Types of embedded ties in buyer-supplier relationships and their combined effects on innovation performance

[EN] Purpose of the paper - This research analyzes the impact of three types of embedded ties, namely, specialized complementary resources, idiosyncratic investments, and knowledge sharing, on the innovation capacity of the firms. We also study the particularities of the Machine-Tool industry. Theoretical background – Our evaluation of the embedded buyer-supplier ties is based on the potential sources of relational rents proposed by Dyer and Sing (1998). We also draw on Uzzi and Lancaster (2003), Noordhoff et al. (2011), among others, to discuss the positive and negative aspects of embedded ties. Design/Methodology/Approach ‐ Using data from a survey of 202 European machine-tool firms acting as buyers and sellers, we propose and evaluate a Structural Equation model. Findings ‐ Only knowledge-sharing routines exert a significant positive effect on product innovation performance. Neither an increase in the idiosyncratic investments nor in complementary resources and capabilities enhance innovation performance. Also, knowledge-sharing routines mediate in the effect from idiosyncratic investments on innovation performance. Research Limitations. ‐ The machine tool industry has unique characteristics that make this generalization difficult. Also, there is considerable difficulty associated with testing more deeply the interrelations among these embedded ties in the long run. It is plausible to understand that these interrelations operate within a gradual process. Originality/Value/Contribution of Paper ‐ This research contributes to a better understanding of the role of embedded ties on innovativeness. To the best of our knowledge, there is no previous international empirical research analyzing the mediation effects among specialized complementary resources, idiosyncratic investments and knowledge sharing, and their effects on the innovation capacity of firms.

A gestão e energética em IES: a questão da sustentabilidade

Os sistemas de gestão ambientais e energéticos são actualmente ferramentas de uso quase obrigatório nas organizações que se assumem como competitivas e modernas, nomeadamente nas instituições de ensino superior. Embora estes sistemas constituam ferramentas eficazes na resolução de problemas ambientais, a sua implementação é, todavia, um processo complexo, existindo inúmeras dificuldades. Por outro lado, as instituições de ensino superior têm características específicas que devem ser consideradas na implementação destes sistemas. Este projecto de dissertação tem por objectivo, o desenvolvimento de uma metodologia de implementação de sistemas de gestão ambientais e energéticos nestas instituições, assim como a determinação dos factores críticos de sucesso neste processo. Com este propósito recolheu-se e estruturou-se a informação sobre a implementação destes sistemas em organizações, identificando os factores críticos de sucesso. Desenvolveu-se um modelo, que foi testado numa situação real, e sobre o qual, são feitas análises e tecidas conclusões. Espera-se que este trabalho possa ser utilizado como ferramenta de referência para instituições de ensino superior, ou outras, que pretendam implementar um sistema de gestão ambiental e energético com sucesso a longo prazo.

A study on the effect of functional distribution of income on aggregate demand

In this thesis, we study the causal relationship between functional distribution of income and economic growth. In particular, we focus on some of the aspects that might alter the effect of the profit share on growth. After a brief introduction and literature review, the empirical contributions will be presented in Chapters 3,4 and 5. Chapter 3 analyses the effect of a contemporaneous decrease in the wage share among countries that are major trade partners. Falling wage share and wage moderation are a global phenomenon which are hardly opposed by governments. This is because lower wages are associated with lower export prices and, therefore, have a positive effect on net-exports. There is, however, a fallacy of composition problem: not all countries can improve their balance of payments contemporaneously. Studying the country members of the North America Free Trade Agreement, we find that the effect on export of a contemporaneous decrease in the wage share in Mexico, Canada and the United States, is negative in all countries. In other words, the competitive advantage that each country gains because of a reduction in its wage share (to which is associated a decrease in export prices), is offset by a contemporaneous increase in competitiveness in the other two countries. Moreover, we find that NAFTA is overall wage-led: the profit share has a negative effect on aggregate demand. Chapter 4 tests whether it is possible that the effect of the profit share on growth is different in the long run and in the short run. Following Blecker (2014) our hypothesis is that in the short run the growth regime is less wage-led than it is in the long run. The results of our empirical investigation support this hypothesis, at least for the United States over the period 1950-2014. The effect of wages on consumption increases more than proportionally compared to the effect of profits on consumption from the short to the long run. Moreover, consumer debt seem to have only a short-run effect on consumption indicating that in the long run, when debt has to be repaid, consumption depends more on the level of income and on how it is distributed. Regarding investment, the effect of capacity utilization is always larger than the effect of the profit share and that the difference between the two effects is higher in the long run than in the short run. This confirms the hypothesis that in the long run, unless there is an increase in demand, it is likely that firms are not going to increase investments even in the presence of high profits. In addition, the rentier share of profits – that comprises dividends and interest payments – has a long-run negative effect on investment. In the long run rentiers divert firms’ profits from investment and, therefore, it weakens the effect of profits on investment. Finally, Chapter 5 studies the possibility of structural breaks in the relationship between functional distribution of income and growth. We argue that, from the 1980s, financialization and the European exchange rate agreements weakened the positive effect of the profit share on growth in Italy. The growth regime is therefore becoming less profit-led and more wage-led. Our results confirm this hypothesis and also shed light on the concept of cooperative and conflictual regimes as defined by Bhaduri and Marglin (1990).

Explaining economic growth in developed economies after 1980

We use the Aguion and Howitt (2009) theoretical model of endogenous economic growth to explain the declining economic growth in developed economies in the period 1981-2009. Aguion and Howitt theoretical framework combines Solownian and Schumpeterian elements in a single scenario, so that labor-augmenting technological progress and capital accumulation per efficiency unit of labor are both caused not only by exogenous changes in the investment rate but also by shocks to the degree of efficiency in the Research and Development (R&D) expenditure process. Empirical results revealed that per worker output growth rates and capital stock per efficiency unit of labor growth rates both have a common panel unit root. Since the panel cointegration tests and estimates revealed a statistical significant negative long-run relationship between per worker output growth rate and capital stock per efficiency unit of labor, the interpretation of the econometric results analized from the Aguion and Howitt ́s theoretical perspective is that labor-augmenting technological progress is endogenously falling over time mainly because of an exogenous deterioration of the environment conditions for the transformation of the investment rate and R&D expenditures in technological progress.

Foreign direct investment, exports, gross domestic product and the labor market in Puerto Rico

In this paper, a vector autorregresive model (VAR) is applied to examine the interrelationship among foreign direct investment, exports, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), unemployment rate and labor force participation rate in Puerto Rico, taking into account a time period that includes the fiscal years from 1980 to 2010 -- Four cointegrating vectors were found in the system which indicates that there is a long run relationship between the variables -- The findings suggest that consecutive increases in foreign direct investment inflows could significantly reduce the unemployment rate and increase interest in joining the labor force in Puerto Rico -- The same result also applies to increases in export levels -- The variations in Gross Domestic Product are mainly explained in the long run by the unemployment rate

EL "PASS THROUGH" DEL TIPO DE CAMBIO EN LOS PRECIOS DE BIENES TRANSABLES Y NO TRANSABLES EN COSTA RICA

Este trabajo estima el coeficiente de pass through del tipo de cambio en los precios de bienes transables y no transables en Costa Rica, para el corto y el largo plazo. Se utiliza el análisis de mínimos cuadrados para estimar los coeficientes, y se explora la dinámica de ajuste de los modelos utilizando el análisis de vectores auto regresivo. Dentro de los principales resultados del modelo se encontró un coeficiente de pass through para los bienes transables de 13% en el corto plazo y de 68% en el largo plazo; para los bienes no transables, el pass through es de 10% y 52% en el corto y largo plazo respectivamente. En el largo plazo se incluye un 7% de pass through indirecto producto del efecto de los precios de los transables en los de no transables. El estudio de la dinámica de ajuste de los precios de transables y no transables ante un choque del tipo de cambio mostró una duración de 17 y 27 meses respectivamente. Además se realizaron pruebas de causalidad de Granger y estabilidad del modelo. La primera mostró una relación de precedencia entre las variaciones de tipo de cambio e inflación, y entre inflación de los transables y de los no transables. La segunda evidencia un cambio estructural en el modelo de los no transables entre fines de 1995 e inicio de 1996. AbstractThis paper estimates short run and long run coefficients of exchange rate pass through in to the prices of tradable and non tradable goods in Costa Rica. The coefficients are estimated by OLS. A VAR analysis is conducted in order to estimate the dynamic process between exchange rate and inflation. Granger causality test and a stability test are conducted too. The short run pass through coefficients are 13% and 10%, for tradable and non tradable goods respectively and the long run coefficients are 68% and 52% in the same order. There is a second stage pass through of 7% included in the long run coefficient for non tradable goods. The dynamic analysis shows that the adjustment process of prices as a result of an exchange rate shock takes 17 months for tradable goods and 27 months for non tradable goods. The Granger causality test shows precedence between variation in the exchange rate and inflation, and between the prices of tradable and non tradable goods. There is statistical evidence of a structural change in the non tradable model between the end of 1995 and the beginning of 1996.

Oitenta anos de produção e comercialização dos vinhos do Dão

Mestrado em Economia

Understanding Co-translational Protein Targeting and Lithium Dendrite Formation through Free Energy Simulations and Coarse-Grained Models

We describe the application of alchemical free energy methods and coarse-grained models to study two key problems: (i) co-translational protein targeting and insertion to direct membrane proteins to the endoplasmic reticulum for proper localization and folding, (ii) lithium dendrite formation during recharging of lithium metal batteries. We show that conformational changes in the signal recognition particle, a central component of the protein targeting machinery, confer additional specificity during the the recognition of signal sequences. We then develop a three-dimensional coarse-grained model to study the long-timescale dynamics of membrane protein integration at the translocon and a framework for the calculation of binding free energies between the ribosome and translocon. Finally, we develop a coarse-grained model to capture the dynamics of lithium deposition and dissolution at the electrode interface with time-dependent voltages to show that pulse plating and reverse pulse plating methods can mitigate dendrite growth.

Undermined climate policies : a study on the impact of regulatory and financial discrimination across heterogeneous firms in China

Firms in China within the same industry but with different ownership and size have very different production functions and can face very different emission regulations and financial conditions. This fact has largely been ignored in most of the existing literature on climate change. Using a newly augmented Chinese input–output table in which information about firm size and ownership are explicitly reported, this paper employs a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to analyze the impact of alternative climate policy designs with respect to regulation and financial conditions on heterogeneous firms. The simulation results indicate that with a business-as-usual regulatory structure, the effectiveness and economic efficiency of climate policies is significantly undermined. Expanding regulation to cover additional firms has a first-order effect of improving efficiency. However, over-investment in energy technologies in certain firms may decrease the overall efficiency of investments and dampen long-term economic growth by competing with other fixed-capital investments for financial resources. Therefore, a market-oriented arrangement for sharing emission reduction burden and a mechanism for allocating green investment is crucial for China to achieve a more ambitious emission target in the long run.

An empirical investigation of the impact of global energy transition on Nigerian oil and gas exports

18 months embargo on the thesis and check appendix for copy right materials

Hilbert Space Valued Signal Plus Noise Models: Analysis of Structural Breaks under High Dimensionality and Temporal Dependence

This thesis is concerned with change point analysis for time series, i.e. with detection of structural breaks in time-ordered, random data. This long-standing research field regained popularity over the last few years and is still undergoing, as statistical analysis in general, a transformation to high-dimensional problems. We focus on the fundamental »change in the mean« problem and provide extensions of the classical non-parametric Darling-Erdős-type cumulative sum (CUSUM) testing and estimation theory within highdimensional Hilbert space settings. In the first part we contribute to (long run) principal component based testing methods for Hilbert space valued time series under a rather broad (abrupt, epidemic, gradual, multiple) change setting and under dependence. For the dependence structure we consider either traditional m-dependence assumptions or more recently developed m-approximability conditions which cover, e.g., MA, AR and ARCH models. We derive Gumbel and Brownian bridge type approximations of the distribution of the test statistic under the null hypothesis of no change and consistency conditions under the alternative. A new formulation of the test statistic using projections on subspaces allows us to simplify the standard proof techniques and to weaken common assumptions on the covariance structure. Furthermore, we propose to adjust the principal components by an implicit estimation of a (possible) change direction. This approach adds flexibility to projection based methods, weakens typical technical conditions and provides better consistency properties under the alternative. In the second part we contribute to estimation methods for common changes in the means of panels of Hilbert space valued time series. We analyze weighted CUSUM estimates within a recently proposed »high-dimensional low sample size (HDLSS)« framework, where the sample size is fixed but the number of panels increases. We derive sharp conditions on »pointwise asymptotic accuracy« or »uniform asymptotic accuracy« of those estimates in terms of the weighting function. Particularly, we prove that a covariance-based correction of Darling-Erdős-type CUSUM estimates is required to guarantee uniform asymptotic accuracy under moderate dependence conditions within panels and that these conditions are fulfilled, e.g., by any MA(1) time series. As a counterexample we show that for AR(1) time series, close to the non-stationary case, the dependence is too strong and uniform asymptotic accuracy cannot be ensured. Finally, we conduct simulations to demonstrate that our results are practically applicable and that our methodological suggestions are advantageous.

Emprendimiento, instituciones y construcción de paz – Análisis de Influencia de Stakeholders en los departamentos de Nariño y Cauca

Nariño y Cauca son dos de los departamentos de Colombia más afectados por la violencia. La reciente firma de un acuerdo de un cese bilateral de hostilidades con las Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) y los diálogos de La Habana son apenas el comienzo de la Construcción de Paz (CP) que implica el esfuerzo continuo de diferentes actores (gubernamentales, sector privado, sociedad civil y organismos multilaterales) para lograr no solo una paz negativa sino una paz positiva. El apoyo al emprendimiento es una estrategia implementada por el Gobierno y por los stakeholders que participan en el proceso del posconflicto, que tiene como finalidad respaldar el proceso de integración económica de las víctimas y desmovilizados. El presente documento es un estudio exploratorio elaborado por medio de una investigación cualitativa en la temática de emprendimiento, instituciones y CP en los departamentos de Nariño y Cauca. Se utilizó una estrategia metodológica denominada Matrices de Stakeholders para representar gráficamente la influencia institucional sobre la toma decisiones e implementación de los stakeholders sobre las reformas o políticas de emprendimiento y CP en estos dos departamentos. En esta investigación se encontró que i) en general, las instituciones del gobierno de los de Nariño y Cauca son extractivas y limitan la participación de la sociedad; ii) los stakeholders de la sociedad civil a pesar de tener cierta organización y voz no están en capacidad de generar influencia más que a nivel local o comunitario; iii) los vacíos dejados por las instituciones extractivas del gobierno tienden a ser llenados por instituciones inclusivas de stakeholders del sector privado y de organismos multilaterales.

Healing wounds institutional strength, peacebuilding, and productive entrepreneurship – exploratory analysis on 23 departments of Colombia

Este estudio presenta un análisis exploratorio sobre la correlación entre la fortaleza institucional, las condiciones de paz, y el emprendimiento en una muestra de 23 departamentos en Colombia usando datos de 2014. Para llevar a cabo este objetivo se propusieron y construyeron tres índices siguiendo definiciones conceptuales seminales o estándares de evaluación internacional, a saber: 1) El Índice de Fortaleza Institucional, 2) El Índice de Construcción de Paz (construido a partir del índice de paz negativa y el índice de paz positiva) y 3) El Índice de Emprendimiento Productivo. Los resultados no muestran una correlación significativa entre todos los tres índices. Por un lado, existe una correlación significativa (p<0.05) entre los índices de fortaleza institucional y emprendimiento productivo. Por otro lado, existen correlaciones negativas no significativas entre los índices de paz positiva y fortaleza institucional, emprendimiento productivo y paz positiva y emprendimiento productivo y construcción de paz. En un segundo acercamiento, la población de los departamentos fue la variable con mayor número de correlaciones significativas (p<0.01) entre variables relacionadas con emprendimiento productivo, empleo, producto interno bruto, sofisticación industrial, innovación (patentes) y crimen. Finalmente, se discuten las conclusiones y las futuras investigaciones.