Thesis (Ph.D.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Thesis (M.S. in Program Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Richard Doyle, Raymond Franck. Includes bibliographical references (p. 111-120). Also available online.

The thesis was written against a backdrop of increasing international competition in the construction consulting sector when, at the same time, there was apparent growth in the requirements of developing countries for technology transfer. The opening chapters describe the industry including specific aspects of the British sector. A theoretical review is given on the eclectic theory, the stages of development approach, strategic theory and professional services literature, as well as technology transfer material and empirical studies relevant to the sector. The study itself is based upon a series of personal interviews with a range of construction firms, leading to sixteen cases being compiled, mostly for consulting firms but also for client organisations, aid agencies, contractors and suppliers. The interviews were also used to test hypotheses in four main areas of concern, covering the nature and extent of technology transfer, types of projects and firm, cooperative arrangements and long term implications. There were a number of findings: In construction consulting, technology transfer, consisting mainly of management know-how, is increasingly being required by overseas clients and aid agencies. Technology transfer changes the organisational structure of a firm, due to the greater need for staff at senior levels, with International experience. Newly internationalised firms, often medium-sized, can sometimes by-pass the stages of internationalisation by locating directly in client offices on technology transfer projects; while joint ventures occur, the role of established subsidiary offices is diminishing. Unlike contractors, construction consultants can sustain competitive advantage over time via technology transfer projects; clients can be accessed more effectively at lower cost and market information on new projects can be gleaned more readily. Wider conclusions were also discussed which had relevance for international business theory and policy of host governments and firms alike.

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This dissertation contains three chapters on international trade and investment in children's human capital in developing countries. The first chapter examines the effects of changes in labor market opportunities for women on the bargaining power of women within households and, ultimately, on investment in children's human capital. I show that a positive demand shock for female labor in a woman's age category increases her bargaining power, and this raises investment in the health of girls relative to that of boys within the household. To identify this effect, I exploit the geographic heterogeneity in demand for younger versus older female labor within the Mexican export manufacturing sector and its differential changes across municipalities between 2002 and 2005. I find that a 1 percent increase in labor demand for older (mostly married) women, caused by a demand shock to the export manufacturing sector, raises the share of decisions made by the wife in a household by 1.3 percent and the chance of a daughter being in good health by 1.1 percent. Previous research has shown that school enrollment in developing countries responds to a change in the return to education generated by a change in demand in the export sector, that pays higher wages for a given skill level. In the second chapter of my dissertation, using data from Mexico, I show that the negative effects of a lower return to education are not limited to lower rates of school enrollment. Parents also respond to a decrease in the return to education for children, as a result of an increase in labor market opportunities for very young, unskilled labor in the export sector, by reducing spending on children's education even while they are enrolled at school. This suggests that parents respond along the intensive margin as well as on the extensive margin. Firm level studies offer mixed results on the effect of ex-ante liquidity constraints on firms' export status. The third chapter of my dissertation explores the same matter using a new methodology. I predict that, controlling for the firms' productivity level and given that firms were not exporters in the previous period, a larger appreciation of the real exchange rate should have a larger positive effect on the probability of less-liquidity-constrained firms becoming exporters. I test this prediction using a panel of Mexican manufacturing firms and find robust evidence in its support. / text

TIlls thesis considers how the presence of firms that operate across national boundaries (multinationals) affect the way we think about several traditional economic issues. Chapter 1 provides some introductory remarks. Chapter 2 considers how the analysis of the impact of taxation on firms' investment incentives is affected by models of the multinational firm It looks at the way in which corporate income taxes affect firms' investment choices when these choices are of a discrete nature, and argues that in such situations the au!Yt1{1! tax rate is a better measure of the impact of tax than the matginal tax rate. Chapter 3 investigates whether there is empirical support for the model laid out in Chapter 2 by examining US-resident firms' choices over whether and how to serve the European market. These choices are modelled using fum level data with a structure that explicitly accounts for the outside options of not serving the European market or producing in the US and exporting to Europe. The empirical results indicate that the effective tZW'~ tax rate plays a part in determining where U.S. firms locate within Europe, conditional on having decided to locate production in Europe. Taxes do not appear to affect the choice between exporting to Europe or locating production there. One of the predominant theoretical models explaining the existence of multinational firms is based on the proposition that they have higher productivity than domestic firms, Chapter 4 empirically examines whether foreign-owned establishments located in the' UK have different characteristics than domesticowned, and in particular whether productivity levels vary systematically by ownership. Parameters of the production function are estimated for the UK car industry using a new establishment level panel data set. The results indicate that higher levels of output per worker in foreign-owned establishments is almost entirely explained by differences in factor usage levels.

In this thesis, trade with waste between developed countries and the third world will be presented to analyze whether waste‐trading can create a possible win-win situation. To carry on this question problem, three theories have been considered to explain why and how developing countries can be affected by international waste-trade. A few case-studies regarding waste-trade in developing countries such as, India, China and Vietnam, will show the situation of waste-trade today. These theories and case-studies will set the foundation for analysis and conclusion. To sum up, trade with waste is a complex problem that can affect the importing country in both positive and negative ways. If the negative externality that is caused by handling waste is controlled with a tax or regulation, trade with waste can be a win-win situation for the trading countries.

A small stock market may be less efficient in the weak sense than a large one, because it is often less elaborately organised technically. Hence, information about stock price formation may spread only gradually through the financial community. Consequontly, stock prices may display e greeter degree of nonrandomness because traders are unable to eliminate this. The objective of the study is to test the weak form efficiency in Kuwait Stock Exchange, a segment of the Kuwait Long Term capital market. In addition, the study explores the impact of several. factors on market efficiency. In Chapter One the role of the stock market and its relationship to the economy will be discussed. The efficient market hypothesis is explored in Chapter Two. Chapter Three is devoted to surveying the empirical findings of other researchers in UK, USA and some other international markets. A number of authors have applied the efficient market hypothesis to actual stock market data, especially in the last twenty years. Some critical analyses are discussed in Chapter Four. The empirical question of the relations between market efficiency and stock valuation is explored in Chapter Five. An efficient market should price the security, so as to fully reflect the firms earning power. The uncertainty surrounding the stream of future income clouds this issue and has prompted debate among economists and financial analysts as to how the market values a given stock at any time. The characteristic of Kuwait Stock Exchange are the subject of Chapter Six. Chapter Seven presents empirical findings on the behaviour of Kuwait Stock Exchange in the context of efficient market theory. These findings will be compared with those related studies based on data from the United States and Europe. Chapter Eight will discuss the Kuwait Gulf Stock Exchange (over-the- counter market) or Al-Manakh. The 1982 crash of Al-Manakh is explored in depth in Chapter Nine and some of the important solutions will be discussed. In Chapter Ten the discussion Focusses on the three hypothesised Factors leading to market efficiency (market information, governmental rules and regulations, and market support facilities). Finally, in Chapter Eleven, general conclusions are drawn and recommendations presented with suggestions for further research.

The International competitiveness of Jordan's manufacturing sector has recently been of considerable concern to officials in Jordan. This study examines Jordan's capacity to compete successfully in foreign markets and with imports in Jordan's market, and the impact of the recent policies on the price and short-run aspects of competitiveness for a period from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. Unlike previous studies, assessment and analysis of Jordan's relative competitive position are built on indicators constructed exclusively for the manufacturing sector covering import, export, and overall dimensions of competitiveness. The OECD model has been employed using export, import and producer prices, and trade double weights for manufactures. The results show that Jordan's competitiveness deteriorated until the mid-1980s. Subsequently, competitiveness improved with the most pronounced gains being achieved at the end of the 1980s and in the early 1990s, particularly in import and overall competitiveness. The maintenance of a strong Jordanian dinar associated with other unfavourable internal and external developments in Jordan's and competitors' prices before the mid-1980s, and the favourable developments in these prices including the devaluation of the Jordanian dinar at the end of the 1980s, may explain the initial deterioration in competitiveness and the subsequent improvement. Between the mid-1970s and the late-1980s the gains achieved in import competitiveness process were reflected in most years in declines in the import penetration ratio; and in the case of the export competitiveness process were translated into higher market shares. The Constant-Market-Share approach shows that one-third of the expansion in Jordan's manufactured exports was attributable to improved competitiveness. The Commodity effect, particularly for chemicals, was favourable to this expansion, while the concentration of exports on the sluggish import demand of the Middle Eastern countries resulted in a slight unfavourable market effect.

Empirical investigations on firms' export behaviour and performance have tended to focus on the experience of firms from developed nations. Little is known about such issues among firms in developing nations generally, and Malaysia in particular. This study investigates export behaviour and performance of manufacturing firms in Malaysia. The central concerns of this study are i) to establish the characteristics of successful and less successful exporters; and ii) to determine factors that distinguish the two groups of exporters. Fieldwork for this research was carried out in Malaysia between May and July 1992. The study employed two research methods, a mail survey and case study. A total of 190 useful returns were received from firms representing a cross-section of the manufacturing sector. As regards case study, five companies consented to be personally interviewed by the researcher. Through statistical analysis, it was established that there are three characteristics or profiles of successful and less successful exporters. In the first profile, exporters which are classified as adopting a market diversification strategy are more successful than exporters adopting a market concentration strategy. The second profile is made up of exporters characterised as exhibiting a selling orientation policy. In this group of firms, it was determined that the large-sized firms are more successful than the medium-sized firms. The third profile is represented by firms which are classified as foreign-owned. The analysis shows that firms characterised as exhibiting a marketing orientation policy are more successful than firms characterised as exhibiting a selling orientation. Analysis determined that variables measuring firms' marketing strengths (broadly classified into organisational and marketing-mix strengths) separate successful and less successful exporters. The two groups of firms also display different attitude with regards the state of the infrastructure in the domestic economy, intensity of competition in export markets, and export barriers. The findings from case the studies show that both internal and external factors motivate firms to explore export opportunities. The factors peculiar to the export success of case companies, include the manager's international orientation, the company's commitment to producing high and consistent quality products, and the maintenance of close contacts with overseas markets. The findings confirm the findings from the mail survey. Differences and similarities exist between the findings of this study and those generated in other countries. The results add new information on the export behaviour of firms from Malaysia.