Showing papers in "Problems and perspectives in management in 2003"

Firm Level Innovation and Productivity - Is there a Common Story Across Countries?

Abstract: Recent studies have documented extensive heterogeneity in firm performance within countries, and innovation has been found as an important determinant. This paper addresses the issue of innovation firm performance across countries. A growing number of national firm level studies on the innovation-productivity link have been conducted using new internationally harmonized survey data, known in Europe as Community Innovation Survey (CIS). Mainly due to confidentiality reasons cross-country comparisons of CIS data are still rare. The contribution of this paper is its unique approach of pooling original firm observations from Germany and Sweden. Applying a knowledge production function that gives the relationship between innovation input, innovation output and productivity, we find to a very large extent a common cross-country story for knowledge intensive manufacturing firms. Some interesting country-specific effects are reported as well.

Strategic Complementarities Between Different Types of ICT-expenditures

Abstract: Multivariate Tobit models are estimated using German cross sectional data to test whether strategic complementarities exist between expenditures in four different types of ICT-components. If two ICT-components are complements, they are correlated (provided that agents act rationally). Significant correlations between all four types of ICT-expenditures are found and can neither be removed by standard firm heterogeneity control variables such as firm size, firms workforce qualification structure nor by firms ICT-structure so that indication for the presence of complementarities is provided.

Paradoxes of Financial Globalization

Abstract: The article studies the process of financial globalization. The major objective is to study the main paradoxes of financial globalization – the phenomenon of “home bias” and the paradox of "Feldstein-Horioka". Assessment of the paradoxes of financial globalisation is especially important during depression periods, which are taking place in the world economy, because their analysis makes it possible to evaluate the stage of development of the globalisation process as well as its ability to develop even under the conditions of economic depression. The study results in stating that international financial crises of the 1990s did not affect the international investors' confidence in the perspectives of financial globalization. It is proved by the growing mobility of international investment capital and also by the investors' wish to diversify the portfolio of securities by purchasing securities issued in different countries. Apparently, under such conditions financial crises can be considered an additional powerful stimulus for financial globalization rather than a barrier for its development.