Exports, Technical Progress and Productivity Growth in Chinese Manufacturing Industries

Theories suggesting either static or dynamic productivity gains derived from exports often assume the prior existence of a perfect market. In the presence of market failure, however, the competition effect and the resource reallocation effect of exports on productive efficiency may be greatly reduced; and there may actually be disincentives for innovation. This paper analyses the impact of exports on total factor productivity (TFP) growth in a transition economy using a panel of Chinese manufacturing industries over the period 1990-1997. TFP growth is estimated by employing a non-parametric approach and is decomposed into technical progress and efficiency change. We have not found evidence suggesting significant productivity gains at the industry level resulting from exports. Findings of the current study suggest that, for exports to generate significant positive effect on TFP growth, a well?developed domestic market and a neutral, outward-oriented policy are necessary.exports, industrial efficiency, technical progress, productivity

Exports, FDI, Growth Of Small Rural Enterprises And Employment In China

This paper analyses the growth of employment in China during the post reform period. It argues that the Chinese experience with export-led growth provides an excellent example of the phenomenon of a vent for surplus productive capacity provided by exports, identified by Adam Smith in the Wealth of Nations and elaborated by Hla Myint. The paper extends the Smith-Myint model of ‘vent-for-surplus’ productive capacity to ‘vent-for-surplus’ resources by allowing foreign investment inflows. The ‘vent-for-surplus’ effect of exports on employment growth is examined in a dynamic labour demand framework for a panel of township and village enterprises (TVEs) in China.exports, foreign direct investment, small and medium-enterprises, employment

International and Intra-national Technology Spillovers and Technology Development Paths in Developing Countries: The Case of China

This paper analyses the paths of technology development among regions with heterogeneous economic and technological characteristics, focusing on the case of China. It finds that intra-national technology transfer, that is, the technology transfer from technologically advanced provinces to less advanced ones, is more important than that taking place through FDI in the backward regions. In technologically advanced areas, learning by doing, indigenous R&D and technology transfer from FDI all play a significant role in technical progress. The relationship between the strength of interprovincial technology transfer and technological distance is U-shaped, with the technology threshold falling outside the upper bound of technology distance. This suggests that technology transfer takes place more effectively when technological distance is small. The paper finds that learning by doing and R&D are important internal routes to technical progress. R&D plays a key role in the assimilation of foreign technologies, whereas learning by doing is relevant for the absorption of interprovincial technology transfers.FDI, technology spillovers, technology threshold

The impact of China's exports on global manufactures prices

This paper analyses the impact of China's exports on the prices of exports from other countries using disaggregated import data in the US, EU and Japan over the 1989-2006 period. Findings from this study suggest that China's exports have affected not just those countries whose competitiveness is largely based on low wages but all country groups in certain products sectors, destination markets and during different time periods. The middle income countries are the most affected by China's export expansion through price competition particularly after the late 1990s as a consequence of China's market expansion, its WTO entry and exchange rate variation. The influence on high-income countries is only in low-technology product sectors and appears to lose its significance in the post-1997 period. The impact on low-income countries is only significant in the medium- and high-tech sectors mostly in the pre-1997 period and this effect weakened over time

Management characteristics, collaboration and innovative efficiency: evidence from UK survey data

This paper explores the impact of management characteristics and patterns of collaboration on a firmÕs innovation performance in transforming innovation resources into commercially successful outputs. These questions are investigated using a recent firm level survey database for 465 innovative British small and medium enterprises (SMEs) over the years 1998-2001. Both Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) are employed to benchmark a firmÕs innovative efficiency against best practice. Quality and the variety of innovations are taken into account by combining Principal Component Analysis (PCA) with DEA. We find evidence suggesting that the innovative efficiency of SMEs is significantly affected by their management characteristics and collaboration behaviour. Collaboration, organisational flexibility, formality in management systems and incentive schemes are found to contribute significantly to a firmÕs innovative efficiency. Managerial share-ownership also shows some positive effect. The importance of these effects, however, varies across different sectors. WE find that innovative efficiency in high-tech SMEs is significantly enhanced by collaboration, formal management structure and training; and that in medium- and low-tech SMEs is significantly associated with managerial ownership, incentive schemes and organisational flexibility.management characteristics, collaboration, innovative efficiency

Reduced source memory for emotional pictures

Although many studies have examined the effect of emotion on item memory for pictures, the evidence is scanty on the effect of emotion on source memory for them. In this study, participants learned a list of neutral, positive, and negative pictures, and then took tests for item and source memory. We found that emotion did not affect accuracy of item memory; however, positive emotion enhanced subjective feeling of remembering. Both positive and negative emotions reduced source memory, which is consistent with some previous studies. The findings suggest that emotion have differential effects on item and source memory, and have some implications for evaluating eyewitness testimony

Implicit sequence learning of chunking and abstract structures

The current study investigated whether people can simultaneously acquire knowledge about concrete chunks and abstract structures in implicit sequence learning; and whether the degree of abstraction determines the conscious status of the acquired knowledge. We adopted three types of stimuli in a serial reaction time task in three experiments. The RT results indicated that people could simultaneously acquire knowledge about concrete chunks and abstract structures of the temporal sequence. Generation performance revealed that ability to control was mainly based on abstract structures rather than concrete chunks. Moreover, ability to control was not generally accompanied with awareness of knowing or knowledge, as measured by confidence ratings and attribution tests, confirming that people could control the use of unconscious knowledge of abstract structures. The results present a challenge to computational models and theories of implicit learning

Innovation and productivity in formal and informal firms in Ghana

Despite the high profile of the issue in current policy formulations in low-income countries (LICs), there is little large firm level survey based empirical evidence on innovativeness and firm performance, especially in informal establishments. This paper aims to fill this gap in the literature using a revised Crépon-Duguet-Mairesse (CDM) structural model to analyse data from a unique innovation survey of 501 manufacturing firms in Ghana. We find that innovation positively impacts the labour productivity of firms, technological innovations more than managerial innovations. Formal firms do not tend to be more productive than informal firms, but the role of innovation on productivity tends to be greater for formal firms

Highly skilled returnees and the internationalization of EMNEs: Firm level evidence from China

This paper examines how Chinese firms acquire knowledge and experience in international markets by attracting returnees using an original firm level survey from Guangdong province. It finds that there is a strong and positive relation between a firm’s choice of hiring returnees and its propensity to embark in FDI. Moreover, it shows that not all returnees contribute equally to firms’ internationalization. It is mainly those individuals in the most strategic functions, such as management and sales to determine both the propensity and the level of overseas direct investment. Finally, it finds that the presence of returnees is particularly effective for less experienced firms since it can help reduce the time taken to build capabilities and provide direct access to the knowledge necessary to invest abroad