Ownership Structure, Strategic Controls and Export Intensity of Foreign-invested Firms in Transition Economies
I. Filatotchev, Johannes Stephan, Björn Jindra
Journal of International Business Studies,
No. 7,
2008
Abstract
This paper examines the relationships between foreign ownership, managers’ independence in decision-making and exporting of foreign-invested firms in five European Union accession countries. Using a unique, hand-collected data set of 434 foreign-invested firms in Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia and Estonia, we show that foreign investors’ ownership and control over strategic decisions are positively associated with export intensity, measured as the proportion of exports to total sales. The study also analyzes specific governance and control configurations in foreign-invested firms, showing that foreign equity and foreign control over business functions are complementary in terms of their effects on export intensity.
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Implementation of Competition Law in Developing and Transition Countries. Theoretical and Empirical Considerations
Franz Kronthaler
Schriften des IWH,
No. 26,
2007
Abstract
The success of free market economies over the last 200 years supports the notion that competition increases individual and social wealth. Developing countries that have undergone the necessary reforms today are amongst the most driving “emerging” economies in the world.
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Can Export Activities of Firms Contribute to the Catching-Up Process of Transitional Economies?
Brigitte Loose, Udo Ludwig
Can the transitional and development economies ever catch up? The Materials from The International Scientific Conference Cracow,
2006
Abstract
In contrast to the majority of the former centrally planned economies, the East German economy has suffered from enormous losses in the transformation process. In the study the question is analyzed whether exports can contribute to the catching-up process in transitional economies. Here it must be explained why the firms emerging out of the privatization process in economies in transition are successful if the export sector consists of small and medium sized enterprises. That is the case with East German manufacturing industry. The study is based on individual company data from the surveys of the East Germany's and North Rhine Westphalia's manufacturing industry between 1995 and 2001 stemming from official statistics.
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The unemployment-growth relationship in transition countries
Hubert Gabrisch, Herbert Buscher
IWH Discussion Papers,
No. 5,
2005
Abstract
Does the disappointingly high unemployment in Central and East European countries reflect non-completed adjustment to institutional shocks from transition to a market economy, or is it the result of high labour market rigidities, or rather a syndrome of too weak aggregate demand and output? In the case of transitional causes, unemployment is expected to decline over time. Otherwise, it would pose a challenge to the European Union, particular in case of accession countries, for it jeopardizes the ambitious integration plans of, and may trigger excessive migration to the Union. In order to find out which hypothesis holds 15 years after transition has started, we analyze the unemploymentgrowth dynamics in the eight new member countries from Central-Eastern Europe. The study is based on country and panel regressions with instrument variables (TSLS). The results suggest to declare the transition of labour markets as completed; unemployment responds to output and not to a changing institutional environment for job creation. The regression coefficients report a high trend rate of productivity and a high unemployment intensity of output growth since 1998. The conclusion is that labour market rigidities do not to play an important role in explaining high unemployment rates. Rather, GDP growth is dominated by productivity progress, while the employment relevant component of aggregate demand is too low to reduce substantially the high level of unemployment.
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Structural Change during Transition: Is Russia Becoming a Service Economy?
Albrecht Kauffmann
Volkswirtschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge der Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Fakultät, Universität Potsdam, Nr. 80,
No. 80,
2005
Abstract
This paper analyses the structural change in Russia during the transition from the planned to a market economy. With regard to the famous three sector hypothesis, broad economic sectors were formed as required by this theory. The computation of their shares at GNP at market prices using Input-Output tables, and the adjustment of results from distortions, generated as side effects of tax avoidance practices, shows results that clearly reject claims that Russia would be on the road to a post-industrial service economy. Instead, at least until 2001, a tendency of “primarisation“ could be observed, that presents Russia closer to less-developed countries.
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Analysis of statements made in favour of and against the adoption of competition law in developing and transition economies
Franz Kronthaler, Johannes Stephan, Frank Emmert
IWH-Sonderhefte,
No. 1,
2005
Abstract
The paper is concerned with documenting and assessing statements made by policy-makers, opinion formers, and other stakeholders in favour and against the adoption of competition laws with particular reference to transition and developing countries which have not yet enacted these kind of laws. For example, claims that competition enforcement might reduce the inflow of foreign direct investment, or that other policies are successfully used as substitutes for competition law, are assessed. In a first step, the method of generalized analysis structures the list of statements around core issues of common features to make them accessible to further interpretation and assessment.
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Non-market Allocation in Transport: A Reassessment of its Justification and the Challenge of Institutional Transition
Ulrich Blum
50 Years of Transport Research: Experiences Gained and Major Challenges Ahead,
2005
Abstract
Economic theory knows two systems of coordination: through public choice or through the market principle. If the market is chosen, then it may either be regulated, or it may be fully competitive (or be in between these two extremes). This paper first inquires into the reasons for regulation, it analyses the reasons for the important role of government in the transportation sector, especially in the procurement of infrastructure. Historical reasons are seen as important reasons for bureaucratic objections to deregulation. Fundamental economic concepts are forwarded that suggest market failure and justify a regulatory environment. The reasons for regulation cited above, however, may be challenged; we forward theoretical concepts from industrial organization theory and from institutional economics which suggest that competition is even possible on the level of infrastructure. The transition from a strongly regulated to a competitive environment poses problems that have given lieu to numerous failures in privatization and deregulation. Structural inertia plays an important role, and the incentive-compatible management of infrastructure is seen as the key element of any liberal transportation policy. It requires that the setting of rules on the meta level satisfies both local and global efficiency ends. We conclude that, in market economies, competition and regulation should not be substitutes but complements. General rules, an "ethic of competition" have to be set that guarantee a level playing field to agents; it is complimented by institutions that provide arbitration in case of misconduct.
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Technology spillovers from foreign investors in transition economies - are the effects still expected?
Jutta Günther
Economic and business review,
No. 1,
2005
Abstract
While it is widely acknowledged that there is a technology transfer from parent companies to foreign subsidiaries in central East European countries, there is no clear cut evidence for technology spillovers in favour of domestic companies so far. The paper presents a theoretical framework for how spillover mechanisms are turned into a reality and outlines empirical findings on technology spillovers for transition economies based on a comprehensive literature review. Against the background of an empirical qualitative study, the paper provides firm level explanations for the obvious lack of technology spillovers. Policy oriented issues will be discussed in the conclusions.
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Analysis of statements made in favour of and against the adoption of competition law in developing and transition economies
Johannes Stephan, Franz Kronthaler, Frank Emmert
Einzelveröffentlichungen,
No. 9,
2005
Abstract
The paper is concerned with documenting and assessing statements made by policymakers, opinion formers, and other stakeholders in favour and against the adoption of competition laws with particular reference to transition and developing countries which have not yet enacted these kind of laws. For example, claims that competition enforcement might reduce the inflow of foreign direct investment, or that other policies are successfully used as substitutes for competition law, are assessed. In a first step, the method of generalized analysis structures the list of statements around core issues of common features to make them accessible to further interpretation and assessment. The paper shows that some claims are in fact country or region specific, and specific to the development level of the respective countries. In a second step, the core issues are assessed according to economic and legal criteria. Since the analysis focuses on transition and developing countries, the criteria for economic assessment are predominantly economic growth and development issues, but also include the economic coherency of a set of claims submitted by stakeholders in a given country. The criteria for legal assessment include whether claims are problematic in light of WTO-principles, or are even born out of a political objective which is incompatible with the spirit, if not the letter of WTO-rules.
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