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on Transition Economics |
| By: | Timothy Frye (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Andrei Yakovlev (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The relative bargaining power of rulers and right-holders is thought to be a key determinant of property rights, but because it both shapes and is shaped by property rights, it is difficult to estimate the impact of bargaining power on property rights. We take advantage of a natural experiment by comparing the responses of managers interviewed just before and just after a surprising parliamentary election in Russia that weakened the relative bargaining power of the ruling party. This electoral shock had little impact on the perceived property rights of the average firm, but firms with close economic ties to the state viewed their property as more vulnerable after the election. By exploiting largely exogenous variation in the timing of survey interviews, we estimate the impact of bargaining power on property rights with greater precision. We also contribute to the literature on elections under autocracy by focusing on their economic, rather than political impacts on individuals |
| Keywords: | Elections, property rights, hostile takeover, natural experiment |
| JEL: | Z |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:29/ps/2015&r=tra |
| By: | Trinh, Long |
| Abstract: | Innovation and internationalization have been considered as the major sources of growth for a long time. Various theoretical models suggest a bi-directional causality relationship between these two decisions. However, so far there is limited empirical evidence on whether there is a dynamic interdependence of innovation and internationalization decisions among SME firms in developing countries. Using a dynamic bivariate probit model and adopting a broader definition of internationalization, this paper analyzes the dynamic interdependence of internationalization and innovation decisions at the firm level in a developing country, by using a rich panel data set of SMEs collected biannually from 2005 to 2013 in Vietnam. Our empirical results show a high persistence in process, product innovations and internationalization decisions. Furthermore, we find that, for non-micro firms (i.e. firms with at least six fulltime permanent workers), past internationalization has a positive effect on process innovation but past process innovation do not has a significant effect on internationalization decision of these firms. For this group of firms, we also find signs of cross-dependence between process innovation and internationalization decision. Our empirical results, however, does not show dynamic interdependence between internationalization and product innovation. For micro firms, we do not find any evidence relating to interdependence of internationalization and both types of innovation. |
| Keywords: | internationalization, process innovation, product innovation, persistence of innovation, dynamic random effect bivariate probit, SME, Vietnam |
| JEL: | F14 L20 O31 |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68308&r=tra |
| By: | ZhongXiang Zhang (College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University and School of Economics, Fudan University, China) |
| Abstract: | The Chinese central government has approved the seven pilot carbon trading schemes. These seven pilot regions are deliberately selected to be at varying stages of development and are given considerable leeway to design their own schemes. These pilot trading schemes have features in common, but vary considerably in their approach to issues such as the coverage of sectors, allocation of allowances, price uncertainty and market stabilization, potential market power of dominated players, use of offsets, and enforcement and compliance. This article explains why China opts for emissions trading, rather than carbon or environmental taxes at least initially, discusses the key common and varying features of these carbon trading pilots and their first-year performance, draws the lessons learned, discusses the potential pathways for evolution of regional pilot carbon trading schemes into a nationwide carbon trading scheme, and raises fundamental issues that must be addressed in order to make such an emissions trading scheme to work reliably and effectively and with an increasingly expanded coverage and scope. |
| Keywords: | Pilot Carbon Trading Schemes, Environmental Taxes, Compliance, Carbon Offsets, Energy Prices, China |
| JEL: | H23 O13 P28 Q43 Q48 Q52 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.38&r=tra |
| By: | Sheng Yang; Ling-Yun He |
| Abstract: | China's rapid economic growth resulted in serious air pollution, which caused substantial losses to economic development and residents' health. In particular, the road transport sector has been blamed to be one of the major emitters. During the past decades, fluctuation in the international oil prices has imposed significant impacts on the China's road transport sector. Therefore, we propose an assumption that China's provincial economies are independent "economic entities". Based on this assumption, we investigate the China's road transport fuel (i.e., gasoline and diesel) demand system by using the panel data of all 31 Chinese provinces except Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. To connect the fuel demand system and the air pollution emissions, we propose the concept of pollution emissions elasticities to estimate the air pollution emissions from the road transport sector, and residents' health losses by a simplified approach consisting of air pollution concentrations and health loss assessment models under different scenarios based on real-world oil price fluctuations. Our framework, to the best of our knowledge, is the first attempt to address the transmission mechanism between the fuel demand system in road transport sector and residents' health losses in the transitional China. |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:1512.01742&r=tra |
| By: | ZhongXiang Zhang (College of Management and Economics, Tianjin University) |
| Abstract: | China has realized that for its own sake and from the international community’s perspective, it cannot afford to continue along the conventional path of encouraging economic growth at the expense of the environment. Accordingly, the country has placed ecological goals at the same level of priority as policies on economic, political, cultural and social development. Specifically, to meet the grand goal involves not only capping China’s nationwide coal consumption to let it peak before 2020 and carbon emissions peak around 2030, but also putting in place a variety of flagship programs and initiatives, prices and policies. This paper argues that the 2030 carbon emissions peak goal is ambitious but achievable and concludes by arguing why China’s anti-pollution outcomes this time might be different from the previous ones. |
| Keywords: | Low-Carbon Economy, Carbon Emissions Peaks, Coal Consumption, Carbon Pricing, Energy Prices, Resource Tax Reform, Renewable Energy, China |
| JEL: | H23 P28 Q42 Q43 Q48 Q53 Q54 Q58 |
| Date: | 2015–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.95&r=tra |
| By: | Golikova Victoria (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Kuznetsov Boris (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | This paper is focused on assessing the factors of risks for Russian manufacturing firms due to the sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU, US and other countries in 2014. While there is extensive literature on assessing the successes and failures of international sanctions on the economies of both senders and targets on a macroeconomic level (Hufbauer et al., 2007; Drezner 1998, 2003; Morgan et al, 2009; Krustev, 2010; Morgan et al, 2009 among others), we are more interested in trying to understand the corporate response, i.e. which firms evaluate the introduction and increasing scale of economic sanctions as a threat to their corporate strategy and their possible reactions aimed at adjusting to a changing environment due to the geopolitical shock. Our research, based on a recent survey of manufacturing companies, provides evidence that Russian manufacturing firms have in the last decade become much more integrated into the global economy than is commonly assumed, via FDI, foreign trade, including both the importing of technological equipment and intermediates, via establishing international partnerships and extensively supplying foreign companies which operate in Russia. Considering the self-selection effect of the top performing firms in terms of foreign trade, we can state that sanctions could be the most harmful effect for the better performing and globalized firms and, thus, the impact of the sanctions on the prospects of the Russian manufacturing sector may be very strong in the medium and long-term perspectives |
| Keywords: | economic sanctions, perceptions of risks, manufacturing firms, Russia |
| JEL: | F14 O31 O33 P23 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:115/ec/2015&r=tra |
| By: | Maxim N. Kotsemir (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Tatiana E. Kuznetsova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Elena G. Nasybulina (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Anna G. Pikalova (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The problem of rationalizing S&T cooperation, including identifying the most promising areas and forms for S&T cooperation (geographical and thematic) and state support instruments, is critically important to many countries. In view of the growing complexity of global trends and domestic restrictions on development and the emergence of new factors affecting contacts with foreign countries, there are increasing demands in the international arena to collect and analyse relevant information required to make substantiated administrative decisions on various levels, including with regard to international S&T collaboration. In these conditions, researchers and experts tend to resort to a broad range of empirical methods, while politicians make more active use of their results in administrative practice and international contacts. This working paper describes and systematizes analysis results in the field of international S&T collaboration based on a bibliometric study. The authors combine quantitative methods of bibliometrics and sociology to identify prospective partners and promising areas for collaboration. In addition, the possibility of using the proposed approach to provide information support for current state policy-making is assessed, and key results of the study are examined |
| Keywords: | science and technology cooperation; international partnerships; priorities for STI cooperation; bibliometric analysis; expert interviews. |
| JEL: | C00 A00 Z00 F01 F59 O19 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:53sti2015&r=tra |
| By: | Ivantsova, Alina |
| Abstract: | Abstract: This article is about the problem of capital outflow from Russia. The article features the reasons, forms and solutions of the problem. Author analyzes the amounts of net capital outflow during the period from 2000 to 2015 and also the structure of capital outflow for three quarters of the last two years. Also attention is paid to events, which explain the situation with capital outflow. |
| Keywords: | Keywords: capital outflow, offshores, structure of capital outflow, net capital outflow, amounts of capital outflow, flight of capital |
| JEL: | F2 F21 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68309&r=tra |
| By: | Andrea Elteto (Institute of World Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences); Andrea Szalavetz (Institute of World Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences); Gabor Tury (Institute of World Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies, Hungarian Academy of Sciences); Aniko Magashazi (Corvinus University of Budapest, International Relations, Multidisciplinary Doctoral School) |
| Abstract: | Global networks shape international production and trade. The main question of our paper is how Hungarian companies can improve their positions within these global value chains. The production and export of automotive and machinery industry are dominated by foreign multinational enterprises, therefore these sectors were chosen as examples. Research is based on interviews that explore local manufacturing subsidiaries' product, process and functional upgrading experience. Our findings show that there are differences among the firms in terms of extent of upgrading. This depends on one hand, on the owner’s global strategy and on the type of final products. On the other hand local capabilities are of crucial importance among the factors that influence the volume of intangible transfers. Furthermore, our interviews suggested that upgrading is not a unidirectional process: previously gained mandates can also be lost. Economic policy should support the business development and entrepreneurial learning and provide adequate conditions for suppliers and subsidiaries of leading multinational enterprises. |
| Keywords: | global value chains, machinery industry, automotive industry, Hungary |
| JEL: | D22 D24 E23 F16 F23 L6 L62 O52 |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iwe:workpr:217&r=tra |
| By: | Rudkovskaya, Maria |
| Abstract: | The article raises the topic of Internet use in business, and describes the investment attractiveness of e-business. The author talks about the prospects of further development of the role of the World Wide Web for the Russian Internet economy. |
| Keywords: | Internet-business, investment, e-commerce, Runet. |
| JEL: | O14 O31 |
| Date: | 2015–12–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68269&r=tra |
| By: | Irina Andrievskaya (National Research University Higher School); Mikhail Raschupkin (National Research University Higher School) |
| Abstract: | Information disclosure is considered as an important prerequisite for the efficient functioning of a financial system. Costs and benefits of information disclosure in the banking system have been extensively theoretically and empirically investigated. However, the effect of voluntary transparency on bank market power and market share is still empirically unexplored. Our paper fills this gap in the literature, examining two hundred of the largest Russian banks in the period 2004-2013. The findings confirm that voluntary transparency – absolute and relative - affects a bank’s market power and market shares. Moreover, this relation depends on the bank’s asset quality |
| Keywords: | banking system, voluntary information disclosure, market power, Lerner index |
| JEL: | G21 D22 D80 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:51/fe/2015&r=tra |
| By: | Bachev, Hrabrin; Ivanov, Bodjidar |
| Abstract: | This paper is a part of a research project for a bilateral academic cooperation between Bulgaria and China on "Governance and Assessment of Agrarian Sustainability - Experiences, Challenges and Lessons from Bulgaria and China" (http://bg-china.alle.bg/). The goal of this intermediary report is to suggest a "Framework for Analyzing and Assessing the System of Governance and Levels of Agrarian Sustainability", which is to be applied during the second stage to analyze and assess the system of governance of agrarian sustainability in Bulgaria and China. First, evolution of the understanding of "concept" of agrarian sustainability and the approaches of its assessment is reviewed. After that a framework for assessing the system of governance of agrarian sustainability consisting of institutional environment, market, private, collective and public modes is proposed. Finally, a specific framework for assessing the social, economic, ecological and integral levels of agrarian sustainability in Bulgarian and Chinese agriculture is worked out. Тази разработка е част от научно-изследователски проект за двустранно научно-техническо сътрудничество между България и Китай на тема „Управление и оценка на аграрната устойчивост – опит, предизвикателства и уроци от България и Китай“ (http://bg-china.alle.bg/). Целта на този междинен етап е да се разработи „Подход за анализ и оценка на системата за управление и на равнището на аграрна устойчивост“, който да се приложи през втория етап на проекта за анализ и оценка на системата за управление и на равнището на аграрна устойчивост в България и Китай. Най-напред се прави анализ на подходите за дефиниране и оценка на аграрната устойчивост, на базата на което се прави и работна дефиниция за целите на проекта. След това се разработва подход за анализ и оценка на системата за управление на аграрнатаустойчивост, включваща институционалната среда, пазарните, частни, колективни и обществени форми. Най-накрая се предлага адегватен за съвремените условия на развитие на българското и китайско селскко стопанство подход за оценка на равнището на социална, икономическа, екологическа и интегрална устойчивост на селското стопанство. |
| Keywords: | agrarian sustainability, governance, assessment, institutional environment, market, private, public modes, social, economic, ecological, integral levels |
| JEL: | Q12 Q13 Q18 Q5 Q56 |
| Date: | 2015–12–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68251&r=tra |
| By: | Marinov, Eduard |
| Abstract: | The Regional competitiveness index is the first measure of the degree of competitiveness at regional level covering all EU countries and their regions. The paper presents briefly the methodological frame of the RCI and then applies it to Bulgarian NUTS 2 regions. The results achieved show the relative ranking of Bulgaria and its regions in the EU and allow for conclusions to bе drawn about their strengths and weaknesses regarding the overall regional development and all 11 fields covered bу the RCI. |
| Keywords: | regional development, Regional competitiveness index (RCI), Bulgarian regions |
| JEL: | R1 R11 R12 R58 |
| Date: | 2014–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68272&r=tra |
| By: | Sergey M. Plaksin (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Alexander S. Kondrashov (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Elizaveta V. Yastrebova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Ekaterina M. Reshetova (National Research University Higher School of Economics); Nikita A. Krupenskiy (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The implementation of Intelligent Transportation System elements into the toll plaza system is an actual topic nowadays and its positive effect is the subject of wide speculations. It is considered that the toll plaza Intelligent Transportation System can play a significant role in construction and operating costs reduction and improve the traffic safety. Also, the implementation of the Intelligent Transportation System elements provides the CO2 emissions reduction and increases the level of toll road user satisfaction. However, the usage of these elements at toll plazas has some disadvantages. While the usage of the old-school (manual) toll collection technology provides 100% toll collection rate, the implementation of the Intelligent Transportation System elements at toll roads entails toll payment deficiency. Discussion as whether to use the old technology or to implement the Intelligent Transportation System elements is the right way to operate toll roads and toll plazas forms a point of departure for this paper. This article focuses on the economic, social and environmental effects of the implementation of the Intelligent Transportation System elements at toll roads. Almost all kinds of positive and negative effects of the Intelligent Transportation System elements implementation are evaluated in money terms and made on the basis of author’s calculations and sociological researches data |
| Keywords: | toll road, Intelligent transportation system, toll collection, Russia, environmental effect |
| JEL: | R49 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:02/urb/2015&r=tra |
| By: | Kristina Volkonitskaia (National Research University Higher School of Economics) |
| Abstract: | The working paper is based on research findings concerning the functioning of 35 Russian technology parks in 2013 – the first half of 2015. The analysis of the performance of these technology parks has been carried out on the basis of the CANVAS framework, proposed by Osterwalder and Pine in 2010. The research was conducted in the domain of 9 key blocks business model of technology parks, including infrastructure and services provided, companies’ residents, cooperation with partners, including regional and federal authorities, scientific and education institutions, financial and economic indicators of technoparks and key performance indicators used. On the basis of empirical data 7 business models of functioning of Russian technology parks were revealed, including IT-park, university park, 2 types of facilitators of innovation processes in a region and 3 types of entrepreneurial technoparks. The classification allows differentiating the nature and level of support of technology parks as objects of innovation infrastructure. Detailed profile of business models reveals the competitive advantages and weaknesses of technoparks, as well as mechanisms to improve the efficiency of these objects of innovation infrastructure |
| Keywords: | innovative infrastructure, technopark, business-model, research and development, regional development, regional innovative system, value creation |
| JEL: | O32 O38 R58 |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hig:wpaper:55sti2015&r=tra |