This paper assesses the spillover effect of European Patent Boxes on affiliates of MNEs operating in Austria and Germany. I divide firms in a control and treatment group, the latter having affiliates in countries where preferential regimes for patent and other IP income have been introduced between 2005-2011. My findings suggest that Austrian and German firms, which have gained indirect access to preferential IP regimes via their affiliates, reduce their reported profit levels. I do not observe, however, an effect on the level of intangible assets owned by these firms. (author's abstract) / Series: WU International Taxation Research Paper Series

Inom revisionsbranschen upptar tilläggstjänster en betydande del av tjänsteutbudet. Utöver revision erbjuder revisionsbyråerna även tjänster inom redovisning, skatt och rådgivning. Forskning visar att när tilläggstjänster och revision säljs till samma kund så uppstår en synergieffekt som inom forskningsvärlden benämns kunskapsöverföring. Denna synergieffekt har enligt forskarna en positiv inverkan på revisionen vilket i sin tur kan leda till en effektivare revision. Mot denna bakgrund har denna studie som mål att ta reda på vad som konkret bidrar till att kunskapsöverföring kan uppstå inom en revisionsbyrå.Ett delsyfte är att studien ska fungera som en kartläggning av vad kunskapsöverföring kan innebära för revisorers dagliga arbetsuppgifter i praktiken. Eftersom effekten kunskapsöverföring uppstår mellan olika tjänsteområden och avdelningar har studien även som delsyfte att undersöka vilken betydelse kommunikation har för effektens uppkomst.På grund av studiens explorativa karaktär och vår frågeställning valde vi att genomföra dubbla metoder vilket innebar både intervjuer och enkäter. För att utöka vår förståelse och skapa underlag för enkäten genomförde vi sex intervjuer med fem auktoriserade/godkända revisorer och en konsult. Dessa respondenter representerar fem olika revisionsbyråer, varav fyra var big-4 byråer. Efter intervjuerna genomfördes även en enkätundersökning baserad på intervjuernas resultat som vände sig till alla auktoriserade/godkända revisorer i Sverige.Den teoretiska referensramen utgår från den tidigare arkivforskning som gett indikationer på kunskapsöverföringens existens inom revisionsbranschen. Utöver detta behandlas även forskning kring revisorns oberoende samt revisionskvalitet. För att anknyta till studiens delsyfte kring kommunikation presenteras även teorier kring överföring av kunskap.Resultaten från intervjuerna och enkäten presenteras i empirin tillsammans inom gemensamma teman utifrån vilka bidragande effekter vi har hittat. Dessa teman är förberedande arbete och förvarningar, användande av andras arbete, kommunikation, informationsvärdering samt påverkan på revisionsprocess. Empirikapitlet avslutas med två egna förklaringsmodeller för fenomenet kunskapsöverföring.Studien visar att revisorerna i stor utsträckning anser att kunskapsöverföring existerar. Revisorer kan effektivisera revisionsprocessen genom användande av det arbete som andra konsulter gjort under året samt få förvarningar som bättre förbereder dem inför revisionen. Kommunikation är nödvändig för att dessa faktorer ska kunna uppstå och revisorerna värderar information från konsulter individuellt sett. De förklaringsmodeller vi konstruerade kan till 38 % respektive 55 % förklara vad som bidrar till att kunskapsöverföring uppstår mellan tilläggstjänster och revision. / Within the audit industry, non-audit services constitute a significant part of the services that is offered. In addition to auditing, the audit firms also offer services within accounting, tax and advisory. Research has shown that a synergy effect known as knowledge spillover occurs when audit and non-audit services are sold to the same customer. According to the researchers, this synergy effect has a positive influence on the audit service which in turn could lead to a more efficient audit process. With this in mind, this study aims to find out which factors that contributes to the occurrence of knowledge spillover within an audit firm.A subsidiary aim is that the study shall work as an investigation of what knowledge spillover can mean for the daily work tasks of auditors. Since the knowledge spillover effect occurs between different service areas and departments, the study also aims to discover how communication can affect the emergence of the effect.Because of our research question and the explorative character of the study, we choose to perform mixed methods i.e. both interviews and surveys. With the purpose of expanding our understanding and create a basis for our survey, six interviews were performed with five APCs and one advisory consultant. These respondents represented five different audit firms, of which four were big-4. After this, a survey based on the results of the interviews was distributed to all APCs in Sweden.The theoretical framework sets out from earlier archival research that has indicated that knowledge spillover exists within the audit industry. Apart from this, research within the area of auditor independence and audit quality will also be presented. To link with the study’s subsidiary aim regarding communication, theories within the area of knowledge transfer will also be discussed.The empirical findings from the interviews and the survey are presented together in themes based on the contributing effects we’ve found. These themes are preparatory work and warnings, using the work of others, communication, information, evaluation and impact on the audit process. The chapter is then ended with two of our own explanatory models for the phenomenon of knowledge spillover.The results show that auditors to a great extent find that knowledge spillover exists. Accountants can streamline the audit process by using the work of other consultants performed during the year and also by getting early warnings that better prepare them for the audit. Communication is necessary for these factors to occur and auditors’ values information they receive from consultants individually. The explanatory models constructed can explain what factors that contributes to knowledge spillover between audit and non-audit services to 38 % respectively 55 %

This paper examines return co-movements and volatility spillovers between major exchange rates before and after the introduction of euro. Dynamic correlations and VAR-based spillover index results suggest significant return co-movements and volatility spillovers, however, their extend is, on average, lower in the post-euro period. Co-movements and spillovers are positively associated with extreme episodes and US dollar appreciations. The euro (Deutsche mark) is the dominant net transmitter of volatility, while the British pound the dominant net receiver of volatility in both periods. Nevertheless, cross-market volatility spillovers are bidirectional, and the highest spillovers occur between European markets. (author's abstract)

Spillover phenomena are usually statistically estimated on the basis of regional and temporal panel data. In this paper we review and investigate exploratory and confirmatory statistical panel data techniques. We illustrate the methods by calculations in the stetting of the well known Research and Development Spillover study by Coe and Helpman (1995). It will be demonstrated that alternative estimation techniques that are well compatible with the data can lead to opposite conclusions. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers Series "Growth and Employment in Europe: Sustainability and Competitiveness"

本文透過追蹤資料 (panel data)模型，被解釋變數以平均廠商生產力當作衡量指標，利用台灣經濟研究院於2001-2003年對250家生物科技廠商追蹤調查報告，來實證群聚及研究發展 (R＆D)投入對台灣生物科技產業是否為該產業帶來生產力外溢效果 (spillover effect)之研究；藉此可探討群聚與研究發展對台灣生物科技產業產生之外溢效果，同時並可比較分析歐美日對生物科技產業推展之政策，本研究結果進一步在政府擬訂生物科技產業政策上或能提供些許參考。 生物科技產業依其產業範疇分成醫藥品、醫療器材、特用化學品與食品、農業生物技術、環保及生物技術服務業等5項次產業。本文建立追蹤資料模型的固定效果 (fixed effects) 和隨機效果 (random effects)群聚及研究發展外溢效果之實證模型，然後開始進行參數估計及假設檢定，並加以分析，實證結果顯示：一、生技產業不存在固定效果，存在的是隨機效果，表示隨機干擾項 與投入變數 不具相關性。二、群聚與研究發展對國內生物技術產業所引發的外溢效果確屬存在，惟群聚外溢效果對生產力影響不顯著，但研究發展外溢效果對生產力卻具正面影響而且顯著。三、生技產業隨機效果模型與移動平均動態調整Da Silva模型估計結果一致。四、研究發展投入存在有不穩定現象，可見研究發展投入並不是對所有生技產業均有正面貢獻，諸如：特化與食品、農業生技及環保生技服務業有利於自行從事研發活動；而醫藥品業及醫療器材業則可能以與其他生技廠商或研究機構建立策略聯盟關係，如合作研發、研發活動外包 (outsourcing)及購併方式取得技術較有利。五、研究發展外溢效果最高的是特化與食品，其次是環保生技服務業，最低的則是醫療器材業；群聚外溢效果最高的是醫藥品業，其次是醫療器材業，最低的是特化與食品。六、若加以控制產業內研究發展資本存量變數，則研究發展投入與產業間研究發展資本存量對廠商生產力影響，具顯著外溢效果，且該等變數估計結果顯示其對廠商生產力的影響更大。 關鍵字：外溢效果、群聚、研究發展 / This empirical study examines the spillover effect of biotech industry clusters and R&D in Taiwan between 2001 and 2003. A sample of 250 biotechnology firms in Taiwan is used for the analysis. The biotechnology industry is classified into pharmaceutical, medical devices, specialty chemical and food, agricultural biotechnology, environmental biotechnology and service industries. To tell the difference between fixed effects and random effects panel data model of clustering and R&D, this study employs several estimation methods and tests some useful hypotheses. The results of the study show that the biotechnology industry in Taiwan does exhibit random effects, but no fixed effects. This implies that regressors are not correlated with the effect. In addition, clustering and R&D variation can affect productivity of Taiwan’s biotechnology firms. The R&D influence on the productivity of biotechnology firms is positive and significant; however clustering does not have significant impact, a result similar to that between the Fuller-Battese estimation and the moving average Da Silva estimation. R&D investment influence on the productivity of biotechnology firms is not stable in Taiwan. The specialty chemical and food, agricultural biotechnology, environmental biotechnology and service industries, for example, exhibit positive results from independent R&D. The pharmaceutical and medical devices industries, on the other hand, could benefit from building strategic R&D alliances with firms or institutes for abroad as well as through R&D outsourcing and M&A (merger and acquisition). The specialty chemical and food industry has the highest R&D spillover effect, followed by the environmental biotechnology and service industry, and last is the medical devices industry. In terms of spillover effect from clustering, the pharmaceutical industry benefits most followed, in descending order by the medical devices industry, and the specialty chemical and food industry. This study illustrates that the estimator of R&D and between industries R&D are also much larger with Fuller-Battese estimation when the control for inter-industry R&D variable is excluded. Keywords: spillover effect, clusters, R&D

This thesis is the first study that provides comprehensive empirical evidence on both the impacts of the target interest rate news from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on the Australian financial markets, and the spillover effects of the target interest rate news from the US Federal Reserves (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) on the Asia Pacific's equity and currency markets. This thesis contributes to the current literature in several ways. First, while there is ample evidence in the literature suggesting that the markets would not react to what is already expected but will react to the news, the current literature on the RBA's target rate effects is still limited to the investigation of the overall announcement impact on the first moment of the Australian market return only. Therefore, this thesis firstly comprehensively investigates the impacts of the unexpected components of the RBA's target rate announcements (or news) on the first two moments of various segments of the Australian financial markets including interest rate changes, the Australian dollar and stock market returns. In so doing, this thesis contributes to the current literature on the impacts of domestic target interest rate news. Second, while the established literature seems to be missing a thorough investigation of the spillover effects of the Fed's and the ECB's news on the Asia Pacific markets, this thesis provides comprehensive evidence on the spillover effects of the Fed's and the ECB's target rate news on both the mean and volatility of the Asia Pacific's stock and currency returns. Furthermore, we not only document the presence of the news spillover effects but also highlight the incremental explanatory power of the target interest rate news in the presence of the indirect effects from the US's and euro area's markets to the Asia-Pacific markets. To this end, this thesis contributes to the literature on spillover effects of foreign target interest rate news. Third, while the literature is silent on how quickly the target interest rate news is absorbed in foreign markets, this thesis takes a step forward and breaks down the daily horizon into the overnight and the intraday horizons. In so doing, the thesis examines the absorption speed of target rate news in the Asia-Pacific markets. This is an important issue because there might be potential for a diverse array of response dynamics across countries due to heterogeneous market developments, nature of monetary policy synchronization, and financial and real integration with the U.S. and the euro area. Specifically, this thesis presents three independent empirical inquiries that contribute to the literature on domestic and spillover effects of the target interest rate news. Chapter 4 provides comprehensive empirical evidence for the impacts of the RBA's target rate news on various segments of the Australian financial markets during the period from 1998 to 2006. We also investigate the spillover effects of the US Fed's news on the Australian financial markets. We show that the RBA's and the Fed's news significantly affect the Australian financial markets in line with a priori expectations. However, while the RBA's news raises volatility in the Australian financial markets, the volatility was significantly lower in all market segments following the Fed's news. The spillover effects of the US Fed's and the ECB's target interest rate news on the mean and the volatility of twelve Asia Pacific's stock markets' returns are examined in Chapter 5, and seven Asia Pacific exchange rates against the US dollar and the euro over the period 1999-2006 are carried out in Chapter 6. The spillover effects on the conditional mean are generally consistent with the literature where a majority of Asia Pacific stock markets shows significant negative returns and a majority of currencies depreciates against the US dollar and the euro in response to the Fed's and the ECB's unexpected rate rises. Furthermore, in response to the two target rate news, the conditional volatility of the Asia Pacific stock markets was higher while the market calming effects have been observed for the currency markets and both the Fed and the ECB news elicit persisting volatility responses. We conjecture that as the ECB's news tends to confirm the Fed's earlier decision, this relationship might help reduce uncertainties in the Asia Pacific currency markets upon the future path of target interest rates from both the Central Banks, which ultimately results in into a lower volatility level. These findings are important not only to the Asia Pacific’s policy makers to help them improve the conduct of monetary policy but also to market participants in designing trading mechanisms as well as risk management strategies in response to both domestic and external interest rate shocks. Furthermore, these findings also shed light on the lead-lag relationship between the Fed and the ECB in making policy decisions. The notion that the ECB follows the Fed in setting its policy is so strong amongst market participants that empirical evidence seems to be crucial. Despite the fact that the ECB's news arrives after the Fed's news, this study provides evidence that the ECB's news has its own merits in the Asia Pacific markets and helps resolve differences in beliefs among market participants.

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