21,092 research outputs found

    China’s Energy Economy: A Survey of the Literature

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    This paper reviews literature on China’s energy economics, focusing especially on: i) the relationship between energy consumption and economic growth, ii) China’s changing energy intensity, iii) energy demand and energy -capital and -labor substitution, iv) the emergence of energy markets in China, vi) and policy reforms in the energy industry. After reviewing the literature, the study presents the main findings and suggests some topics for further study.China; Energy; Literature

    Technology upgrading of middle income economies: A new approach and results

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    We explore issues of measurement for technology upgrading of the economies moving from middle to high-income status. In exploring this issue, we apply theoretically relevant and empirically grounded middle level conceptual and statistical framework based on three dimensions: (i) Intensity (ii) breadth of technological upgrading, and (iii) technology and knowledge exchange. As an outcome, we construct a three-pronged composite indicator of technology upgrading based on 35 indicators which reflect different drivers and patterns of technology upgrading of countries at different income levels. We show that technology upgrading of middle-income economies is distinctively different from that of low and high-income economies. Our results suggest the existence of middle-income trap in technology upgrading - i.e. countries' technology upgrading activities are not reflected in their income levels. Based on the simple statistical analysis we show that the middle-income trap is present in all three aspects of technology upgrading, but their importance varies across different aspects. A trap seems to be higher for 'breadth' of technology upgrading than for 'intensity' of technology upgrading and is by far the highest for the dimension of knowledge and technology interaction with the global economy. Finally, our research shows that technology upgrading is a multidimensional process and that it would be methodologically wrong to aim for an aggregate index

    Innovation and Foreign Technology in Italy,1861-2011

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    The paper explores the long run evolution of Italy’s performance in technological innovation as a function of international technology transfer, reconstructing the different phases and dimensions of Italian innovative activity, tracking the transfer of foreign technological knowledge through a number of channels, analysing the impact of imported technology. The study is based on a newly constructed dataset, over the 1861-2009 period, composed of variables related to: innovation activity performance; foreign technology transfer; domestic absorptive and innovative capability. The analysis highlights, also by econometric assessment, the significant contribution of foreign technology both to innovation activity results and to productivity growth. Differences across channels of technology transfer and historical phases emerge, also in connection with the evolution of human capital endowment and domestic innovative capacity. Machinery imports contributed positively both to innovation activity and to productivity growth; inward FDI contributed positively to productivity growth, but not to indigenous innovation activity; the accumulation of technical human capital fuelled both. In the long Italian Golden Age, for the first time the association of foreign technological knowledge with indigenous innovation processes strengthened productivity significantly. More recently instead the dismal productivity growth is negatively associated with formalised innovation activity under-performance and reduced imports of disembodied technologyItaly,Technology Transfer,Innovation,Absorptive Capability,Patenting

    Towards A Competitive Manufacturing Sector

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    The Indian manufacturing sector has grown at an impressive average rate of 9.5 per cent annually since 2003-04. Its sustained growth is crucial for generating employment opportunities needed to absorb the rapidly expanding workforce. In this context, this paper reviews the current state of the sector and focuses on determinants of its competitiveness. The paper finds that Indian manufacturing sector exhibits a great deal of regional variation and a marked dualism between the organized and the unorganized segments in terms of both productivity and wage levels. The level of labour absorption in the organized manufacturing sector has been weak as reflected in the declining labour intensity in this sector. This does not augur well for achieving inclusive growth. We also find that although there have been significant changes in the composition of exports in the last 20 years; India is still a very small player at the global level, especially in knowledge intensive and advanced technology products. Finally, the paper explores Indias potential for transforming itself into a hub of mass manufacturing. We find that the main constraints in doing so have been the low level of R&D, relative lack of skilled personnel and relatively low FDI levels.manufacturing, competitiveness, mass manufacturing

    Economic Proximity and Technology Flows: South Africa?s Influence and the Role of Technological Interaction in Botswana?s Diversification Effort

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    In less than a decade after the end of the apartheid, South Africa has intensified its economic ties with its African neighbours to become one of the top-ten investors and trading partners of many African countries, displacing companies from the former colonial powers in Europe. Among such South Africa?s closest trade partners, Botswana has enjoyed one of the highest growth rates in the world for several decades, thanks to its rich mineral reserves, but its diamonds-dominated export structure has barely changed over this growth period. In a national endeavour to reduce its dependence on diamond exports, Botswana recognizes the importance of adopting foreign technologies and deploys sustained efforts to move to high value-added activities in other industries. Since the successful adoption of new technologies requires active technological learning, this paper takes the national innovation systems (NIS) approach and uses industry level panel data to analyse the role played by the proximity and interactions ...innovation systems, technological learning, diversification

    International trade as a channel of influence of globalization on economic development of the countries-parties of OBOR initiative

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    The paper is aimed to discuss the influence of promoting free-trade between countries participants of Belt and Road initiative. the globalization of world trade can facilitate growth, and to inhibit it. The latter is the case, if there is a fixing of specialization of developing countries in exporting raw materials. And this is a key challenge for Russia, in relation to participation in the OBOR initiative. Opportunities for mutual benefit and win-win cooperation in international trade within OBOR countries are discussed. The paper offers policy recommendations for Russia in the conditions of integration into the world economy in the framework of OBOR project

    Working Paper 07-11 - The determinants of industry-level total factor productivity in Belgium

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    In this Working Paper the impact of potential determinants of total factor productivity, i.e. the part of output that cannot be explained by the quantity of production factors, is estimated for Belgium using industry-level data for the period 1988-2007.Total factor productivity, Competition, R&D

    Competitiveness of the Serbian Economy

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    Sources of Chinese Demand for Resource Commodities

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    Is China’s demand for resources driven predominantly by domestic factors or by global demand for its exports? The answer to this question is important for many resource-exporting countries, such as Australia, Brazil, Canada and India. This paper provides evidence that China’s (mainly manufacturing) exports have been a significant driver of its demand for resource commodities over recent decades. First, it employs input-output tables to demonstrate that, historically, manufacturing has been at least as important as construction as a driver of China’s demand for resource-intensive metal products. Second, it shows that global trade in non-oil resource commodities can be described by the gravity model of trade. Using this model it is found that, controlling for domestic expenditure (including investment), exports are a sizeable and significant determinant of a country’s resource imports, and that this has been true for China as well as for other countries.China; trade; investment; resource commodities; gravity model
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