Export capacity and capital stock augmentation through imports: Evidence from Sub-Saharan African countries

This paper investigates the capital goods imports of Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries from 2002 to 2017. The composition of capital goods imports has become less diverse over time in more than half of the countries studied. Colonial ties no longer determine the sourcing of capital goods as China is now the top source. Trade gravity regressions using the Poisson pseudo-maximum-likelihood estimator show that bilateral exports of non-primary products by SSA countries and their low-income peers are associated with increased net stock of imported general-purpose capital goods. Additionally, there is evidence that the net stock of some types of imported equipment and machinery is associated with increased non-primary exports of items utilising these capital goods with elasticity estimates ranging from 0.10 to 1.10. Thus, there is some form of economic restructuring in the region gleaned from increased exports of non-primary products brought about by capital stock augmentation through imports

Teaching International Microenterprise Development: An Interdisciplinary Experiential Learning Approach

In this article, the authors describe the core elements of an integrative economics-marketing course on international microenterprise development. The course covers issues related to poverty, market approaches to poverty alleviation, various methods to elicit willingness to pay, market segmentation, market research techniques, fair trade, and other topics. Students apply concepts and methods learned to a live case study. Assignments and in-class activities are designed to turn the handicraft work of four groups of ethnic minority women in a mountainous region of Vietnam into a viable and sustainable microenterprise

Managerial Valuation of Applicant Credentials and Personal Traits in Hiring Decisions

We study how managers value applicant credentials and personal traits in hiring decisions. Using the ordered probit model, we confirm previous results – managers rank applicant traits higher than credentials. However, we also uncover patterns not previously observed – managerial valuations of some of these characteristics are dependent on managers' perception of the overall state of the economy, on firm and immediate workplace characteristics, and on managers' personal characteristics. Manager valuations of credentials vary with a large number of factors; this is not so for applicant personal traits. This is not surprising as most managers view the five traits considered "as extremely important."personality, credentials, hiring practices, ordered probit

The exporting and subcontracting decisions of Viet Nam\u27s small- and medium-sized enterprises

The exporting and subcontracting decisions of a panel of Vietnamese private small- and medium-sized enterprises is investigated. We find that among subcontractors, subcontracting is a supplementary rather than primary activity; the propensity to export increases with managers\u27 or owners\u27 knowledge of customs law; and, there is some evidence that subcontractors are more likely to have made product improvements while exporters are more likely to have adopted new processes or technologies. Our study provides useful insights into SME exporting and subcontracting strategies made more relevant by the expected reductions in trade costs associated with the World Trade Organization\u27s Trade Facilitation Agreement

Detection of infectious disease outbreaks in twenty-two fragile states, 2000-2010: a systematic review.

Fragile states are home to a sixth of the world's population, and their populations are particularly vulnerable to infectious disease outbreaks. Timely surveillance and control are essential to minimise the impact of these outbreaks, but little evidence is published about the effectiveness of existing surveillance systems. We did a systematic review of the circumstances (mode) of detection of outbreaks occurring in 22 fragile states in the decade 2000-2010 (i.e. all states consistently meeting fragility criteria during the timeframe of the review), as well as time lags from onset to detection of these outbreaks, and from detection to further events in their timeline. The aim of this review was to enhance the evidence base for implementing infectious disease surveillance in these complex, resource-constrained settings, and to assess the relative importance of different routes whereby outbreak detection occurs.We identified 61 reports concerning 38 outbreaks. Twenty of these were detected by existing surveillance systems, but 10 detections occurred following formal notifications by participating health facilities rather than data analysis. A further 15 outbreaks were detected by informal notifications, including rumours.There were long delays from onset to detection (median 29 days) and from detection to further events (investigation, confirmation, declaration, control). Existing surveillance systems yielded the shortest detection delays when linked to reduced barriers to health care and frequent analysis and reporting of incidence data.Epidemic surveillance and control appear to be insufficiently timely in fragile states, and need to be strengthened. Greater reliance on formal and informal notifications is warranted. Outbreak reports should be more standardised and enable monitoring of surveillance systems' effectiveness

Resolving the ancestry of Austronesian-speaking populations

There are two very different interpretations of the prehistory of Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), with genetic evidence invoked in support of both. The “out-of-Taiwan” model proposes a major Late Holocene expansion of Neolithic Austronesian speakers from Taiwan. An alternative, proposing that Late Glacial/postglacial sea-level rises triggered largely autochthonous dispersals, accounts for some otherwise enigmatic genetic patterns, but fails to explain the Austronesian language dispersal. Combining mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y-chromosome and genome-wide data, we performed the most comprehensive analysis of the region to date, obtaining highly consistent results across all three systems and allowing us to reconcile the models. We infer a primarily common ancestry for Taiwan/ISEA populations established before the Neolithic, but also detected clear signals of two minor Late Holocene migrations, probably representing Neolithic input from both Mainland Southeast Asia and South China, via Taiwan. This latter may therefore have mediated the Austronesian language dispersal, implying small-scale migration and language shift rather than large-scale expansion

R And D, Foreign Direct Investment And Technology Sourcing?

The U.S. experienced a surge in foreign direct investment (FDI) during the 1980s. To date, we do not fully understand what the research and development (R and D) effects of FDI are. FDI can affect the host country\u27s R and D activities in at least two ways. First, if domestic firms perceive foreign entrants as serious threats to their domestic market share, they will change their R and D policies hence industry-wide R and D intensity also changes. Second, the increase in R and D intensity may be attributed to foreign firms\u27 R and D activities to acclimatize to U.S. conditions. Using a panel of 4-digit SIC industries from 1981-91, there is some evidence that the latter scenario may be a possible explanation for the observed changes in industry-wide R and D intensity

Trade, Foreign Direct Investment And Industry Performance

This paper investigates the US margins effect of imports and FDI using a panel of 448 manufacturing industries for 1982-1990. In the single equation two-way fixed effects regressions, greenfield FDI has no significant effect on margins; while there is some indication that non-greenfield FDI affect margins and the effect is found to depend on the level of industry concentration. When potential endogeneity among variables are taken into account, both types of FDI are found to increase margins. However, for non-greenfield FDI, the effect appears with a lag of two periods. For the most part, the results indicate that the positive effect on margins holds for industries with \u27low\u27 levels of concentration. Beyond some \u27critical\u27 level, the competitive effect of FDI predominates. © Elsevier Science B.V