Internalistation, Industrial Policy and Clusters

This paper analyses industrial policy in a high wage open economy hosting an agglomeration consisting of vertically linked upstream and downstream firms. Optimal policy towards upstream and downstream industries differ radically in this setting. However the restriction that the agglomeration should be sustained may restrict the otherwise welfare maximising policy.agglomeration; clusters; taxes

Corporate Tax Systems, Multinational Enterprises, and Economic Integration

Multinational firms are known to shift profits and countries are known to compete over shifty profits. Two major principles for corporate taxation are Separate Accounting (SA) and Formula Apportionment (FA). These two principles have very different qualities when it comes to preventing profit shifting and preserving national tax autonomy. Most OECD countries use SA. In this paper we show that a reduction in trade barriers lowers equilibrium corporate taxes under SA, but leads to higher taxes under FA. From a welfare point of view the choice of tax principle is shown to depend on the degree of economic integration.multinational enterprises, economic integration, trade costs, international tax competition, tax regimes

Competing for Capital in a "Lumpy" World

This paper uses a new economic geography model to analyze tax competition betweeen two countries trying to attract internationally mobile capital. Each government may levy a source tax on capit al and a lump sum tax on fixed labor. If industry is concentrated in one of the countries, the analysis finds that the host country will gain from setting its source tax on capital above that of the other country. In particular, the host may increase its welfare per capita by setting a positive source tax on capital and capture the positive externality that arise in the agglomeration. If industry is not concentrated, however, both countries will subsidize capital.

The location of European industry

The objectives of this study are to describe the changes in industrial location that have occured in Europe in recent decades; to establish whether these are associated with countries' economic structures becoming more or less similar, and industries becoming more or less spatially concentrated; to compare industrial location patterns in Europe and the US; and to identify the underlying forces that determine industrial location and assess the extent to which these have changed in recent years.industrial location, industrial sectors

Does FDI Work as a Channel for R&D Spillovers? Evidence Based on Swedish Data

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) are important in transmitting technology across national borders. Not only do they allow for transfer of technology within the firm, but it is also believed that they are important channels for international R&D spillovers as well. This paper analyzes empirically whether inward and outward foreign direct investment (FDI) work as channels for international R&D spillovers. We utilize firm-level as well as industry-level data for Swedish manufacturing in the analysis. We find no evidence of FDI-related R&D spillovers - neither at the firm-level nor at the industry-level in Swedish manufacturing. The only variable that consistently affects total factor productivity is own investment in R&D.Multinational enterprises; Foreign direct investment; Spillovers; Research and development

Koronamyopi

DebattartikkelBarn og unges hverdag har endret seg drastisk under koronapandemien. Kan mye digital hjemmeundervisning gi risiko for mer utvikling av myopi?publishedVersio

Volume and Visual Field Defects in Occipital Stroke: The NOR-OCCIP Study

Introduction. The majority of patients with occipital infarcts display homonymous visual field defects (VFD), with negative implications on activities of daily living and quality of life. To overcome the disability, better prognostic markers in the acute phase, as well as more targeted rehabilitation, would be useful. The aim of the current study was to present an overview of the topographic distribution of occipital infarcts and to investigate whether lesion volume can predict VFD at baseline and after six months. Materials and Methods. Multicenter, prospective study including patients with acute occipital infarcts (NOR-OCCIP project). All patients were examined by a neurologist in the acute phase, admitted to a stroke unit, and further assessed by an ophthalmologist within two weeks. Topographic and volumetric data from brain imaging in 72 patients were analyzed and computed by an experienced neuroradiologist. Results. A majority (81%) had occipital infarcts with involvement of the primary visual cortex, and VFD were detected on perimetry in 80% of the examined patients. Higher infarct volume led to more severe VFD at baseline (p = 0,019); this was more evident if the infarct was located on the right side (p = 0.001). The odds for VFD improvement after six months were higher the larger the infarcts were (p = 0,020). There was a statistically significant association between volume of infarcts and atrial fibrillation (p = 0,016), previous myocardial infarction (p = 0,023), and modified Rankin Scale at three months (p = 0,007). Conclusion. Higher infarct volumes led to more severe VFD at baseline. More than half of the patients (54%) experienced improvement of their VFD at six months; a higher grade of improvement was seen in patients with larger occipital infarcts. Large infarcts were more common in patients with cardiovascular disease, strengthening the argument for secondary prevention.publishedVersio

Corporate tax systems, multinational enterprises and economic integration

This paper addresses the outcome of international tax competition in the presence of multinationals that use transfer pricing for strategic purposes as well as to reduce their tax burden. We examine how economic integration affects tax levels, transfer pricing behaviour and national welfare. We show that the tax elasticity of the transfer price depends on the tax system and on the extent of economic integration. Under separate accounting the conventional wisdom that increased economic integration forces governments to reduce tax rates is supported by our findings. However, this is not true under formula apportionment, where increased integration reduces the tax elasticity to the transfer prices and indeed allows governments to levy higher tax rates

A mixture model approach to sample size estimation in two-sample comparative microarray experiments

Background: Choosing the appropriate sample size is an important step in the design of a microarray experiment, and recently methods have been proposed that estimate sample sizes for control of the False Discovery Rate (FDR). Many of these methods require knowledge of the distribution of effect sizes among the differentially expressed genes. If this distribution can be determined then accurate sample size requirements can be calculated. Results: We present a mixture model approach to estimating the distribution of effect sizes in data from two-sample comparative studies. Specifically, we present a novel, closed form, algorithm for estimating the noncentrality parameters in the test statistic distributions of differentially expressed genes. We then show how our model can be used to estimate sample sizes that control the FDR together with other statistical measures like average power or the false nondiscovery rate. Method performance is evaluated through a comparison with existing methods for sample size estimation, and is found to be very good. Conclusion: A novel method for estimating the appropriate sample size for a two-sample comparative microarray study is presented. The method is shown to perform very well when compared to existing methods