Global Value Chain Embeddedness,Knowledge Spillovers,and Clustered Firms' Innovation Performance

Empirical evidence of the effects of global value chain( GVC) embeddedness on clustered firms' innovation is presented in this paper. The intermediary roles of the two types of knowledge spillover( explicit and implicit) in GVC embeddedness and clustered firms' innovation are considered, and the effects of structure embeddedness,relationship embeddedness,and acknowledgement embeddedness on clustered firms' innovation are examined. Analysis is based on the sample of 134 export-oriented firms from the Shaoxing industrial cluster in Zhejiang province of China. Results show that although GVC embeddedness is associated with high use of external knowledge sources,clustered firms' innovation is promoted indirectly through explicit knowledge spillover. Intrinsic connections exist among the different dimensions of GVC embeddedness,that is,structure embeddedness not only directly improves relationship embeddedness but also indirectly improves acknowledgement embeddedness through relationship embeddedness.

Knowledge Spillover and R&D in Manufacturing Enterprises

Based on the database of Chinese industrial industries,a model is constructed to empirically analyze the interaction between knowledge spillovers and R&D in manufacturing industries;the mean productivity values of county and city regions have a significant positive effect on firms'R&D,which gradually decreases;an interaction term between the number of neighboring firms and the average total factor productivity of industries in different regional scopes is added,and the greater the number of neighboring firms in the neighborhood,the greater the spillover effect on research and development.In order to increase the innovation input of companies,they need to be given the space to folly exchange ideas.

Comparative Advantage and Latecomer Advantage

To achieve development,developing countries must capitalize on their relative advantages,including comparative advantage and latecomer advantages.A country must develop an industrial structure that is consistent with the comparative advantage of its factor structure in order to avoid the trap of“structural catch-up”that stifles development.The issue for developing countries is that their comparative advantage in core factors of production is unstable and tends to decrease and dissipate.Such a comparative advantage cannot provide adequate growth for convergence to occur.Developed countries,on the other hand,can sustain economic growth due to their comparative advantage in high-quality factors.Latecomer advantage refers to the ability of developing countries to increase their knowledge factor in a cost-effective manner by learning,importing,assimilating,and using knowledge and technology that already exist.Although comparative and latecomer advantages may have a combined effect,each has its distinct characteristics.Latecomer advantage is a special development factor that applies to latecomers.It is crucial at all stages of development,but especially so in the middle-income stage and beyond.Bringing latecomer advantage into full play is essential for developing nations to converge with the advanced countries.

Whose Aid is Beneficial to Firms'Exports?Evidence from a Post-disaster Aid Experiment in China

Post-disaster aid is widely regarded as important in helping local recovery and development.This paper examines the effectiveness of post-disaster aid on exports,which are a driving factor of economic development.It reports a natural experiment in China–the case of post-disaster aid following the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008–to examine how donors'experiences affected the exports of manufacturing firms in disaster-stricken counties.The export experience of the donor was important.Aid coming from donors with more export experience was more beneficial to the exports of firms in recipient counties than aid from less experienced donors.“Learning from the donor”is a potential channel through which this effect occurred.That is,firms in recipient counties learned from donors'export experience by exporting more products similar to those of donors,exporting more to the destination countries of donors,and participating in the donors'supply-chain networks by exporting more of the donors'exports.Such“learning from the donor”effects show that knowledge spillover can occur between spatially distant parties,which complements the literature.

DYNAMICS OF KNOWLEDGE ACCUMULATION IN TECHNOLOGY FOLLOWER COUNTRIES: A SYSTEM DYNAMICS APPROACH

In this paper the process of knowledge accumulation for a particular technology is studied. Two countries, say the technology follower and the technology frontier, are considered. The frontier＇s knowledge growth is determined by its R＆D efforts on the technology. The level of knowledge stock for the follower country is augmented by its R＆D activities for the technology and absorbing some of the external knowledge through spillover from the frontier. The extent to which the follower is able to exploit the external knowledge depends on technological gap, absorptive capacity, absorption time and degree of spillover. New concepts such as natural and enhanced degree of spillover, background and innovative knowledge and absorption speed are introduced in the present work to deeply explore the process of knowledge spillover. The factors influencing the knowledge development in the long term are simultaneously studied in an integrated structure provided by the System Dynamics approach. This framework shows the responses to the changes and provides the basis for examining the interactions among the variables over time.

Impact of China＇s Outward Foreign Direct Investment on Its Regional Economic Growth

This paper investigates the impact of China＇s outward foreign direct investment （OFDI） on its economic growth. By using a provincial-level panel dataset and applying fixed- effects and instrumental variable regression techniques, the study finds that both OFDI from provincial firms and OFDI from state-owned enterprises have a positive impact on China＇s provincial economic growth. The positive impact of OFDI on provincial economic growth may be the result of reverse knowledge spillovers from OFDI to the home provincial economy through demonstration and imitation, labor movement, and backward and forward industrial linkages, thus increasing the productivity and the efficiency of home firms and promoting the growth of the home economy.