Goods Follow Bytes: The Impact of ICT on EU Trade

This paper empirically assesses whether the deployment and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure at the national level affects trade flows within the European Union (EU) and between the EU and its main trading partners. The analysis tests the hypothesis that availability and use of ICT enhances trade by reducing transaction costs and through network effects that materialize when both trading partners are advanced users of ICT. The empirical analysis is based on the application of gravity equations in various robust specifications. The results suggest that ICT does have a significant impact on EU trade. In particular, we find trade to be enhanced if both trading partners reveal advanced ICT endowments, which supports the expected network effects. Additionally, we observe trade diversion effects from less to highly ICT developed countries.Exports, ICT, gravity model, international trade, network effects

Konjunkturpakete: verpasste Chancen für langfristiges Wachstum

50 Milliarden Euro - mit einem Konjunkturpaket in bislang ungekannter Höhe haben Bund und Länder auf die schwere Rezession reagiert. Mit 23,6 Milliarden Euro sind fast die Hälfte dieser Mittel für öffentliche Investitionen vorgesehen. Diese schuldenfinanzierten Maßnahmen sollen nicht nur kurzfristig die Konjunktur stützen. Erklärtes Ziel der Politik ist es vielmehr, mit dem Paket auch für langfristiges Wachstum zu sorgen. Doch kann dies funktionieren? Um den selbst gestellten Anspruch zu überprüfen, hat die DIWecon die bis Mitte August 2009 verplanten Konjunkturmittel aus dem Sondervermögen "Investitions- und Tilgungsfonds" und dem "Zukunftsinvestitionsgesetz" auf ihre Verwendung hin untersucht. Konkret analysierte die Beratungstochter des DIW Berlin dabei, ob und inwieweit die Mittel in wachstumsrelevanten Feldern eingesetzt wurden, in denen Deutschland im europäischen Vergleich besonderen Nachholbedarf besitzt. Dazu zählen Maßnahmen zur Förderung von Forschung und Entwicklung sowie der Informationsgesellschaft, der Ausbau einer modernen, schnellen Internet-Infrastruktur, Verbesserungen der Bildungsqualität, Verbesserungen im Gesundheitssektor sowie Maßnahmen zur Verbesserung von Energieeffizienz und Klimaschutz. Insgesamt kommt die Analyse zu einem weniger optimistischen Ergebnis, als durch die Ankündigungen der Politik erhofft. Nur etwa 30 Prozent der für Investitionen vorgesehenen Ausgaben gehen über den Erhalt des Status quo hinaus und stellen tatsächlich die politisch beschworenen "Zukunftsinvestitionen" dar. Negativ fallen insbesondere die Abwrackprämie und die hohen Investitionen in die bestehende Verkehrsinfrastruktur auf. Bildung und Gesundheit wurden durch die Konjunkturmittel hingegen kaum gefördert.Financial crises, National government expenditure

Elaborating a coiledâ coilâ assembled octahedral protein cage with additional protein domains

De novo design of protein nanoâ cages has potential applications in medicine, synthetic biology, and materials science. We recently developed a modular, symmetryâ based strategy for protein assembly in which short, coiledâ coil sequences mediate the assembly of a protein building block into a cage. The geometry of the cage is specified by the combination of rotational symmetries associated with the coiledâ coil and protein building block. We have used this approach to design wellâ defined octahedral and tetrahedral cages. Here, we show that the cages can be further elaborated and functionalized by the addition of another protein domain to the free end of the coiledâ coil: in this case by fusing maltoseâ binding protein to an octahedral protein cage to produce a structure with a designed molecular weight of ~1.8 MDa. Importantly, the addition of the maltose binding protein domain dramatically improved the efficiency of assembly, resulting in ~ 60â fold greater yield of purified protein compared to the original cage design. This study shows the potential of using small, coiledâ coil motifs as offâ theâ shelf components to design MDaâ sized protein cages to which additional structural or functional elements can be added in a modular manner.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146469/1/pro3497.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146469/2/pro3497_am.pd

Firm heterogeneity and aggregate business services exports : Micro evidence from Belgium, France, Germany and Spain. National Bank of Belgium Working Paper No. 328

This paper uses detailed micro data on service exports at the firm-destination-service level to analyse the role of firm heterogeneity in shaping aggregate service exports in Belgium, France, Germany and Spain from 2003 to 2007. We decompose the level and the growth of aggregate service exports into different trade margins paying special attention to firm heterogeneity within countries. We find that the weak export growth of France is at least partly due to poor performance by small exporters. By contrast, small exporters are the most dynamic contributors to the aggregate exports of Belgium, Germany and Spain. Our results highlight the importance of firm heterogeneity in understanding aggregate export growth

International Trade and the Structure of Retail Markets: Evidence from Danish Micro Data

Abstract This paper examines to what extent international trade in consumer goods has contributed to changes in the market conduct of retailers and retail market structure. Based on a theoretical model of the retail sector with heterogeneous firms, we derive hypotheses regarding the effect of direct imports of consumer goods on firm-level sales and mark-ups, on the likelihood of firm exit, on the size and productivity distribution of retailers, and on retail market concentration. We then use Danish micro-data for the period 1999 to 2008 to test these hypotheses. We find that increased trade has statistically significant and economically sizable effects on retail sales and mark-ups, firm exit and retail market concentration. -JEL classification: F12, L1

Managers as knowledge carriers – Explaining firms’ internationalization success with manager mobility

While managerial mobility is ubiquitously seen as an integral part of the success in firms’ internationalization, discerning its empirical merits has been impaired by the paucity of quasi-experimental evidence, or adequate instrumental variables. To overcome these objective limitations, this paper proposes a novel identification strategy, which uses a control function based on on-the-job search theory to correct estimates for the presence of self-selected mobility flows. Our analysis confirms the finding that managers’ specific market experience matters for firms’ internationalization, especially when it derives from longer tenures at the former jobs. Regarding the attributes of managerial knowledge, our results reveal that on-the-job earned experience is at least as effective for firms’ internationalization as in born knowledge (i.e. origins) and that managers’ personal network of customers is an important asset in managers’ fund of expertise for the expansion into new markets

Managers as knowledge carriers – Explaining firms’ internationalization success with manager mobility

International audienceWhile managerial mobility is ubiquitously seen as an integral part of the success in firms’ internationalization, discerning its empirical merits has been impaired by the paucity of quasi-experimental evidence, or adequate instrumental variables. To overcome these objective limitations, this paper proposes a novel identification strategy, which uses a control function based on on-the-job search theory to correct estimates for the presence of self-selected mobility flows. Our analysis confirms the finding that managers’ specific market experience matters for firms’ internationalization, especially when it derives from longer tenures at the former jobs.Regarding the attributes of managerial knowledge, our results reveal that on-the-job earned experience is at least as effective for firms’ internationalization as in born knowledge (i.e. origins) and that managers’ personal network of customers is an important asset in managers’ fund of expertise for the expansion into new markets

A Service of zbw Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre for Economics FIW -Working Paper The Export Promoting Effect of Emigration: Evidence from Denmark *

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. The theoretical claim that ethnic networks encourage trade has found broad empirical support in the literature on migration, business networks and international trade. Ethnic networks matter for the exporting firm, as they exhibit the potential to lower fixed and variable cost of exporting. This paper provides a first attempt to identify the export-promoting effect of emigration on the firm level. Using detailed Danish firm-level data, we can parsimoniously control for export determinants other than emigration, unobserved heterogeneity at the firm level, as well as for self-selection of firms into exporting. Additionally accounting for taste similarity between Denmark and its trade partners, our findings suggest a positive effect of emigration on Danish manufacturing trade within Europe, thereby corroborating preceding studies on aggregate data. Nevertheless, as a novel insight, our analysis reveals that the only beneficiaries of emigration are small enterprises. The Export Promoting Effect of Emigration: Terms of use: Documents in JEL-Codes Evidence from Denmark * Sanne Hiller † May 2011 Abstract The theoretical claim that ethnic networks encourage trade has found broad empirical support in th