Sino-Indian Liberalization: The Role of Trade and Foreign Investment

Two major factors account for a country’s growing integration with the global economy: trade and foreign investment; expansion of exports, and foreign direct investment (FDI). Growth of exports became a dominant source of industrial growth during the 1980s in most developing countries (see Helleiner, 1995). Most of these countries including China and India, have replaced the old import-substitution policy by an export promotion strategy. Both domestic and international factors played an important role in the shift of national policies to repay debts. The process of globalization already underway necessitated export orientation for improving technology, management practices, marketing and international competitiveness. This paper aims at exploring the contributions of exports and FDI to growth and economic liberalization in China and lndia. The first section briefly reviews similarities and differences in the two economies. The second section deals with growth, composition and direction of foreign trade. The third section examines the role of FDI, and its sources and composition by sector, industry, and by overseas ethnic Chinese and Indians. Trade and FDI linkages are examined in the fourth section which also contains a brief case study of Guangdong (China).     

Corruption,interest rates and business cycles: comparison of emerging economies

We examine the hypothesis that corruption in a country negatively influences the macroeconomy through an increase in the country-specific interest rate (interest rate shock). An empirical study estimated the contribution of the interest rate shocks to the variance in output growth at 5.1% in Mexico within the framework of stochastic growth models for small open economies. We replicate this study with the same dataset and investigate which parameters affect the contribution of the interest rate shocks to business cycles. Then, we estimate the same model for different emerging economies to investigate the relationship between the corruption level and macroeconomic contribution of the interest rate shocks. For this purpose, we use Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) to measure the corruption level. Finally, we investigate the correlation between the CPI and the estimated series of the interest rate shock. Our findings are as follows. First, the average size of the interest rate shocks is positively associated with the contribution of these shocks to the variability of output growth. Second, the average size of the interest rate shocks is also positively associated with the corruption level. Third, the estimated interest rate shock and the corruption level are positively correlated with each other. As we treat the corruption level as an exogenous variable in the model, these findings lead us to accept the hypothesis. The “Appendix” further clarifies a well-known hypothesis that the cycle is the trend in an emerging economy.     

Do Ukrainian Firms Benefit from FDI?

All countries are eager to attract as much foreign direct investments (FDI) as possible. At the same time FDI may have not only positive, but also negative economic effects for receiving countries. Positive effects are associated with technology transfer, efficient allocation of resources, and training of domestic workers. However, the entry of foreign firms could, e.g., lead to a decrease of labor productivity at domestic firms, which is a negative effect. The main purpose of this paper is to estimate direct and indirect effects of FDI. First, we test for direct influence of foreign direct investments on firms’ performance, where the latter is estimated alternatively as labor productivity and as exports. FDI notably increases both labor productivity and export volumes. Second, we look for spillover or indirect effects. There is statistical evidence that the levels of FDI in certain regional industries are associated with higher performance indicators of firms’ not receiving FDI in those same regional industries.     

Can corruption constrain the size of governments?

This paper analyzes the relationship between government size and the level of corruption. We propose a theoretical model where production decisions and corrupt behavior are endogenously determined. We model corruption assuming production in the formal sector is regulated by public officials who can use their public power for private gain. In this context, the underground economy emerges as an outside option that allows entrepreneurs to avoid dealing with bureaucrats. The fact that investments in the informal sector may influence public finances, introduces the possibility of multiple equilibria with different levels of corruption. Consistent with previous theoretical works and recent empirical evidence, we find out that corruption and the shadow economy are complements as they positively correlate across equilibria, which implies that corruption may limit the size of the public sector.     

Entrepreneurship ecosystems: an agent-based simulation approach

Knowledge acquisition and development of capabilities constitutes a key perspective in studies regarding the formation of new ventures. When examining entrepreneurship ecosystems, we find that the composition of a region influences the new knowledge acquired by the venture. The main aim of this study is to examine the influence of the new venture, the entrepreneur’s social capital, and the firm performance on the new venture’s knowledge acquisition activities. In particular, the study examines how the institutional context of a region influences new ventures’ knowledge acquisition actions during its growth, and in turn the level of sustained entrepreneurial activity within the region. The paper focuses on the formation of alliances by new ventures, one particular form of knowledge acquisition process that has been established as critical to new venture success in the high technology sector. The mechanisms for acquiring and transforming knowledge have the greatest impact on new venture formation, and in this context, the concepts of strategic knowledge arbitrage and strategic knowledge serendipity (SKARSE?) are validated through an agent-based simulation model. The main results focus on the effects of interactions between entrepreneurs and institutions in the process of new venture formation from a knowledge creation, dissemination, and absorption perspective.     

论知识产权的道德基础

知识产权的道德或正当性一直是知识产权学术界和社会实践中争论最多和分歧最大的问题,也是构建知识产权理论和处理实务工作必须面对的最重要和最基本的问题.在前期对知识产权客体的哲学基础①和知识产权之财产权的经济学基础②深入研究的基础上,比较深入地分析了知识产权的道德基础问题,指出:对于知识产权问题,可适用天理道德和契约道德两类道德规范,其中天理道德主要体现为“谁创造谁所有”;契约道德包括“先占先得”和诚信.知识产权之精神权完全符合这两类道德,但知识产权之财产权却难以完全符合这两类道德.更重要的是,知识产权之财产权的对象(财产)是关于知识或特定有用信息的特许用益权,是各国立法主体根据本国整体利益最大化原则创设的,仅由立法主体代表本国人民整体利益的根本属性决定,与人类普遍遵从的道德无关.从本性和逻辑上看,知识或有用信息是公共产品,不存在盗窃问题;关于知识或有用信息的法定特许用益权只能被侵犯,不能被盗窃.因而知识产权只存在侵权与否或违法与否的问题.所谓“盗窃他人智力成果”的说法其实是一个伪命题.     

The changing face of culture: gauging the impact of a free media

This paper empirically assesses the relationship between culture and a free press. The results reveal that a privatized or ‘free media’ strongly influences informal institutions of a country or what is commonly known as culture. By providing unbiased and a wide variety information to the masses, the media sector not only reduces information asymmetry and transaction costs but also helps generate higher levels of social capital. It acts as an effective liaison between the masses and the government and also among various religious, ethnic and other fractionalized groups in a society. We use the proxy of informal institutions identified by Tabellini (Journal of the European Economic Association 8(4):677–716, 2010) which consists of four traits. The results are robust to alternate specifications and inclusion of controls.     

Foreign Direct Investment in China: Determinants and Effects

This paper attempts to assess the determinants of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in China and its effects on the whole economy. After presenting the main theoretical contributions and the previous works done about China’s inward-FDI, an empirical study has been implemented extending the previous ones with a different data set (more recent) and with different methodologies. The traditional determinants of FDI seem to be relevant for China: domestic market size, cost advantages and openness to the rest of the world. Concerning the consequences of FDI on the Chinese economy, our empirical evidence supports the view that FDI affects China’s growth through the diffusion of ideas. Through the introduction of new ideas, multinational firms develop technical progress and hence long-run economic growth. The transmission of ideas seems to have had a positive effect on the Chinese growth.     

Formal and informal pharmaceutical economies in Third World countries: Synergetic, symbiotic or parasitical?

Informal economy functions without any formal social control for lack of a supervisory authority. Within a regulated locality the same activities would have an illegal character, but in that deviating situation those informal activities can thrive because the authorities do not intervene. Globalization of our western mixed market economy implies that also the aspect of government control takes on a global character. The fact that formal economies settle in places where an informal market is the rule leads to a combined action which, eventually, creates new market relations. In the present contribution we study the effects of a meeting between a formal and an informal market on the basis of a concrete case. An analysis of the market of medical products in Third World countries gives an idea of the new relations that arise when an informal market of natural medicines is confronted with a formal market of western medicines. We study both the situation in which there are no regulations and the situation in which the formal market is supported by economic regulations. This text illustrates how those situations can give rise to new opportunities for one group and to exploitation for another.     

Boundary-spanning in emerging technology research: determinants of funding success for academic scientists

Emerging technologies, including nanotechnologies, are generally seen as those latest scientific innovations which have a potential impact on industry structure, and commercialization and economic potential. Work in this area of emerging technologies has distinct boundary spanning characteristics from the perspective of academic science. First, many emerging technologies involve collaboration of scientists across disciplinary boundaries. Second, because of the commercializability of many emerging technologies, scientists may interact more often with industry throughout the research and commercialization process. We ask, what are the boundary-spanning characteristics of scientists engaged in emerging technology research and how do those characteristics matter in obtaining funding in this area? We examine the characteristics of academic scientists in the United States who are employed in research intensive institutions and who are engaged in funded research in the area of emerging technologies. We address the factors that predict their grant success in areas of emerging technology. Findings reveal that interdisciplinary activities and industry orientation are both important in predicting funding in areas of emerging technology. Moreover, the findings imply that the emergence of new technologies may offer opportunities for women in low representation fields.     

我国农业人才资源开发的调查与思考

随着改革开放不断地深入、发展,我国农业及农村经济增长逐步转移到依靠农村科技进步和提高劳动者素质的轨道上来。本文试图通过近几年来,党和国家政府对农村各项政策的落实这个角度,从未来农村经济发展离不开农业技术、农村科技人才这个基本点出发,对如何提高、引进农村实用型人才,进行探讨、研究,以便能更好地为社会主义新农村建设,探索出一条有益的途径。     

Is foreign direct investment good for the poor? New evidence from African countries

This paper conducts an empirical investigation of the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and poverty in selected African economies. Using system generalised method of moments, our findings showed that FDI inflows have significantly contributed to poverty reduction in African countries. Our results also showed that better institutional quality and human capital development are associated with reducing poverty. Furthermore, interacting FDI with financial development was found to significantly reduce poverty, thus providing support to the hypothesis that better functioning financial systems enhance the efficiency of FDI in reducing poverty.     

Women's bread — men's capital

The family enterprises of small rural entrepreneurs in proto-industrial textile production have been little studied so far. This article focuses on the ways in which family labor assists in entrepreneurial activities and nonindustrial activities within the domestic unit contribute to the creation of proto-industrial capital. The empirical material on early modern Zurich (Switzerland) documents large household economies among entrepreneurs engaging in agriculture as well as among drapers who employ their family labor in weaving or in ancillary tasks connected with the activity of putting out dependent weavers. It also demonstrates an association between proto-industrial entrepreneurship and baking, the latter often being performed by female family labor. This finding is explained by the use of bread as a means of paying workers and by the lack of access to capital markets: baking implies the creation of a surplus value within the family economy that can be directly converted into proto-industrial capital.     

Women's bread — men's capital: The domestic economy of small textile entrepreneurs in rural Zurich in the 17th and 18th centuries

The family enterprises of small rural entrepreneurs in proto-industrial textile production have been little studied so far. This article focuses on the ways in which family labor assists in entrepreneurial activities and nonindustrial activities within the domestic unit contribute to the creation of proto-industrial capital. The empirical material on early modern Zurich (Switzerland) documents large household economies among entrepreneurs engaging in agriculture as well as among drapers who employ their family labor in weaving or in ancillary tasks connected with the activity of putting out dependent weavers. It also demonstrates an association between proto-industrial entrepreneurship and baking, the latter often being performed by female family labor. This finding is explained by the use of bread as a means of paying workers and by the lack of access to capital markets: baking implies the creation of a surplus value within the family economy that can be directly converted into proto-industrial capital.     

The role of the G20 in governing the climate change regime

A wide array of institutions governing climate change has proliferated over the past years, influencing the rule-makings of the regime. One of them is the G20. When G20 leaders around the world convened in London to restore global economies, they stressed the importance of a ‘resilient, sustainable, and green recovery’ and reaffirmed their commitments to address climate change. This was followed by their agreement on phasing out inefficient fossil fuel energy subsidies over the medium term in Pittsburgh. The ‘coexistence of narrow regimes in the same issue-area’ could be described as ‘regime complexes’, which enable countries to adapt more readily, particularly when adaptation requires complex changes in norms and behavior. Given that responses to climate change would require changes in the domestic politics of different countries at different levels, loosely integrated institutions of regime complexes could be more advantageous for countries to adapt and in engaging with developing countries. This paper demonstrates that the G20’s highly informal institutional setup as well as its flexible cooperation tools could enable its members to customize their policies and better engage with third-party countries. In addition, the G20 group could collectively influence other key countries to reach an agreement on some of the key climate change–related issues, thereby facilitating the United Nations process of climate change.     

Foreign direct investment and human capital in developing countries: a panel data approach

Theoretical studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between human capital and foreign direct investment (FDI). However, only a few available empirical studies have attempted to investigate this relationship simultaneously. Using country level panel data from 55 developing countries over the 1980–2011 period, this paper examines the interrelationship between FDI and human capital. Statistical analysis, based on simultaneous equations fixed effect estimation, reveals significant bi-directional causality between human capital and FDI, which suggests that FDI and human capital development policies need to be coordinated. FDI-led economic growth models may not be entirely suitable for all developing countries aiming to replicate the economic success of countries such as Brazil and China unless attention is also paid to human capital development through increased spending on education and training.     

Public research and the innovation performance of new technology based firms

Assessing the role of publicly funded scientific research in entrepreneurial ecosystems is of great interest for science and entrepreneurship policy. Knowledge from academic research flows into the private sector through publications, patents, and researcher mobility as well as through direct interactions between founders and researchers at public research institutions (PRIs). New technology-based firms (NTBFs) are generally praised for high innovativeness despite their resource constraints and liability of newness. This study therefore investigates the impact of direct interactions with PRIs on NTBFs’ innovation success. In a large sample of NTBFs in Germany, we find that those firms engaging in such knowledge interactions are more likely to introduce new products and services to the market. The strength of this association, however, depends on interaction persistency, internal R&D and the founders’ academic backgrounds. Non-academic start-ups benefit more from continuous informal interactions if they pursue own R&D, which suggests that absorptive capacity matters. In academic start-ups, higher intensities of both formal and informal interactions are associated with greater innovation likelihood. Moreover, continuous informal interactions complement formal ones in the absence of own R&D activity.

     

A Hard-to- Escape Situation Informal Pacts,Kingpin Strategies,and Collective Violence in Mexico

Mexico has for an extended period been experiencing homicide rates above, or close to, epidemic levels. Instead of examining why formal institutional reform geared at strengthening democracy has not helped to foment peace and security, as most of the research on collective violence in Latin America and the Caribbean does, this paper focuses on the gap between formal and informal institutions, and continuities rather than points of rupture. I argue that in Mexico, there is a gap between formal institutions (which define how the country should be) and informal institutions (which constrain actual strategic choices). I apply a path-dependence approach to examine what factors have been reproducing collective violence over time, finding that the prevalence of protection rackets (operated by non-state actors at the subnational level) and the use of kingpin strategies (both by state and non-state actors) explain collective violence in the past but also in the present. In the past decades, informal pacts and kingpin strategies have changed in Mexico, but they have survived and adapted to the new formally democratic institutional setting. For the period 1989-2017, I identify three critical junctures that changed the rules of the game, four mechanisms of inertia, and two factors of lock-in that make it difficult to reduce collective violence.     

China’s Integration in East Asia:Production Sharing, FDI & High-Tech Trade

China has taken advantage of the globalisation process and has become an assembly country for firms in Asia, which have extended their production and trade networks to China. China’s position in the segmentation of the production processes has fostered its trade in high-technology products. However the rapid technological upgrading of China’s trade is associated with an increasing dependence on foreign capital and technology. The emergence of China has led to the reorganisation of production in Asia and to a triangular trade pattern: firms in advanced Asian economies use China as an export base and instead of exporting finished goods to the US and Europe, now export intermediate goods to their affiliates in China.     

知识产权国际保护制度的变革与发展

知识产权国际保护制度是当代国际经济、文化、科技贸易领域中的一种法律秩序。国际保护标准在缔约方之间的一体化、国际保护规则从实体到程序的一体化、国际保护体系与国际贸易体制的一体化,反映了当代知识产权制度的基本特征。《知识产权协定》作为知识产权国际保护的主要法律制度,在其推行过程中显见不足,其主要表现是知识产权与其他基本人权(包括精神权利、表现自由、隐私权、健康权、发展权等)的冲突;此外,在知识产权国际论坛上,诸如传统知识、遗传资源、地理标志保护问题的争议,导致了国际知识产权领域中新的利益格局的形成,从而引发了知识产权国际保护制度的变革与发展。