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Begin New Search Publishing Institution Peterson Institute for International Economics Publication Year within 10 Years

101. The Tradability of Services: Geographic Concentration and Trade Costs

Author:
Antoine Gervais
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
To date, empirical studies have focused almost exclusively on the trade exposure of the manufacturing sector, implicitly assuming that services are not tradable. However, because service trade has grown over time and now accounts for about 20 percent of global international transactions (and 30 percent of US exports), the traditional assumption that goods are tradable and services are not is increasingly inadequate. Gervais and Jensen use a unique dataset on the distribution of producers and consumers across regions of the United States to estimate the share of economic activity exposed to international competition. Their estimation method is a natural extension of the gravity model of trade and identifies trade costs in the absence of trade data. The estimated trade costs are higher on average for service industries, but there is considerable variation across industries within sectors. Using the trade cost estimates, they classify industries into tradable and nontradable categories. They find that accounting for tradable service industries nearly doubles the international exposure of the US economy, tradable services value added is unevenly distributed across geographical regions, labor productivity and wages are higher on average for tradable industries, and potential welfare gains from trade liberalization in the service sector are sizable.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Labor Issues, and Global Markets
Political Geography:
Global Focus

102. The Resilient Trade Surplus, the Pharmaceutical Sector, and Exchange Rate Assessments in Switzerland

Author:
Philip Saure
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
With its cost- and time-intensive research and development, the pharmaceutical sector can generate large trade imbalances. These imbalances may arise because investment and output occur in different years; they are sizable if pharmaceuticals account for a large and growing share of exports. Switzerland's recent trade surplus results from this effect, which also explains why the Swiss trade surplus is exceptionally resilient. The Swiss trade surplus is, therefore, a poor indicator for exchange rate assessments.
Topic:
Foreign Exchange, Health, International Trade and Finance, and Markets
Political Geography:
Switzerland

103. Recent Declines in Labor's Share in US Income: A Preliminary Neoclassical Account

Author:
Robert Z. Lawrence
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Over the past decade, the US economy has been plagued by sluggish wage growth and rising income inequality. The debate over inequality in the 1980s and 1990s focused on the growing disparity between the earnings of skilled and unskilled workers and the earnings of the super-rich. Growing inequality between capital and labor income has now been added to these concerns. Remarkably, the growth in real GDP per worker over the decade of the 2000s, which averaged 1.7 percent annually, was actually more rapid than in the 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s, yet in the 2000s workers saw almost no increase in their take-home pay. Consistent with this gap between labor productivity and wage growth was a pronounced decline in the share of US national income earned by workers. As labor's share has declined, the share of capital has risen and has been especially concentrated in corporate profits. As profits are far less equally distributed than wages, this increase has contributed to rising income inequality. There are several plausible reasons for this development—globalization, automation, weak bargaining power of labor, political capture, higher markups—but the natural starting point for explaining factor income shares is the neoclassical theory of the functional distribution of income enumerated by John Hicks and Joan Robinson in the 1930s. In this framework there are two possible explanations for labor's recent declining share. The first is that capital and labor are gross substitutes, and the second is that capital and labor are gross complements. Several papers have explained the recent decline in labor's share in income by claiming that capital has been substituted for labor. Lawrence puts forward the alternative "gross complements" explanation for the declining US labor share. He shows that despite a rise in measured capital-labor ratios, labor-augmenting technical change in the United States has been sufficiently rapid that effective capital-labor ratios have actually fallen in the sectors and industries that account for the largest portion of the declining labor share in income since 1980. In combination with estimates that corroborate the consensus in the literature that the elasticity of substitution is less than 1, these declines in the effective capital-labor ratio can account for much of the recent fall in labor's share in US income at both the aggregate and industry level. Paradoxically, these results also suggest that increased capital formation, ideally achieved through a progressive consumption tax, would raise labor's share in income.
Topic:
Economics, Globalization, Markets, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
United States

104. An Old Boys' Club No More: Pluralism in Participation and Performance at the Olympic Games

Author:
Marcus Noland and Kevin Stahler
Publication Date:
05-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Decades ago, the Summer Olympic Games were an old boys' club; by many measures the Winter Games still are. Now, however, this old boys' club must compete with talented athletes from almost every country on earth, large and small, rich and poor, many of whom have found their comparative sporting niches. Looking forward, the image of the incumbent champion—rich, European, and male—will become ever more antiquated. This paper models the historical determinants of success at the Olympic Games in the context of their growing pluralism, evolving from their aristocratic and largely European male roots to the more gender-inclusive and geographically diverse showcase of athletic talent that is seen today. A wide set of socioeconomic variables is correlated with winning medals, particularly with respect to the Summer Games and women's events. Host advantage is particularly acute in judged contests such as gymnastics. However, there is evidence that the influence of correlates such as country size, per capita income, and membership in the communist bloc is declining over time as competition becomes increasingly diverse. These effects are less evident in the Winter Games, events that require significant capital investments, and judged contests.
Topic:
Diplomacy, Economics, Gender Issues, and Sports
Political Geography:
Global Focus

105. Testing the Modigliani-Miller Theorem of Capital Structure Irrelevance for Banks

Author:
William R. Cline
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Some advocates of far higher capital requirements for banks invoke the Modigliani-Miller theorem as grounds for judging that associated costs would be minimal. The M&M theorem holds that the average cost of capital to the firm does not depend on its capital structure (ratio of equity finance to debt finance), because any reduction in capital cost from switching to higher leverage using lower-cost debt is exactly offset by an induced increase in the unit cost of higher-cost equity capital as a consequence of the associated rise in risk. Statistical tests for large US banks in 2002–13 find that less than half of this M&M offset attains in practice. Higher capital requirements would thus impose increases in lending costs, with associated output costs from lower capital formation. These costs to the economy would need to be compared with benefits from lower risk of banking crises to arrive at optimal levels of capital requirements.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Politics, and Budget
Political Geography:
Global Focus

106. The Future of Worldwide Income Distribution

Author:
Tomas Hellebrandt and Paolo Mauro
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Over the next two decades the structure of world population and income will undergo profound changes. Global income inequality is projected to decline further in 2035, largely owing to rapid economic growth in the emerging-market economies. The potential pool of consumers worldwide will expand significantly, with the largest net gains in the developing and emerging-market economies. The number of people earning between US$1,144 and US$3,252 per year in 2013 prices in purchasing power parity terms will increase by around 500 million, with the largest gains in Sub-Saharan Africa and India; those earning between US$3,252 and US$8,874 per year in 2013 prices will increase by almost 1 billion, with the largest gains in India and Sub-Saharan Africa; and those earning more than US$8,874 per year will increase by 1.2 billion, with the largest gains in China and the advanced economies.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, Globalization, and Labor Issues
Political Geography:
Africa and Asia

107. Financing Productivity- and Innovation-Led Growth in Developing Asia: International Lessons and Policy Issues

Author:
Ajai Chopra
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Growth in developing Asia will need to rely more on improvements in productivity growth and less on capital deepening. Although there is no single reform path to spur productivity growth, financial system deepening is central to a more efficient allocation of capital across sectors and can facilitate innovation and technology transfer. But malfunctioning financial systems can also result in the misallocation of resources, making it important that policymakers focus less on increasing the size of the financial sector and more on improving its intermediation function. Chopra discusses the steps to mobilize Asia's ample private savings for long-term financing, especially to tackle the region's infrastructure deficit and improve access to financing for small and medium enterprises, which can help raise productivity. As many countries in Asia shift from a development model based on technology absorption to one that promotes innovation, specialized finance and investors can play a critical role in allowing innovative firms to conduct research, adopt technologies necessary for inventions, and ultimately commercialize innovations.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Asia

108. The Financial Sector and Growth in Emerging Asian Economies

Author:
William R. Cline
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
The financial sectors in Asian emerging-market economies are now relatively unlikely to provoke new financial crises, either because of reforms after the East Asian financial crisis in the later 1990s or because of the dominance of state-owned banks not subject to bank runs. Financial intermediation is surprisingly high and is consistent with higher rates of saving and investment and hence growth in the main economies of the region (as compared to, say, counterparts in Latin America). Nonetheless, there are sharply diverging patterns (e.g., high foreign ownership of banks in Korea versus minimal presence in China) and differing national structures (bank dominated, portfolio oriented, and diversified) within Asia. Cline recommends establishing long-term plans to improve efficiency in state-owned banks or reduce their dominance and pursuing bank capitalization targets at least as ambitious as those of Basel III. Cline also calls for ensuring adequate regulation of growing nonbank intermediaries, reversing a recent trend toward national barriers to foreign banks in some economies, and improving the legal security of bank regulators.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, Financial Crisis, and Reform
Political Geography:
Asia

109. Maintaining Financial Stability in the People's Republic of China during Financial Liberalization

Author:
Nicholas Borst and Nicolas R. Lardy
Publication Date:
08-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
China's banking system is now the largest in the world, and its capital markets are rapidly approaching the size of those in the advanced economies. Borst and Lardy trace the evolution of China's financial system away from a traditional bank-dominated and state-directed financial system toward a more complex, market-based system. They analyze and outline the optimal sequence of financial reforms needed to manage the new risks accompanying this evolution.
Topic:
Economics, Markets, Financial Crisis, and Reform
Political Geography:
China

110. An Assessment of the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement

Author:
Jeffrey Schott, Euijin Jung, and Cathleen Cimino-Isaacs
Publication Date:
12-2015
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Peterson Institute for International Economics
Abstract:
Of all the free trade agreements (FTAs) concluded by Korea with its major trading partners since the turn of the century, the Korea-China FTA may be the largest in trade terms. It is, however, far from the best in terms of the depth of liberalization and the scope of obligations on trade and investment policies. Korea and China agreed to liberalize a large share of bilateral trade within 20 years, but both sides incorporated extensive exceptions to basic tariff reforms and deferred important market access negotiations on services and investment for several years. Political interests trumped economic objectives, and the negotiated outcome cut too many corners to achieve such a comprehensive result. The limited outcome in the Korea-China talks has two clear implications for economic integration among the northeast Asian countries. First, prospects for the ongoing China-Japan-Korea talks will be limited and unlikely to exceed the Korea-China outcome. Second, Korea and Japan need to strengthen their bilateral leg of the northeast Asian trilateral and the best way is by negotiating a deal in the context of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, Markets, Treaties and Agreements, and Bilateral Relations
Political Geography:
Korea