Proxy For Countries Research Articles

Measuring quality-based competitiveness: What’s wrong with high-tech exports?

We propose an approach to measure countries’ quality-based competitiveness relying on the share of high-tech products in exports and R&D intensity. We try to cope with the issue of discrepancy between the level of technological development of countries and the share of high-tech products in their exports that arises as a result of assembly production, re-exports, unequal endowments of “high-tech raw materials” and the attractiveness of tax havens. The task of the paper is to ensure the correct use of data on trade in high-tech products as a proxy for countries’ level of technological development. Relying on statistical and graphical analysis methods, we show that the problem is more complex that is generally considered, and that the ways to solve it proposed in the literature (primarily, subtracting intermediate imports) are far from being sufficient. We propose the index of R&D intensity at the product level based on the data on export structure (by products and producing countries) and R&D intensity, and calculate the weighted average R&D intensity that corresponds to each country’s export structure. As a result, we provide an updated view on the leading countries by the share of high-tech products in exports that is consistent with the traditional list of leaders by R&D intensity (Japan, South Korea, Israel, Germany, USA, and France). We also demonstrate that China, even after the adjustment procedure, is still a member of the technology leaders’ club.

Inventory Management Practices and Organization Performance of Steel Industries in Nairobi County, Kenya

Industries are key to many economies they are used as a proxy for country’s economic growth and development. The steel industry constitutes about 15% of the aggregate production by manufacturing firms hence it plays a key role in the performance of a country’s GDP and many are forecasting that its demand will continue to rise due to various development activities the national government and private firms have embarked on towards realisation of the country’s vision 2030. Inventory management is critical in the aspects of organization performance within the context of steel industries therefore steel companies must check on their inventory management practices in order not to impact on their Organization performance. This is achievable through operation at absolute minimum stock out events with prompt response to market fluctuations while at the same time carrying minimal buffer stocks. The study sought to fill the existent literature gap in the area of inventory management and organization performance in the steel industry. Descriptive research design was used in the study. The target population for this study were employees in the, Quality, administration, sales and marketing, production departments of three steel companies in Nairobi County Kenya. The study employed both primary and secondary during the stages of data collection where questionnaires were administered through drop and pick method while secondary data was obtained from the firms published comprehensive profit and loss statement particularly the company’s sales. A sample size of 45 respondents was utilized. The pilot study was conducted using a pretest of the questioner using 10% of the respondents that is 5 respondents. The validity of the data collection instrument was examined during the pilot study using a set of experts in the area inventory management as well as the supervisors. The reliability of the data collection was examined through the use of the cronbach alpha coefficient of a threshold of 0.7 and above. The researcher used descriptive method as well as SPSS. V.23 to analyse data. The research established that there is a positive and significant correlation between Economic order quantity and organization performance of steel manufacturing companies in Nairobi County. The study also found a significant positive correlation between Material/Inventory control and organization performance. It also established an existence of a positive and significant correlation between quality control and organizational performance. However, the study found a negative correlation between Legislation and organization performance. The study concludes that organization performance among steel firms in Nairobi County is influenced by Economic order quantity, material/inventory control and quality control. The study therefore recommends that the stakeholders should consider these factors in order to improve the performance of steel manufacturing firms as well as developing policies to protect local steel manufacturing firms from stiff completion from firms in developed countries particularly from China and U.S.A.

Currency Carry Trades, Position-Unwinding Risk, and Sovereign Credit Premia

This is the first study that employs option pricing model to measure the position-unwinding risk of currency carry trade portfolios, which well covers the moment information. We show that high interest-rate currencies are exposed to higher position-unwinding risk than low interest-rate currencies. We also investigate the sovereign CDS spreads as the proxy for countries' credit conditions and find that high interest-rate currencies load up positively on sovereign default risk while low interest-rate currencies provide a hedge against it. Sovereign credit premia as the dominant economic fundamental risk, together with position-unwinding likelihood indicator as the market risk (nonneutrality) sentiment, captures over 90% cross-sectional variations of carry trade excess returns. We identify sovereign credit risk as the impulsive country-specific risk that drives market volatility, and also its global contagion channels. Then We propose an alternative carry trade strategy immunized from crash risk, and a composite story of sovereign credit premia, global liquidity imbalances and liquidity reversal/spiral for explaining the forward premium puzzle.

Bilateral trade of cultural goods

International trade flows of cultural goods have grown rapidly over the last decades and their liberalization will be an important issue of future multilateral trade negotiations. In this paper, we focus on bilateral trade in cultural goods and investigate its determinants. Furthermore, we use trade in cultural goods as a proxy for countries' cultural proximity and study if countries with proximate cultural tastes have more intense bilateral exchanges. Our estimations show a positive and significant influence of cultural flows on overall trade, suggesting that regulations fostering domestic cultural creation might have impacts going beyond what is generally expected.

Bilateral Trade of Cultural Goods

International trade flows of cultural goods have grown very rapidly over the last decades and their liberalization will be one of the important issues of future multilateral trade negotiations. Despite these stakes, cultural flows have, to date, not been much studied by trade economists. In this paper, we focus on bilateral trade in cultural goods, such as books, recorded media, visual arts, audio visual media, and we investigate its determinants. Furthermore, we use trade in cultural goods as a proxy for countries' cultural proximity and study if countries with proximate cultural tastes tend to have more intense bilateral exchanges. Our estimations show a positive and significant influence of cultural flows on overall trade, suggesting that regulations fostering domestic cultural creation might have impacts going beyond what is generally expected.