<p> </p><p>Since the 1990s and the Swedish membership in the European Union in 1995, the presence of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) has increased radically in the Swedish economy. The objective with this study is to analyze MNEs effects in different regions within the Swedish manufacturing industry in terms of productivity. Is a region with more MNEs, more pro-ductive than a region with a lower share of MNEs? The theory claims that productivity spillovers of MNEs occurs through three channels namely, via R&D, increased competi-tion and transmission of technology. By observing 81 regions which consists of all 290 municipals in Sweden and taking the average value of productivity and the explanatory variables trough 1997-2004, a cross-sectional analysis is conducted. The results evidently showed signs of productivity spillovers of MNEs on local firms in the manufacturing in-dustry. Findings suggest that (1) a regions with higher share of MNEs did face a higher re-gional productivity. However the spillovers was not successfully absorbed by regions with a industry structure that was not dominated by a the manufacturing industry. (2) Larger re-gions, in terms of population, tend to show a lower productivity level compared to the av-erage levels of the rest of the regions, since their structure was dominated by the service sector. (3) Regions with small technological difference compared to the MNEs, tends to hold the skills and knowledge needed to efficiently exploit the productivity spillovers, hence MNEs influence on regional productivity was greater in these regions than regions with a lower level of technical capability.</p><p> </p>

Since the 1990s and the Swedish membership in the European Union in 1995, the presence of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) has increased radically in the Swedish economy. The objective with this study is to analyze MNEs effects in different regions within the Swedish manufacturing industry in terms of productivity. Is a region with more MNEs, more pro-ductive than a region with a lower share of MNEs? The theory claims that productivity spillovers of MNEs occurs through three channels namely, via R&amp;D, increased competi-tion and transmission of technology. By observing 81 regions which consists of all 290 municipals in Sweden and taking the average value of productivity and the explanatory variables trough 1997-2004, a cross-sectional analysis is conducted. The results evidently showed signs of productivity spillovers of MNEs on local firms in the manufacturing in-dustry. Findings suggest that (1) a regions with higher share of MNEs did face a higher re-gional productivity. However the spillovers was not successfully absorbed by regions with a industry structure that was not dominated by a the manufacturing industry. (2) Larger re-gions, in terms of population, tend to show a lower productivity level compared to the av-erage levels of the rest of the regions, since their structure was dominated by the service sector. (3) Regions with small technological difference compared to the MNEs, tends to hold the skills and knowledge needed to efficiently exploit the productivity spillovers, hence MNEs influence on regional productivity was greater in these regions than regions with a lower level of technical capability.

<p>According to the Globalizations Council the most important task Sweden has is to assess the opportunities and challenges presented by the global economy to a small, open country like Sweden. There has been dual competition, some has been able to sell the resource services of human and physical knowledge capital, and others offering to sell unskilled labor at wages way below Swedish standards. This thesis will examine the changes in market position in the manufacturing sector, and how comparative advantage and the role of technology have impacted the changes.</p><p>The empirical analysis is based on the relative international competitiveness index to examine how market position in different sectors has changed during the time-period 1985-2003. In the regression measures for human and physical capital has been included as well as R&D expenditure for both Sweden and the OECD countries.</p><p>The results show that the changes in market position for most products are relatively small. What can be concluded is that it is not the sector as a whole that experience improving market positions instead it is certain products such as pharmaceutical, sulphate and electronic components among others.</p><p>Sweden ranks very high in terms of resources dedicated to production of new technology and there are proofs on both side of the "Swedish Paradox"; which states that high technology exports are low given the high R&D investment.</p><p>The result also indicates that Sweden has a labor-intensive disadvantage, i.e. indications that the market position for industries with high total capital-intensity has increased.</p>

According to the Globalizations Council the most important task Sweden has is to assess the opportunities and challenges presented by the global economy to a small, open country like Sweden. There has been dual competition, some has been able to sell the resource services of human and physical knowledge capital, and others offering to sell unskilled labor at wages way below Swedish standards. This thesis will examine the changes in market position in the manufacturing sector, and how comparative advantage and the role of technology have impacted the changes. The empirical analysis is based on the relative international competitiveness index to examine how market position in different sectors has changed during the time-period 1985-2003. In the regression measures for human and physical capital has been included as well as R&amp;D expenditure for both Sweden and the OECD countries. The results show that the changes in market position for most products are relatively small. What can be concluded is that it is not the sector as a whole that experience improving market positions instead it is certain products such as pharmaceutical, sulphate and electronic components among others. Sweden ranks very high in terms of resources dedicated to production of new technology and there are proofs on both side of the "Swedish Paradox"; which states that high technology exports are low given the high R&amp;D investment. The result also indicates that Sweden has a labor-intensive disadvantage, i.e. indications that the market position for industries with high total capital-intensity has increased.

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第24684号 / 農博第2567号 / 新制||農||1101(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R5||N5465(農学部図書室) / 京都大学大学院農学研究科生物資源経済学専攻 / (主査)教授 伊藤 順一, 教授 浅見 淳之, 教授 松下 秀介 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Yes / Integrating and extending new growth theory and resource-based views, this paper provides a theoretical foundation for the catch-up hypothesis. It examines the role of technology gap, technological capability, and cultural proximity in local firms’ catch-up with MNEs. Hypotheses are developed and tested with a dynamic model on a large firm-level panel dataset from Chinese manufacturing. The results confirm that catch-up is positively related to technology gap and technological capability. Furthermore, in the presence of cultural proximity, the speed of local Chinese firms’ catch-up with MNEs from Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan is not significantly lower than that with other MNEs. / The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC: 71302179 and 71240026); the Project of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ministry of Education, China (Project No. 11XJA630001), and the “211 project” of the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.

Since 2005, most midsize company information technology (IT) projects had a 62.4% failure rate because of wrong project team communication skills or cost overruns. IT leaders expect negative IT project outcomes will cost over $2 billion by 2020. Using the actor-network theory, the purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies used by IT leaders from a midsize IT company in Washington, D.C. to plan and execute projects under budget and on time. Using purposeful sampling, 5 IT leaders were selected for this study because of their experience in implementing successful strategies for projects. Data were collected using face-to-face semistructured interviews, company documentation, and internal organizational risk reports. Yin's 5-step process was used for data analysis to compile, disassemble, reassemble, interpret, and conclude the data. The interpretation of data, subjected to methodological triangulation and member checking to strengthen the dependability and credibility of the findings, yielded 3 themes of IT leader communication skills: IT leader strategy, IT leader knowledge, and implementation of cost savings. The findings indicated that IT leaders serve as the key actors in the IT project network, and leader communication skills are essential for implementing strategies for IT project completion and cost savings. With this knowledge, IT leaders can implement strategies to plan and execute projects under budget and on time. The implications for a positive social change includes the potential for IT leaders to reduce project production waste and contribute to economic expansion.

本文採用新的隨機共同邊界方法，將其擴充至Fourier富伸縮成本函數，針對西歐地區十個國家的銀行業進行成本效率之分析，資料期間涵蓋1996年至2010年。不同於Battese et al. (2004), O’Donnell et al. (2008), and Huang et al. (2011a) 等人利用線性規劃法，本文應用隨機共同邊界法來估計技術缺口比率，進而做跨國間的效率比較，此法的特點在於技術缺口比率可以設為一些反映國家環境差異的外生變數之函數，而線性規劃法則無法做此設定。實證結果顯示採用線性規劃方法所估計出的技術缺口比率與共同成本效率會有低估的現象，技術缺口比率以及共同成本效率在1996年至2000年間逐步上升，此結果支持金融市場的整合可以增進效率，然而，到2000年之後則反轉向下，特別是在2007年至2010年次級房貸風暴時期明顯惡化。此外，進一步的分群進行分析的結果顯示，小規模、高獲利、或是較保守的銀行相對來說較具有效率。 / This paper aims to gain further insights into cost efficiency using the newly developed metafrontier approach under the framework of the Fourier flexible cost frontier for banking industries across 10 Western European nations during the period 1996-2010. Unlike Battese et al. (2004), O’Donnell et al. (2008), and Huang et al. (2011a), who suggest using programming techniques, the stochastic metafrontier is formulated and applied to obtain the technology gap ratio (TGR) for efficiency comparisons among countries. One salient feature of our method is that the TGR can be specified as a function of some exogenous variables that reflect group-specific environmental differences, while the mathematical programming is not allowed to do so. Empirical results show that both TGR and metafrontier cost efficiency (MCE) are underestimated by programming techniques. The TGR and MCE exhibit a gradual upward trend during 1996-2000 and then followed by a downward trend, especially after the subprime crisis of 2007-2010. This suggests that a more integrated financial market is able to improve banking efficiency. Smaller banks tend to be more cost efficient than larger ones. Higher profitable banks and more conservative banks are related to greater efficiency.

This dissertation consists of three essays on the empirical analysis of economic growth and technology development. In particular, I consider spillover effects in different frameworks. The first chapter outlines the three topics involved and briefly discusses the motivations, methods as well as some conclusions in each of the following chapters. The second chapter considers the spillovers in economic growth and convergence. Spillovers are prevalent in nowadays' economy. I formally model the spillover effects as the interdependence of total factor productivity (TFP), and develop a model in which spillover effects of R&D through the channel of international trade make the TFPs correlated among countries. In this sense, I apply the thoughts of international trade to the economic growth framework. Empirically, I develop a three-stage generalized method of moment(GMM) to estimate the dynamic panel spatial error autoregressive model. Simulation results show that my estimator is consistent and efficient. Through counterfactual analysis, I find that there are positive spillovers through both geographic connection and trade connection. Such a positive spillover effect, however, slows down the convergence speed. Moreover, there were little spillovers in the early 1960s. Spillover effects become stronger overtime. The third chapter is about the determinants of technology development in China. What makes my paper different from others is that I take a full consideration of the spillover effects: provincial spillovers in Science and Technology (S&T) capital as well as S&T personnel, and international spillovers through trade and FDI. The most interesting point in my paper is that I consider the indirect effects of institutions on technology development. Marketization, measured by the share of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in the economy, affects the production of technology through different channels at different stages. I use a semiparametric varying-coefficient model to account for the effects. In this paper, I find that provincial spillovers are mainly through the externalities of S&T capital stock while international spillovers occur through trade. Marketization affects the technology development through S&T capital, S&T capital spillovers and trade. Although a certain share of SOEs is necessary for technology production, the marketization process will promote the development of technology in China in the long run. The fourth chapter looks into the provincial technology spillovers from another aspect. Instead of the S&T endowment spillovers from the nearby provinces, I consider the technology transfer from the frontier province to the targeted province as well as the absorptive capacity of the targeted province itself. Two forms of technology transfer are analyzed: the technology distance due to the structural discrepancy in the patent portfolio and the technology gap because of the difference in the patent level. Through the empirical analysis, several factors contributing to patent growth, such as S&T investment, road density, international spillovers from imports and FDI, are identified. Moreover, I find that technology transfer due to the technology distance can stimulate patent growth. However, I fail to find robust evidence of technology transfer due to the technology gap, which implies that the provincial technology convergence may not exist in China. / Ph. D.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An application software package implementation is a complex endeavour, and as such it requires the proper understanding, evaluation and redefining of the current business processes to ensure that the project delivers on the objectives set at the start of the project. Numerous factors exist that may contribute to the unsuccessful implementation of application software package projects. However, the most significant contributor to the failure of an application software package project lies in the misalignment of the organisation’s business processes with the functionality of the application software package. Misalignment is attributed to a gap that exists between the business processes of an organisation and what functionality the application software package has to offer to translate the business processes of an organisation into digital form when implementing and configuring an application software package. This gap is commonly referred to as the information technology (IT) gap. The purpose of this assignment is to examine and discuss to what degree a supporting framework such as the Projects IN Controlled Environment (PRINCE2) methodology assists in the alignment of the organisation’s business processes with the functionality of the end product; as so many projects still fail even though the supporting framework is available to assist organisations with the implementation of the application software package. This assignment proposes to define and discuss the IT gap. Furthermore this assignment will identify shortcomings and weaknesses in the PRINCE2 methodology which may contribute to misalignment between the business processes of the organisation and the functionality of the application software package. Shortcomings and weaknesses in the PRINCE2 methodology were identified by: • Preparing a matrix table summarising the reasons for application software package failures by conducting a literature study; Mapping the reasons from the literature study to those listed as reasons for project failure by the Office of Government Commerce (the publishers of the PRINCE2 methodology); • Mapping all above reasons to the PRINCE2 methodology to determine whether the reasons identified are adequately addressed in the PRINCE2 methodology. This assignment concludes by proposing recommendations for aligning the business processes with the functionality of the application software package (addressing the IT gap) as well as recommendations for addressing weaknesses identified in the PRINCE2 methodology. By adopting these recommendations in conjunction with the PRINCE2 methodology the proper alignment between business processes and the functionality of the application software package may be achieved. The end result will be more successful application software package project implementations. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket implementering is komplekse strewe en vereis daarom genoegsame kennis, evaluasie en herdefiniëring van die huidige besigheidsprosesse om te verseker dat die projek resultate lewer volgens die doelwitte wat aan die begin van die projek neergelê is. Daar bestaan talryke faktore wat kan bydrae tot die onsuksesvolle implementering van toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket projekte. Die grootste bydrae tot die mislukking van toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket lê egter by die wanbelyning van die organisasie se besigheidsprosesse met die funksionaliteit van die toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket. Wanbelyning spruit uit gaping tussen die besigheidsprosesse van `n organisasie en die funksionaliteit wat die toepassingsprogrammatuur kan aanbied om die besigheidsprosesse van 'n organisasie om te skakel in digitale formaat wanneer `n toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket geimplementeer en gekonfigureer word. Daar word gewoonlik na hierdie gaping verwys as die informasie tegnologie (IT) gaping. Die doel van hierdie opdrag is om te evalueer en bespreek in watter mate ondersteunende raamwerk soos die PRojects IN Controlled Environment (PRINCE2) metodologie kan help om die organisasie se besigheidsprosesse in lyn te bring met die funksionaliteit van die eindproduk; aangesien so baie projekte steeds misluk ten spyte van die ondersteunende raamwerke wat beskikbaar is om organisasies by te staan met die implementering. Die opdrag beoog om die IT gaping te definieer en te bepreek. Verder sal hierdie opdrag die swakhede in die PRINCE2 metodologie, wat moontlik die volbringing van behoorlike belyning tussen die besigheidsprosesse en die funksionaliteit van die toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket belemmer, identifiseer. Swakhede en tekortkominge in die PRINCE2 metodologie is as volg geïdentifiseer: • Voorbereiding van matriks-tabel wat die redes vir toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket mislukking deur middel van die uitvoering van literatuurstudie opsom • Koppeling van die redes bekom deur middel van die literatuurstudie met die redes vir projek mislukking geidentifiseer deur die Office of Government Commerce (uitgewers van die PRINCE2 metodologie) • Koppeling van al die bogenoemde redes na die PRINCE2 metodologie om vas te stel of die redes wat geïdentifiseer is voldoende deur die PRINCE2 metodologie aangespreek word. Die opdrag sluit af met aanbevelings om die besigheidsprosesse in lyn te bring met die funksionaliteit van die toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket en aanbevelings vir swakhede wat in die PRINCE2 metodologie geïdentifiseer is aan te spreek. Behoorlike belyning tussen besigheidsprosesse en die funksionaliteit van toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket kan behaal word indien hierdie aanbevelings aangeneem word en tesame met die PRINCE2 metodologie gebruik word. Die eindresultaat is meer suksesvolle implementering van toepassingsprogrammatuurpakket projekte.