of the innovation managerial capacity on firm profitability, although quantile regressions show that this “mean effect” is mainly driven by a stronger magnitude of the effect for lower quantiles (i.e., for firms having negative or low positive profitability). It means that lower profitable firms might gain more from an increase of managerial efficiency in doing innovation than more profitable businesses. |
| JEL: | O31 D22 C22 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csc:cerisp:201301&r=cse |
| By: | SYOUM NEGASSI (University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne and Visiting Professor Department of Economics,University of Delaware); JEAN-FRANCOIS SATTIN (University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne) |
| Abstract: | Economic theory and empirical evidence indicate that technological innovation is an important determinant of long-term economic development. Various country policies have been launched in favour of private research and development (R&D) with economic development as the main objective. As often in economics, public intervention is grounded on the presumed existence of market failures. The purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, it provides an overview of the history of R&D-related tax policies in more than ten industrial countries. Second, after reviewing the existent empirical evidence on the effectiveness of R&D tax credits policies, it presents a meta-regression analysis based on an econometric model. Our results show that an R&D tax credit is strongly significant in the studies taken cumulatively. |
| Keywords: | R&D, Meta-analysis |
| JEL: | C01 C12 H53 H54 O31 O32 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dlw:wpaper:14-09.&r=cse |
| By: | John Foster (School of Economics, The University of Queensland) |
| Abstract: | Multi-factor productivity growth is widely discussed in the media and among policymakers in Australia. Over the past decade it has been predominantly negative often leading to the view that there is a ‘productivity crisis.’ It is shown that such a measure is wholly misleading. Preliminary econometric investigation suggests that it is economies of scale and scope that are the primary drivers of productivity growth in Australia. However, much more research needs to be undertaken, with the inter-related processes of innovation and entrepreneurship at its core, before any new policies to promote productivity growth are designed and implemented. |
| Date: | 2014–05–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:qld:uq2004:520&r=cse |
| By: | Bogaard, Hein; Svejnar, Jan |
| Abstract: | We exploit organizational reforms in a foreign-owned bank in Central-East Europe to study the implementation of modern HRM policies in an emerging market context. We have branch-level data and use our knowledge of the process that led to the adoption of the reforms to implement two estimators that address endogeneity bias in a complementary fashion: an IV approach and Generalized Propensity Score estimation. Our results show that some of the reforms had a positive impact on productivity, but they also underscore the risks of quantity-based incentives where quality is important. |
| Keywords: | Banking; Central and Eastern Europe; Endogeneity of HRM Policies; Foreign Ownership; Incentives; Insider Econometrics |
| JEL: | F23 G21 M52 |
| Date: | 2014–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9789&r=cse |
| By: | Frietsch, Rainer; Tagscherer, Ulrike |
| Abstract: | [Introduction ...] This paper describes the current STI policies of the Sino-German collaboration from a German perspective. It starts with the policies and the actions on the governmental level. Section three tries to briefly depict the effective implementation and the outcomes of these policies and individual actions. It uses empirical data to describe the current status and the evolution of the Sino-German exchange in science, technology and in-novation. Scientific publications and especially co-publications provide a sketch of the science collaborations. Patents and co-patents offer an indication of the technology collaboration as well as an assessment of the attractiveness of the (technology) markets. Finally, foreign trade data also offers a view on the industrial exchange. Profiles in all three dimensions convey a broad picture of complementarities and competition between China and Germany. Section four discusses and summarizes the findings. -- |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisidp:43&r=cse |
| By: | Yoguel, Gabriel; Pereira, Mariano |
| Abstract: | In the recent years a renewed consensus about the crucial role of industrial and technological policy to economic development has been growing. Despite of that, strong theoretical differences still persist concerning why and how the government must intervene in the economy. Neoclassical approach proposes that the intervention is only justified by the presence of market failures which leads to an underinvestment on R&D expenditures with respect to a Pareto efficiently level (Arrow and Debreu, 1954). Contrary to this view, a heterodox position integrated by several theoretical approaches can be identified. This group of heterodox authors does not constitute a cohesive and homogeneous corpus. In this paper three different approaches are differentiated. Firstly, we have identified a literature centred on population thinking models (Metcalfe 1994 and 2002, Dopfer, Foster and Potts, 2004, among others) that focus their analysis on the mechanism of variation, selection and retention in the competition process . From this perspective, policy design should be centred on: i) improving firms’ capabilities to increase the system variety which lead to renewing the process of market selection, and ii) enhancing the institutions that regulate the market-selection process. Secondly, we have identified a literature centred on the concept of national systems (Lundvall, 1992; Freeman, 1987; Nelson 1992 and Edquist, 1997), sectorial system (Malerba, 2002) and local system of innovation (Boschma and Martin, 2011; Antonelli, 2011). According to these authors, the elements that block the virtuous-functioning of the system and lead to a low innovative performance are targets for policy maker. Hence, industrial and technological policies should be focused on: i) enhancing agents’ capabilities and ii) improve their interactions. Thirdly, we have identified a literature integrated by contributions from evolutionary authors interested on the role of demand and cumulative causation process (Dosi, 2014; Saviotti y Pyka, 2002; Antonelli, 2011). This contributions are complemented and extended by others contributions that comes from neo-Structuralist and post-Keynesianism framework (Cimoli, Dosi, Stiglitz, 2009; Cimoli y Porcile, 2011, 2013) and authors inscribed in both theoretical traditions (Lee, 2013; Dosi, 2014). This evolutionary approach is focused on the divergence between economies and considers that gap’s reduction requires policies aimed at promote the generation of non-related variety with the production structure (Saviotti y Pika, 2002). In this context, the main objective of this paper is to discuss the prescriptions of industrial and technological policy that can be derived from this broad group of heterodox authors; and taking into account the specificities of developing countries stressed by Arocena and Sutz (2000, 2002 y 2003), Dutrenit, Rodriguez and Vera-Cruz (2006) and Cassiolato and Lastres (2009), among others. The combination of the three evolutionary streams is the path that industrial and technological policy should follow in developing economies and especially in Latin America. So, incorporating a concern for the divergence and the need for instruments that strengthen both the coevolution between related and unrelated variety and the dynamic of micro, meso and macro dimensions are keys. These instruments would be enhanced even more if population competition and innovation systems approaches are considered. This requires i ) to consider in which scheme of population competition the generation of variety emerge, ii) to develop firm´s capacities, and iii ) to design tools to improve the selection conditions These related and unrelated variety processes have a sectorial and regional general affiliation. Therefore, the contribution of the literature of local and sectorial innovation systems is important to understand existing blockades to generate positive feedbacks and increasing returns. Finally, the national innovation system approach can add elements of policy focused on both the necessary institutions for generating unrelated variety processes in the interactions between institutions and firms, and the need to identify the blockages that impede the process of building capacities. |
| Keywords: | Innovation Policy, Evolutionary Theory |
| JEL: | O25 O30 |
| Date: | 2014–05–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56290&r=cse |
| By: | Grimm, Michael (University of Passau); Paffhausen, Anna Luisa (University of Passau) |
| Abstract: | Worldwide 600 million jobs are needed over the next 15 years to keep employment rates at their current level. Governments, non-governmental organizations and donors spend on targeted programs and broader policies to enhance employment creation and the creation of new firms. Because most employment in low and middle income countries is in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, these firms are especially targeted by such interventions. Despite these efforts, not much is known about which of these interventions are really effective and under which conditions particular interventions work. This systematic review synthesizes the existing evidence on the impact of these programs. Overall the review shows that creating employment is a very complex challenge. Many conditions have to be met before interventions in favor of individual enterprises do not only improve business practices and performance but also lead to additional jobs. A striking finding is that the study design matters for the impacts found; randomized controlled trials find systematically smaller effects than quasi-experimental studies. A significant shortcoming of the literature is that almost nothing is known about long term effects and cost effectiveness. |
| Keywords: | employment, active labor market policy, firm creation, micro, small and medium sized firms, impact evaluations, systematic review |
| JEL: | D22 G21 J21 O10 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp8193&r=cse |
| By: | Aiello, Francesco; Ricotta, Fernanda |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses the TFP heterogeneity of a sample of manufacturing firms operating in seven EU countries (Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain and UK). TFP data refer to 2008. The empirical setting is based on the multilevel modelling which provides two main results. Firstly, we show that TFP heterogeneity is largely due to firm-specific features (85% of TFP variability in the empty-model). Interestingly, we find that some key-drivers of TFP (size, family-management, group membership, innovations and human capital) influence heterogeneity in productivity with the expect sign, but do not, on the whole, absorb much of firm-TFP variance, implying that differences in productivity are due to sizable yet unobservable firm characteristics. Secondly, as far the role of localization is concerned, we demonstrate that country-effect is more influential than region-effect in explaining individual productivity. Net of the country-effect, the localisation in different European regions explains about 5% of TFP firm heterogeneity. When considering the case of three individual countries (France, Italy and Spain), location in different regions explains 4.7% of TFP heterogeneity in Italy, while this proportion is lower (2.9%) in France and higher (7.6%) in Spain. |
| Keywords: | TFP heterogeneity, firm-behavior, localization, European countries, multilevel model |
| JEL: | C30 D22 D24 L60 R11 R15 |
| Date: | 2014–05–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:56222&r=cse |
| By: | Cassiman, Bruno; Vanormelingen, Stijn |
| Abstract: | While innovation is argued to create value, private incentives of firms to innovate are driven by what part of the value created firms can appropriate. In this paper we explore the relation between innovation and the markups a firm is able to extract after innovating. We estimate firm-specific price-cost margins from production data and find that both product and process innovations are positively related to these markups. Product innovations increase markups on average by 5.1% points by shifting out demand and increasing prices. Process innovation increases markups by 3.8% points due to incomplete pass-through of the cost reductions associated with process innovation. The ability of the firm to appropriate returns from innovation through higher markups is affected by the actual type of product and process innovation, the firm's patenting and promotion behavior, the age of the firm and the competition it faces. Moreover, we show that sustained product innovation has a cumulative effect on the firm's markup. |
| Keywords: | markup; process innovation; product innovation; productivity |
| JEL: | D24 L11 O31 |
| Date: | 2013–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9703&r=cse |
| By: | KURITA Kyosuke |
| Abstract: | Recently in Japan, depressed domestic demand, a spurt of economic activities in the emerging markets, and the aftermath of the disaster in 2011 have accelerated the overseas operations of large firms. However, the overseas expansion of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) has been limited, because of the Japanese manufacturing custom of shitauke. This paper, using the Census of Manufactures, estimates the learning effect of Japanese firms by exporting. The results show that the learning effects are observed in most of the firms, but they differ according to firm size. The learning effects of large firms are observed from the beginning of the commencement of the exporting business, on the other hand, the total factor productivity (TFP) of small firms is gradually improving. In addition, the pace of improving TFP differs by location and industry. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:14034&r=cse |
| By: | Haroon, Maryiam; Chaudhry, Azam |
| Abstract: | The formation of new firms is an important determinant of economic development and the industrial organization literature highlights agglomeration as one of the main factors affecting the formation and scale of operations of new firms. This paper is one of the first to use developing country data to estimate the impact of localization (the benefits accruing to firms that choose to locate in a specific region within a specific industry) and urbanization (the benefits accruing to firms located close to each other regardless of the type of industry to which they belong) on new firms' formation and scale of operations. Our findings reveal that agglomeration measured through density of employment has a significant impact on the formation of new firms and on their scale of operations in Punjab. -- |
| Keywords: | agglomeration,firms,localization,urbanization |
| JEL: | L1 L2 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:ifwedp:201421&r=cse |
| By: | Fulvia Farinelli (UNCTAD, Division on Investment and Enterprise Development) |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2014/17&r=cse |
| By: | Sarah Ben Yahmed (IEP Aix-en-Provence - Sciences Po Aix - Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence - Institut d'Études Politiques [IEP] - Aix-en-Provence - Aix Marseille Université - Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques [FNSP], GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - Université de la Méditerranée - Aix-Marseille II - Université Paul Cézanne - Aix-Marseille III - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) - CNRS : UMR7316); Sean Dougherty (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Paris I - Panthéon-Sorbonne, EEP-PSE - Ecole d'Économie de Paris - Paris School of Economics - Ecole d'Économie de Paris, OCDE - Organisation de coopération et de développement économiques - OCDE) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines how import penetration affects firms' productivity growth taking into account the heterogeneity in firms' distance to the efficiency frontier and country differences in product market regulation. |
| Keywords: | Firm productivity growth ; Behind-the-border regulatory barriers ; Product market regulation ; Import competition, international trade |
| Date: | 2014–03–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:hal-00959389&r=cse |
| By: | Park, Jungsoo (Asian Development Bank Institute); Park, Yung Chul (Asian Development Bank Institute) |
| Abstract: | This study analyzes the effects of financial liberalization on the lending behavior of banks and non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) before and after the 1997 Asian financial crisis, using panel regressions on Republic of Korea firm-level and industry-level data of the period 1991–2007. It also develops a financial liberalization index to incorporate the multifaceted nature of financial reform. Findings show that financial liberalization has led banks and NBFIs to allocate more of their loans to small and medium-sized firms with good performance histories, thereby helping these entities to improve their total factor productivity growth. This paper does not find similar effects of financial liberalization on efficiency at large firms or at the industry level. Heavier reliance on direct financing after the crisis has not improved the productivity of large firms. |
| Keywords: | financial liberalization; economic efficiency; banking; external finance |
| JEL: | G20 O40 |
| Date: | 2014–05–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:adbiwp:0480&r=cse |
| By: | Kroll, Henning; Muller, Emmanuel; Schnabl, Esther; Zenker, Andrea |
| Abstract: | [Summary and Discussion] In summary, our findings suggest that the current efforts towards fulfilling the RIS3 ex-ante conditionalities are neither likely to trigger an immediate revolution in European regions' approaches towards innovation policy nor will they put an immediate or even rapid end to all the inherent challenges and contradictions of structural funding that have emerged and evolved across decades of past support periods. [...] -- |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:fisifr:r22014&r=cse |
| By: | Chiara Criscuolo; Peter N. Gal; Carlo Menon |
| Abstract: | Motivated by the ongoing interest of policy makers in the sources of job creation, this paper presents results from a new OECD project on the dynamics of employment (DynEmp) based on an innovative methodology using firm-level data (i.e. national business registers or similar sources). It demonstrates that among small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), young firms play a central role in creating jobs, whereas old SMEs tend to destroy jobs. This pattern holds robustly across 17 OECD countries and Brazil, extending recent evidence found in the United States. The paper also shows that young firms are always net job creators throughout the business cycle, even during the financial crisis. During the crisis, entry and post-entry growth by young firms were affected most heavily, although downsizing by old firms was responsible for most job losses. The results also highlight large cross-country differences in the growth potential of young firms, pointing to the role played by national policies in enabling successful firms to create jobs. |
| Date: | 2014–05–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:stiaac:14-en&r=cse |
| By: | Matthieu Crozet; Emmanuel Milet |
| Abstract: | The story of deindustrialization of developed economies is now old and well-observed. In most developed countries, value added by manufacturing as a percentage of GDP has decreased continuously since the 1950's, and is now less than 15% in most OECD countries. The shift of value added and employment away from manufacturing toward services may be even deeper than suggested by data based on sectoral classification. As the complexity and diversity of firms' activities grow, the boundary between services and industries becomes increasingly elusive. This paper uses detailed balance sheet data from a very large panel of French firms to examine the production and the sales of services by manufacturing firms. Our data reveals that 83% of firms registered in manufacturing sectors provide services for third parties, and nearly one-third of these firms provide more services than goods. Additionally, we find that from 1997-2007 manufacturing firms have increased their production of services. This growing trend in ``servitization" suggests that deindustrialization, already observed on a country-scale, is also taking place within firms. |
| Keywords: | Désindustrialisation;Servitisation |
| JEL: | D2 L8 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cii:cepidt:2014-10&r=cse |
| By: | Nour S. (UNU-MERIT) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impacts of ICT in public and private Sudanese universities. We verify the first and third hypotheses that the use of ICT facilitates connection, networks and collaboration within public and private universities in Sudan, with local, regional and international institutions. We support the second hypothesis that the use of ICT enhances access, production and dissemination of knowledge in Sudanese universities. We support the fourth hypothesis that the use of ICT introduces a creative-destruction effect by providing opportunities for knowledge production, building connection and organizational changes; but simultaneously also creates hazards to knowledge production and building disconnection for those who do not share the knowledge in public and private Sudanese universities. We show that the most important advantages linked to using the Internet for enhancing production, creation and transfer of knowledge include the increase of digital knowledge for academic and researchers, the rapid quantitative and qualitative increase in transferring information, the development of new models for disseminating and distributing electronic information, and the increase of free access to electronic publications for academic purposes. We find that the main problem related to using the Internet is the lack of a regular budget for university libraries to pay for licenses and access to scientific and technical information. Key words ICT; ICT demand; ICT impacts; public-private universities; knowledge; Sudan |
| Keywords: | Economic Development: General; Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development; Technological Change; Research and Development; Intellectual Property Rights: General; |
| JEL: | O10 O12 O30 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2014018&r=cse |
| By: | Bernard, Andrew B.; Massari, Renzo; Reyes, Jose-Daniel; Taglioni, Daria |
| Abstract: | Two otherwise identical firms that enter the same market in different months, one in January and one in December, will report dramatically different annual sales for the first calendar year of operations. This partial year effect in annual data leads to downward biased observations of the level of activity upon entry and upward biased growth rates between the year of entry and the following year. This paper examines the implications of partial year effects using Peruvian export data. The partial year bias is very large: the average level of first-year exports of new exporters is understated by 65 percent and the average growth rate between the first and second year of exporting is overstated by 112 percentage points. This paper re-examines a number of stylized facts about firm size and growth that have motivated rapidly expanding theoretical and empirical literatures on firm export dynamics. Correcting the partial year effect eliminates unusually high growth rates in the first year of exporting, raises initial export levels, and shifts 10 percent of market entrants from below to above the median size. Revisiting an older set of facts on firm size and growth, the paper finds that correcting for partial year biases reduces the number of small firms in the firm size distribution and weakens the negative relationship between firm growth and firm size. |
| Keywords: | export entry; export growth; firm growth; firm size distribution; Heterogeneous firms; variance of firm growth |
| JEL: | C81 D22 F14 L11 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9844&r=cse |
| By: | Fons Trompenaars (Hampden-Turner, Amsterdam, The Netherlands); Madeleine van der Steege (Synquity, Warmond, The Netherlands); Riana Schreuders (Trompenaars Hampden-Turner, The Netherlands) |
| Abstract: | Although female entrepreneurship is more frequently considered a key driver in economic growth and development, there is a gap in our understanding of the actual challenges and dilemmas that are faced and overcome by successful women entrepreneurs. Research in this field is lacking, often highly academic and does not contribute to practical/systemic or policy changes to support women’s entrepreneurship development. The purpose of this paper is to provide preliminary findings from a pilot study exploring the critical dilemmas and enablers for success faced by women entrepreneurs. Using a dilemma theory orientation, entrepreneurial success was investigated in terms of how respondents reconcile the competing demands between core stakeholders. Through our collaborative approach to the research, we were able to test existing models of entrepreneurship and also generate new insights for further investigation. It seems that women have a ‘gestalt’ view on the world, which enables them to identify opportunities in the environment through a values-based, socially responsible approach, which is aimed at generating greater gains than pure financial turnover in the long run. |
| Keywords: | entrepreneurship; women; dilemmas, economic growth |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2014/10&r=cse |
| By: | Alessandro Manello (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth,Turin, Italy); Clementina Bruno (Università del Piemonte Orientale "Amedeo Avogadro" & HERMES Research Centre) |
| Abstract: | This paper proposes an efficiency analysis of the major European incumbent firms in the fixed telecommunications sector. The non-parametric approach, that has been adopted here, expresses the efficiency according to a directional distance measure, allowing to consider the different nature of outputs categories, according to their technological content. Efficiency measures are analysed in relation to some indicators that capture the effect of recent reforms in the direction of liberalization, privatization and vertical separation. The results show that while private ownership and market concentration do not significantly affect the operational efficiency, the vertical separation has a positive effect on performances. This suggest that any losses of vertical scope economies, are more than balanced by performance improvements generated by the expectation of an increase in competition in the medium to long term. |
| Keywords: | Efficiency, Directional Distance Function, Telecommunications sector |
| JEL: | D24 L22 L25 L43 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csc:cerisp:201310&r=cse |
| By: | Merima Ali; Adnan Seric |
| Abstract: | This study empirically examines diffusion of labor standards from origin to host countries by investigating whether better labor standards of MNCs’ origin countries are correlated with higher wages of workers in host countries in Africa. MNCs originating from countries with more rights of association and collective bargain and those coming from countries with unions that have strong wage bargaining power are found to pay significantly higher wages to their workers in host countries. These findings highlight that, although domestic policies and institutions may be important determinants of labor-related standards, they don’t operate in isolation from external influences coming from origin countries. |
| Keywords: | : Labor standards, Multinational companies, origin country, host country, wages, Africa |
| JEL: | F23 J80 |
| Date: | 2014–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2014/22&r=cse |
| By: | Haataja Vera (PhD Candidate, Aalto University) |
| Abstract: | The paper undertakes a systematic review of the literature on empowerment in entrepreneurship research. The overall purpose of the paper is to create a better understanding of what empowerment is and what constitutes it. The literature review reveals that there is lack of clear definition even though it is widely used concept. Many development initiatives aim to “empower” poor people by offering them means to become entrepreneurs. Yet, there is no coherent understanding of what really empowers the people and what the role of entrepreneurship is in the process. Hence, this paper aims to fill that gap by conceptualizing “entrepreneurial empowerment” in order to clarify the connections between empowerment and entrepreneurial activity. The study builds on the empowerment discussion in the ‘entrepreneurship under poverty conditions’ literature. Findings suggest that contradictory to development organizations’ thinking empowerment cannot be bestowed by a third party. It is a process that starts from people becoming aware of their own interests and capabilities. Furthermore, empowerment alone does not guarantee poverty relief. Thus, entrepreneurial activity should strive to rise above subsistence level. Hence, this research contributes to the scarce literature on entrepreneurship in poverty and development aid discussion. Moreover, the research has implications for policy makers and development aid actors providing suggestions on how to support entrepreneurial activity of the impoverished people and more effective and meaningful way of designing development programs. The paper is structured as follows; First part presents the background of the study and general ideas about empowerment. The second section argues the selection of the method and explains the process how the systematic literature review was conducted in this study. Furthermore the emerged themes are identified. Third part discusses the empowerment in entrepreneurship literature. Finally some concluding thoughts are presented. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:msm:wpaper:2014/16&r=cse |
| By: | ITOH Ryo; NAKAJIMA Kentaro |
| Abstract: | This study investigates how the structure of a supply chain network in the domestic market influences the foreign direct investment (FDI) decisions of firms embedded in the network. We first describe the binary choice of firms on whether to invest through a coordination game of a fixed network with incomplete information of the firms' profits, and we show that the unique equilibrium of the game is represented by the Katz-Bonacich centrality measure, which captures both direct and indirect effects of the network. Then, we also conduct empirical tests to verify our theoretical hypothesis with large disaggregated data of Japanese firms and confirm that the Katz-Bonacich centrality of each firm has a significantly positive effect on its FDI even when sector-specific fixed effects and other attributes are controlled for, as our theory predicted. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:14027&r=cse |
| By: | F. Coelli; P. Manasse |
| Abstract: | We estimate the short-run impact of a major flood that hit the region of Veneto in 2010 on firms' performance. Using firm level data and a difference in difference approach we compare the value added growth of hit firms to the one of a control group of companies that are not exposed to the flood. The results indicate that the value added growth of affected firms is 6.9% higher two years after the flood. We further investigate the role of aid transfers in the aftermath of the disaster event. Considering both the flood and the aid treatment, we construct four mutually exclusive and exhaustive groups. The results indicate that, among firms exposed to the flood, both the ones that benefit from financial aid and the ones that don't grow faster than the reference groups of firms that neither are exposed to the flood, nor receive financial aid. We also find a 2% additional growth effect that is attributable to the contribution of aid in the recovery phase. |
| JEL: | D24 Q54 R10 C23 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp946&r=cse |
| By: | Francesco Vona (OFCE); Michele Rainato (Sapienza University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | The authors investigate the impact of exogenous product market competition shocks on returns to skills in Italy using a new longitudinal dataset on individual working histories. This impact is identified using three exogenous shocks affecting competition: the unforeseen devaluation of the Lira in 1992, its return to a fixed exchange regime in 1996 and the market liberalisation in the utility and transport sectors in the late 1990s‐early 2000s. This paper extends the analysis of Guadalupe (2007) by investigating how firm heterogeneity and shocks of different types and signs affect the impact of competition on skill premia. The authors find that opposite shocks have opposite effects: an increase (resp. decrease) in international competition increases (resp. decreases) returns to skills. Moreover, international shocks have greater effects on medium‐sized firms, while domestic liberalisation shocks have greater effects on large incumbents previously sheltered from any entry threat. |
| Keywords: | skill premia; competition; product market regulation; firm size |
| JEL: | J31 L11 D41 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/2bppdssek78iho8jevmfdq9vu2&r=cse |
| By: | Michele Raitano (Sapienza University of Rome, Department of Economics and Law); Francesco Vona (Ofce sciences-po,Skema Business school) |
| Abstract: | The authors investigate the impact of exogenous product market competition shocks on returns to skills in Italy using a new longitudinal dataset on individual working histories. This impact is identified using three exogenous shocks affecting competition: the unforeseen devaluation of the Lira in 1992, its return to a fixed exchange regime in 1996 and the market liberalisation in the utility and transport sectors in the late 1990s-early 2000s. This paper extends the analysis of Guadalupe (2007) by investigating how firm heterogeneity and shocks of different types and signs affect the impact of competition on skill premia. The authors find that opposite shocks have opposite effects: an increase (resp. decrease) in international competition increases (resp. decreases) returns to skills. Moreover, international shocks have greater effects on medium-sized firms, while domestic liberalisation shocks have greater effects on large incumbents previously sheltered from any entry threat. |
| Keywords: | Skill premia, competition, currency shocks,product market regulation,firm size |
| JEL: | J31 L11 D41 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fce:doctra:1409&r=cse |
| By: | Satoshi Inoue (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies); Naohiko Hibino (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies); Shigeru Morichi (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies) |
| Abstract: | Ports around the world have been facilitating the economic globalization through the development of port facilities and innovative technology. It is this globalization, however, that has brought structural changes to global logistics, which in turn resulted in fundamental changes in environments of the port management, especially that of container ports. To cope with the advancement of supply chain management in particular, major container ports are taking a range of strategies to transform themselves from the traditional interface between sea and land transport into logistics center of regional supply chain systems. This study first overviews fundamental changes facing the management of container ports. Then it analizes selected cases of major container ports with respect to their logistics strategies. Finally charateristics and challegnses of such port logistics strategies are identified, followed by discussion on their implications to port management and new roles port authority is expected to play. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ngi:dpaper:14-08&r=cse |
| By: | Ester Ferrari (PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines (IMAMOTER), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Torino, Italy.); Luigi Bollani (Researcher, University of Turin, Department of Economics and Statistics, Torino, Italy); Mario Coccia (Ceris - Institute for Economic Research on Firms and Growth,Turin, Italy); Eugenio Cavallo (PhD Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for Agricultural and Earthmoving Machines (IMAMOTER), Italian National Research Council (CNR), Torino, Italy.) |
| Abstract: | Latest advancements in tractors engineering have allowed farmers to increase productivity, and simultaneously to reduce operator’s hazards. However, little attention has been given to farmers’ behaviour and attitude toward the adoption of technological innovations concerning agricultural tractors. The study explores farmers’ behaviours on agricultural tractors current and future technological trajectories. A main case study concerning Italy is analyzed. Results show three different behaviours of farmers concerning tractors’ technological innovations. These adopters’ profiles would help developing new technologies that satisfy, more and more, farmers’ needs and expectations, speeding up the adoption process, enhancing agricultural tractors’ efficacy and efficiency. |
| JEL: | Q16 Q55 O33 |
| Date: | 2013–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csc:cerisp:201305&r=cse |
| By: | Clougherty, Joseph A.; Gugler, Klaus Peter; Sørgard, Lars; Szücs, Florian |
| Abstract: | Two literatures exist concerning cross-border merger activity’s impact on domestic wages: one focusing on spillover-effects; the other focusing on bargaining-effects. Motivated by scarce theoretical scholarship spanning these literatures, we nest both mechanisms in a single conceptual framework. Considering the separate phenomena of inward and outward cross-border merger activity, we predict that ‘bargaining’ (‘spillover’) effects are relatively more dominant under high (low) unionization rates and under high (low) degrees of relatedness. Employing US firm-level panel data on wages combined with industry-level data on unionization and merger activity (covering 1989-2001), we find support for our propositions as inward and outward cross-border merger activity generate positive spillovers to wages, but are more likely to generate firm-level wage decreases when unionization rates are high and when cross-border merger activity is best characterized as related. |
| Keywords: | bargaining; Cross-Border Mergers; FDI; spillovers; wages |
| JEL: | F23 J30 L21 |
| Date: | 2014–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9863&r=cse |
| By: | Pai-Ling Yin; Jason P. Davis (INSEAD); Yulia Muzyrua (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | The mobile applications (apps) industry has exhibited rapid entry and growth in the midst of a recession. Using unique data from the iPhone application ecosystem, we examine how the development of “killer apps” (apps appearing in the top grossing rank) varies by market and app characteristics. We find that previous app experience and no updating increase the likelihood of becoming a killer game app, while more updates increase the likelihood of becoming a non-game killer app. Development opportunities, level of competition, and demand preferences are possible drivers of the opposing innovation process results in game and non-game markets. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sip:dpaper:13-028&r=cse |
| By: | Andrés Malamud; Isabella Alcañiz |
| Abstract: | Brazil’s home region has two peculiarities: first, it is essentially fuzzy as its extension and membership have changed overtime; second, regardless of its limits, its inner core has been characterized by a long period of interstate peace. These factors have led to two outcomes: first, high politics has been conducted through diplomatic rather than military means; second, region-building has remained under the strictest control of the governments rather than becoming self-sustaining. Regional public goods have been mostly defined on the negative, especially as the avoidance of negative externalities, and only recently has Brazil started to invest in the creation of a governance framework that keep extra-regional powers away. Yet, structural limitations and instrumental constraints have limited Brazilian efforts and turned South America into a still peaceful but increasingly divergent sub-region. Through an analysis of institutional overlap and policy networks, especially regarding nuclear energy and the environment, this paper shows that Brazil’s low, late and soft investment in regional security governance is explained by a combination of low regional risks, scarce domestic resources, a legalistic culture of dispute settlement, and transgovernmental networks that substitute for intense interstate cooperation and deep regional institutions. |
| Keywords: | Regional security governance, regional powers, policy networks, South America, Brazil. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsc:rsceui:2014/50&r=cse |
| By: | Joachim Wagner (Leuphana University Lueneburg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | This paper uses a tailor-made newly available data set for enterprises from manufacturing industries in Germany to investigate for the first time the links between the extensive margins of imports (the number of imported goods and the number of countries imported from) and firm profitability. While both extensive margins are highly positively linked with firm productivity, profits are not higher in firms that import more goods and from more countries. This demonstrates that productivity advantages of importers are eaten up by extra costs related to buying more goods in more countries. |
| Keywords: | Imports, intensive margins, profitability, Germany |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:298&r=cse |
| By: | Siegert, Caspar; Ulbricht, Robert |
| Abstract: | We explore how pricing dynamics in the European airline industry vary with the competitive environment. Our results highlight substantial variations in pricing dynamics that are consistent with a theory of intertemporal price discrimination. First, the rate at which prices increase towards the scheduled travel date is decreasing in competition, supporting the idea that competition restrains the ability of airlines to price-discriminate. Second, the sensitivity to competition is substantially increasing in the heterogeneity of the customer base, reflecting further that restraints on price discrimination are only relevant if there is initial scope for price discrimination. These patterns are quantitatively important, explaining about 83 percent of the total within-flight price dispersion, and explaining 17 percent of the observed cross-market variation of pricing dynamics. |
| Keywords: | Airline industry; capacity constraints; dynamic oligopoly pricing; intertemporal price dispersion; price discrimination |
| JEL: | D43 D92 L11 L93 |
| Date: | 2014–03–23 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trf:wpaper:463&r=cse |
| By: | James B. Glattfelder; Thomas Bisig; Richard B. Olsen |
| Abstract: | We outline what we believe are the prerequisites and building-blocks for successfully devising trading models and other financial applications based on a complex systems perspective. |
| Date: | 2014–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1405.6027&r=cse |
| By: | Herwartz, Helmut |
| Abstract: | Structural innovations in multivariate dynamic systems are typically hidden and often identified by means of a-priori economic reasoning. Under multivariate Gaussian model innovations there is no loss measure available to distinguish alternative orderings of variables or, put differently, between particular identifying restrictions and rotations thereof. Based on a non Gaussian framework of independent innovations, a loss statistic is proposed in this paper that allows to discriminate between alternative identifying assumptions on the basis of nonparametric density estimates. The merits of the proposed identification strategy are illustrated by means of a Monte Carlo study. Real data applications cover bivariate systems comprising US stock prices and total factor productivity, and four couples of international breakeven inflation rates to investigate monetary autonomy of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. -- |
| Keywords: | structural innovations,identifying assumptions,SVAR,Cholesky decomposition,news shocks,monetary independence |
| JEL: | C32 G15 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:cegedp:208&r=cse |
| By: | Kim, Kyungmin; Kircher, Philipp |
| Abstract: | We consider a frictional two-sided matching market in which one side uses public cheap-talk announcements so as to attract the other side. We show that if the first-price auction is adopted as the trading protocol, then cheap talk can be perfectly informative, and the resulting market outcome is efficient, constrained only by search frictions. We also show that the performance of an alternative trading protocol in the cheap-talk environment depends on the level of price dispersion generated by the protocol: If a trading protocol compresses (spreads) the distribution of prices relative to the first-price auction, then an efficient fully revealing equilibrium always (never) exists. Our results identify the settings in which cheap talk can serve as an efficient competitive instrument, in the sense that the central insights from the literature on competing auctions and competitive search continue to hold unaltered even without ex ante price commitment. |
| Keywords: | cheap talk; commitment; competitive search; directed search |
| JEL: | C72 D82 D83 |
| Date: | 2013–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9785&r=cse |
| By: | Shiue, Carol Hua |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the pre-industrial origins of modern-day fertility decline. The setting is in Anhwei Province, China over the 13th to 19th centuries, a period well before the onset of China’s demographic transition and industrialization. There are four main results. First, we observe non-Malthusian effects in which high income households had relatively fewer children. Second, higher income households had relatively more educated sons, consistent with their greater ability to support major educational investments. Third, those households that invested in education had fewer children, suggesting that households producing educated children were reallocating resources away from child quantity and towards child quality. Fourth, over time, demand for human capital fell significantly. The most plausible reason is the declining returns to educational investments. The findings point to a role for demography in explaining China’s failure to industrialize early on. |
| Keywords: | Demographic transition; Economic history of China; Fertility; Human capital |
| JEL: | J11 O15 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9746&r=cse |
| By: | Spolaore, Enrico; Wacziarg, Romain |
| Abstract: | What obstacles prevent the most productive technologies from spreading to less developed economies from the world’'s technological frontier? In this paper, we seek to shed light on this question by quantifying the geographic and human barriers to the transmission of technologies. We argue that the intergenerational transmission of human traits, particularly culturally transmitted traits, has led to divergence between populations over the course of history. In turn, this divergence has introduced barriers to the diffusion of technologies across societies. We provide measures of historical and genealogical distances between populations, and document how such distances, relative to the world'’s technological frontier, act as barriers to the diffusion of development and of specific innovations. We provide an interpretation of these results in the context of an emerging literature seeking to understand variation in economic development as the result of factors rooted deep in history. |
| Keywords: | diffusion of innovations; genetic distance; intergenerational transmission; Long-run growth |
| JEL: | O11 O33 O40 O57 |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:9638&r=cse |