nep-tra New Economics Papers
on Transition Economics
Issue of 2009‒04‒18
seven papers chosen by
J. David Brown
Heriot-Watt University

  1. Does Innovation Help the Good or the Poor Performing Firms? By Jože P. Damijan; Crt Kostevc; Matija Rojec
  2. Financial Vulnerability in the Central and Eastern European Countries By Irène Andreou; Aleksandra Zdzienicka-Durand
  3. Beyond Kuznets: persistent regional inequality in China By Christopher Candelaria; Mary Daly; Galina Hale
  4. From Marshallian District to Local Productive Systems: The Polish Case By Barbara Despiney
  5. The Gender Education Gap in China: The Power of Water By Maimaiti, Yasheng; Siebert, W. Stanley
  6. The impact of the 2004 EU-enlargement on enterprise performance and exports of service enterprises in the German eastern border region By Nils Braakmann; Alexander Vogel
  7. Dynamics of structural transformation: An empirical characterization in the case of China, Malaysia, and Ghana By Badibanga, Thaddee; Diao, Xinshen; Roe, Terry; Somwaru, Agapi

  1. By: Jože P. Damijan; Crt Kostevc; Matija Rojec
    Abstract: Using firm-level innovation data for a large sample of Slovenian firms in the period 1996-2002, the paper finds surprising results that innovation is not benefitting all firms. We find that only manufacturing firms with below average productivity growth (the lowest four deciles) are likely to experience significant benefits from successful innovation, while faster growing firms do not extract any additional benefits from innovation. This evidence demonstrates how innovation can affect the observed convergence of firms in terms of productivity in the manufacturing sector.
    Keywords: research and development, innovation, knowledge spillovers, productivity growth
    JEL: D24
    Date: 2009
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lic:licosd:23009&r=tra
  2. By: Irène Andreou (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines); Aleksandra Zdzienicka-Durand (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - CNRS : UMR5824 - Université Lumière - Lyon II - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines)
    Abstract: In this work we use a panel probit model to analyze the sources of financial vulnerability in four Central and Eastern European countries. The incontestable advantages of applying this method, associated with some elements of the non-parametric approach applied during the initial selection of the used indicators, allow us to accomplish, rather well, this objective.Indeed, the model performs considerably well in the sample and the whole approach can provide useful and supportive instruments for the study of financial vulnerabilities in transition economies.
    Keywords: Financial Vulnerability; Panel Probit Model; CEECs
    Date: 2009
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00374148_v1&r=tra
  3. By: Christopher Candelaria; Mary Daly; Galina Hale
    Abstract: Regional inequality in China appears to be persistent and even growing in the past two decades. We study potential offsetting factors and interprovincial migration to shed light on the sources of this persistence. We find that some of the inequality could be attributed to differences in quality of labor, industry composition, and geographical location of provinces. We also demonstrate that interprovincial migration, while driven in part by wage differences across provinces, does not offset these differences. Finally, we find that interprovincial redistribution did not help offset regional inequality during our sample period.
    Keywords: Income distribution ; China
    Date: 2009
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedfwp:2009-07&r=tra
  4. By: Barbara Despiney (CES - Centre d'économie de la Sorbonne - CNRS : UMR8174 - Université Panthéon-Sorbonne - Paris I)
    Abstract: The chapter concentrates on the positive development dynamics of "industrial districts" based on the network of Small an Medium-Sized firms in Poland.The crux of the matter is to establish whether or not industrial districts constitute a model for the regenaration of local and regional economies in Central European Countries.
    Keywords: regional development; industrial clusters; Poland
    Date: 2009
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:cesptp:halshs-00374435_v1&r=tra
  5. By: Maimaiti, Yasheng (University of Birmingham, UK); Siebert, W. Stanley (University of Birmingham, UK)
    Abstract: We investigate girls' school dropout rates, bringing forward a novel variable: access to water. We hypothesise that a girl's education suffers when her greater water need for female hygiene purposes after menarche is not met because her household has poor access to water. For testing we use data from rural villages in the China Health and Nutrition Survey. We find that menarche is associated with an increase in the school dropout rate, and indeed the effect is weaker for girls who have good access to water. Water engineering can thus contribute significantly to reducing gender education gaps in rural areas.
    Keywords: education, gender gaps, menarche, water, China
    JEL: I21 J16 O15 L95 Q25
    Date: 2009–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp4108&r=tra
  6. By: Nils Braakmann (Institute of Economics, University of Lüneburg); Alexander Vogel (Institute of Economics, University of Lüneburg)
    Abstract: We consider the impact of the 2004 EU-enlargement on enterprise performance and the exporting behavior of German service enterprises in Germany’s eastern border region. Our results from regression adjusted difference-in-differences-estimators combined with matching and panel data from official statistics suggest that the EU-enlargement resulted in a decline by circa 1 percent in the turnover and the profitability of large enterprises in the border region, respectively. For small enterprises, we find an annual increase in turnover by 2.7% in both 2004 and 2005 and an annual decrease in profitability by 1.8 and 2.6 percentage points in 2004 and 2005 respectively.
    Keywords: EU-enlargement, enterprise performance, exports
    JEL: F15 L80
    Date: 2009–04
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lue:wpaper:124&r=tra
  7. By: Badibanga, Thaddee; Diao, Xinshen; Roe, Terry; Somwaru, Agapi
    Abstract: "The paper develops a metric of structural transformation that can account for the production of new varieties of goods embodying advancements in technological know-how and design. Our measure captures the dynamics of an economy's transformation and can be viewed as an extension of Hausmann and Klinger's static measure. We apply our measure to four-digit-level SITC trade data of China, Malaysia, and Ghana over the period 1962–2000. The results show that two important factors characterize the rapid transformation of the Chinese economy: the high proximity of its export basket to three main industrial clusters—capital goods, consumer durable goods, and intermediate inputs—and the increase in the values of the new goods belonging to those three clusters. Malaysia exhibits a similar but more modest pattern. In contrast, the structure of the Ghanaian economy appears unchanged over the entire 1962–2000 period. That economy is dominated by primary goods clusters, and the values of the goods in those clusters have remained relatively low. We also discuss qualitatively the role of policies and institutions in spurring transformation in the three countries." from authors' abstract
    Keywords: Structural transformation, Discovery, technological change, Development strategies,
    Date: 2009
    URL: http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:856&r=tra

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