International R&D Spillovers Between U.S. and Japanese R&D Intensive Sectors


Book Description

A great deal of empirical evidence shows that a country's production structure and productivity growth depend on its own R&D capital formation. With the growing role of international trade, foreign investment and international knowledge diffusion, domestic production and productivity also depend on the R&D activities of other countries. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the bilateral link between the U.S. and Japanese economies in terms of how R&D capital formation in one country affects the production structure, physical and R&D capital accumulation, and productivity growth in the other country. We find that production processes become less labor intensive as international R&D spillovers grow. In the short-run, R&D intensity is complementary to the international spillover. This relationship persists in the long-run for the U.S., but the Japanese decrease their own R&D intensity. U.S. R&D capital accounts for 60% of Japanese total factor productivity growth, while Japanese R&D capital contributes 20% to U.S. productivity gains. International spillovers cause social rates of return to be about four times the private returns.







Advanced Public Procurement as Industrial Policy


Book Description

This study is about the macroeconomic effects of positive externalities or industrial spillovers around advanced production. The case explored is the “technology di- dend” around Swedish aircraft industry, and in particular around the aircraft ma- facturer Saab, and the major industrial project of the JAS 39 Gripen multirole combat aircraft. The project is partly an updating of my book (in Swedish) Technology 1 Generator or a National Presige Project from 1995, but extends the analysis in s- eral directions. The study includes a chapter on spillovers from advanced production in an industrially developing economy, South Africa, that has acquired the JAS 39 Gripen for its Air Force. There is also a chapter in which the results for Sweden are discussed in the wider context of advanced public procurement in Europe. The text has been organized such that the main chapters have been written for academic readers. Two supplements include the technical details of data collection, mathematical models, and calculation methods. The first chapter is brief and focused on the results. It has the character of an extended executive summary. The second chapter summarizes the entire story; problems, results, and methods. This project would not have been possible without the generous support of a number of people. First of all great thanks go to all those people with crowded calendars in Swedish industrial firms that have set aside time to respond to my questions. Most of them have been listed at the end of the book.




Innovation in Japan


Book Description

Technology is a key factor in global industrial competition, and Japan's national system of technological innovation has been vital to the economic success of the country since World War II. This book examines the historical development of the system, incl




Innovation Policy in the Knowledge-Based Economy


Book Description

Scholars in the science and technology field have not collectively questioned, much less proposed, an agenda for policy makers. Now is an appropriate time for such an undertaking. First, there is a growing belief that the U.S. national research and development system, like that of many industrial nations, is changing due to global competitive pressures and advancements in information technology and electronic commerce. Second, industry's R&D relationship with the academic research community is changing not only because of the global competition but also because of alterations in the level of government support of fundamental research. As a result, policy makers will need to rethink their approaches to science and technology issues. This volume is a collection of essays by scholars about innovative policy in the knowledge-based economy. By knowledge-based economy we mean one for which economic growth is based on the creation, distribution, and use of technology. As such, innovation policy in such an economy must enhance the creation, distribution, and use of knowledge that leads to the creation, distribution, and use of technology. This volume considers elements of an innovation policy: innovation policy and academic research, innovation policy in electronic commerce, and innovation policy and globalization issues.




Productivity Issues in Canada


Book Description

A collection of research papers that explains Canada's relatively weak productivity record over the last few decades and the nature of productivity growth in Canada. The book covers a wide range of topics, including productivity trends and determinants, innovation, investment, global linkages, productivity in the new economy, and the social aspects of productivity. Includes in-depth and detailed papers by experts in Canadian economics, policy, trade etc.







The Rise of Transnational Corporations from Emerging Markets


Book Description

Having undertaken billions of FDI in many continents and nations, between Argentina and the PRC, I consider Dr Sauvant s book an eye-opener, a new page, showing us a new super highway. The OFDI volume of emerging markets today, surpassing the entire FDI volume of not even 20 years back, is a signal of success of the free market economy. It signals also the end of privileges for the Europeans. It reflects entrepreneurship at its best on the part of the fast developing nations of Asia. It shows that free access to know how and capital has permitted Asia to catch up at an unprecedented speed. Contrary to often repeated but wrong opinions, the poor of the world have benefited the most by globalization. A market place of unimaginable potential is under construction in the first half of the 21st century, accelerated by FDI. This book should find many readers, particularly among the political leaders of today and tomorrow. Carl H. Hahn, Chairman Emeritus of Volkswagen AG This comprehensive analysis deals with the range of issues raised by the rise of transnational corporations from emerging markets. This insightful book shows that foreign direct investment (FDI) from emerging markets has grown from negligible amounts in the early 1980s to $210 billion in 2007, with the stock of investment now being well over $1 trillion. This reflects the rise of firms from these economies to become important players in the world FDI market. The contributors to this book comprehensively analyze the rise of emerging market TNCs, the salient features of the transnational activities of these firms, the relationship of outward FDI and the competitiveness of the firms involved, their impact on host and home countries and implications for the international law and policy system. The subject of this study is both topical and important and poses a number of challenges that will require considerable policy attention in the future. It will appeal to academics interested in FDI as well as emerging markets. Karl P. Sauvant has gathered together a group of leading academics that makes this an informative and valuable read for anyone interested in the subject, including academics, students at all levels and private sector entities, as well as government officials dealing with outward FDI.




New Directions in Chinese Politics for the New Millennium


Book Description

Addresses the most significant development in China's reform with a focus on rural and urban elections, comprehensive marketization, nature of political change, China's entry into the World Trade Organization, property rights and science and technology policy, and culture and sovereignty.




The Size of Nations


Book Description

The authors of this timely and provocative book use the tools of economic analysis to examine the formation and change of political borders. They argue that while these issues have always been at the core of historical analysis, international economists have tended to regard the size of a country as "exogenous," or no more subject to explanation than the location of a mountain range or the course of a river. Alesina and Spolaore consider a country's borders to be subject to the same analysis as any other man-made institution. In The Size of Nations, they argue that the optimal size of a country is determined by a cost-benefit trade-off between the benefits of size and the costs of heterogeneity. In a large country, per capita costs may be low, but the heterogeneous preferences of a large population make it hard to deliver services and formulate policy. Smaller countries may find it easier to respond to citizen preferences in a democratic way. Alesina and Spolaore substantiate their analysis with simple analytical models that show how the patterns of globalization, international conflict, and democratization of the last two hundred years can explain patterns of state formation. Their aim is not only "normative" but also "positive"—that is, not only to compute the optimal size of a state in theory but also to explain the phenomenon of country size in reality. They argue that the complexity of real world conditions does not preclude a systematic analysis, and that such an analysis, synthesizing economics, political science, and history, can help us understand real world events.