Agglomeration economies, globalization and productivity. Firm level evidence for Slovenia.

This paper analyzes the impact of agglomeration economies on firm level performance measured by total factor productivity for Slovenia. To estimate total factor productivity, we use a control function approach to capture endogenous input choices and self selection. In contrast to most of the literature, we introduce agglomeration economies that are linked to globalization. In particular, we distinguish between knowledge spillovers related to domestic and foreign sources of agglomeration effects and analyze the impact of regional export market exposure, which we call international market access. We find positive effects of regional knowledge spillovers and international market access on firm level total factor productivity. These effects are stronger for micro and small firms and for firms operating in service sectors. We also show that knowledge spillovers are amplified when there are more foreign multinationals in a region.

Technology Transfer through FDI in Top-10 Transition Countries: How Important are Direct Effects, Horizontal and Vertical Spillovers?

The paper exploits a large set of more than 8,000 firms for ten advanced transition countries in order to uncover the importance of different channels of technology transfer through FDI and its impact on productivity growth of local firms. In addition to direct effects, we also distinguish between intra-industry (horizontal) and inter-industry (vertical) spillovers from foreign owned firms to local firms. After correcting for foreign investment selection bias and controlling for endogeneity of input demand (using a dynamic system GMM approach), direct FDI effects were found to provide by far the most important productivity effect for local firms in transition countries. Direct effects of FDI are found to provide on average an impact on firm’s productivity that is larger by factor 50 than the impact of backward linkages and by factor 500 larger than the impact of horizontal spillovers.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/39934/3/wp549.pd

Technology Transfer through FDI in Top-10 Transition Countries: How Important are Direct Effects, Horizontal and Vertical Spillovers?

The paper exploits a large set of more than 8,000 firms for ten advanced transition countries in order to uncover the importance of different channels of technology transfer through FDI and its impact on productivity growth of local firms. In addition to direct effects, we also distinguish between intra-industry (horizontal) and inter-industry (vertical) spillovers from foreign owned firms to local firms. After correcting for foreign investment selection bias and controlling for endogeneity of input demand (using a dynamic system GMM approach), direct FDI effects were found to provide by far the most important productivity effect for local firms in transition countries. Direct effects of FDI are found to provide on average an impact on firm’s productivity that is larger by factor 50 than the impact of backward linkages and by factor 500 larger than the impact of horizontal spillovers.Foreign direct investments, technology transfer, spillovers, transition economies

Secondary Privatization in Slovenia: Evolution of Ownership Structure and Company Performance Following Mass Privatization

This volume contains the output of country research undertaken in Slovenia in 2000-2001 by a team directed by Andreja Bohm and Marko Simoneti under the international comparative project "Secondary Privatization: the Evolution of Ownership Structures of Privatized Enterprises". The project was supported by the European Union's Phare ACE* Programme 1997 (project P97-8201 R) and was coordinated by Barbara Blaszczyk from the Center for Social and Economic Research (CASE) in Warsaw, Poland. The Slovenian research was additionally co-financed by the research grant received by Central and Eastern European Privatization Network from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Republic of Slovenia (V5-9140-98). The support of the ACE Programme made it possible to organize the cooperation of an international group of scholars (from the Czech Republic, France, Poland, Slovenia and the U.K.). The entire project was devoted to the investigation of secondary ownership changes in enterprises privatized in special privatization schemes (i.e., mass privatization schemes and MEBOs**) in three Central European countries - the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia. Through a combination of different research methods, such as secondary analysis of previous research, analysis of legal and other regulatory instruments, original field research, statistical data base research and econometric analysis of individual enterprise data, the project aimed to investigate the scope, pace and trends in secondary ownership changes, the factors and barriers affecting them and the degree of ownership concentration resulting from them. In presenting a clear picture of secondary privatization trends in Slovenia, the authors of this volume tried to evaluate the effectiveness of various privatization schemes in terms of their open-endedness (i.e., the degree to which they foster flexibility in adjustments of ownership structures) and in terms of achieving good corporate governance. Additionally, they formulate and examine hypotheses concerning the relationships between changes in the economic performance of enterprises and post-privatization changes in their ownership structures. This report also includes a set of recommendations concerning necessary changes in the regulations and policies governing privatization and capital markets in Slovenia, designed to foster the development of privatized enterprises and to meet the requirements of the process of accession to the European Union. We hope that the results of this research will be of great interest for everyone interested in the little-researched question of what has happened to companies after privatization in transition countries.privatization, secondary transactions, corporate governance, transition economies, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Poland

Innovation Cooperation and Innovation Activity of Slovenian Enterprises

The late Justice Antonin Scalia reshaped statutory interpretation. Thanks to him, the Supreme Court has become far more textualist. Nonetheless, Justice Scalia never persuaded the Court to adopt his textualist ideal that “the text is the law.” In some cases, the Court still gives greater weight to other indicators of statutory meaning, such as perceived statutory purpose. Fundamental institutional features of courts and legislatures — particularly the fact that legislatures act generally and in advance, whereas courts resolve particular questions at the moment a statute is applied — justify this rejection of the textualist ideal