Trade through FDI: investing in services

The type of relationship between different modes of trading services internationally is of great interest, both for the academic literature and for liberalization policies under the GATS, because cross-border and commercial presence abroad might complement or substitute each other. This paper offers a consistent theoretical foundation for the application of the gravity model to services trade, using a composite demand model yielding testable hypothesis about that complementary or substitutive relationship and linking the results to market regulations as trade barriers. For the OECD countries over 1994-2004 a robust complementary effects in the short-run is found, reinforced in the long-run by an increased potential for cross-border imports bases on pervious FDI inflows, highlighting business, communication and financial services.Imports, services, panel data, substitution and complementary effects

TRADE THROUGH FDI: investing in services

The type of relationship between different modes of trading services across international borders is of great interest, not only for the academic literature but also for the formulation trade liberalization offers under the GATS. Even more than for trade in goods, it is thus important to know whether cross-border trade and trade through commercial presence abroad act as complements or substitutes in services. The most commonly used analytical tool in the empirical analysis of this question is the gravity model of trade. This paper offers a consistent theoretical foundation for the application of the gravity model to services and to commercial presence, using a composite demand model with offers testable hypothesis about the complementary or substitutive relationship between different modes of supply. It further links the results to policy variables like market regulations which may act directly or implicitly as barriers to trade. Our empirical test for the sample of OECD countries over the decade 1994- 2004 yields robust complementary effects in the short-run, which is reinforced in the long-run by an increased potential for cross-border imports based on previous FDI inflows. A detailed analysis by individual service sectors highlights business, communication and financial services as showing the largest potential for cross-border trade when market regulations are reduced and when commercial presence increases.FDI, imports, services, panel data, substitution and complementary effects

Financing Cities

The macro-economic and micro-economic evidences makes a persuasive case for cities as important centers for productive efficiency, innnovation, and economic growth. For cities to achieve their full economic potential, however, complementary public services are required. This paper reviews the arguments and the evidence for the efficient financing and governance of city public services. Against the criterion of efficiency, city services should be limited to those services valued by city residents; financing should assign residential taxes to residential services and business land taxes and fees to business services; and city governance should foster competition and choice.

The changing UK careers landscape : tidal waves, turbulence and transformation

This article explores how the UK careers landscape in each of the four home nations is changing in response to neo-liberal policies. In this context, careers services are increasingly under pressure to demonstrate their added value, impact and returns on investment. As fiscal arrangements tighten and governments state their preferences and priorities for national careers services, differing strategic responses are beginning to emerge. A quasi-market, experimental approach is now the dominant discourse in England, in contrast to differing and complementary arrangements in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The article suggests that insofar as these developments are transforming national careers services, they are also creating significant challenges which require new forms of policy imagery and imagination for high-impact, all-age careers services

Services trade and domestic regulation

This paper argues that regulatory measures affect the fixed cost of entering a market as well as the variable costs of servicing that market. Moreover, differences in regulation among countries often imply that firms have to incur entry costs in every new market. Indicators of regulatory intensity and heterogeneity are introduced in a gravity model and their impact on market entry and subsequent trade flows estimated for total services, business services and financial services. It is found that regulatory heterogeneity has a relatively large negative impact on both market entry and subsequent trade flows. Further, regulatory barriers have a negative effect on the local services sectors’ export performance. Finally it is found that regulations that aims at correcting market failure can have a positive impact on trade. It is concluded that services trade liberalization and regulatory reforms are complementary in creating competitive services markets.Trade in services; regulation; GATS; fixed trade costs

Structura balanţei serviciilor şi tendinţele evolutive ale acesteia

In developed economies the high material production of the goods satisfy new and diversified necessities. Individual and social needs in a permanent dynamic have determined the need to develop services faster than the speed of diversification of properties. Mostly modern economy is producing and consuming services. Dynamic needs influence the division of labor, considered by the experts another case, together with dynamics of needs, the growing role of services sector in the economy. On the one hand, division of labor develops collaborative relationships between suppliers of raw materials, goods manufacturers and service providers, and on the other hand, it deeps the economic competition and struggle to conquer a bigger market share. In an economy based on services are mainly produced, their complementary goods. Satisfying as more and better consumer requirements are based on both quality of services due to increasing competition and the use of complementary goods, Statistics made on tourism management and services. Services have become an important sector of world economy wich continues to grow up, encompassing most of the production and employment, in most industrialized countries. Approximately 70% of total aggregate production from OECD countries is generated by service activities, which absorb a proportion similar to the active workforce. Also, the major changes in the sectoral structure of esteuropean economies, significantly correlated with GDP growth, the number of jobs and increased international trade, led to a substantial change in the service sector in these countries and persists, however, the differences from developed countries and between different countries in transition, regardind the role and performance of service sector.services, balance of payments , employment, tourism, Romania

Mobile consultant: Evaluation of additional services

As the need for mobility in the medical world increases, newer systems and applications came to light; many of them based on wireless and mobile networks. PDA based systems were presented in the past, capable of videoconferencing and transmitting high quality images between a roaming consultant and a fixed point in the hospital. These systems not only had desirable characteristics but also incorporated additional services that were found of value: paging, Voice over IP calling, Internet, email, intranet, patient record update, etc. This paper presents an engineering and clinical evaluation of those additional services based on both objective and subjective criteria. It concludes that such complementary services can be desirable as they increase personnel mobility, utilize the hospital resources more efficiently while at the same time increase productivity and decrease the cost of hardware and communications

Condor services for the Global Grid:interoperability between Condor and OGSA

In order for existing grid middleware to remain viable it is important to investigate their potentialfor integration with emerging grid standards and architectural schemes. The Open Grid ServicesArchitecture (OGSA), developed by the Globus Alliance and based on standard XML-based webservices technology, was the first attempt to identify the architectural components required tomigrate towards standardized global grid service delivery. This paper presents an investigation intothe integration of Condor, a widely adopted and sophisticated high-throughput computing softwarepackage, and OGSA; with the aim of bringing Condor in line with advances in Grid computing andprovide the Grid community with a mature suite of high-throughput computing job and resourcemanagement services. This report identifies mappings between elements of the OGSA and Condorinfrastructures, potential areas of conflict, and defines a set of complementary architectural optionsby which individual Condor services can be exposed as OGSA Grid services, in order to achieve aseamless integration of Condor resources in a standardized grid environment

(Self-)Regulation of a Natural Monopoly via Complementary Goods - the Case of F/OSS Business Models

The paper investigates the optimal regulation of a (software) firm which acts as a natural monopolist, who also offers a complementary good (IT services) on a competitive market. It is shown that a first-best-regulation accompanyied with an optimal taxation schedule in order to compensate the losses is equivalent to a cross-subsidisation of the software by the complementary good. This is the same result as in business models with Free/Open Source Software (F/OSS). Even if a price of zero for F/OSS does not reflect the use of resources for software development, the price system in F/OSS related markets leads to a welfare improving allocation. F/OSS license models can be seen as institutional arrangements which mimick a social planner.natural monopoly, regulation, Ramsey pricing, welfare, complementary good, Open Source Software

Savings, Insurance and Debt over the Post-Apartheid Period: A Review of Recent Research

Sustainable poverty reduction requires that poor households effectively manage risk. The absence of basic financial services is a major obstacle to poverty reduction in South Africa. This paper reviews available South African literature on utilisation of formal and informal risk management instruments. The centrality of income in accessing the complementary bundle of formal financial services excludes households in the lower deciles from formal financial services. Rural households and households without formally employed household members are also denied access. Strong complementarities with informal channels of finance mean that these same households have limited access to even informal financial services. Promoting the use of savings accounts in pension and social grant payouts and the growth of village banks have been suggested as means to increase formal access for the poor.