Multinational Enterprises and Technological Effort by Local Firms: A Case Study of the Malaysian Electronics and Electrical Industry

It is often assumed that foreign MNEs are the driving force behind technological development in developing economies but it has become evident in recent years that the actions of MNEs in isolation from the domestic economy will not significantly improve the stock of technology in an economy. This study, therefore, examines the determinants of local firms' decisions to undertake technological effort, not only in isolation, but also in the context of linkages between domestic firms and MNEs. There is evidence that linkages between MNEs and local firms are important in explaining technological effort by local firms but direct technological assistance from MNEs does not seem to play a major role in fostering increased technological effort by local firms.     

On the Limitation of Penalties and the Non-Equivalence of Penalties and Taxes

This paper compares the impacts of a penalty on accident and a per-unit tax on output, when social damages depend on the output of firms. The choice of the optimal regulation, aiming at internalizing a damage, is influenced both by the market power of firms and by their potential (in)solvency in case of accident. Output strategies influence the solvency situation of firms for paying a penalty, which may lead to multiple equilibria (all firms are either solvent or insolvent in case of accident). When social damages are large, the optimal penalty is capped for avoiding a situation with insolvent firms. In this case, a regulator implements a per-unit tax.JEL Classification: K13, L13     

北京市老字号的发展现状及对策研究

老字号是北京历史文化名城的重要标志.在市场经济条件下,一方面要重视对老字号的法律保护和政策扶持,另一方面要加快以产权制度为核心的国有老字号企业改革,发挥老字号的品牌优势和市场机制的作用,推动北京老字号进入规范、有序、健康的发展轨道.     

Does political connection influence corporate financial decisions in unstable political environment?

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of political connection on the cost of debt, the cost of equity and the investment level in an unstable political environment. We use a sample of 55 Tunisian listed firms during the post-revolution period (2011–2018) and we apply a generalized least square (GLS) approach to test our hypotheses. Findings highlight that political connections increase the corporate financial costs and reduce the investment level. Furthermore, in an additional analysis, we show on the one hand that political instability negatively affects the investment and affects positively the cost of debt and the cost of equity. On the other hand, we make evidence that the political instability level negatively affects the relation between the political connection and the cost of debt. The contribution is, to the best of our knowledge, the absence of studies conducted in Tunisia countries examining the impact of political connection on the financial cost and investment level in an unstable political environment such as Tunisia.