Globalization and Innovation in Emerging Markets

Globalization brings opportunities and pressures for domestic firms in emerging markets to innovate and improve their competitive position. Using data on firms in 27 transition economies, we test for the effects of globalization through the impact of increased competition and foreign direct investment on domestic firms' efforts to raise their capability (innovate) by upgrading their technology or the quality of their product/service, taking into account firm heterogeneity. We find competition has a negative effect on innovation, especially for firms further from the frontier, and that the supply chain of multinational enterprises and international trade are important channels for domestic firm innovation. We do not find support for the inverted U effect of competition on innovation. There is weak evidence that firms in a more pro-business environment invest more in innovation and are more likely to display the inverted U relationship between competition and innovation.emerging markets, globalization, innovation

Globalization's impact on compliance with labor standards

In an effort to shed some light on the larger question of labor standardsvand globalization, we seek to examine compliance with minimum wage legislation in Indonesia. Indonesia is an ideal case study because the govern ment made minimum wages a central component of its labor market policies in the 1990s. During this time, minimum wages quadrupled in nominal terms and doubled in real terms. In this paper we estimate the relationship between international competition and compliance with the statutory minimum wage in Indonesia. We identify firms facing international competition with two plant-level indica tors. First, we use the plant's export orientation as one measure of international competition. Second, we use the plant's foreign ownership as another measure of international competition. Critics claim that foreign firms are exploiting foreign workers, although our research on developing countries has shown that foreign enterprises are more likely to pay higher wages. This framework provides a direct test of the relationship between meas ures of globalization and labor standards, as defined by compliance with the regional minimum wage.globalization; minimum wages; foreign investment; corporate social responsibility

Can Deunionization Lead to International Outsourcing?

We analyze unionized firms’ incentives to outsource intermediate goods production to foreign (low-cost) subcontractors. Such outsourcing leads to increased wages for the remaining in-house production. We find that stronger unions, which imply higher domestic wages, reduce incentives for international outsourcing. Though somewhat surprising, this result provides a theoretical reconciliation of the empirically observed trends of deunionization and increased international outsourcing in many countries. We further show that globalization - interpreted as either market integration or increased product market competition - will increase incentives for international outsourcing.international outsourcing, deunionization, globalization

Towards global competition: catalysts and constraints

The ongoing process of globalization, which is boosted by technological and political catalysts as well, increasingly raises public concerns. It is feared that international integration will be accompanied by national disintegration, since the income distribution in rich countries will become less uniform. Moreover, policy-makers become aware of the fact that global competition also encompasses their realm, because it constrains the scope for independent national policies. However, they should refrain from restricting global competition by protectionistic measures, because substantial gains from globalization for the world economy in general and terms-of-trade improvements for industrial countries in particular are at stake.

Can deunionization lead to international outsourcing?

We analyze unionized firms’ incentives to outsource intermediate goods production to foreign (low-cost) subcontractors. Such outsourcing leads to increased wages for the remaining in-house production. We find that stronger unions, which implies higher domestic wages, reduce incentives for international outsourcing. Though somewhat surprising, this results provides a theoretical reconciliation of the empirically observed trends of deunionization and increased international outsourcing in many countries. We further show that globalization — interpreted as either market integration or increased product market competition — will increase incentives for international outsourcing.International outsourcing; Deunionization; Globalization

Implications of Globalization for Monetary Policy

This paper argues that the implications of globalization for monetary policy come mainly through two channels: On the one hand, the many structural changes, which are associated with the globalization process, cause an increase in uncertainty surrounding monetary policy. This leads to an increase in uncertainty about how to interpret macroeconomic data/indicators and about the monetary transmission mechanism. On the other hand, by strengthening the process of global economic integration, the globalization process increases international competition. Thereby, globalization forces market players to make structural adjustments or reforms which change the conditions or constraints under which monetary policy is implemented.

Globalization and Innovation in Emerging Markets

Globalization brings opportunities and pressures for domestic firms in emerging market economies to innovate and improve their competitive position. Using recent data on firms in 27 transition economies, we test for the effects of globalization through the impact of increased competition and foreign direct investment on domestic firms’ efforts to raise their capability (innovate) by upgrading their technology or their product/service (improving quality or developing a new one), taking into account firm heterogeneity. We find support for the prediction that competition has a negative effect on innovation, especially for firms further from the frontier, and that the supply chain of multinational enterprises and international trade are important channels for domestic firm innovation. We do not find support for the inverted U effect of competition on innovation. There is partial support for the hypothesis that firms in a more pro-business environment invest more in innovation and are more likely to display the inverted U relationship between competition and innovation.competition, innovation, emerging markets, spillovers

Globalization and innovation in emerging markets

Globalization brings opportunities and pressures for domestic firms in emerging markets to innovate and improve their competitive position. Using data on firms in 27 transition economies, the authors test for the effects of globalization through the impact of increased competition and foreign direct investment on domestic firms'efforts to innovate (raise their capability) by upgrading their technology, improving the quality of their product or service, or acquiring certification. They find that competition has a negative effect on innovation, especially for firms further from the efficiency frontier, and we do not find support for an inverted U effect of competition on innovation. The authors show that the supply chain of multinational enterprises and international trade are important channels for domestic firms'innovation. They detect no evidence that firms in a more pro-business environment are more likely to display a positive or inverted U relationship between competition and innovation, or that they are more sensitive to foreign presence.E-Business,Education for Development (superceded),Microfinance,Labor Policies,Emerging Markets

The positive analysis about the condition of Chinese technology gain FDI

The technical level in 21st century will directly decide the international competition ability of a country and become the core factor which the international competition will subdue. Using the reverse effect of shift of technology in foreign investment, a company gains advanced technology through foreign investment and shift it to the investment country, which movement we call it technical gain FDI. Various countries in the world especially the developing countries, such as China, its research level and the environment can’t adapt the demand of economic globalization. So it is a realistic choice to the developing countries to develop technology gain investment and combine with the other foreign investment to gain the advanced technology.international competition, foreign direct investment gains, globalisation

Does globalization restrict budgetary autonomy? A multidimensional approach

Does globalization restrict the leeway for national budgetary policy? With the help of cluster and discriminant analysis this study provides evidence on the basis of the experience of OECD countries since the 1970s. Four budgetary dimensions are included in the analysis: tax structure, expenditure structure, public debt and budget size. Globalization as a potential driving force for changes in government finance is identified in form of variables on the existence of capital and current account restrictions, on the exposure to international trade and the exchange rate regime. The results suggest that globalization does indeed matter for government budgets. However, substantial room for an individual national policy particularly in regard to expenditure structure and public debt is left. --Fiscal Policy,Tax Competition,Globalization,Cluster Analysis,Discriminant Analysis