Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 127-129).

This paper provides empirical evidence on the determinants of foreign ownership in manufacturing industries. Foreign ownership, according to the theory of international production, is the result of the combination of comparative and competitive advantage. An adequate examination of the ownership structure of an industry requires the ability to establish empirically the extent to which international competitiveness of firms rests on comparative and competitive advantage. Analysis is based on a sample of the 30 largest manufacturing firms in Austria. The distinction and definition of comparative and competitive advantage as used in this paper and following from it the conclusions about the ownership structure are consistent with the empirical evidence about the share of employees in foreign-owned firms on the industry level. In particular, the classification of firms as foreign- or domestically-owned is in line with the revealed performance differences between foreign and domestic firms. / Series: Department of Economics Working Paper Series

Submitted by Rafael Ornelas (rafael.amaral.ornelas@gmail.com) on 2014-10-13T14:42:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Comparative Advantage, Heterogeneous Firms and Variable Mark-ups.pdf: 719604 bytes, checksum: a740a6997be4cfdd2be9d1a7f48aad00 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by BRUNA BARROS (bruna.barros@fgv.br) on 2014-10-13T17:17:33Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Comparative Advantage, Heterogeneous Firms and Variable Mark-ups.pdf: 719604 bytes, checksum: a740a6997be4cfdd2be9d1a7f48aad00 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2014-10-14T11:58:54Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Comparative Advantage, Heterogeneous Firms and Variable Mark-ups.pdf: 719604 bytes, checksum: a740a6997be4cfdd2be9d1a7f48aad00 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-14T11:59:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Comparative Advantage, Heterogeneous Firms and Variable Mark-ups.pdf: 719604 bytes, checksum: a740a6997be4cfdd2be9d1a7f48aad00 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-06-27 / We develop a model of comparative advantage with monopolistic competition, that incorporates heterogeneous firms and endogenous mark-ups. We analyse how these features vary across countries with different factor endowments, and across markets of different size. In this model we can obtain trade gains via two channels. First, when we open the economy, most productive firms start to export their product, then, they demand more producing factors and wages rises, thus, those firms that are less productive will be forced to stop to produce. Second channel is via endogenous mark-ups, when we open the economy, the competition gets ``tougher'', then, mark-ups falls, thus, those firms that are less productive will stop to produce. We also show that comparative advantage works as a ``third channel'' of trade gains, because, all trade gains results are magnified in comparative advantage industry of both countries. We also make a numerical exercise to see how endogenous variables of the model vary when trade costs fall.

CoordenaÃÃo de AperfeÃoamento de Pessoal de NÃvel Superior / This search investigated the trade performance of South Common Market (MERCOSUL) with emphasis as consequence of the modification over the word economy, such as the market integration, technological advances and competition gains inducing the international trade to have deep structural transformations. The search started by performing segmentation of word economy in regional blocks changing the multilateral negotiations among countries, trying combining forces to get up the level of competitiveness and assure their insertion in the international market. The main objective of this search is to make analysis of trading performance of MERCOSUL throughout the structure, comparative reveled advantages both inter sectors and among sectors. The data came from different sources as Analysis Systems External Trade Information (Aliceweb and Alice Web Mercosul) from External Trade Secretary, institution belonging to Development Ministry of Brazil. It was taken by portal FAO/STAT. The data also comes from BIRD, IMF, Word Development Indicators, Advanced Science and Technology Institute, Agricultural Ministry of Brazil from where we studied the agricultural commodities grouped by sectors assuming the common definition of MERCOSUL. The analytical model used in this search was the estimation of Reveled Comparative Advantages both inter and among sectors in order to identify the advantages existing in each studied country members in the trade of these sectors inside the block. The search covers the period from 2007 to 2012. By making in this way it was reached results which are in accordance with the objective of the search. It was permitted to conclude that Brazil and Argentina had six sectors in which Brazil had revealed comparative advantage into the MERCOSUL and trade among sectors with productive specialization in six sectors. Argentina has advantage in five sectors by practicing trade among sectors. Argentina also has productive specialization in four sectors. Anchored in the results we can conclude that Brazil continues being the major economy of the block as waited, having the greatest part of this market specialized over the trade of agricultural commodities. Otherwise the block continues needing to solve many problems such as the trading barriers as well to enforce the regional regulators institutions in order to become international and can monitory trade actions of some countries to benefit other Countries which belong to the MERCOSUL. / O presente trabalho investiga o desempenho comercial do Mercado Comum do Sul, em que, as modificaÃÃes na economia mundial, tais como a integraÃÃo dos mercados, avanÃos tecnolÃgicos e ganhos de competitividade induziram o comercio internacional Ãs profundas transformaÃÃes estruturais. Iniciou-se uma segmentaÃÃo da economia mundial em blocos regionais, substituindo as negociaÃÃes multilaterais entre os paÃses, na tentativa de combinarem esforÃos para aumentar o nÃvel de competitividade e garantir sua sobrevivÃncia e inserÃÃo no mercado internacional. O objetivo principal deste trabalho à analisar o desempenho comercial do Mercosul, atravÃs da estrutura, vantagens comparativas reveladas e comÃrcio inter e intra-setorial. As principais fontes de dados utilizadas foram o sistema de anÃlise das InformaÃÃes de ComÃrcio Exterior (Aliceweb e Alice Web Mercosul) da Secretaria ComÃrcio Exterior, ÃrgÃo vinculado ao MinistÃrio do Desenvolvimento, IndÃstria e ComÃrcio Exterior; atravÃs do portal FAO/STAT; Banco Mundial, Fundo MonetÃrio Internacional, World Development Indicators, Advanced Science and Technology Institute, MinistÃrio da Agricultura, PecuÃria e Abastecimento em que foram estudados os produtos agropecuÃrios em termos de setores com Nomenclatura Comum do Mercosul. O modelo analÃtico utilizado neste trabalho foi o cÃlculo de Ãndices de Vantagens Comparativas Reveladas e Inter setorial e Intra-setorial para identificar vantagem no comÃrcio destes setores dentro do bloco pelos paÃses membros no perÃodo que compreende de 2007 a 2012. Com isso, foram alcanÃados os resultados satisfatÃrios como propostos nos objetivos em que o destaque das anÃlises se concentra nas duas maiores economias do bloco, Brasil e Argentina, em que foram encontrados seis setores no qual Brasil possui vantagem comparativa revelada em relaÃÃo ao Mercosul e comÃrcio de tipo intra-setorial, com especializaÃÃo produtiva nestes seis setores e a Argentina possui vantagem em cinco setores praticando comÃrcio de tipo intra-setorial nestes cinco e possuà especializaÃÃo produtiva em quatro setores. Portanto conclui-se que o Brasil continua sendo a maior economia do bloco possuindo desta maneira a maior fatia deste mercado na comercializaÃÃo dos produtos agropecuÃrios. No entanto, o bloco ainda precisa resolver muitos problemas como no caso de barreiras alfandegÃrias que outrora os paÃses enfrentam nas exportaÃÃes destes setores e como tambÃm procurar fortificar os seus ÃrgÃos reguladores de maneira que torne supranacional fiscalizando aÃÃes comerciais sem favorecimento de algum paÃs membro.

We build a general Ricardian model of international trade, which extends Eaton and Kortum (2002), in order to analyze the sources of the gains from trade, the effects of trade openness on productivity, and the role of nominal exchange rates. For general distributions of industry efficiencies, welfare gains can always be de- composed into a selection and a reallocation effect. The former is the change in average efficiency due to the selection of industries that survive international competition. The latter is the rise in the weight of exporting industries in domestic production, due the reallocation of workers away from non-exporting industries. This decomposition, which is hard to calculate in the general case, simpli es dramatically with Fréchet- distributed efficiencies, providing easy-to-quantify model-based measures of these two effects. For an average of 46 countries in 2000 and 2005, the selection effect turns out to be somewhat more important than the reallocation effect. By analyzing the relationship between trade openness and total factor productivity (TFP), we propose a novel methodology to measure the latter. The logic of our approach is to use a structural model and measure TFP not from its "primitive" (the aggregate production function), but from its observed implications. We estimate TFP levels of the manufacturing sector of 19 OECD countries, relative to the United States, in 1985-2002, as the average productivity a proxy for aggregate TFP that best ts data on trade, production and wages. Our measures turn out to be easy to compute and are no longer mere residuals. To examine the role exchange rates in a model of real consumption and production decisions with no money, we follow an insight of Keynes (1931) and replicate a currency depreciation with an increase in import barriers and a symmetric decline in export barriers. By mimicking changes in exchange rates with changes in the model parameters, we can demonstrate a series of classical results and conjectures, in a very general framework with many countries, tradeable goods and non-tradeable goods. We show not only that a depreciation has no real effects with flexible wages, but, with sticky wages, we are able to prove that an undervalued currency causes involuntary unemployment abroad, while at home it determines inefficiently high employment in the export sector, raising real GDP but lowering welfare. If the currency is overvalued, we also show that there exists an appropriate depreciation that restores competitive prices, with welfare-enhancing effects, proving Friedman's conjecture (1953).

The aim is to draw attention to an inefficient allocation of resources and capital, which has resulted in rising food prices and the high number of hungry people in developing coutries, which European and U.S. subsidy policy does nt accumulate capital and invest in their production. I focused on the prices of raw materials for biofuel production in connection with legislative obligations and CO2 emissions, including the impact of indirect land use changes (ILUC) and based on searches draw conclusions from primary studies that deal with macroeconomic modeling. This thesis confirmed the hypothesis that the current agricultural policy on biofuels does not comply with the theory of comparative advantage of growing food where it is advatageous both economically and environmentally.

The Thesis analyses the impact that humanly devised institutions, defined as “formal and informal constraints on political, economic, and social interactions”, have on international trade and the patterns comparative advantage. The key assumption of the Thesis is that although institutions impact on the whole economy they may influence some sectors more than others. Industry‘s dependence on institutions is a technological feature of production. Hence, for example, industries that require a large number of intermediate inputs for production will be more dependent on the quality of contract enforcement regulation for their growth. The Thesis analyses 4 different sub-components of institutional quality: contract enforcement, financial development, property rights and labour market institutions. The Thesis’ hypotheses regarding each of these sub-components are as follows: 1. Countries with more efficient contract enforcement regulations will specialize (have a comparative advantage) in more complex sectors that depend on contracts with suppliers/producers for their growth.2. Countries with more secure property rights will specialize in sectors that are more dependent on intangible assets for production.3. Countries with higher financial development will have a comparative advantage in sectors that are more dependent on external finance for their growth.4. Countries with more flexible labour markets will specialize in more volatile industries. In order to test these assumptions we construct three econometric models (Chapters 4-6). In Chapter 4 we assess how contract enforcement regulations, financial development, property rights and labour market institutions impact on trade volumes using a well-known gravity model. In Chapter 5 we test whether these sub-components have an impact on growth of value-added at industry level. Finally, in chapter 6 the impact on firms’ productivity is tested. The results show that contract enforcement regulations and financial development affect countries’ comparative advantage by affecting countries trade flows, value-added and productivity in a way consistent with the hypothesis. The results regarding the other two institutional sub-components are mixed but we do find some evidence the countries with more secure property rights export more and have higher value-added growth in sectors that are more dependent on intangible assets. These results are robust to different specifications. Using a novel set of instrumental variables we show that causality runs from institutions to trade, value-added and productivity rather than the reverse. We supplement the empirical evidence with a case-study of Lesotho’s textiles and garment industry and also find some evidence that this export-oriented industry emerged in Lesotho at least partly due to this country’s good institutions that are better than its African competitors. From a policy perspective our results imply that institutional and regulatory reform - especially in enforcement of contracts and financial sector regulations - may enhance the capacity of poor countries to move up to specialization into higher-valued products and to reap benefits from international integration.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(農学) / 甲第20716号 / 農博第2245号 / 新制||農||1053(附属図書館) / 学位論文||H29||N5082(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 福井 清一, 教授 伊藤 順一, 教授 梅津 千恵子 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DGAM

Recently, capital investment amounts into Mississippi’s forest products industry have been disproportionate compared with those in neighboring states. Reasons for this have been casually hypothesized, but the topic has not been researched in depth. An economic model has been developed that will aid stakeholders in examining and addressing this issue. The model utilizes county-level data related to southern yellow pine (SYP) lumber manufacturing in tandem with a linear programming solver to produce estimates of annual costs for a SYP sawmill built in any southeastern county. Early results suggest that Mississippi has been an underutilized location for investments in SYP lumber manufacturing based on the costs estimated by the model. The model will be exceptionally useful to those involved in forest industry recruitment efforts because it provides an objective method by which sites in Mississippi can be evaluated for suitability in contrast with sites in neighboring states.

The purpose of this paper was to examine the competitiveness of the South African sugar industry relative to the top ten exporters of the product, namely Brazil, Thailand, Netherlands, Mexico, China, Germany, Canada, France, Belgium and the United States of America. Different techniques were used in the study to ensure that the main objective of the study was achieved. Three popular indices, namely the Balassa Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA#) Index, the Net Export Index (NXi) and the Relative Revealed Comparative Trade Advantage (RTA) Index were used to compare the competitiveness of the top ten sugar exporting countries including South Africa. The Trade Potential Index was also applied in the study to investigate markets that South Africa could use to increase its exports. Time series data collected on the trade map and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations were used for the analysis of the markets by using an Excel spreadsheet. The results of the study showed that South Africa has a trade competitive advantage against the majority of the countries considered. South Africa's competitive performance was surpassed by that of Brazil, which was the strongest trader of sugar, followed by Thailand and China. The remaining seven countries (Mexico, Belgium, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, USA and China) were all exceeded by the South African sugar industry. The top potential markets that South Africa could exploit to increase its exports were identified with the use of the Trade Potential Index (TPI). The countries that were identified were selected by calculating the scores, comparing tariffs imposed by these markets to the exporters of sugar and looking at the concentration of the markets that supply these potential markets. The United States of America, Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Egypt were identified as the top five countries that South Africa could exploit for its sugar exports. South Africa has trade agreements with the majority of these countries which assist the country in obtaining preferential agreements when exporting its products to these countries. Recommendations were made that could help the sugar industry to grow its competitiveness. / Inhloso yaleliphepha bekukuhlola kuncintisana kwemboni yashukela yaseNingizimu Afrika nayicatsaniswa nebatfumeli ngaphandle labasembili labalishumi balomkhicito, lekuyiBrazil, iThailand, iNetherlands, iMexico, iChina, iGermany, iCanada, iFrance, iBelgium ne-United States of America. Kusetjentiswa emasu lahlukene kulesifundvo kucinisekisa kutsi inhloso lenkhulu yesifundvo iyaphunyelelwa. Kusetjentiswe ema-indice, lekuyi-Balassa Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA#) Index, i-Net Export Index (NXi) kanye ne-Relative Revealed Comparative Trade Advantage (RTA) Index kucatsanisa kuncintisana kwalamave lasembili lalishumi lakhicita shukela kufaka ekhatsi eNingizimu Afrika. I-Trade Potential Index nayo isetjentisiwe kulesifundvo kuphenya timakethe letingasetjentiswa yiNingizimu Afrika kute ikhulise kutfumela ngaphandle kwayo lomkhicito washukela. Idatha yeluchungechunge lwesikhatsi legcogcwe kulibalave lekuhwebelana kanye naseNhlanganweni Yekudla Neyetekulima yaMhlab'uhlangene isetjentisiswe kuloluhlatiyo lwetimakethe ngekusebentisa si-spreadsheet se-Excel. Imiphumela yesifundvo ikhombise kwekutsi iNingizimu Afrika inekusitakala ngekuncintisana ekuhwebeni nayicatsaniswa nelinyenti lalamave lamanyenti lahlatiyiwe. Kusebenta kwekuncintisana kweNingizimu Afrika kundlulwe kusebenta kweBrazil, lebeyingumhwebi lomkhulu washukela, ilandzelwe yiThailand kanye neChina. Lamave lasikhombisa lasele (iMexico, iBelgium, iNetherlands, iCanada, iGermany, i-USA neFrance) onkhe andlulwe yimboni yashukela yaseNingizimu Afrika. Timakethe letingaba khona letiphambili leti iNingizimu Afrika ingatisebentisa kukhulisa kutfumela ngaphandle kwayo tibonwe ngekusebentisa iTrade Potential Index (TPI). Emave laboniwe akhetfwe ngekubala imiphumela, kucatsanisa ematharifu lafakwe nguletimakethe kubatfumeli bangaphandle bashukela nekubuka kulokucocana kwetimakethe lephakela letimakethe letingaba khona. I-United States of America, iLesotho, iDemocratic Republic of Congo, iMalawi ne-Egypt abonwe njengemave lasembili lasihlanu langasetjentiswa yiNingizimu Afrika kutfola ngaphandle shukela wayo. INingizimu Afrika inetivumelwano tekuhwebelana nelinyenti lalamave lokusita lelive ekutfoleni tivumelwano tekubekwa ngembili nangabe kutfunyelwa ngaphandle imikhicito yayo kulamave. Tiphakamiso letingasita imboni yashukela kukhulisa kuncintisana kwayo tentiwe. / Inhloso yalo mbhalo wocwaningo kwabe kuwukucubungula nokuhlaziya amandla okuncintisana ngempumelelo kwemboni kashukela yaseNingizimu Afrika uma iqhathaniswa namazwe ayishumi ahamba phambili emhlabeni ekuthumeleni imikhiqizo kashukela emazweni angaphandle, okuyi-Brazil, Thailand, Netherlands, Mexico, China, Germany, Canada, France, Belgium kanye neMelika (USA). Kulolu cwaningo kwasetshenziswa izindlela ezihlukahlukene ngenhloso yokuqinisekisa ukufezekiswa kwenjongo enkulu yocwaningo. Kwasetshenziswa izinkomba-simo ezintathu ezidumile futhi okuyizona ezisetshenziswa kakhulu, okuyi-Balassa Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA#) Index, Net Export Index (NXi) kanye ne-Relative Revealed Comparative Trade Advantage (RTA) Index ukuqhathanisa amandla okuncintisana ngempumelelo kwamazwe ayishumi ahamba phambili emhlabeni ekuthumeleni ushukela emazweni angaphandle, kubandakanya neNingizimu Afrika. I-Trade Potential Index yasetshenziswa futhi nayo kulolu cwaningo ukuphenya nokucubungula izimakethe ezingasetshenziswa yiNingizimu Afrika ukukhulisa inani lemikhiqizo yayo ethunyelwa emazweni angaphandle. Idatha eqoqwe ochungechungeni lwamaqophelo alandelana ngokwesikhathi ebalazweni lokuhwebelana kanye naseNhlanganweni Yokudla NezolimoyeNhlangano Yezizwe yasetshenziselwa ukuhlaziya izimakethe ku-Excel spreadsheet. Imiphumela yocwaningo yabonisa ukuthi iNingizimu Afrika isesimweni esikahle futhi inamandla angcono okuncintisana ngempumelelo kwezohwebo uma iqhathaniswa neningi lamazwe acutshungulwayo. Amandla eNingizimu Afrika okuncintisana ngempumelelo adlulwa yilawo e-Brazil, okuyizwe elinamandla kakhulu futhi elihamba phambili kwezokuhwebelana ngoshukela, kulandele i-Thailand kanye ne-France. Imboni kashukela yaseNingizimu Afrika inamandla angaphezulu kwawo wonke lawa amanye amazwe asele ayisikhombisa (okuyi-Mexico, Belgium, Netherlands, Canada, Germany, USA kanye ne-China). Amazwe ahamba phambili angasetshenziswa yiNingizimu Afrika ekukhuphuleni umthamo wemikhiqizo yayo ethunyelwa emazweni angaphandle ahlonzwa ngokusebenzisa i-Trade Potential Index (TPI). Lawo mazwe ahlonziwe akhethwe ngokubala inani lamaphuzu, ukuqhathanisa intela yempahla ekhokhiswa yilawo mazwe emazweni angaphandle athumela ushukela kanye nokubheka ubuningi bamazwe athumela imikhiqizo yawo kulawo mazwe angasetshenziswa yiNingizimu Afrika ukukhulisa umthamo wemikhiqizo yawo ethunyelwa emazweni angaphandle. I-USA, Lesotho, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi kanye ne-Egypt ahlonzwa njengamazwe aphuma phambili iNingizimu Afrika engathumela kuwona ushukela. INingizimu Afrika inezivumelwano zokuhwebelana neningi lalawa mazwe, okuyizivumelwano eziyilekelelayo ekutholeni izivumelwano ezizokwenza ibhekelelwe kangcono futhi icatshangelwe uma ithumela imikhiqizo yayo kulawa mazwe angaphandle. Kwenziwa izincomo ezingayilekelela imboni kashukela ukuthi ikwazi ukukhulisa amandla ayo okuncintisana ngempumelelo. / Agriculture and  Animal Health / M. Sc. (Agriculture)