The Rise of the Creative Class

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00501795/document

Testing slope homogeneity in large panels

This paper proposes a modified version of Swamy's test of slope homogeneity for panel data models where the cross section dimension (N) could be large relative to the time series dimension (T). The proposed test exploits the cross section dispersion of individual slopes weighted by their relative precision. In the case of models with strictly exogenous regressors and normally distributed errors, the test is shown to have a standard normal distribution. Using Monte Carlo experiments, it is shown that the test has the correct size and satisfactory power in panels with strictly exogenous regressors for various combinations of N and T. For autoregressive (AR) models the proposed test performs well for moderate values of the root of the autoregressive process. But for AR models with roots near unity a bias-corrected bootstrapped version of the test is proposed which performs well even if N is large relative to T. The proposed cross section dispersion tests are applied to testing the homogeneity of slopes in autoregressive models of individual earnings using the PSID data. The results show statistically significant evidence of slope heterogeneity in the earnings dynamics, even when individuals with similar educational backgrounds are considered as sub-sets.

Testing Slope Homogeneity in Large Panels

While the role of exports in promoting growth in general, and productivity in particular, has been investigated empirically using aggregate data for countries and industries for a long time, only recently have comprehensive longitudinal data at the firm level been used to look at the extent and causes of productivity differentials between exporters and their counterparts which sell on the domestic market only. This paper surveys the empirical strategies applied, and the results produced, in 45 microeconometric studies with data from 33 countries that were published between 1995 and 2004. Details aside, exporters are found to be more productive than non-exporters, and the more productive firms self-select into export markets, while exporting does not necessarily improve productivity.

/pdf/exports-and-productivity-a-survey-of-the-evidence-from-firm-1to9usucex.pdf

Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm Level Data

While the role of exports in promoting growth in general, and productivity in particular, has been investigated empirically using aggregate data for countries and industries for a long time, only recently have comprehensive longitudinal data at the firm level been used to look at the extent and causes of productivity differentials between exporters and their counterparts which sell on the domestic market only. This papers surveys the empirical strategies applied, and the results produced, in 45 microeconometric studies with data from 33 countries that were published between 1995 and 2004. Details aside, exporters are found to be more productive than non-exporters, and the more productive firms self-select into export markets, while exporting does not necessarily improve productivity.

/pdf/exports-and-productivity-a-survey-of-the-evidence-from-firm-15f3uvpfgz.pdf

Exports and Productivity: A Survey of the Evidence from Firm-level Data

https://publikationen.bibliothek.kit.edu/1000063118/3958574

Service Robotics and Human Labor: A first technology assessment of substitution and cooperation

Non-excludable and excludable public inputs are introduced into an endogenous growth model. We derive the equilibrium growth rate and design the optimal tax and user-cost structure, emphasizing the role of congestion and its consequences for the government's budget. The latter comprises fee and tax revenues that are used to finance the public inputs, although they may generate insufficient revenue to do so entirely. We extend the model to allow for monopoly pricing of the user fee by the government. Most of the analysis is conducted for general production functions consistent with endogenous growth, but the CES technology is also considered. A vast literature has evolved emphasizing the role of public investment as a determinant of economic growth. Among the earliest contributions, Arrow and Kurz (1970) is particularly significant, while the seminal work of Barro (1990) has been especially influential with respect to the contemporary endogenous growth literature. Stimulated by Aschauer's (1989) findings pertaining to the high rate of return on public capital, several authors have explored various aspects of the role of public capital in stimulating economic growth. For example, Baxter and King (1993) and Fisher and Turnovsky (1998) examine the interaction between public and private capital in a Ramsey-type growth model, while Futagami et al. (1993) perform a similar type of analysis in an endogenous growth context. Glomm and Ravikumar (1997) analyse the growth effects of productive public spending in an overlapping-generations setup, extending the framework to include majority voting, and alternative compositions of publicly provided goods and services; they also indicate private alternatives to public provision, but do not pursue this in detail. Cassou and Lansing (1998) focus on the relationship between private and public capital, showing how the evolution of the ratio between the two in the US economy since 1925 is broadly consistent with the predictions of a simple Ramsey growth model. They also show how the productivity slowdown in the US economy since the 1970s is more likely due to increasing tax rates than to non-optimal public investment policy. Much of the literature, including Barro, treats the public input as a pure public good, freely available without restrictions or impediments to all agents in the economy. But the public goods literature identifies many different characteristics that most public goods in fact exhibit, notably the presence of 'rivalry' and/or 'excludability'; see e.g. Cornes and Sandler (1996). Thus, the treatment of a public

/pdf/excludable-and-non-excludable-public-inputs-consequences-for-dbbrryih4w.pdf

Excludable and Non-excludable Public Inputs: Consequences for Economic Growth

In the intermediate and long run energy prices and hence transportation costs are expected to increase significantly. According to the reasoning of the New Economic Geography this will strengthen the spreading forces and thus affect the economic landscape. Other influencing factors on the regional distribution of economic activity include the general trends of demographic and structural change. In industrialized countries, the former induces an overall reduction of population and labor force whereas the latter implies an ongoing shift to the tertiary sector and increased specialization. Basically, cities provide better conditions to cope with these challenges than rural regions. Since the general trends affect all economic spaces similarly, city-specific factors also have to be considered in order to derive the impact of rising energy costs on future urban development. With respect to Hamburg regional peculiarities include the overall importance of the harbor as well as the existing composition of the industry and the service sector. The analysis highlights that rising energy and transportation costs will open up a range of opportunities for the metropolitan region.

/pdf/metropolitan-cities-under-transition-the-example-of-hamburg-2cssrdszp9.pdf

Metropolitan cities under transition: the example of Hamburg/Germany

Das Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) fordert die Entwicklung der Nanotechnologie in Deutschland mithilfe einer Vielzahl von Instrumenten. Allerdings liegen bislang wenige Studien vor, deren Fokus die Unternehmensperspektive im Innovationsprozess von Nanotechnologien einnimmt. Um einen Beitrag zur Schliesung dieser Kenntnislucke zu liefern, befragte das Hamburgische WeltwirtschaftsInstitut (HWWI) im Mai und Juni 2008 Firmen in Deutschland, die Nanotechnologien einsetzen. Wesentliche Inhalte der Online-Umfrage waren allgemeine Angaben uber die Unternehmen, Daten zu spezifischen Unternehmensaktivitaten sowie Meinungen der Unternehmer bezuglich der Rolle von Staat und Gesellschaft im Innovationsprozess der Nanotechnologie. Die Umfrage ergibt, dass die Unternehmen haufig aus Teamgrundungen heraus entstehen. Das Grunderteam weist dabei hauptsachlich technische Fahigkeiten auf, dicht gefolgt von kaufmannischen Fahigkeiten. Gemessen an der Mitarbeiterzahl sind die meisten Teilnehmer kleine und mittlere Unternehmen, die sich auf wenige Geschaftsfelder spezialisieren, da Nanotechnologien in vielfaltige Wertschopfungsketten eingebunden sind. Die Kunden der Nanotechnologie-Unternehmen hingegen sind auf mehr Geschaftsfeldern tatig als die Unternehmen selbst, was als ein Indiz fur den Querschnittscharakter der Nanotechnologie gewertet werden kann. Die Unternehmen tatigen gemessen an ihrem Umsatz hohe Investitionen in die Erforschung und Entwicklung neuer Produkte. Der Anteil der Mitarbeiter in Forschung und Entwicklung (FuE) sowie die kulturelle Vielfalt der Belegschaft sind in kleinen Unternehmen geringer als in grosen Unternehmen. Die groste Bedeutung als Standortfaktor fur die Nanotechnologieunternehmen haben die Verfugbarkeit qualifizierter Arbeiternehmer gefolgt von der Nahe zu Forschungseinrichtungen sowie der Verkehrsinfrastruktur. In der aktuellen unternehmerischen Tatigkeit haben personliche Kontakte zu Geschaftspartner sowie Kooperationen eine hohe Bedeutung. Fast drei Viertel der Unternehmen kooperieren mit Unternehmen oder staatlichen Forschungseinrichtungen. Die Rolle des Staates liegt nach Einschatzung der Unternehmer in erster Linie im Bereich der Grundlagenforschung sowie in der Unterstutzung angewandter Forschung. Ob der Staat sich im Technologietransfer engagieren sollte, wird von den Befragten ambivalent beurteilt: 47% der Unternehmen halten dies nicht fur eine Aufgabe des Staates. Ebenfalls nicht eindeutig ist die Meinung der Unternehmen uber die Notwendigkeit vermehrter gesetzlicher Regulierung im Bereich der Nanotechnologie. Die gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz der Nanotechnologie bewerten die befragten Unternehmer positiv; sie gehen davon aus, dass Endverbraucher Produkte, die Nanotechnologien enthalten, akzeptieren und furchten keinen Schaden durch offentliche Diskussionen uber diese Technologie.

Nanotechnologie in Deutschland - Eine Bestandsaufnahme aus Unternehmensperspektive

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/5210.pdf

Ingrid Ott

Papers

Service Robotics and Human Labor: A first technology assessment of substitution and cooperation

Excludable and Non-excludable Public Inputs: Consequences for Economic Growth

Metropolitan cities under transition: the example of Hamburg/Germany

Nanotechnologie in Deutschland - Eine Bestandsaufnahme aus Unternehmensperspektive

Academic discipline and risk perception of technologies: An empirical study