published_or_final_version / Comparative Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

Univ., Diss.--Groningen, 2005. / Zsfassung in niederl. Sprache.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1989. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 470-481).

published_or_final_version / Business Administration / Master / Master of Business Administration

In a broad sense, an industrial policy is aimed at influencing the structure of an economy. Justin Lin (2010), argues that the best way to upgrade a country’s endowment structure is to develop its industries according to the comparative advantages determined by its given endowment structure at that time. Then he assumes that the economy would be most competitive, the economic surplus predominant, and the capital accumulation and the upgrading of factor endowment structure will be the fastest possible. He further proposes that the private enterprises should enter industries according to the country’s comparative advantages, relative factor prices must fully reflect the relative abundance of those factors as prices can only be determined through competition in a ―well-functioning‖ market. Therefore, the market should be the basic institution of the economy. The proposed essay will conduct a critical analysis of structuralism and industrial policy as propagated within the ―New Structural Economics‖ realm as proposed by Justin Lin, a former World Bank chief economist. The proposed inquiry would attempt to underline that the Newly Industrialised Countries showed that specific institutions have performed a critical role in guiding market forces towards industrial development. Notably is the state as an institution in its developmental role in guiding economic strategy and industrial policies. Therefore, the basic argument is that despite the eminence of the orthodox economic approach and its responses to the recent economic crises there are numerous contradictions, including weaknesses as advocated by Lin’s approach to developmental issues and the role of industrial policy, expressly with regard to the developing world.

This dissertation analyzes the effect of politically motivated bank lending and industrial policy on firm performance. It first studies zombies firms and political influence on bank lending in China. Zombie firms---indebted firms that are unprofitable and depend on banks or government bailouts for continued operation---are a drag on the economies in which they operate. The existence of zombie firms has been attributed to banks continuing to provide forbearance lending for their own interests. But local political officials may also contribute to keeping zombie firms alive, even in settings without the pressures of electoral cycles. Studying loans in China, I examine how bank lending is influenced by local officials and tracks their appointment cycle. I find that there is significant targeting of firms: lending to zombie firms increases in local officials' last service year and exhibits an increasing trend across the appointment cycle, while lending to non-zombie firms shrinks in the last service year and decreases across the cycle. I also find that influence is selective: local officials pressure small local banks more to lend to unprofitable firms, but their ability to affect large nationally operated banks appears to be limited. Second, this dissertation examines the effect of privatization on enterprise performance using evidence from China's state-owned enterprises reform. The ownership structure of China's state-owned enterprises (SOEs) has changed dramatically over the past two decades as a result of privatization reform. Studies of the effect of privatization on enterprise performance are usually subject to selection bias and endogeneity problems. Based on a panel of SOEs from 1998 to 2007, I use a fixed effects model and propensity score matching method to estimate the effect of privatization on enterprise performance, controlling for both time-invariant and time-variant enterprise characteristics. In addition, I distinguish the average effect of privatization from the contemporaneous effect of each round of privatization. Within the sample, privatization leads to an overall increase in productivity, profitability, and innovation activities. Privatization reduces employment temporarily, but enlarges the scale of operations in the long run. The gain in profitability mainly comes from the reduction in administrative expenses and financial expenses. Third, this dissertation explores the effects of export subsidies on firms' investment behaviors and export performances. Although it is well acknowledged that export subsidy is an effective way to increase the scale of exports, its effect on other aspects of firm behaviors and export performances has received less attention. I examine the effect of export subsidy on firms' investment choices in China. To avoid potential endogeneity problems, the empirical analysis uses exogenous variation in the export tax rebate program in China from 2000 to 2006. I find that export subsidy, in the form of export tax rebate, affects firms' investment in advertising, R\&D activities, and human capital accumulation positively. It has a positive impact on firms' total export value, average export price, and average estimated quality. In addition, the effect is heterogeneous: it is stronger for non-state firms and less technology-intensive firms.

This thesis addresses the conditions of SMEs and working conditions in the Chilean agrofood sector. Especially in an economy with a high degree of trade openness as Chilean economy. The current state of debate is that is more controversial the apparent success of Chilean agrofood sector due to the existence of these fault lines. The upgrading theories are mainly narrow minded and do not consider the weakest part of the production chains. It is required accordingly, a broader look to these problems such that embodies these problems. It is a research based mainly in an approach of political economy. Within this context, this thesis explores the role of SMEs within the Chilean economy and, in particular, their participation within the Chilean economy's insertion into global agrofood production networks, with the aim of giving new insights into the debates over the role of industrial policy in developing countries (an economy based on natural resources). This research will contribute to developing recommendations for the use of public policy tools (rejuvenated industrial policy) in an effective way in relation to the development of SMEs in the agrofood sector. Also there is an urgent need for industrial policy to consider working conditions, training and the acquisition of skills in a much more explicit way, particularly in an economy that is heavily based on the exploitation of natural resources as in the Chilean case.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--York University, 2004. Graduate Programme in Political Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 283-293). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: LINK NOT YET AVAILABLE.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio University, June, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-111)

The central objective of this study is to examine the factors that have influenced the evolution of the drug patenting regulatory framework in Canada from 1965 to 2005. The principal focus is on the extent to which in formulating that regulatory framework the Canadian federal government has been influenced by domestic and international interests and forces. In examining the domestic interests and forces attention is devoted to the financial interests of the two sectoral associations representing the patented and generic drug manufacturers and the economic and political interests of the governing and opposition parties. In examining the international interests and forces the focus is both on the emergence of international institutions and agreements and on the interests of various countries and drug companies located therein which wanted to ensure that Canadas regulatory framework would not have an adverse effect on them. This study reveals that there was three relatively distinct phases in the evolution of Canadas drug patenting regulatory framework and that each was influenced primarily by different sets of factors. The first phase which lasted from 1965 to 1991 was influenced entirely by domestic interests and forces produced by a highly charged political debate over reduced patent protection and drug price restrictions on the one hand, and increased patent protection and economic development on the other. The second phase, which lasted from 1992 to 2001, consisted largely of international forces. This included the emergence of new international institutions and agreements such as the World Trade Organization and the North American Free Trade Agreement, which created new intellectual property obligations for Canada and provided for even longer periods of patent protection than what had already existed. The third phase which began 2002 and continues to the present day, consists of a combination of domestic and international forces which attempt to reconcile domestic issues such as price restriction and economic development with international issues such as allowing Third World countries an opportunity to import drugs at reasonable prices. The Government of Canadas response to all of these pressures has predominantly reflected the objectives of patented drug manufacturers.