M-estimation in high-dimensional linear model

We mainly study the M-estimation method for the high-dimensional linear regression model, and discuss the properties of M-estimator when the penalty term is the local linear approximation. In fact, M-estimation method is a framework, which covers the methods of the least absolute deviation, the quantile regression, least squares regression and Huber regression. We show that the proposed estimator possesses the good properties by applying certain assumptions. In the part of numerical simulation, we select the appropriate algorithm to show the good robustness of this methodComment: 16 pages,3 table

North-South Trade-Related Technology Diffusion: Virtuous Growth Cycles in Latin America

This paper examines the impact on TFP in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and in other developing countries (DEV) of trade-related foreign R&D (NRD), education and governance. The measures of NRD are constructed based on industry-specific R&D in the North, North-South trade patterns, and input-output relations in the South. The main findings are: i) education and governance have a much larger direct effect on TFP in LAC than in DEV, while the opposite holds for the North's R&D; and ii) education and governance have an additional impact on TFP in R&D-intensive industries through their interaction with NRD in LAC but not in DEV. These interaction effects imply that increasing the level of any of the three policy variables – education, governance or openness – result in virtuous growth cycles. These are smallest under an increase in trade, education or governance, are stronger under an increase in two of these three policy variables, and are strongest under an increase in all three variables.trade, technology diffusion, growth, Latin America

Brain Drain and Productivity Growth: Are Small States Different?

This paper examines the impact of North-South trade-related technology diffusion on TFP growth in small and large states in the South. The main findings are: i) TFP growth increases with North-South trade-related technology diffusion, with education, and with the interaction between the two, and it decreases with the emigration of skilled labor (brain drain); ii) these effects are substantially (over three times) larger in small states than in large ones. Small states also exhibit a much higher brain drain level. Consequently, the brain drain generates greater losses in terms of TFP growth both because of its greater sensitivity to the brain drain and because the brain drain is substantially larger in small than in large states.trade, technology diffusion, brain drain, productivity growth

The Regional Dimension of North-South Trade-Related R&D Spillovers

This paper examines the impact of trade with Japan, North America, and the European Union on technology diffusion and total factor productivity growth in Korea, Mexico, and Jordan. Measures of foreign research and development are constructed based on industry-specific research and development in the North, North-South trade patterns, and input-output relations in the South. The findings show that technology diffusion and productivity gains tend to be regional. Jordan benefits mainly from trade with the European Union, Korea from trade with Japan, and Mexico from trade with North America. In other words, the dynamic version of the âÃÂÃÂnatural trading partnersâÃÂàhypothesis holds for these countries.North-South Trade; R&D; Regional Spillovers

On the quantity and quality of knowledge - the impact of openness and foreign research and development on North-North and North-South technology spillovers

Knowledge accumulation means either new knowledge (an increase in its quality), greater access to existing knowledge (an increase in its quantity), or both. The authors examine the relative contribution of these two components of knowledge to total factor productivity (TFP) for North-North and North-South trade-related knowledge diffusion, with quantity, proxied by openness, and quality by the research and development (R&D) content of trade. The measure of foreign R&D used in the literature on trade-related knowledge diffusion, imposes equal contributions to TFP of openness, and of R&D content of trade. The authors'analysis show that R&D has a greater impact on TFP, than openness for North-North trade and, conversely, openness has a greater impact on TFP, than R&D for North-South trade. These results imply that the impact of openness on TFP in developing (industrial) countries is larger (smaller) than previously obtained in this literature, and that developing countries can obtain larger productivity gains from trade liberalization than previously thought.Scientific Research&Science Parks,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Economic Theory&Research,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Health Promotion,Environmental Economics&Policies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Economic Theory&Research,Research and Development

North-South technology diffusion, regional integration, and the dynamics of the natural trading partners hypothesis

Based on static analysis, a number of studies argue that forming a regional trade agreement is more likely to raise welfare if member countries are"natural trading partners,"while other studies claim that the opposite is true. Schiff and Wang look at the argument from a dynamic viewpoint by examining the impact of North-South trade on technology diffusion and total factor productivity (TFP) in the South. Specifically, it examines the impact on TFP in the Republic of Korea, Mexico, and Poland of trade with Japan, Canada plus the United States (North America) and the European Union. Using industry-level data, they find that (1) technology diffusion and productivity gains tend to be regional: Korea benefits mainly from trade with Japan, Mexico with the United States, and Poland with the European Union; and (2) though these results suggest that the dynamic version of the"natural trading partners"hypothesis holds for all three countries, careful analysis shows that it holds for Korea and Mexico but not necessarily for Poland.Trade Policy,Environmental Economics&Policies,Earth Sciences&GIS,Economic Theory&Research,Water and Industry,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,Trade and Regional Integration,Trade Policy

North-south trade-related technology diffusion : virtuous growth cycles in Latin America

This paper examines the impact on total factor productivity in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and in other developing countries of trade-related technology diffusion from the North) (denoted by NRD), education, and governance, research and development The NRD value for a developing country is an average of R&D stocks in the North, with weights related to openness with the North. Industry-specific NRD is based on the North’s industry-specific R&D, North-South trade patterns, and input-output relations in the South. The main findings are: i) the impact of education and governance on TFP is significantly larger in LAC than in other developing countries, while the opposite holds for NRD; and ii) education, governance and NRD have additional effects on TFP in LAC’s R&D-intensive industries through their interaction with either or both of the other two variables; and iii) since NRD increases with openness and with R&D in the North, both variables raise the South's TFP directly as well as through their interaction with education and governance. These interaction effects imply that increasing the level of any of the three policy variables -- education, governance, or openness --results in virtuous growth cycles. These are smallest under an increase in one of these variables, stronger under an increase in two of them and strongest under an increase in all three variables.Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems,E-Business,Research and Development,Governance Indicators

North-South Technology Spillovers: The Relative Impact of Openness and Foreign R&D

This paper examines the relative contribution of openness and the R&D content of trade to TFP growth for North-South trade-related technology diffusion. The measure of foreign R&D used in the literature on trade-related technology diffusion imposes identical contributions of openness and the R&D content of trade to TFP. We allow these contributions to differ and show that openness has a greater impact on TFP growth than R&D. These results imply that the impact of openness on TFP in developing countries is larger than previously obtained in this literature. In other words, developing countries can obtain larger productivity gains from trade liberalization than previously thought.technology diffusion, R&D, openness, North-South

Regional Integration And North-South Technology Diffusion: The Case of Nafta

The literature on regional integration agreements (RIAs) is vast and deals with political, economic and political economy issues. The literature on the economics of RIAs deals mostly with static effects, and concludes that these effects are in general ambiguous. So far, there has been no empirical analysis of the dynamic effects of RIAs based on their impact on technology diffusion from partner and non-partner countries. This paper is a first attempt in this direction. It examines the impact of NAFTA on total factor productivity (TFP) in Mexico through its impact on trade-related technology transfers from OECD countries. Trade-related technology diffusion is estimated with the use of a measure of trade-related foreign R&D. Foreign R&D is constructed based on industry-specific R&D in the OECD, OECD-Mexico trade patterns, and input-output relations in Mexico. We separate the OECD into two parts, Mexico’s NAFTA partners (US + Canada) and the rest of the OECD. We find, first, that Mexico’s trade with its NAFTA partners has a large and significant impact on Mexico’s TFP while trade with the rest of the OECD does not. This is likely to be due to the fact that Mexico not only benefits from the R&D content of the trade with its Northern neighbors but also benefits from direct contact and close exchanges of information, especially for sub-contracting firms which are more closely integrated in the US and Canada production networks than with the production networks of the more distant countries of the rest of the OECD. Second, we simulate the impact of NAFTA and find that it has led to a permanent increase in TFP in Mexico’s manufacturing sector of between 5.5%and 7.5% and to some convergence to the economies of the US and Canada.