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on Network Economics |
| By: | Eric Thivant (University Jean Moulin Lyon 3 - Centre de Recherche de l'IAE - Equipe de Recherche SICOMOR); Laid Bouzidi (University Jean Moulin Lyon 3 - Centre de Recherche de l'IAE - Equipe de Recherche SICOMOR) |
| Abstract: | This research investigates the problem of Information Technologies Standards or Recommendations from an economical point of view. In our competitive economy, most enterprises adopted standardization’s processes, following recommendations of specialized Organisations such as ISO (International Organisation for Standardization), W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) and ISOC (Internet Society) in order to reassure their customers. But with the development of new and open internet standards, different enterprises from the same sector fields, decided to develop their own IT standards for their activities. So we will hypothesis that the development of a professional IT standard required a network of enterprises but also a financial support, a particular organizational form and a precise activity to describe. In order to demonstrate this hypothesis and understand how professional organise themselves for developing and financing IT standards, we will take the Financial IT Standards as an example. So after a short and general presentation of IT Standards for the financial market, based on XML technologies, we will describe how professional IT standards could be created (nearly 10 professional norms or recommendations appear in the beginning of this century). We will see why these standards are developed outside the classical circles of standardisation organisations, and what could be the “key factors of success” for the best IT standards in Finance. We will use a descriptive and analytical method, in order to evaluate the financial support and to understand these actors’ strategies and the various economical models described behind. Then, we will understand why and how these standards have emerged and been developed. We will conclude this paper with a prospective view on future development of standards and recommendations. |
| Keywords: | information technologies, financial standards, development of standards, evaluation of the economical costs of standards |
| JEL: | L |
| Date: | 2005–07–27 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpio:0507007&r=net |
| By: | Behrens, Kristian; Lamorgese, Andrea; Ottaviano, Gianmarco I P; Tabuchi, Takatoshi |
| Abstract: | We develop a multi-country Dixit-Stiglitz model to investigate the impacts of: (i) changes in the international distribution of consumers' expenditure; (ii) decreasing tariffs; and (iii) improvements in transportation infrastructure. We show that, in general, decreasing tariff barriers do not allow for any clear predictions regarding changes in industry location and welfare, whereas this is possible with respect to improvements in transportation infrastructure. In particular, infrastructural improvements have spatially limited impacts when the transportation network is locally described by a tree. Any decrease in transport costs is Pareto welfare enhancing in this case. |
| Keywords: | home market effect; imperfect competition; international integration; multi-country trade models; transportation networks |
| JEL: | D58 F12 F17 R12 |
| Date: | 2005–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5103&r=net |
| By: | Troy Quast (University of Florida) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the determinants of both the extent and the means of competitive entry in local telecommunications markets. Panel data are used to analyze the number of lines that competitive local exchange carriers (CLECs) lease from regional Bell operating companies (RBOCs) using two alternative arrangements: leasing only the wires that connect a customer’s premises to the phone network, or leasing all of the network elements that are needed to provide phone service. The estimates suggest that while the revenue potential of a market tends to have a large impact on the observed level of entry, the effect of the regulated rates at which the CLECs lease the elements is limited. The results suggest that entrants may factor regulatory uncertainty into their entry decisions, and that local conditions may materially affect the implementation of federal regulatory policy. |
| Keywords: | regulation, telecommunications, entry |
| JEL: | L |
| Date: | 2005–08–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpio:0508003&r=net |
| By: | Joao Leitao (Universidade da Beira Interior); Carlos Osorio (Universidade da Beira Interior) |
| Abstract: | This article proposes a normative model for the cluster articulation in Cova da Beira (Portugal), based on network functioning which accomplishes the general purposes of the National Integrated Programme to the Support for Innovation, and creates a connectivity between traditional Microclusters: Textile, Agriculture, and Public Sector; and a set of emergent Microclusters: Information, Multimedia and Technological Contents, Distribution, Leisure, Health, and Mobility. In this context, is enhanced the decisive role played by University of Beira Interior in the creation of the Information Microcluster, and in the speeding-up of the innovations which have been locally introduced by several institutions and digital enterprises, on the products, services, production processes, and business practices. |
| Keywords: | Clusters, Megaclusters, Microclusters, Innovation, Networks. |
| JEL: | L14 M2 |
| Date: | 2005–07–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wpa:wuwpio:0507011&r=net |
| By: | Flandreau, Marc; Jobst, Clemens |
| Abstract: | This paper provides a new methodology to map international monetary relations in the 19th century. We identify an index of international liquidity and, applying techniques borrowed from formal network analysis (in particular, blockmodelling) we produce a formal ranking of currencies according to their degree of international circulation. The resulting indices are powerful tools to study the logic of the emergence of international currencies, as well as useful controls for cross-section regressions. |
| Keywords: | international monetary system; key currency; networks; pound sterling |
| JEL: | F31 N32 |
| Date: | 2005–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:5129&r=net |
| By: | Bruce Sacerdote; David Marmaros |
| Abstract: | We examine how people form social networks among their peers. We use a unique dataset that tells us the volume of email between any two people in the sample. The data are from students and recent graduates of Dartmouth College. First year students interact with peers in their immediate proximity and form long term friendships with a subset of these people. This result is consistent with a model in which the expected value of interacting with an unknown person is low (making traveling solely to meet new people unlikely), while the benefits from interacting with the same person repeatedly are high. Geographic proximity and race are greater determinants of social interaction than are common interests, majors, or family background. Two randomly chosen white students interact three times more often than do a black student and a white student. However, placing the black and white student in the same freshman dorm increases their frequency of interaction by a factor of three. A traditional "linear in group means" model of peer ability is only a reasonable approximation to the ability of actual peers chosen when we form the groups around all key factors including distance, race and cohort. |
| JEL: | J0 J2 |
| Date: | 2005–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11530&r=net |
| By: | Carl Gjersem |
| Abstract: | <P>The strength of product market competition plays an important role in economic growth as it affects economic efficiency and the allocation of resources, and can also lead to improved labour market performance. This paper examines product market competition and economic performance in the European Union. The Community’s competition rules, which apply whenever anti-competitive practices have an implication for cross-border trade, are enforced primarily by the Commission’s Directorate General for Competition, and complement national competition legislation. Reforms have been adopted recently to sharpen the toolkit and to increase the role of national authorities in the enforcement process. However, the toolkit could still be made more effective. Competition policy is complemented by, and partly overlapping with, the regulation of newly liberalised network industries. Despite the EU’s commendable efforts in this area, competition is still undermined by dominant incumbents in some ...</P> <P>Politiques pour la concurrence et la croissance sur les marchés de produits en Europe <P>La vigueur de la concurrence sur les marchés de produits joue un rôle important dans la croissance économique, influence l’efficience économique et l’allocation des ressources, et peut aussi induire de meilleurs résultats sur le marché du travail. Cette étude examine la concurrence sur les marchés de produits et la performance économique dans l’Union Européenne. Les règles de concurrence communautaires, qui s’appliquent chaque fois que des pratiques anticoncurrentielles ont une incidence sur les échanges transfrontières, sont mises en œuvre principalement par la Direction générale de la concurrence de la Commission et viennent compléter le droit national de la concurrence. Des réformes ont été adoptées récemment pour affiner le dispositif et renforcer le rôle des autorités nationales dans le processus d’application. Toutefois, l’efficacité des instruments en place pourrait être encore améliorée. La réglementation des industries de réseau récemment libéralisées complète la ...</P> |
| Keywords: | regulatory reform, Regulated industries, European Union, competition, concurrence, réforme de réglementation, euro area, antitrust law, integration, protection, trade negotiations, aggregate productivity and growth, l’Union Européenne, la zone euro, loi anti-trust, industries réglées, intégration, protection, négociations commerciales, productivité globale et croissance |
| JEL: | F13 F15 K21 K23 O47 O50 |
| Date: | 2004–01–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:378-en&r=net |
| By: | Menzie Chinn; Jeffrey Frankel |
| Abstract: | Might the dollar eventually follow the precedent of the pound and cede its status as leading international reserve currency? Unlike ten years ago, there now exists a credible competitor: the euro. This paper econometrically estimates determinants of the shares of major currencies in the reserve holdings of the world’s central banks. Significant factors include: size of the home country, inflation rate (or lagged depreciation trend), exchange rate variability, and size of the relevant home financial center (as measured by the turnover in its foreign exchange market). We have not found that net international debt position is an important determinant. Network externality theories would predict a tipping phenomenon. Indeed we find that the relationship between currency shares and their determinants is nonlinear (which we try to capture with a logistic function, or else with a dummy “leader” variable for the largest country). But changes are felt only with a long lag (we estimate a weight on the preceding year’s currency share around .9). The advent of the euro interrupts the continuity of the historical data set. So we estimate parameters on pre-1999 data, and then use them to forecast the EMU era. The equation correctly predicts a (small) narrowing in the gap between the dollar and euro over the period 1999-2004. Whether the euro might in the future rival or surpass the dollar as the world’s leading international reserve currency appears to depend on two things: (1) do the United Kingdom and enough other EU members join euroland so that it becomes larger than the US economy, and (2) does US macroeconomic policy eventually undermine confidence in the value of the dollar, in the form of inflation and depreciation. What we learn about functional form and parameter values helps us forecast, contingent on these two developments, how quickly the euro might rise to challenge the dollar. Under two important scenarios the remaining EU members, including the UK, join EMU by 2020 or else the recent depreciation trend of the dollar persists into the future the euro may surpass the dollar as leading international reserve currency by 2022. |
| JEL: | F02 F31 F33 |
| Date: | 2005–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:11510&r=net |
| By: | Elena Argentesi; Lapo Filistrucchi |
| Abstract: | The newspaper industry is a two-sided market: the readers market and the advertising market are closely linked by inter-market network externalities. We estimate market power in the Italian newspaper industry by building a structural model which encompasses a demand estimation for differentiated products on both sides of the market and where profit maximization by the publishing firms takes into account the interactions between them. The question that we address is whether the observed price pattern is consistent with profit-maximizing behavior by competing firms or is instead driven by some form of (tacit or explicit) coordinated practice. |
| Keywords: | demand estimation, market power, two-sided markets, newspapers, differentiated products. |
| JEL: | L11 L40 L82 C33 |
| Date: | 2005 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eui:euiwps:eco2005/07&r=net |
| By: | Jens Høj; Michael Wise |
| Abstract: | <P>Following the deep recession in the early 1990s growth has been strong, but the scope for economic catch-up remains considerable and cross-country empirical evidence suggests that enhancing competition is an important means of achieving this. Structural reforms to strengthen competition in the early 1990s did boost growth and were also ahead of similar developments in the EU. However, indicators suggest that relatively weak competition remains in a number of sectors. Moreover, potential competition is reduced by a sparse population and relative long distances to large markets, which together with the prevalence of local monopolies and public ownership in many network industries, point to the need for greater vigilance to sustain and promote competition. Further reforms to promote product market competition should focus on fundamental changes in the regulatory approach as well as more incremental measures to intensify competition. The competition authority should concentrate ...</P> <P>Concurrence sur le marché des biens et performance économique en Finlande <P>Après la sévère récession des années 1990, la croissance économique a été forte mais la convergence en termes de la productivité est encore loin d’être complète et les comparaisons empiriques internationales suggèrent qu’un renforcement de la concurrence pourrait résorber une part significative de ce retard. Certes, les réformes structurelles mises en œuvre au début des années 1990 pour renforcer la concurrence ont soutenu la croissance et ont même souvent été plus précoces qu’au sein de l’Union Européenne. Néanmoins, divers indicateurs suggèrent que le degré de concurrence reste insuffisant dans de nombreux secteurs. En outre, le degré potentiel de concurrence reste contenu en raison de l’éparpillement de la population et l’éloignement par rapport des longues distances d’accès aux grands marchés, qui, combinés à l’importance des monopoles locaux et de l’actionnariat de l’état dans de nombreuses industries de réseaux, suggèrent la nécessité d’une vigilance renforcée pour ...</P> |
| Keywords: | regulatory reform, network industries, Finland, Finlande, competition law, productivity and growth, retail sector, public procurement, droit de la concurrence, productivité et croissance, product market competition, public ownership, concurrence sur le marché des biens, réforme structurelle, vente au détail, industries de réseaux, achat public, secteur public |
| JEL: | K21 L11 L16 L33 L43 L81 L87 L9 O57 |
| Date: | 2004–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:413-en&r=net |
| By: | Jens Høj; Michael Wise |
| Abstract: | <P>Empirical work shows that competition is important for promoting economic growth. However, in Japan the promotion of competition has long been compromised by ministerial guidance and exemptions from the competition law. Thus, the level and growth of productivity have been low in many domestically oriented sectors and consumer welfare has suffered under high prices and the slow introduction of new goods and services. This misallocation of resources contributes to explaining why the Japanese economy had difficulty in coming out of the quasi-stagnation of the past decade. Recognising that gains from more pro-competition policies are substantial, the Japanese government has now made the promotion of competitive markets a cornerstone of its economic policy. Reforms to promote product market competition in Japan should inter alia focus on strengthening the legal framework by increasing fines to a deterrent level and introducing cartel destabilising measures, such as a leniency ...</P> <P>Concurrence sur les marchés de produits et performance économique au Japon <P>Des études empiriques montrent que la concurrence est importante pour promouvoir la croissance économique. Mais au Japon, la stimulation de la concurrence a longtemps été compromise par des directives ministérielles et des exemptions au droit de la concurrence. Aussi, le niveau et le taux de croissance de la productivité ont été bas dans de nombreux secteurs tournés vers le marché intérieur, et le bien-être des consommateurs a souffert de prix élevés et d’une diffusion trop lente des nouveaux biens et services. Cette mauvaise allocation des ressources contribue à expliquer pourquoi l’économie japonaise n’est pas parvenue à sortir de la quasi-stagnation de la dernière décennie. Conscient que des politiques plus propices au jeu de la concurrence peuvent s’avérer très bénéfiques, le gouvernement japonais a fait de la promotion des marchés concurrentiels l’une des pièces maîtresses de sa politique économique. Les réformes visant à stimuler la concurrence sur les marchés de produits au ...</P> |
| Keywords: | télécommunications, regulatory reform, network industries, réforme de la réglementation, industries de réseau, Japan, Japon, anti-trust law, competition law, cartel, productivity and growth, retail sector, energy, telecommunication, postal services, transportation, public procurement, réglementation anti-trust, droit de la concurrence, entente, productivité et croissance, secteur de détail, énergie, services postaux, transports, marchés publics |
| JEL: | F13 K21 L11 L16 L33 L42 L43 L81 L87 L92 L93 L94 L95 L96 O53 O57 Q18 |
| Date: | 2004–05–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:387-en&r=net |
| By: | Nejat Anbarci (Department of Economics, Florida International University); John Boyd (Department of Economics, Florida International University) |
| Abstract: | We start with an initial wealth distribution. Each agent may establish at most one link with any agent in each period, yielding a surplus that agents split according to a uniform division rule. Wealth evolves by adding the payoffs to current wealth. Many long-run wealth distributions can arise, depending on the division rule and initial wealth distribution. The richest agent may remain richest or the poorest may become rich. Examing several division rules, we find that two factors determine the long-run wealth distribution: the size of the gain from a link, and the incentive to link to rich or poor. |
| Keywords: | Network formation, long-run wealth distribution |
| JEL: | D85 D30 |
| Date: | 2005–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fiu:wpaper:0507&r=net |
| By: | Jens Høj; Michael Wise |
| Abstract: | <P>Norwegian growth has been strong over the past decade. This development has been supported by the off-shore sector, but depleting oil reserves implies that growth will have to rely increasingly on the mainland economy. Empirical work shows that competition is important for promoting economic growth. Recognising the benefits of competition, the government wants to introduce regulatory reforms to stimulate economic growth. However, the promotion of competition has often conflicted with other policy objectives, such as maintaining a regionally dispersed population and a high degree of public ownership. This has lead to weak competition in a number of sectors, resulting in high prices, weak innovative activity and inefficient resource allocation. Reforms to promote product market competition in Norway should therefore <I>inter alia</I> focus on separating the public sector’s roles and functions as owner and regulator. This requires an increase in the independence of sector ...</P> <P>Concurrence sur les marchés de produits et performance économique en Norvège <P>La Norvège a connu une croissance vigoureuse au cours des dix dernières années. Cette expansion a été alimentée par le secteur pétrolier offshore, mais l'épuisement progressif des réserves implique que l'économie continentale va devoir prendre peu à peu le relais pour soutenir la croissance. Des travaux empiriques montrent que la concurrence contribue de manière importante à l'expansion économique. Conscient des bienfaits de la concurrence, le gouvernement entend réformer la réglementation pour stimuler la croissance économique. Néanmoins, la promotion de la concurrence est souvent entrée en conflit avec d'autres objectifs, tels que le maintien d'une population géographiquement dispersée et du contrôle étendu de l'État sur diverses activités. Cela se traduit par un faible niveau de concurrence dans un certain nombre de secteurs, qui a pour corollaires des prix élevés, un manque de dynamisme en matière d'innovation et une allocation inefficiente des ressources. Les réformes ...</P> |
| Keywords: | Norway, Norvège, regulatory reform, network industries, réforme de la réglementation, industries de réseau, commerce de détail, competition law, productivity and growth, retail sector, public procurement, droit de la concurrence, productivité et croissance, marchés publics, product market competition, public ownership, concurrence sur les marchés de produits, actifs publics |
| JEL: | K21 L11 L16 L33 L43 L81 L87 L9 O57 |
| Date: | 2004–05–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:389-en&r=net |
| By: | Carl Gjersem; Philip Hemmings; Andreas Reindl |
| Abstract: | <P>The establishment of competitive markets has been one of the cornerstones Hungarian economic policy over the past decade, alongside a successful strategy of attracting foreign investment. Broad statistical measures show no signs of endemically weak domestic competition, though the country’s relatively low productivity among domestic business likely signals some sheltering from international competition. The generally healthy level of competition is partly because competition legislation and its enforcement are of a good standard. Nevertheless, room for improvement is suggested in a number of areas. In particular, it is argued that individuals should be able to initiate legal actions directly, <I>i.e.</I> without having to proceed via the competition authority. And, it is suggested that sanctions against individuals in hard-core cartel cases are introduced. In examining specific sectors, this paper is critical of the pace of progress towards competition in the network industries. The rail ...</P> <P>Concurrence sur les marches de produits et performance economique en Hongrie <P>La mise en place de marchés concurrentiels a été l’une des pierres angulaires de la politique économique menée par la Hongrie au cours de la dernière décennie, parallèlement à des mesures qui ont permis d’attirer l’investissement étranger. Bien que les indicateurs statistiques généraux ne mettent pas en évidence d’insuffisance systématique de la concurrence sur le marché intérieur, la productivité relativement faible des entreprises locales témoigne probablement d’une certaine protection vis-à-vis de la concurrence internationale. Le niveau généralement soutenu de la concurrence tient en partie à la qualité de la réglementation en matière de concurrence et de son application. Néanmoins, des améliorations seraient sans doute possibles dans plusieurs domaines. En particulier, il semblerait souhaitable que les particuliers puissent engager directement des actions en justice, sans avoir à passer par l’autorité de la concurrence. De même, il serait probablement utile que des sanctions ...</P> |
| Keywords: | Hungary, Hongrie, regulatory reform, réforme de la réglementation, Regulated industries, competition, concurrence, antitrust law, protection, aggregate productivity and growth, protection, productivité globale et croissance, competition legislation, législation antitrust, législation en matière de concurrence, secteurs réglementés |
| JEL: | F13 K21 K23 O47 O52 O57 |
| Date: | 2004–03–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:381-en&r=net |
| By: | Lennart Goranson; Martin Jørgensen; Deborah Roseveare |
| Abstract: | <P>Vigorous product market competition plays a central role in bolstering productivity growth. Sweden has strengthened competition legislation and deregulated a number of sectors, including electricity, telecommunications and parts of transport, over the past 10 to 15 years. This paper examines the current state of product market competition and proposes further measures. A stronger institutional framework would facilitate identification and elimination of anti-competitive behaviour, such as hard-core cartels. Efforts to inject effective competition into a range of network industries have been broadly successful, but specific measures could increase competition in several sectors, such as retail and construction. There is also room to boost competition in Sweden’s large and decentralised public sector and in its interactions with the private sector, so that competitive neutrality applies to all public sector activities ...</P> <P>La vigueur de la concurrence sur les marchés de produits joue un rôle central dans la stimulation des gains de productivité. La Suède a renforcé la législation concernant la concurrence et déréglementé un certain nombre de secteurs, dont l’électricité, les télécommunications et certains segments des transports. Cette étude examine l’état actuel de la concurrence en Suède et propose des mesures supplémentaires. Un cadre institutionnel renforcé faciliterait la détection et l’élimination des comportements anticoncurrentiels, don’t les ententes injustifiables. Des efforts ont été accomplis pour introduire un peu plus de concurrence active dans un éventail d’industries de réseau et ils ont globalement été couronnés de succès, mais quelques mesures concrètes seront nécessaires pour améliorer la concurrences dans plusieurs autres secteurs, dont la distribution et la construction. Il y a lieu également d’intensifier les efforts pour stimuler la concurrence dans le vaste secteur public ...</P> |
| Keywords: | Sweden, Regulation, network industries, Réglementation, industries de réseau, competition, concurrence, public procurement, marchés publics, product markets, retail distribution, construction, public sector, competitive neutrality, La Suède, marchés de produits, grande distribution, construction, neutralité de concurrence |
| JEL: | H4 K21 L1 L32 L33 L41 L43 L44 L8 L9 O52 |
| Date: | 2004–05–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:388-en&r=net |
| By: | William Tompson |
| Abstract: | <P>Russia in 2003 embarked on the restructuring of its electricity sector. The reform is intended to introduce competition into electricity production and supply, leaving dispatch, transmission and distribution as regulated natural monopolies with non-discriminatory third-party access to the networks. The ultimate aim of the reform is to create conditions that will encourage both investment in new capacity and greater efficiency of both production and consumption. The overall approach embodied in the reform is promising. However, there remains a serious risk that its aims could be subverted by special-interest lobbying during the lengthy implementation phase. If the reform is to succeed, the marketised segments of the sector must be characterised by real competition based on economically meaningful prices. There are two dangers here. The first is that private-sector interests will secure strategic holdings that allow them to exercise market power or even local monopoly power. The ...</P> <P>La restructuration du secteur de l’électricité : vers une véritable concurrence ou une fausse libéralisation? <P>En 2003, la Russie a entrepris de restructurer le secteur de l’électricité. L’objectif de ces réformes est d’instaurer la concurrence aux stades de la production et de la fourniture, en laissant le dispatching, le transport et la distribution sous le régime de monopoles naturels réglementés assortis d’un accès non discriminatoire des tiers aux réseaux. Le but ultime de la réforme est de créer les conditions pour encourager l’investissement dans de nouvelles capacités de production aussi bien que l’augmentation de l’efficacité de la production et de la consommation. La stratégie générale de réforme est prometteuse. On ne peut cependant négliger le risque que les objectifs fondamentaux de la réforme soient relégués au second rang par les pressions exercées par des groupes d’intérêt spéciaux pendant tout le temps qui sera nécessaire à sa mise en œuvre. Pour que la réforme puisse réussir, la concurrence doit pouvoir véritablement jouer dans les segments du secteur ouverts aux forces du ...</P> |
| Keywords: | privatisation, competition, concurrence, privatisation, electricity, électricité, Russia, economy, infrastructure, monopoly, state ownership, Russie, économie, infrastructure, monopole, entreprises d’État, grid, réseau |
| JEL: | L94 O52 P28 P31 |
| Date: | 2004–09–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:403-en&r=net |
| By: | Yongchun Baek; Randall Jones; Michael Wise |
| Abstract: | <P>Maintaining rapid economic growth depends increasingly on productivity gains, particularly in the service sector. Competition has an important role to play in achieving such gains. However, Korea’s development strategy has tended to weaken competition and has left a legacy of government intervention. Strengthening competition requires upgrading competition policy, increasing openness to international trade and foreign direct investment and improving the regulatory framework in network industries. In particular, the power of the Korea Fair Trade Commission should be expanded, while raising the level of sanctions and scaling back special treatment for certain sectors. Barriers to imports remain above the OECD average, particularly in agriculture, while the stock of inward direct investment is among the lowest in the OECD area. Restructuring plans in the network industries, notably electricity and gas, have lagged behind schedule. Price distortions and the absence of independent ...</P> <P>Concurrence sur les marchés de produits et performances économiques en Corée <P>Le maintien d'une croissance économique rapide est de plus en plus tributaire des gains de productivité, en particulier dans le secteur des services. La concurrence a un rôle important à jouer dans la réalisation de ces gains. Néanmoins, la stratégie de développement de la Corée a eu tendance à affaiblir la concurrence et se traduit par une politique interventionniste héritée du passé. Le renforcement de la concurrence passe par une rénovation de la politique de la concurrence, une ouverture accrue aux échanges internationaux ainsi qu'à l'investissement direct étranger (IDE), et une amélioration du cadre réglementaire dans les industries de réseau. Il conviendrait de renforcer les prérogatives de la Commission coréenne de la concurrence, tout en alourdissant les sanctions prévues par la loi et en revoyant à la baisse les dispositions spéciales prévues pour certains secteurs. Les obstacles aux importations demeurent supérieurs à la moyenne de l'OCDE, notamment dans l'agriculture ...</P> |
| Keywords: | telecommunications, télécommunications, regulatory reform, network industries, réforme de la réglementation, industries de réseau, commerce de détail, Trade policy, politique commerciale, Korea, Corée, foreign direct investment, investissement direct étranger, anti-trust law, competition law, cartel, retail sector, droit de la concurrence, entente, législation antitrust, South Korean economy, electricity, gas, tariffs, chaebol, économie sud-coréenne, électricité, gaz, tarifs douaniers, chaebol |
| JEL: | F13 F21 K21 L11 L40 L43 L81 L94 L95 L96 O53 O57 Q17 |
| Date: | 2004–08–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:399-en&r=net |
| By: | Claude Giorno; Philippe Gugler; Miguel Jimenez |
| Abstract: | <P>The strength of product market competition plays an important role in ensuring dynamic economic growth. This paper examines product market competition and its link with economic performance in Switzerland whose growth has been weaker than in most OECD countries since 1980. It shows that substantial progress in reforming product markets can be made in many areas, which would contribute to reduce the excessive price differential vis-à-vis other countries and stimulate growth. These reforms should focus on the legal framework of competition, the network industries, the health sector, the revision of the Domestic Market Act, agriculture, the restriction on parallel imports and, more generally, the opening up of services to foreign competition ...</P> |
| Keywords: | Switzerland, Health, network industries, competition, cartel, protection, aggregate productivity and growth, parallel imports, agriculture |
| JEL: | J18 K21 L42 L8 L9 O47 Q18 |
| Date: | 2004–03–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:ecoaaa:383-en&r=net |
| By: | Filipe J. Sousa (Instituto Superior de Administração e Línguas (ISAL)); Luís M. de Castro (Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto) |
| Abstract: | The Industrial Networks Theory (cf. Axelsson and Easton, 1992, Hakansson and Snehota, 1995) sets out to describe and explain the business relationships and markets in which the focal firm is deeply embedded. One of its major propositions pertains to the (time-varying) significance of business relationships for the focal firm (Gadde et al., 2003), i.e., business relationships influence to some extent the focal firm’s survival. Such significance seems strongly related to the role played by business relationships and consequently the relationship outcomes accruing to the focal firm. The theoretical justification underlying this proposition is outwardly oriented, somewhat overlooking the inside of the focal firm - in particular the influence of business relationships on what the focal firm does competently within and across its boundaries. Arguably, the creation and appropriation of relationship value by the focal firm is a necessary but not sufficient condition for relationship significance. A supplementary (internal) explanation supported by Knowledge-based Theories of the Firm (e.g., see Kogut and Zander, 1992), we suggest, may be missing. Our aim here has been to intuitively pinpoint a theoretical flaw, further suggesting a feasible path for its solution. |
| Keywords: | Industrial Networks Theory; relationship significance proposition; relationship functions, dysfunctions, benefits, sacrifices, and value |
| JEL: | M31 |
| Date: | 2005–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:por:fepwps:183&r=net |