Showing papers on "Spillover effect published in 2008"

Consumption and the Rebound Effect: An Industrial Ecology Perspective

Abstract: Summary Measures taken to protect the environment often have other, unintended effects on society. One concern is that changed behavior may offset part of the environmental gain, something that has variously been labeled “take-back” or “rebound.” In energy economics, the rebound effect encompasses both the behavioral and systems responses to cost reductions of energy services as a result of energy efficiency measures. From an industrial ecology perspective, we are concerned about more than just energy use. Any given efficiency measure has several types of environmental impacts. Changes in the various impact indicators are not necessarily in the same direction. Both co-benefits and negative side effects of measures directed to solve one type of problem have been identified. Environment is often a free input, so that a price-based rebound effect is not expected, but other indirect effects not connected to the price, such as spillover of environmental behavior, also occur. If the costs and impact of products that are already environmentally friendly are reduced, the “rebound” can be in the opposite, desired direction. Furthermore, I identify technical spillover effects. Hence a number of related effects, often producing positive results, are not as well understood. Household environmental impact assessments and eco-efficiency assessments take into account the rebound effect, but they do not necessarily take into account these other effects. The analysis hence indicates that the current focus on the rebound effect is too narrow and needs to be extended to cover co-benefits, negative side effects, and spillover effects.

Regional convergence and the impact of European structural funds over 1989–1999: A spatial econometric analysis*

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of structural funds on the convergence process of 145 European regions over 1989-1999. With the aim or enhancing cohesion, these funds are primarily allocated to the least developed regions. The most important part of these funds is devoted to transportation infrastructures, which induce strong spillover effects. However, they do not necessarily contribute to a more even regional development. Their impact has, therefore, to be seen in the light of growth rate variations of the targeted region and of the whole sample. Using the formal tools of spatial econometrics, we fast detect strong evidence of spatial autocorrelation in the distribution of per capita GDP. Moreover, two clusters, representative of the core-periphery framework, are persistent over the period and highlight spatial heterogeneity. These spatial effects are then included in the estimation of an appropriate conditional B-convergence model, which allows us to control for spatial spillover effects among regions. Finally, with this model, simulation experiments assess the impact of shocks proportional to per capital structural funds, first on the growth rate of the targeted region, and second on the growth rate of all the regions of our sample. The results show that structural funds have positively benefited to the growth of the targeted regions, but that growth in the least developed regions suffers from the small extent of regional spillover effects.

Collecting the pieces of the FDI knowledge spillovers puzzle

Abstract: Recent surveys of the empirical literature have concluded that the evidence is mixed on the magnitude, direction, and even existence of knowledge spillovers from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). This article reviews the recent theoretical and empirical literature that responds to these inconclusive results and considers three main issues: spillover channels, mediating factors, and FDI heterogeneity. Studies that take into account individual spillover channels find robust evidence of knowledge spillovers from FDI. Studies on the importance of mediating factors and FDI heterogeneity are less conclusive and could benefit from greater convergence in methodologies and greater specificity in the spillover channels of interest. More generally, many studies do not properly distinguish between knowledge spillovers and knowledge transfers, and empirical studies seem to greatly outnumber theoretical studies.

Good Fences Make Good Neighbors: A Longitudinal Analysis of an Industry Self-Regulatory Institution

Abstract: We extend theories of self-regulation of physical commons to analyze self-regulation of intangible commons in modern industry. We posit that when the action of one firm can cause spillover harm to others, firms share a type of commons. We theorize that the need to protect this commons can motivate the formation of a self-regulatory institution. Using data from the US chemical industry, we find that spillover harm from industrial accidents increased after a major industry crisis and decreased following the formation of a new institution. Additionally, our findings suggest that the institution lessened spillovers from participants to the broader industry.

Spillovers and competition among foreign and local firms in China

Abstract: Combining the FDI spillover literature with a competitor analysis framework, we examine the relative size of spillover and competition effects in China between foreign entrants and local firms, among foreign entrants, and among local firms. Our results show that the increased presence of foreign entrants has generally benefited local firms nationally, but has negatively affected the survival rates of local firms in regional markets. Surprisingly, foreign entrants are crowded out not only by their peers, but also by reformed local firms at both the national and regional levels. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Good fences make good neighbors: a longitudinal analysis of an industry self-regulatory institution

Abstract: We extend theories of self-regulation of physical commons to analyze self-regulation of intangible commons in modern industry. We posit that when the action of one firm can cause "spillover" harm to others, firms share a type of commons. We theorize that the need to protect this commons can motivate the formation of a self-regulatory institution. Using data from the U.S. chemical industry, we find that spillover harm from industrial accidents increased after a major industry crisis and decreased following the formation of a new institution. Additionally, our findings suggest that the institution lessened spillovers from participants to the broader industry.

Director Interlocks and Spillover Effects of Reputational Penalties From Financial Reporting Fraud

Abstract: I examined the spillover of reputational penalties between firms in the context of financial reporting fraud. Drawing from signaling and attribution theories, I used financial event study methodolo...

Misery Loves Company: The Spread of Negative Impacts Resulting from an Organizational Crisis

Abstract: We describe how negative impacts emanating from an organizational crisis that initially strikes only one organization can overflow the boundaries of that organization and affect others in the industry. We argue that this spillover process is contingent on the characteristics of the organizational form to which the stricken organization belongs, the characteristics of other organizations in the same industry, and the characteristics of the industry itself. Finally, we speculate that the spillover process, coupled with differential mortality, might move crisis-prone industries toward more robust structures over time.

Exporting, linkages and productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment

Abstract: In this paper we analyse productivity spillovers from foreign direct investment using firm-level panel data for U.K. manufacturing industries from 1992 to 1999. We investigate spillovers through horizontal, backward, and forward linkages; distinguish spillovers from export-oriented vs domestic-market-oriented FDI; and allow for differing effects, depending on domestic firms' export activities. The results suggest that the mechanisms through which spillovers affect domestic firms are very complex and that there are substantial differences in spillover benefits for domestic exporters and non-exporters, and from different types of inward investment.

Negative Spillover in Brand Portfolios: Exploring the Antecedents of Asymmetric Effects

Abstract: Marketers cultivate brand relatedness in their brand portfolios to increase marketing efficiency through positive spillover of brand equity. However, creating linkages between brands may also make them vulnerable to negative spillover. This research investigates the structure of relatedness in a brand portfolio to understand the nature of spillover effects. The results of two experiments show that the magnitude of spillover between brands is a function of not only the strength of brand associations but also their directionality. The results also show that the directional strength of association is influenced by the number and salience of associations linked to each brand. The authors draw implications for a theoretical understanding of spillover effects in marketing, as well as for the management of brand portfolios.

Hydrogen spillover in the context of hydrogen storage using solid-state materials

Abstract: Hydrogen spillover has emerged as a possible technique for achieving high-density hydrogen storage at near-ambient conditions in lightweight, solid-state materials. We present a brief review of our combined theoretical and experimental studies on hydrogen spillover mechanisms in solid-state materials where, for the first time, the complete mechanisms that dictate hydrogen spillover processes in transition metal oxides and nanostructured graphitic carbon-based materials have been revealed. The spillover process is broken into three primary steps: (1) dissociative chemisorption of gaseous H2 on a transition metal catalyst; (2) migration of H atoms from the catalyst to the substrate and (3) diffusion of H atoms on substrate surfaces and/or in the bulk materials. In our theoretical studies, the platinum catalyst is modeled with a small Pt cluster and the catalytic activity of the cluster is examined at full H atom saturation to account for the essentially constant, high H2 pressures used in experimental studies of hydrogen spillover. Subsequently, the energetic profiles associated with H atom migrations from the catalyst to the substrates and H atom diffusion in the substrates are mapped out by calculating the minimum energy pathways. It is observed that the spillover mechanisms for the transition metal oxides and graphitic carbon-based materials are very different. Hydrogen spillover in the transition metal oxides is moderated by massive, nascent hydrogen bonding networks in the crystalline lattice, while H atom diffusion on the nanostructured graphitic carbon materials is governed mostly by physisorption of H atoms. The effects of carbon material surface curvature on the hydrogen spillover as well as on hydrogen desorption dynamics are also discussed. The proposed hydrogen spillover mechanism in carbon-based materials is consistent with our experimental observations of the solid-state catalytic hydrogenation/dehydrogenation of coronene.

Innovation and the competitiveness of industries: comparing the mainstream and the evolutionary approaches

Abstract: The study of the relationships between innovation and the competitiveness of industries is an important topic for both, academic research and economic policy. The huge economics literature flourished in the last couple of decades on the subject broadly falls into two distinct research traditions, namely the mainstream R&D spillovers approach and the evolutionary economics view. Both traditions agree on the important role played by innovation and the intersectoral diffusion of advanced knowledge for the competitive performance of industrial sectors. Behind this general agreement, however, the two approaches are radically different. This paper shows that, at a deeper level of analysis, the mainstream and evolutionary views do indeed differ with respect to their theoretical foundations, empirical research and policy implications. In a nutshell, while the mainstream R&D spillover approach is inspired by a traditional view of economic policy based on a market-oriented approach, the evolutionary view is on the contrary consistent with the idea that institutional arrangements and policy interventions do indeed play a fundamental role for shaping innovation patterns and their impacts on the competitiveness of industries.

Urban Hierarchy or Local Buzz? High-Order Producer Service and (or) Knowledge-Intensive Business Service Location in Canada, 1991–2001

Abstract: The location of high-order producer services has been extensively documented for the 1970s and 1980s when researchers turned their attention to the effects of tertiarization on regional development. In this article we propose, on the one hand, to update the spatial analysis of high-order producer services by investigating whether they have continued to diffuse away from the top of the urban hierarchy between 1991 and 2001. On the other hand, we also propose to incorporate certain hypotheses from the knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) literature, in particular possible spillover effects, synergies between economic sectors and labor market effects, into the spatial analysis. Over and above city size, do these factors contribute to our understanding of the spatial dynamics of high-order producer services? Overall we find that these services reversed their diffusion process during the 1990s, decreasing their presence in smaller cities in peripheral regions. Labor market, synergies, and spillover eff...

The Impact of Capital Flows on Domestic Investment in Transition Economies

Abstract: During the 1990s most transition economies undertook a series of market reforms, including opening their capital accounts. This paper uses static and dynamic panel techniques to assess the effect of FDI, foreign loans and portfolio flows on domestic investment. In this partial adjustment setup, capital flows can have contemporaneous and long-term effects on investment. For countries with less developed financial markets and weaker institutions, our estimates for the FDI coefficient are larger than one, suggesting FDI stimulates investment in other sectors of the economy (spillover effects). Over the longer term, each dollar of FDI generates at least one additional dollar of local investment. In transition countries with stronger governance indicators, long-term loans raise domestic investment and FDI produces small spillover effects in the long run. Limited portfolio flows into the transition economies have no effect on capital formation in either group.

Forecasting value‐at‐risk with a parsimonious portfolio spillover GARCH (PS‐GARCH) model

Abstract: Accurate modelling of volatility (or risk) is important in finance, particularly as it relates to the modelling and forecasting of value-at-risk (VaR) thresholds. As financial applications typically deal with a portfolio of assets and risk, there are several multivariate GARCH models which specify the risk of one asset as depending on its own past as well as the past behaviour of other assets. Multivariate effects, whereby the risk of a given asset depends on the previous risk of any other asset, are termed spillover effects. In this paper we analyse the importance of considering spillover effects when forecasting financial volatility. The forecasting performance of the VARMA-GARCH model of Ling and McAleer (2003), which includes spillover effects from all assets, the CCC model of Bollerslev (1990), which includes no spillovers, and a new Portfolio Spillover GARCH (PS-GARCH) model, which accommodates aggregate spillovers parsimoniously and hence avoids the so-called curse of dimensionality, are compared using a VaR example for a portfolio containing four international stock market indices. The empirical results suggest that spillover effects are statistically significant. However, the VaR threshold forecasts are generally found to be insensitive to the inclusion of spillover effects in any of the multivariate models considered. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Perception Spillovers Across Competing Brands: A Disaggregate Model of How and When

Abstract: Drawing on the accessibility-diagnosticity framework, and previous literature in branding and order-of-entry, the authors hypothesize that consumer spillovers can also occur across directly competing products that do not share brand names. The authors suggest two mechanisms (prior perception spillover and dynamic perception spillover) and one moderating variable (product/brand similarity). To test for spillovers across competing brands, the authors develop a structural Bayesian learning model and estimate it using prescription choice and marketing communication data from a panel of physicians. From their model results, the authors find evidence of prior and dynamic perception spillovers across competing brands only when brands are sufficiently similar. In contrast, the authors find no evidence of spillover effects across products that are highly dissimilar. Finally, several policy experiments illustrate the strength and significance of competitive spillovers for product diffusion and, based on their results, the authors derive strategic implications for order-of-entry effects and the entry of "me-too" products.

The Economic Impact of Colleges and Universities

Abstract: This essay describes methodological approaches and pitfalls common to studies of the economic impact of colleges and universities. Such studies often claim local benefits that imply annualized rates of return on local investment exceeding 100 percent. We address problems in these studies pertaining to the specification of the counterfactual, the definition of the local area, the identification of “new” expenditures, the tendency to double-count economic impacts, the role of local taxes, and the omission of local spillover benefits from enhanced human capital created by higher education, and offer several suggestions for improvement. If these economic impact studies were conducted at the level of accuracy most institutions require of faculty research, their claims of local economic benefits would not be so preposterous, and, as a result, trust in and respect for higher education officials would be enhanced.

Agglomeration Economies and Clustering - Evidence from German Firms

Abstract: The paper quantifies the impact of agglomeration economies on the clustering of German firms. Therefore, I use the 2006 Innobarometer survey, which focuses on cluster characteristics and activities of German firms, to empirically identify agglomeration economies derived from the New Economic Geography and Marshall externalities. At the industry specific level, I find that within-industry spillovers are important for German low-tech firms but not for high-tech firms or knowledge intensive firms. At the department level, Marshall externalities such as hiring skilled labor and technological spillover effects are empirically confirmed for some departments like Human Resources or R&D but rarely for others like Production.

Agglomeration Economies and Clustering – Evidence from German Firms

Abstract: The paper quantifies the impact of agglomeration economies on the clustering of German firms. Therefore, I use the 2006 Innobarometer survey, which focuses on cluster characteristics and activities of German firms, to empirically identify agglomeration economies derived from the New Economic Geography and Marshall externalities. At the industry specific level, I find that within-industry spillovers are important for German low-tech firms but not for high-tech firms or knowledge intensive firms. At the department level, Marshall externalities such as hiring skilled labor and technological spillover effects are empirically confirmed for some departments like Human Resources or R&D but rarely for others like Production.