Government Banking in Russia: Magnitude and New Features
Andrei Vernikov
IWH Discussion Papers,
Nr. 13,
2011
Abstract
State-controlled banks are currently at the core of financial intermediation in Russia. This paper aims to assess the magnitude of government banking, and to reveal some of its special features and arrangements. We distinguish between directly and indirectly state-controlled banks and construct a set of bank-level statistical data covering the period between 2000 and 2011. By January 2011 the market share of state-controlled banks reached almost 54 percent of all bank assets, putting Russia in the same league with China and India and widening the gap from typical European emerging markets. We show that direct state ownership is gradually substituted by indirect ownership and control. It tends to be organized in corporate pyramids that dilute public property, take control away from government bodies, and underpin managerial opportunism. Statecontrolled
banks blur the borderline between commercial banking and development
banking. Dominance of public banks has a bearing on empirical studies whose results might suggest state-owned banks’ greater (or lesser) efficiency or competitiveness compared to other forms of ownership. We tend to interpret such results as influenced by the choice of indicator, period of observations, sample selection, etc., in the absence of an equal playing field for all groups of players. We suggest that the government’s planned retreat from the banking sector will involve non-core assets mainly, whereas control over core institutions will just become more subtle.
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The Revealed Competitiveness of U.S. Exports
Massimo Del Gatto, Filippo di Mauro, Joseph Gruber, Benjamin Mandel
Federal Reserve Discussion Paper,
Nr. 1026,
2011
Abstract
The U.S. share of world merchandise exports has declined sharply over the last decade. Using data at the level of detailed industries, this paper analyzes the decline in U.S. share against the backdrop of alternative measures of the competitiveness of the U.S. economy. We document the following facts: (i) only a few industries contributed to the decline in any meaningful way, (ii) a large part of the drop was driven by the changing size of U.S. export industries and not the size of U.S. sales within those industries, (iii) in a gravity framework, the majority of the decline in the U.S. export share within industries was due to the declining U.S. share of world income, and (iv) in a computed structural measure of firm productivity, average U.S. export productivity has generally maintained its high level versus other countries over time. Overall, our analysis suggests that the dismal performance of the U.S. market share is not a sufficient statistic for competitiveness.
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Recovery and Beyond: Lessons for Trade Adjustment and Competitiveness
Filippo di Mauro, Benjamin Mandel
ECB E-Book,
May
2011
Abstract
The great trade collapse in the wake of the 2008-9 financial crisis provideda unique insight into the complexities inherent to international markets, and underlined a number of lessons for us to consider as we evaluate the shape of the global trade recovery. While the factors contributing to the crisis were diverse and multifaceted, it is arguable that persisting imbalances across the globe played a role. How will trade imbalances unwind and what is the role for policies influencing international transactions for goods and services? A precursor to answering this question is a broad understanding of how trade flows react to changes in the macroeconomy, and therefore much of this book will focus on recent assessments of the drivers of trade adjustment. A closely related concept affecting the degree to which countries trade is their relative competitive position. To tie in the chapters with the broader policy emphasis on competitiveness, we will also define and evaluate several drivers of international trade competitiveness.
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The Identification of Regional Industrial Clusters Using Qualitative Input-Output Analysis (QIOA)
Mirko Titze, Matthias Brachert, Alexander Kubis
Regional Studies,
Nr. 1,
2011
Abstract
The 'cluster theory' has become one of the main concepts promoting regional competitiveness, innovation, and growth. As most empirical applications focus on measures of concentration of one industrial branch in order to identify regional clusters, the appropriate analysis of specific vertical relations is developing in this discussion. This paper tries to identify interrelated sectors via national input-output tables with the help of minimal flow analysis (MFA). The regionalization of these national industry templates is carried out with the allocation of branch-specific production values on regional employment. As a result, the paper shows concentrations of vertical clusters in only 27 of 439 German Nomenclature des Units Territoriales Statistiques (NUTS)-3 regions.
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Identifying Industrial Clusters from a Multidimensional Perspective: Methodical Aspects with an Application to Germany
Matthias Brachert, Mirko Titze, Alexander Kubis
Papers in Regional Science,
Nr. 2,
2011
Abstract
If regional development agencies assume the cluster concept to be an adequate framework to promote regional growth and competitiveness, it is necessary to identify industrial clusters in a comprehensive manner. Previous studies used a diversity of methods to identify the predominant concentrations of economic activity in one industrial sector in a region. This paper is based on a multidimensional approach developed by Titze et al. With the help of the combination of concentration measures and input–output methods they were able to identify horizontal and vertical dimensions of industrial clusters. This paper aims to refine this approach by using a superior measure of spatial concentration and by integrating information about spatial interdependence of industrial cluster structures to contribute to a more adequate framework for industrial cluster identification.
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The global downturn and its impact on euro area exports and competitiveness
Filippo di Mauro, Katrin Forster, Ana Lima
ECB Occasional Paper Series,
Nr. 119,
2010
Abstract
World trade contracted sharply in late 2008 and early 2009 following the deepening of the financial crisis in September 2008. This paper discusses the main mechanisms behind the global downturn in trade and its impact on euro area exports and competitiveness. It finds that the euro area was hit particularly hard by the contraction in global demand.
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Challenges for Future Regional Policy in East Germany. Does East Germany really show Characteristics of Mezzogiorno?
Mirko Titze
A. Kuklinski; E. Malak-Petlicka; P. Zuber (eds), Souther Italy – Eastern Germany – Eastern Poland. The Triple Mezzogiorno? Ministry of Regional Development,
2010
Abstract
Despite extensive government support the gap between East and West Germany has still not been successfully closed nearly 20 years post German unification. Hence, some economists tend to compare East Germany with Mezzogiorno – underdeveloped Southern Italy. East Germany is still subject to sever structural problems in comparison to West Germany: lower per capita income, lower productivity, higher unemployment rates, fewer firm headquarters and fewer innovation activities. There are East German regions with less than desirable rates of development. Nevertheless, the new federal states have shown some evidence of a convergence process. Some regions have developed very positively – they have improved their competitiveness and employment levels. As such, the comparison of East Germany with Mezzogiorno does not seem applicable today.
According to Neoclassical Growth Theory, regional policy is targeted enhancing investment (hereafter the notion ‘investment policy’ is used). has been the most important instrument in forcing the ‘reconstruction of the East’. Overall, the investment policy is seen as having been successful. It is not, however, the only factor influencing regional development – political policy makers noted in the mid 1990s that research and development (R&D) activities and regional concentrated production networks, amongst other factors, may also play a part. The investment policy instrument has therefore been adjusted. Nevertheless, it cannot be excluded that investment policy may fail in particular cases because it contains potentially conflicting targets. A ‘better road’ for future regional policy may lie in the support of regional production and innovation networks – the so-called industrial clusters. These clusters would need to be exactingly identified however to ensure effective and efficient cluster policies.
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EU-Kommission, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft und IWH diskutieren Innovationspolitik in Transformationsregionen
Björn Jindra, Katja Wilde
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
Nr. 7,
2009
Abstract
Im Februar 2009 führte das Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) gemeinsam mit der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft in Brüssel die Abschlusskonferenz des Projektes „Understanding the Relationship between Knowledge and Competitiveness in the Enlarging European Union“ (U-Know) durch. Bei diesem Projekt handelte es sich um ein dreijähriges Forschungsvorhaben, das im 6. Forschungsrahmenprogramm der Europäischen Union (EU) angesiedelt war. Das Projekt stellte auf die Untersuchung systemischer Aspekte von Innovation und Wissenstransfer sowie die Erarbeitung forschungs- und innovationspolitischer Handlungsoptionen ab. Ein besonderes Augenmerk galt dabei den Herausforderungen in den neuen EU-Mitgliedstaaten sowie Ostdeutschland. Aus dem Forschungsprojekt heraus entstanden insgesamt 54 referierte Publikationen sowie 33 Beiträge zu Sammelbänden. Ziel dieser Konferenz war es, die Forschungsergebnisse des U-Know-Projektes zu präsentieren und mit Vertretern aus Wissenschaft, Wirtschaft und der europäischen Politik zu diskutieren. Dazu wurden verschiedene Fachvorträge aus den vier Arbeitsbereichen des Projektes (Unternehmen und Märkte, Kooperationen zwischen Wirtschaft und Wissenschaft, Innovationssysteme und Governance sowie die Rolle von Institutionen) vorgestellt und von Vertretern der Europäischen Kommission im Hinblick auf politische Implikationen kommentiert. Abschließend unterstrichen alle Beteiligten die zunehmende strategische Bedeutung von Bildungs-, Forschungs- und Innovationspolitik, um zum einen die Wettbewerbsposition der EU-15-Länder weiter zu stärken und zum anderen den neuen EU-Mitgliedstaaten einen nachhaltigen Aufholprozess zu ermöglichen.
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Globalisierung von Forschung und Entwicklung – der Technologiestandort Deutschland
Jutta Günther, Björn Jindra, Johannes Stephan
Wirtschaft im Wandel,
Nr. 2,
2009
Abstract
Am 11. November 2008 fand am Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung Halle (IWH) zum zweiten Mal ein innovationspolitischer Workshop statt, diesmal zum Thema „Globalisierung von Forschung und Entwicklung – der Technologiestandort Deutschland“. Die Veranstaltung bildete zugleich einen Bestandteil des vom IWH koordinierten EU-Projekts U-Know („Understanding the Relationship between Knowledge and Competitiveness in the Enlarging EU“), das sich mit einer Reihe innovationsökonomischer Forschungsthemen beschäftigt. Der Workshop hatte zum Ziel, das Thema Globalisierung von Forschung und Entwicklung aus wissenschaftlicher, unternehmerischer und innovationspolitischer Perspektive zu beleuchten und die Position Deutschlands im internationalen Technologiewettbewerb zu diskutieren.
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