Competitiveness Of National Industry Research Articles

Institutional Governance Systems And Variations In National Competitive Advantage: An Integrative Framework

Creating competitive industries has become one of the key tasks of governments. Different adaptation outcomes in industries across nations cannot be accounted for fully simply by an emphasis on firm-level capabilities, market-driven policies, or state-level policies. We propose an integrative framework that draws on both the strategic management and political economy literature to explain variations in national industrial competitiveness. We discuss differences with respect to institutional characteristics and capabilities, competitive outcomes, conditions of best fit, and who bears the cost of industry adaptation.

Foreign investment policies, sovereignty and growth

Policies on foreign investment in the communications sector have often been regarded as an indicator of a government's stance on sovereignty vis-a-vis economic growth. Since some of the poorest members of the World Trade Organization agreed to open basic telecommunications services to foreign investment in 1998, many more had followed suit. Are these nations surrendering sovereign control for foreign investment, and hopefully, economic growth? Despite an overall trend towards the open market ideal, this study has found significant differences among Third World countries regarding foreign investment policies related to telecommunications services. From the analyses a pattern of regulatory control over foreign ownership in basic services emerges when the key determinants of policy decisions are taken into consideration: the size of domestic market, the competitiveness of national industries, the quality of policy design and decision making, and the urgency of needs and availability of different options. The key to the issue is perhaps that control is not the best representation of sovereignty, but rather the autonomy in making decisions regarding the retention or surrender of control in the interests of the state and the public, through a commonly accepted procedure. In other words, surrendering control does not necessarily lead to the erosion of sovereignty, yet having to surrender control for reasons of sheer survival.

Underestimating the Costs of Overvaluation

In addition to the obvious cost of the debt burden on loans used to finance deficits, overvaluation of a national currency weakens the competitiveness of national industries and contributes to the likelihood of more serious, delayed costs of adjustment and intersectoral reallocation of resources. These costs are heavy costs to put against the political expedient of delaying the realignment of an overvalued currency.

Ultrasonic cleaning cuts waste, energy use

The ultrasonic tubular resonator, a device for removing surface contamination, is making its way to chemical process tanks. Cleaning tanks and reactors with this device is less expensive, less energy intensive, and more environmentally friendly than with conventional cleaning methods, according to results of a demonstration project by DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical. DuPont Merck has been testing the technology at its facilities in Deepwater, N.J., under a grant from the National Industrial Competitiveness through Energy, Environment & Economics (NICE 3 ) program. NICE 3 is a joint cost-sharing grant program of the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency. The grant requires DuPont Merck to make available the results of the demonstration project. These results were presented in May at two seminars organized by the New Jersey Technical Assistance Program for Industrial Pollution Prevention. Ultrasonic cleaning of reaction tanks and reactors is simple, says Angelo C. Piro, president of the U...

Convergence of Basic and Applied Research? Research Orientations in German High-Temperature Superconductor Research

In the industrialized countries university research and state-financed research are increasingly evaluated from the point of view of their contribution to technology transfer, industrial innovation, and the competitiveness of national industries. Political debates on the viability of orienting basic research toward practical applications are paralleled by discussions, among social scientists, about the risks and opportunities of political direction over science. These debates are the frame of reference for this study, which analyzes the differences between basic and applied research, their correlates and consequences, in high-temperature superconductor research in the Federal Republic of Germany. It will be shown that basic and applied research are fundamentally different in their social organization, their research goals, and their research strategies. These differences are in contrast to the call of science policy for more intense interaction and assimilation. Nevertheless, there are conditions under which basic or applied re searchers will partially follow "foreign" orientations and strategies. These conditions may, in part, be shaped by policy decisions.

Enhancing National Industrial Competitiveness

Enhancing National Industrial Competitiveness

NON‐TARIFF BARRIERS TO INTERNATIONAL DATA FLOW

Due to the economic and strategic importance of telecommunication services, as well as projected growth rates in the information industries, countries have adopted policy restrictions on transborder data flows (TBDF) both into and out of their countries. The reasons for these measures include privacy concerns, national security and the competitiveness of national industries. The short‐term effects on multinational industries have been an increase in data processing costs and a loss of efficiency. Although trade has not yet been restricted in the long‐term, it is possible that trade, particularly in services, will be severely affected. The evolution and types of barriers to transborder data flow are described and their immediate impact on the telecommunications industry and possible ramifications for world trade in general are assessed.