Global corruption and the shadow economy: spatial aspects

Using a large sample of nations, this paper examines the relation between corruption and the shadow economy, focusing especially on geographic spillovers. The results point to complementarity between corruption and the shadow economy. We find evidence of own contagion across nations in both corruption and shadow economy activity, while cross-contagion mostly points to substitution between own shadow economy (corruption) and neighboring corruption (shadow economy). These findings are fairly robust across different estimation techniques and measures of the shadow economy.     

Liberalisation,Multinational Enterprises and Export Performance: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing

This article tests two empirical hypotheses: one, MNE affiliates perform distinctly better than their local counterparts in the export markets in a globalised economy, and two, the MNE affiliates have greater comparative advantages in high-tech than in low- and medium-tech industries. Tobit estimates of a large data set of Indian manufacturing firms for the late 1990s provide relatively weak support to the first hypothesis. A disaggregated industry-group-wise analysis indicates that MNE affiliates perform no better than their local counterparts in high-tech industries. Thus, even with a higher level of integration with the global economy in the 1990s India appears to have failed in attracting efficiency-seeking FDI on a significant scale, particularly in high-tech industries. R&D and efficiency of manpower emerge as two significant determinants of international competitiveness in technology-based sectors (high- and medium-high tech sectors). Imports of raw materials enhance the export competitiveness of firms in all industry groups. Finally, large firms are found to be more export oriented, implying the need for creating large flagship companies in the country.     

Nascent entrepreneurship and inventive activity: a somewhat new perspective

This paper focuses on the nexus between nascent entrepreneurship (NE) and inventive activity. It questions how NE affects inventive activity (including innovation and patenting) while analyzing the views and predictions that have used patenting as an indicator of entrepreneurial behavior. Using data on German researchers and controlling for their personal, professional and institutional attributes, the findings show that NE increases both patenting and innovation. Implications for technology policy are discussed.     

A Developmental Approach for Measuring the Severity of Crimes

There is widespread agreement in criminology that some crimes are more severe than others, but precise definitions of crime severity and straightforward methods for measuring it have been elusive. Public perceptions of crime severity and economic estimates of crime costs to society or willingness to pay offer a variety of metrics for the public’s perceptions of severity, but they may not accurately describe severity as reflected in offender preferences. The behavior of offenders is critical for understanding developmental progressions in criminal careers, as one may assume that typically more severe offenses are not undertaken until less severe crimes have been committed. In the present paper we propose an alternative metric of crime severity, drawing on findings from developmental criminology that indicate that more severe crimes occur after less severe crimes in the criminal life course, and a method for estimating crime severity that uses the generalized Bradley–Terry model of multiple paired comparisons. We demonstrate this approach on two samples of youthful offenders: the National Youth Survey and the RAND Adolescent Outcomes Project. The results suggest that sample-specific estimates of crime severity can be derived, that these estimates provide insight into the developmental progression of crime, and that they correspond well to crime severity rankings produced by the public.

Cyber-squatting: Legal implications and judicial approaches – An Indian perspective

The present legal framework in India fails to keep in pace with the inexorable advancement of the online world. Technological advancement is inevitably faster in comparison to the response of the legal framework, but the latter needs to continuously review and adapt itself in order to provide a suitable regulatory regime. In India, the Information Technology Act 2000 is the product of such review and seeks to provide a modernized regulatory framework for e-commerce with necessary safeguards. However, there are certain loose ends that have not been adequately dealt with by the Act. The contention is that, in the present era of information and communications technology, domain names have become valuable business assets and a Trade mark in the internet world. Despite the amendment to the Information Technology Act 2000, these changes have been silent on the issue of cyber-squatting. The Judiciary has been trying to tackle this issue in the light of the Trade marks Act 1999 but this approach fails to address certain issues. This paper will highlight the issues that need attention at this time and the further legislative action that is required.     

Female owners versus female managers: Who is better at introducing innovations?

The Journal of Technology Transfer - This paper uses firm-level survey for more than 100 countries to examine whether firms’ female managers or female owners were better at bringing...     

Corruption and government size: A disaggregated analysis

Using annual state-level data over 1983–1987, this paper examines the effect of government size on corruption by public officials by including both demand and supply side incentives for engaging in corrupt practices. Our objectives are twofold. First, we assess the relationship between the incidence of corruption and overall measures of the size of the federal government and the state-local sector in each state. Second, we explore what kinds of government activities are more likely to be successful in deterring abuse of public office. Our results are generally supportive of Becker's “crime and punishment” model. Regarding the primary focus of the paper, our results show that government size, in particular spending by state governments, does indeed have a strong positive influence on corruption.