http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/5131 2013-06-19T13:54:09Z 2013-06-19T13:54:09Z Lerman, Robert I. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/5765 2009-10-26T07:46:14Z 2009-04-01T00:00:00Z

Widening the Scope of Standards through Work-Based Learning Lerman, Robert I. Department of Economics, Working Paper Series, no. 2009-05. 25 pages. "For Presentation at the Thirtieth Annual APPAM Research Conference November 6, 2008, Los Angeles, California."

2009-04-01T00:00:00Z Feinberg, Robert M. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/5764 2009-10-26T07:46:14Z 2009-03-01T00:00:00Z

Foreign Competition and Small-Firm Entry in US Manufacturing Feinberg, Robert M. In our increasingly globalized economy, the growth and profit prospects of domestic firms, especially small firms, seem clearly impacted by competitive pressures from foreign firms. This article analyzes annual data for 1989-1998 for 140 3-digit SIC manufacturing industries and for 1998-2004 for 86 4-digit NAICS industries on establishment - plant-level - births by small firms in several size categories. The major finding is that international pressures, in the form of import share weighted exchange rate appreciation, seem to lead to reduced rates of smallest-firm entry in manufacturing, though the magnitudes of these effects are smaller than sometimes discussed (and there is the suggestion that dollar appreciation may actually benefit small firm entry through access to cheaper inputs where the final product import threat is weak). Department of Economics, Working Paper Series, no. 2009-04. 23 pages.

2009-03-01T00:00:00Z Feinberg, Robert M. Ferrantino, Michael Deason, Lauren http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/5763 2009-10-26T07:46:13Z 2009-03-01T00:00:00Z

Quality competition, Pricing-To-Market and Non-Tariff measures: A Unified Framework For the Analysis of Bilateral Unit Values Feinberg, Robert M.; Ferrantino, Michael; Deason, Lauren This paper presents a unified framework for analyzing several factors that have been independently studied as determinants of unit values in international trade: product differentiation by quality (which suggests that unit values should be positively correlated with exporters' per capita income), pricing-to-market (which suggests they should be positively correlated with importers' per capita income), and non-tariff measures (which suggests that remaining residuals may contain evidence of trade barriers). On a large sample of bilateral unit values for 2005, we find that about 58 percent of all HS-6 products demonstrate both significant quality-ladder effects and pricing-to-market effects, with quality-ladder effects predominating in importance. Distance-related effects appearing directly in prices appear significantly larger than one would expect as a result of shipping margins. We also rank importers by the remaining unexplained variation in import prices, and examine whether these variations are plausibly related to non-tariff measures. Department of Economics, Working Paper Series, no. 2009-03. 37 pages.

2009-03-01T00:00:00Z Feinberg, Robert M. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/5762 2009-10-26T07:46:24Z 2009-03-01T00:00:00Z

Do International Shocks Affect Small Wholesalers and Retailers? Feinberg, Robert M. Previous research has suggested that the smallest firms are those most vulnerable to international competition, as measured by exchange rate fluctuations and import shares. However, that work – and the overwhelming bulk of the empirical literature on determinants of exit or firm survival – dealt entirely with the manufacturing sector of the economy. Are firms further down the distribution chain, small wholesalers and retailers, hurt by real exchange rate movements? Annual data for 1989-2005 are analyzed to explain small firm exit rates in several employment size categories – under 10 employees, 10-19 employees, 20-99 employees, and 100-499 employees. While there is variation across industry sectors, the basic result is that wholesalers respond negatively to a stronger currency in a manner similar to that of manufacturers, while retailers are generally unaffected. Departmenty of Economics, Work Papers Series, no. 2009-02. 28 pages.

2009-03-01T00:00:00Z Reynolds, Kara M. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/5761 2009-10-26T07:46:23Z 2009-03-01T00:00:00Z

Overcoming Free Riding: A Cross Country Analysis of Firm Participation in Antidumping Petitions Reynolds, Kara M. This research is one of the first attempts to investigate the proliferation of antidumping protection from the firm-level and, in particular, to study the reasons why the free-riding problem may be more or less severe in particular countries or industries. Using a panel of data on the number of firms filing antidumping petitions in 10 countries between 1995 and 2005, I study the determinants of the industry’s ability to overcome the free-riding problem. I find clear evidence that more firms will participate in antidumping petitions the lower the cost of filing; these filing costs significantly decrease in such variables as the number of countries targeted at one time and the level of development of the country. There is little evidence, however, that firms perceive that the expected benefits of the petition will be higher if they choose to participate, thus alleviating the free-rider problem. A separate statistical evaluation of actual case outcomes suggests that this perception may be valid. Department of Economics, Working Paper Series, no. 2009-01. 24 pages.

2009-03-01T00:00:00Z Hansen, Bradley A. Hansen, Mary Eschelbach http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/5760 2009-10-26T07:46:22Z 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z

Religion, Social Capital, and Business Bankruptcy in the United States, 1921-1932 Hansen, Bradley A.; Hansen, Mary Eschelbach We consider the value of social capital that derives from membership in a church. American states with larger churchgoing populations had lower business bankruptcy rates from 1921 to 1932, and states in which the churchgoing population was concentrated in few churches had business bankruptcy rates that were lower still. Both voluntary and involuntary bankruptcy were lower in states with higher church membership. The evidence suggests that church membership acted on bankruptcy through a safety net mechanism and not solely through indicating a preference for honoring commitment. Department of Economics, Working Paper Series, no. 2008-15. 35 pages.

2008-01-01T00:00:00Z Feinberg, Robert M. Olson, Kara M. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/5759 2009-10-26T07:46:21Z 2004-11-01T00:00:00Z

The Sprread of Anti-Dumping Regimes and the Role of Retaliation in Filings Feinberg, Robert M.; Olson, Kara M. Over the past decade, the world-wide use of antidumping has become very widespread – 41 WTO-member countries initiated antidumping cases over the 1995-2003 period. From another perspective, US exporters were subjected to 139 antidumping cases during this period, by enforcement agencies representing 20 countries. In this context, it is natural to consider whether antidumping filings may be motivated as retaliation against similar measures imposed on a country’s exporters. This is the focus of our study, though we also control for the bilateral export flows involved and non-retaliatory impacts of past cases, with other motivations – macroeconomic, industry-specific and political considerations – dealt with through industry, country and year fixed effects. Applying probit analysis to a WTO database on reported filings, we find strong evidence that retaliation was a significant motive in explaining the rise of antidumping filings over the past decade, though interesting differences emerge in the reactions to traditional and new users of antidumping. Two pages. Abstract only.

2004-11-01T00:00:00Z Isaac, Alan G. Park, Walter G. http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/5049 2009-06-01T14:32:05Z 2004-01-01T00:00:00Z

On Intellectual Property Rights: Patents vs. Free and Open Development Isaac, Alan G.; Park, Walter G. 55 pages. A revision of this working paper was published in 2004 as chapter 18, pp.693--747, of The Elgar Companion to the Economics of Property Rights, edited by Enrico Colombatto. Please cite the published paper.

2004-01-01T00:00:00Z