Domestic Plant Productivity and Incremental Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment

We develop a simple test to assess whether horizontal spillover effects from multinational to domestic firms are endogenous to the market structure generated by the incremental entry of the same multinationals. In particular, we analyze the performance of a panel of 10,650 firms operating in Romania in the period 1995-2001. Controlling for the simultaneity bias in productivity estimates through semi-parametric techniques, we find that changes in domestic firms’ TFP are positively related to the first foreign investment in a specific industry and region, but get significantly weaker and become negative as the number of multinationals that enter in the considered industry/region crosses a specific threshold. These changing marginal effects can explain the lack of horizontal spillovers arising in traditional model designs. We also find these effects to vary between manufacturing and service, suggesting as a possible explanation a strategic change in technology transfer decisions by multinational firms as the market structure evolves.transition economies;multinational firms;productivity

Firm heterogeneity and endogenous regional disparities.

Firm heterogeneity; Heterogeneity;

Global Value Chains during the Great Trade Collapse: A Bullwhip Effect?

This paper analyzes the performance of global value chains during the trade collapse. To do so, it exploits a unique transaction-level dataset on French firms containing information on cross-border monthly transactions matched with data on worldwide intra-firm linkages as defined by property rights (multinational business groups, hierarchies of firms). This newly assembled dataset allows us to distinguish firm-level transactions among two alternative organizational modes of global value chains: internalization of activities (intra-group trade/trade among related parties) or establishment of supply contracts (arm’s length trade/trade among unrelated parties). After an overall assessment of the role of global value chains during the trade collapse, we document that intra-group trade in intermediates was characterized by a faster drop followed by a faster recovery than arm’s length trade. Amplified fluctuations in terms of trade elasticities by value chains have been referred to as the "bullwhip effect" and have been attributed to the adjustment of inventories within supply chains. In this paper we first confirm the existence of such an effect due to trade in intermediates, and we underline the role that different organizational modes can play in driving this adjustment.trade collapse, multinational firms, global value chains, hierarchies of firms, vertical integration.

Productivity Growth and the Speed of Convergence of Domestic Firms

We investigate productivity convergence of domestic firms in a transition economy, Ro- mania. In estimating total factor productivity we allow for varying returns to scale and control for both the endogeneity of the productivity shock and the omitted price variable bias linked to heterogeneous firms' market power. Consistently with our priors, we find that without controlling for the omitted price variable bias absolute convergence estimates are biased upwards. In terms of conditional convergence, we find that the speed of convergence across firms depends mainly on technology transfers from the frontier and, less markedly, by a number of regional and industrial characteristics such as the distance to the capital region, the minimum efficient scale and the absorptive capacity

Domestic Plant Productivity and Incremental Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment

We develop a simple test to assess whether horizontal spillover effects from multinational to domestic firms are endogenous to the market structure generated by the incremental entry of the same multinationals. In particular, we analyze the performance of a panel of 10,650 firms operating in Romania in the period 1995-2001. Controlling for the simultaneity bias in productivity estimates through semi-parametric techniques, we find that changes in domestic firms’ TFP are positively related to the first foreign investment in a specific industry and region, but get significantly weaker and become negative as the number of multinationals that enter in the considered industry/region crosses a specific threshold. These changing marginal effects can explain the lack of horizontal spillovers arising in traditional model designs. We also find these effects to vary between manufacturing and service, suggesting as a possible explanation a strategic change in technology transfer decisions by multinational firms as the market structure

Testing for Marginal Spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment

We develop a simple test to assess whether horizontal spillover effects from multinational to domestic firms are endogenous to the market structure generated by the entry of the same multinationals. In particular, we analyze the performance of a panel of 10,650 domestic and multinational firms operating in Romania in the period 1995-2001. Controlling for the simultaneity bias in productivity estimates through semi-parametric techniques, we find that changes in domestic firms’ TFP are positively related to the first foreign investment in a specific industry and region, but get significantly weaker and become negative as the number of multinationals that enter in the considered industry/region increases. We can thus recover evidence of changing marginal effects in domestic firms’ TFP, the sign of which depends on a specific threshold in the presence of foreign firms

A review of the potential of smart homes to support independent living

Between 2015 and 2050, the proportion of the world's population over 60 years of age is expected to nearly double, from 12% to 22%. Whilst hospitals offer care to people with health problems, support at home is generally limited to carers, a costly labour intensive method that impacts on the ability of many elderly patients to live independently. This pushes the demand for housing that caters for elderly people allowing them to remain in their homes but with some level of healthcare support. In the UK, the domestic sector currently accounts for around 30% of total energy consumption and contributes in the region of 27% of total carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. With an ageing population, offering healthy environments with a cushion against rising energy prices will be essential for people spending most of their time at home and often living on limited budgets. In this context, the drive to reduce energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions from housing has acted as a catalyst in the increasing installation of meters and sensors for monitoring energy use and indoor environmental conditions in buildings. These monitoring technologies can track and record a range of parameters such as temperature, air quality, occupant behaviour etc. Many of these could be optimised to help create environments that assist people such as the elderly to live at home. This paper aims to review relevant studies and technologies in the areas of smart, energy-efficient and lifetime homes, identifying some of the health needs of elderly people who could live at home if provided with adequate support, the range and type of technologies that could be employed to this objective, and suitable metrics to be used to measure the effectiveness of these technologies. The paper concludes that there is a limited evidence base on the health effects of energy-efficient homes, highlighting the need for more research and post occupancy evaluation using indoor environmental quality monitoring technology and wearable devices to analyse not only the energy performance of ‘green’ housing but also the possible effects of indoor environmental conditions on the subjective and objective wellbeing of occupants

Influence of fat content on quality of cow's milk

The aim of the study was to verify whether changes in the percentage of fat in highly selected cows produce variations in the physical structure of the fat and changes in milk composition. Individual milk was sampled from 50 cows. Fat was evaluated in each individual in order to create two groups of animals with lower and higher percentage. The group with higher fat content showed a significantly larger diameter of the fat globules, less C14:0 and more C16:1. In conclusion the diameter variations observed result in few changes in milk fatty acid composition, thus maintaining a consistent nutritional quality

The Garfagnina goat: A zootechnical overview of a local dairy population

Domestic livestock with a limited distribution are increasingly recognized in the action plans of the European Union as a reason for protecting rural land. The preservation and enhancement of the native germplasm and traits selected through the ages in different areas of farming is the first step in increasing typical products at a time when high quality products are increasingly in demand. This is the first time that a zootechnical overview has been performed on the Italian native goat population named "Garfagnina", which is registered on the Tuscan regional repertory of genetic resources at risk of extinction. The aim of the study was to give added value to this population by focusing on particular traits that could be used for promoting typical products. Data on the size of the local goats, zoometric measures, breeding system, milk quality, and genetic polymorphisms were collected to get insight into the current state of the population of this type of goat. The native goat population is reared in Tuscany in central Italy, mostly for its milk. The local goat farms considered in our study are located in the hills and mountains of the northwestern Tuscan Apennine area. For every farm we measured at least 10% of the reproductive females (273), randomly chosen, and all reproductive males (47) for a total of 320 subjects. Regarding the management of the animals and the feeding system, semi-extensive farming is practiced in all the flocks. From a morphological point of view the animals are relatively homogeneous, especially in terms of zoometric data, whereas they show a wider variability regarding coat. Milk gross and fatty acid composition were similar to that reported in the literature for bulk goat milk. Moreover, the average of somatic cell count and standard plate count found in Garfagnina goat milk indicated good hygienic farm management and correct milking practices, although milking is mainly manual. The average number of globules per milliliter found in Garfagnina goat milk was almost double compared with the literature, whereas the average diameter was lower. Milk coagulation properties were scarce, thus indicating poor cheesemaking aptitude of Garfagnina milk. Selecting haplotypes carrying alleles associated with a higher expression of the specific casein could help improve milk cheesemaking aptitude. Moreover, the rather high frequency of the faint CSN1S1*F allele and the occurrence of CSN2*0 might suggest that Garfagnina goat milk could be used, after an appropriate selection, for direct consumption of milk at low casein content for intolerant human subjects