Skill Upgrading and Production Transfer within Swedish Multinationals in the 1990s

This paper studies the link between production transfer in Swedish-headquartered multinational enterprises (MNEs) and skill upgrading in Swedish manufacturing in the 1990s. The analysis distinguishes between horizontal and vertical foreign direct investment (FDI). The increased employment share in affiliates in non-OECD countries (vertical FDI) has a non-trivial, significantly positive effect on the share of skilled labor in the Swedish parents. On the other hand, the skill upgrading in the parents is unrelated to employment changes in their affiliates in other OECD countries (horizontal FDI). The latter is consistent with implications of the newly developed horizontal MNE models.Multinational enterprise; Skill upgrading; Horizontal foreign direct in-vestment; Vertical foreign direct investment

Trade, Technology and Changes in Employment of Skilled Labour in Swedish Manufacturing

The paper investigates the shift in demand towards more skilled labour in Swedish manufacturing during the last two decades. Two competing hypotheses to explain this shift are examined: skilled-biased technical change and increased international competition.skilled labour; skilled-biased technical change; international competition

Relative Demand for Skills in Swedish Manufacturing: Technology or Trade?

The rate of change in the share of skilled labor has increased steadily over the past 35 years in Swedish manufacturing. A closer inspection of the period after 1970 indicates that while relative supply changes of skilled labor seem to have been the main driving force behind the growing skill shares in manufacturing industries over the period 1970-85, an acceleration in the relative demand for skills appears to have propelled higher skill shares during the late 1980s and in the beginning of the 1990s. Consistent with such a development is the finding of an increasing degree of complementarity between knowledge capital and skilled labor and that Swedish manufacturing firms, in recent years, have invested heavily in R&D. There is also some support for the belief that intensified competition from the South has increased the relative demand for skilled labor. However, the impact appears to be small and concentrated to the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s.Skill upgrading; Knowledge capital; Import competition; Outsourcing

Exports as an Indicator on or Promoter of Successful Swedish Manufacturing Firms in the 1990s

We study the link between exporting and productivity at the firm level. Like in previous studies we get support for that more productive firms self-select into the export market. In addition, and contrary to many of the former studies, we also obtain evidence for that exporting further increases firm productivity. Exporting firms appear to have significantly higher productivity than non-exporting. Moreover, exporters - mainly firms that increase their export intensities - have higher output growth than non-exporters. Reallocation of resources between firms may then have contributed to overall manufacturing productivity growth. Hence, we try to quantify the importance of reallocation.Exports; productivity; reallocation; decomposition

Technology, Resource Endowments and International Competitiveness

The paper evaluates the impact of technology together with resource endowments and economies of scale on international competitiveness in OECD countries. Knowledge capital stocks are obtained by cumulating R&D expenditure. Results show that competitiveness is determined not only by the R&D activity of the representative firm, but also by the size of domestic industry as well as economy wide stocks of knowledge, indicating the presence of local externalities. Further results point to the importance of economies of scale in R&D internal to the firm and of investment for introduction of embodied technical progress. Finally, the R&D impact differs between high- and low-tech industries as well as among countries.international competitiveness; technology gap; knowledge stock; R&D; disembodied and embodied technical change

Jobs and Exposure to International Trade within the Service Sector in Sweden

The service sector is very heterogeneous with respect to internationalization; in some industries there is international trade (or it may potentially exist), whereas other industries are non-tradable. Data on international trade in services is, however, typically very limited, making it difficult to identify in which industries there are international trade. In this paper, we partially surmount the problems with insufficient service trade statistics by calculating locational Ginis for different industries in the private business sector as well as in the public sector. The basic idea is that from the regional concentration of different activities within a country one can identify industries where there appears to be regional trade, and hence also a potential for international trade. Based on our method we find that the number of employed in tradable service appears to be at least as large as in the manufacturing sector. Remarkably, a larger share of the skilled labor exposed to international trade is working in the service sector than in manufacturing, while a majority of the less skilled labor working in tradable industries is employed in manufacturing. When it comes to employment growth, we observe that the employment has increased in tradable service, while it has fallen in the manufacturing sector (the whole sector is regarded as tradable).jobs; service trade; regional concentration; structural change

Do Firms Learn by Exporting or Learn to Export? Evidence from Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Swedish Manufacturing

Using a matching approach, we compare the productivity trajectories of future exporters and matched and unmatched non-exporters. Future exporters have higher productivity than do unmatched non-exporters before entry into the export market, which indicates self-selection into exports. More interestingly, we also find a productivity increase among future exporters relative to matched non-exporters 1-2 years before export entry. However, the productivity gap between future exporters and matched non-exporters does not continue to grow after export entry. Our results suggest that learning-to-export occurs but that learning-by-exporting does not. In contrast to previous studies on Swedish manufacturing, we focus particularly on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)productivity; learning-to-export; learning-by-exporting; matching

Do Firms Learn by Exporting or Learn to Export? Evidence from Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) in Swedish Manufacturing

Using a matching approach, we compare the productivity trajectories of future exporters and matched and unmatched non-exporters. Future exporters have higher productivity than do unmatched non-exporters before entry into the export market, which indicates self-selection into exports. More interestingly, we also find a productivity increase among future exporters relative to matched non-exporters 1-2 years before export entry. However, the productivity gap between future exporters and matched non-exporters does not continue to grow after export entry. Our results suggest that learning-to-export occurs but that learning-by-exporting does not. In contrast to previous studies on Swedish manufacturing, we focus particularly on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).productivity; learning-to-export; learning-by-exporting; matching

Jobs and Exposure to International Trade within the Service Sector in Sweden

The service sector is very heterogeneous with respect to internationalization; in some industries there is international trade (or it may potentially exist), whereas other industries are non-tradable. Data on international trade in services is, however, typically very limited, making it difficult to identify in which industries there are international trade. In this paper, we partially surmount the problems with insufficient service trade statistics by calculating locational Ginis for different industries in the private business sector as well as in the public sector. The basic idea is that from the regional concentration of different activities within a country one can identify industries where there appears to be regional trade, and hence also a potential for international trade. Based on our method we find that the number of employed in tradable service appears to be at least as large as in the manufacturing sector. Remarkably, a larger share of the skilled labor exposed to international trade is working in the service sector than in manufacturing, while a majority of the less skilled labor working in tradable industries is employed in manufacturing. When it comes to employment growth, we observe that the employment has increased in tradable service, while it has fallen in the manufacturing sector (the whole sector is regarded as tradable).jobs; service trade; regional concentration; structural change

Investment in project preventing deforestation of the Brazilian Amazonas

The aim of this thesis is to create an understanding of the incentives for forest companies to invest in reducing carbon dioxide emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, which is termed REDD. The Brazilian Amazonas was chosen as the base for the investment case. Brazil has the largest area of rainforest in the world, and also the biggest problem with deforestation. The Amazon region of Brazil comprises rainforest which is largely intact and unexploited. Accordingly, there is significant potential scope for prospective investments in a REDD-project, and so have a noteworthy impact in preventing deforestation. The research approach used the United Nation’s Clean Development Mechanism concept was used as a framework for ascertaining the investment costs in potential REDD-projects. Multiple methods were used to collect data. In particular, information about the transaction costs involved with Clean Development Mechanism-projects was used as input to an investment decision model that estimated net present value outcomes. Other bases for the investment decision model were the results from a political, economical, social and technological (PEST) analysis of Brazilian Amazonas; and, interviews with experts from five of the world’s largest international forest companies about their assessment of the risks and benefits as well as perceptions of the corporate social responsibility aspects of REDD-projects. The PEST analysis showed that Brazilian Amazonas is a suitable investment case and could be a good place for this type of investments in the future - provided regulations were significantly simplified. The outcome on the investment model clearly showed that a company investing in a REDD-project with main purpose of preventing deforestation can expect a positive net present value. However, risks are high due to uncertainties about the value of carbon credits and uncertainties about the continued existence of carbon market