Can the Knowledge-Capital Model Explain Sectoral Foreign Invesment? Evidence From Singapore

Using the knowledge-capital model, we compare factors affecting the inbound and outbound manufacturing and services investment between Singapore and a sample of industrialized and developing countries. The nature of Singapore's two-way investment with the industrialized nations is essentially skill seeking, while with the developing countries it is low wage seeking with the exception of inbound services investment, which is skill seeking. During 1994-2003 time period, Singapore's skill abundance relative to all parent countries, increased annual average inbound investment in manufacturing and services by US$8.15 billion and US$ 15.19 billion respectively.

Labor Skills and Foreign Investment in a Dynamic Economy: Estimating the Knowledge-Capital Model for Singapore

Singapore is an interesting example of how the pattern of foreign investment changes with economic development. In this paper, we analyze inbound and outbound investment between Singapore and a sample of industrialized and developing countries over the period 1984-2003. We find that SingaporeÂ’s two-way investment with industrialized nations has shifted into skill-seeking activities over the period, while SingaporeÂ’s investments in developing countries have increased sharply and become concentrated in labor-seeking activities. SingaporeÂ’s increasing skill abundance relative to all countries in our sample accounted for 41 per cent of average inbound stocks during the period, i.e. US$18 billion annually; the corresponding figure for outbound stocks was 40 per cent, i.e. US$5.51 billion annually.

Labor skills and foreign investment in a dynamic economy : estimating the knowledge-capital model for Singapore

Singapore is an interesting example of how the pattern of foreign investment changes with economic development. The authors analyze inbound and outbound investment between Singapore and a sample of industrialized and developing countries over the period 1984-2003. They find that Singapore’s two-way investment with industrialized nations has shifted into skill-seeking activities over the period, while Singapore’s investments in developing countries have increased sharply and become concentrated in labor-seeking activities. Singapore’s increasing skill abundance relative to all countries in the sample accounted for 41 percent of average inbound stocks during the period, that is, US$18 billion annually; the corresponding figure for outbound stocks was 40 percent, that is, US$5.51 billion annually.Debt Markets,Non Bank Financial Institutions,Investment and Investment Climate,Economic Theory&Research,

The contribution of skilled immigration and international graduate students to U.S. innovation

The impact of international students and skilled immigration in the United States on innovative activity is estimated using a model of idea generation. In the main specification a system of three equations is estimated, where dependent variables are total patent applications, patents awarded to U.S. universities, and patents awarded to other U.S. entities, each scaled by the domestic labor force. Results indicate that both international graduate students and skilled immigrants have a significant and positive impact on future patent applications, as well as on future patents awarded to university and nonuniversity institutions. The central estimates suggest that a 10 percent increase in the number of foreign graduate students would raise patent applications by 4.7 percent, university patent grants by 5.3 percent, and nonuniversity patent grants by 6.7 percent. Thus, reductions in foreign graduate students from visa restrictions could significantly reduce U.S. innovative activity. Increases in skilled immigration also have a positive, but smaller, impact on patenting.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Teaching and Learning,Tertiary Education,Environmental Economics&Policies,Gender and Education

The Spillover Effects of Innovative Ideas on Human Capital

This paper extends a two-period overlapping generations model of endogenous growth where the interactions between public infrastructure and human capital with research and development (R&D) activities and growth are studied. The paper makes two important contributions. First, it accounts for the spillover effect of the stock of ideas on learning, which in turn promotes the production of innovative technologies. In doing so, it brings to the fore a two-way interaction between human capital and innovation. The paper then applies various econometric methods which confirm the above theoretical thesis. Second, the solutions of the model emphasize the important role public spending on infrastructure, human capital and R&D can play in promoting economic growth. However, the findings also show that trade-offs in the allocation of public spending may inevitably emerge. In particular, investment in public infrastructure at the expense of spending on R&D is less likely to succeed in promoting economic growth, whereas it may be more effective to foster growth through an offsetting cut in another productive component, namely, education. In light of these potential trade-offs, governments in low-income countries need to use their limited budgets as part of holistic measures in order to achieve efficient outcomes

Inventor Migration and Knowledge Flows: A Two-Way Communication Channel ?

This paper documents the influence of networks of highly skilled migrants on the international diffusion of knowledge – particularly those with degrees and occupations in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It investigates knowledge inflows to host countries brought in by skilled immigrants. It then explores knowledge feedback to home countries generated by these migrants. We test our hypotheses in a country-pair gravity model setting, for the period 1990–2010, using patent citations across countries to measure international knowledge diffusion. Our results confirm our hypotheses on the positive impact of skilled migrants on knowledge flows to host and home countries. However, the former are not robust to instrumental variables and country-pair fixed-effects, and only matter in certain contexts: when the sending countries are developing nations and for knowledge diffusion within the boundaries of multinationals

Dying a Good Death: End-of-Life Decision-Making for Terminally Ill Christians

With the ever-growing number of medical technologies and treatments that exist that are able to postpone the time of death and extend dying, the ethics of end-of-life care for terminally ill patients has become a popular area of research in the medical field. While much of this research focuses on factors such as patient education and patient autonomy, there are benefits to taking a theological approach in the study of medical death and dying, as many patients place an importance on spirituality during their last days. This thesis examines end-of-life decision-making for terminally ill patients, and specifically determines how these decisions should be made from a Christian theological perspective. In order to accomplish this, this paper pulls together thoughts and information from various sources on medical ethics, death and dying, and spirituality and theology. From examination of these sources, it was determined that there is not one end- of-life decision that is definitively “right”; but there is a way in which to make these decisions that can contribute to a good death. Terminally-ill Christians should work towards being within God’s will when making these decisions, and decision-making should involve an attitude of humility, prayer, and seeking of godly counsel

Impact of the Indian food and nutrition policy on foodgrain consumption and imports

The effects of India\u27s food and nutrition policies on foodgrain consumption and imports are evaluated by state for 1956-85. The public foodgrain distribution system (PDS) and its interrelations with the consumption of foodgrains in the commercial market are emphasized. For all India, subsidized rice accounted for 6% of total consumption in 1957 and rose to 19% in 1986. Subsidized consumption of wheat rose from 39% to 46% during the same period. Only wheat and rice are subsidized through the PDS. Millet and sorghum consumption showed a steady decline in most states. There was considerable year-to-year variability among states in rice and wheat retail prices and consumption. The zoning policy accentuated the variability by forbidding private interstate movement of foodgrains. The policy prevailed in various forms between 1962 and 1977. Urbanization significantly affected the distribution of wheat and rice through the PDS, although there was considerable variation among states. This finding is consistent with the general policy of distributing subsidized rice and wheat primarily in the urban areas. The single exception is Kerala, in which both rural and urban areas are well-served by the PDS. The previous year\u27s commercial market consumption was important only for wheat. In the rice and wheat commercial markets, the factors significantly associated with consumption were adjusted income (income less expenditure on subsidized foodgrain) and issues through the PDS. Subsidized grain substituted to some extent for commercial market purchases in most states. For all India, the replacement of subsidized rice for commercial market rice was estimated to be more than 50 percent and for wheat about 35 percent. Income considerably influenced the consumption of rice and wheat in the more prosperous than in the less prosperous states. For millet and sorghum, the retail prices of subsidized rice and wheat and income were the significant factors affecting consumption. In most states considerable substitution was found between millet and sorghum and subsidized foodgrains. Sorghum was considered an inferior good. Income had a larger positive influence on millet consumption in the less prosperous than in the wealthy states. For the country as a whole, imports of rice and wheat were both inversely related to import prices and positively related to income. Other factors were not found to be significant