Knowledge Accumulation within an Organization

We develop a simple model of task allocation for knowledge workers over their career within an organization. The human capital theory initiated by Becker (1962, 1964) has o¤ered a rich analysis of an individuals life cycle investment in human capital. One of the main result of this literature states that human capital investments are undertaken at the early stage of the career because workers have then a longer period of time over which they can bene…t from the return of their investments. In this paper, we consider a knowledge accumulation problem within an organization that cannot prevent the worker from quitting and using the knowledge outside the organization. In the …rst best situation, we show a similar result as in the human capital theory, i.e. the share of time allocated to knowledge creation tasks decreases over time. We then ask how this pattern is a¤ected when the knowledge worker can leave the organization and bene…t from this knowledge outside the organization. In this case, we obtain the novel result that the time path of the fraction of working time allocated to knowledge creation tasks is non-monotone. This fraction is highest at the early career stage, falls gradually, then rises again, before falling …nally toward zero. We also show that an increase in the …rm-speci…city of knowledge can increase or decrease the life-time income of the knowledge worker.

The Pace of Technology Transfer in Anticipation of Joint Venture Breakup

This paper studies the properties of joint-venture relationship between a technologically advanced multinational firm and a local firm operating in a developing economy where the ability to enforce contracts is weak. We formulate a dynamic model of principal-agent relationship in which at any point of time the local firm can quit without legal penalties. An early breakup may be prevented if the multinational designs a suitable scheme in which both the pace and aggregate amount of technology transfer deviate from the first-best, and a suitable flow of side payments to encourage the local firm to stay longer.Technology Transfer, Joint Venture, Developing Economies

A Simple Model of Brain Circulation

This paper considers the allocation of two types of individuals differentiated by levels of talent within and between two countries when they choose to be workers or entrepreneurs. The equilibrium with international migrations requires both countries to be sufficiently different in talent endowments and is consistent with individuals moving in one or in both directions whether they are entrepreneurs or workers. Average welfare per capita falls in the country losing highly talented individuals and rises in the country attracting them. However, in both countries, the liberalization of migrations for immigrants, emigrants or both is always supported by majority voting.

TRADE LIBERALIZATION, COMPETITION AND GROWTH

For a few decades, a growing literature has examined the role of water resources in interstate conflicts. In line with this literature, this study analyzes the risk of a conflict between countries sharing freshwater. While some scholars claim that water-based conflicts can never occur, this analysis determines this risk by linking it to the size of a negotiation interval; the probability-to-conflict decreasing with this size. In fact, we are going to show that the size of this interval diminishes with scarcer resources and with the degree of the heterogeneity of countries measured by their productive efficiency. Then, in a peace scenario, we determine by bargaining the optimal allocation and we study its variation according to the parameters of the model. These theoretical results will be confirmed by an econometric approach.Conflict Theory, Water-based Conflict, Nash-Bargaining, Dyadic Analysis

A Theory of Favoritism under International Oligopoly

This paper offers an explanation of the fact that some foreign firms are favored at the expense of others, and characterizes the distribution of favors in terms of the cost parameters of firms, and a preference parameter in the government's objective function. We present a model where favors must be bought: they come from competing contributions. This model is compared with a benchmark model with a benevolent government. We show how the distribution of favors in the favor-seeking model deviates from the distribution that would be obtained if the government were really benevolent. On offre une explication du fait que certaines firmes étrangères sont mieux traitées que d'autres. On caractérise la distribution des faveurs qui sont associées à l'asymétrie des coûts. On modélise la situation où les faveurs sont achetées. On compare ce modèle de la recherche des rentes au modèle standard où le gouvernement maximise le bien-être social. On caractérise la différence entre les distributions des faveurs de ces deux modèles.Favoritism, Asymmetric Oligopoly, Cost Manipulation, Discriminatory Taxes, Favoritisme, oligopole asymétrique, manipulation de coûts, taxes discriminatoires

Favoritism in Vertical Relationship: Input Prices and Access Quality

Favoritism in vertical relationship is a situation in which an upstream firm sets favorable exchange conditions to some agents at the expense of others. This paper explores the reason for, and direction of, favoritism in the vertical relationship between an upstream firm and a number of downstream firms that are Cournot rivals relying on the inputs provided by the upstream firm. We show that favoritism may arise from profit maximization. We address the following questions: (i) if the upstream firm can charge different prices to different downstream firms, will it treat the less efficient firms more favorably? (ii) if the upstream firm can provide different levels of quality of access to several ex ante identical downstream firms, will it provide a uniform quality of access? We show that the answer to (i) depends on whether downstream firms can self-supply, and we characterize the structure of favors. As for (ii), we show that among ex-ante equal firms, some firms will be selected for favorable treatment. On étudie le favoritisme qui existe dans la relation verticale entre une firme à l'amont et plusieurs firmes à l'aval. On démontre que le favoritisme est le résultat de la maximisation de profit. On considère les questions suivantes. Premièrement, si la firme à l'amont peut fixer des prix différents pour le même produit qu'elle vend aux firmes à l'aval, est-ce qu'elle traite mieux les firmes qui sont moins efficaces? Deuxièmement, si la firme à l'amont peut offrir aux firmes à l'aval des niveaux de qualité d'accès à son réseau, est-ce que la qualité sera uniforme? La réponse à la première question dépend de l'aptitude de l'auto-provision des firmes à l'aval. Quant à la deuxième question, on montre que certaines firmes sont favorisées.Vertical Relationship, Input Pricing, Access Quality, Oligopoly, Relation verticale, le prix des inputs, la qualité d'accès, oligopole

Local Public Investment and Competition for a Firm

Most of the work in the field of competition between jurisdictions for the attraction of a large plant focuses on financial offers, bids or tax holidays. In this paper we add to the competition game an initial stage in which jurisdictions can invest in an infrastructure capital to enhance their attractiveness and modify the outcome of the competition stage. We characterize the Nash equilibrium of this game. In an example we show how the parameters of the model change the outcome of the game. In particular, the size of a jurisdiction is a powerful attraction force for the firm but it can be bypassed by a well specialized infrastructure capital, even if the competing jurisdiction is big.

Trade, Wage Gaps, and Specific Human Capital Accumulation

We develop a new framework for the analysis of the impact of trade liberalization on the wage structure. Our model focuses on the decision of workers to accumulate firm-specific skills, by “on-the-job” training, knowing that this means their future wages will have to be negotiated, and that the outcome of negotiation will depend on the profitability prospect of firms operating in a new trading environment. We show that trade liberalization may reduce the welfare of a developing country because of its adverse effect on skill accumulation. We also explore the effects of trade liberalization on the wage gap between skilled and unskilled workers.wage gap, human capital, trade liberalization

TRADE LIBERALIZATION, COMPETITION AND GROWTH

For a few decades, a growing literature has examined the role of water resources in interstate conflicts. In line with this literature, this study analyzes the risk of a conflict between countries sharing freshwater. While some scholars claim that water-based conflicts can never occur, this analysis determines this risk by linking it to the size of a negotiation interval; the probability-to-conflict decreasing with this size. In fact, we are going to show that the size of this interval diminishes with scarcer resources and with the degree of the heterogeneity of countries measured by their productive efficiency. Then, in a peace scenario, we determine by bargaining the optimal allocation and we study its variation according to the parameters of the model. These theoretical results will be confirmed by an econometric approach