Showing papers in "Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv-review of World Economics in 2002"

Regional Concentration in the United States and Europe: Who Follows Whom?: Who Follows Whom?

Abstract: Regional Concentration in the United States and Europe: Who Follows Whom? — This paper investigates differences in the regional concentration of manufacturing in the United States and in Europe. We use a new data set (value added and employment, comparable number of regions in the United States and Europe, manufacturing disaggregated into 10 sectors, period 1987–1995/98). The main result is that the level of regional concentration is indeed higher in the United States, although the difference is much less than suggested by past studies, which relied on employment figures. Regional concentration has been declining over time, faster in the United States thus converging to the lower European level from above. In Europe, this tendency has been specifically evident since the installment of the Single Market Program.

Is the uncertainty-investment link non-linear? Empirical evidence for developed economies

Abstract: Is the Uncertainty-Investment Link Non-linear? Empirical Evidence for Developed Economies. — This paper examines whether the impact of uncertainty on aggregate investment differs for low and high values of uncertainty. I present two types of estimates on the impact of uncertainty, measured by the volatility of stock market returns, for a group of developed economies. First, I estimate investment models in which I include a linear and a quadratic term for uncertainty. Second, I estimate investment models in which uncertainty is a threshold variable. Both types of estimates provide evidence on the empirical relevance of a non-linear effect of uncertainty on investment.

What's trade got to do with it? Relative Demand for Skills within Swedish Manufacturing

Abstract: This paper seeks to identify the contribution of trade and technological change to the increase in inequality between skilled and unskilled workers in Sweden since the 1970s. An empirical approach is adopted which allows for the outsourcing of the low-skill parts of the production chain within industries to low-wage locations and is applied to detailed industry and trade data, the latter distinguishing between low-wage sources of imports and OECD countries. Another feature of the study is the use of data on patents to capture technological change. The paper finds that, in contrast to previous studies, trade with low-wage countries may have contributed to the rise in inequality in Swedish manufacturing. Here we identify this effect through changes in relative import prices and through changes in import penetration measured in volume terms. Changes in import penetration measured in value terms, which have been used in previous studies, are not found to be significant. In addition imports seem to have had a larger effect on inequality in high-skill intensive sectors rather than the low-skill sectors. The empirical results also suggest that the increased use of technology also played a role in creating greater inequality between skilled and unskilled workers in Sweden with the magnitude of this impact increasing in the 1990s.

Export taxes and income distribution: The Philippines coconut levy

Abstract: Export Taxes and Income Distribution: The Philippines Coconut Levy. — A large, empirically based general equilibrium model of the Philippine economy is used to analyze the implications of a tax on coconut oil exports. The analysis shows how general equilibrium models can be used to derive optimal tax rates and to show the detailed relationship between the rates at which these taxes are applied and their economic effects. The analysis explores in particular the effects such taxes have on economic welfare and on income distribution within the country. The distributional effects of this export tax are shown to be highly regressive, revealing more clearly the policy trade-offs such taxes involve.