Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy

Using a panel dataset comprising 137 countries (both developed and developing countries) over the period 1970–2010, this paper has examined the effect of export upgrading (i.e., export product diversification and export product quality improvement) on financial development. The findings suggest that export product diversification and export product quality improvement influence positively and significantly financial development in high income countries (HICs) and developing countries alike. However, for least developed countries (LDCs), export product diversification promotes financial development, but export product quality improvement exerts a negative effect on financial development.

We study the effect of sector-level competition on export by utilizing the Exporter Dynamics Database of the World Bank that provides sector-level competition measure along with destination-specific detailed export data. The results of the analysis show a nonlinear effect of sector-level competition on export. While at less competitive sectors, an increase in competition depresses export, at highly competitive sectors, an increase in competition generates a trade-promoting effect on export. The observed nonlinear effect is robust across sectors and countries. Therefore, productivity of peer firms could generate negative effect on a firm’s export performance contrary to the usual positive effect of a firm’s own productivity.

Starting with explaining the differences between theory and experience, based on various schools of economic theories, this paper sorts out and evaluates different views of Chinese Economists’ theoretical summaries of the “economic miracle” for 40 years since reform and opening-up, and then analyses four fundamental reasons behind the divergence among the economists. The paper expresses the understanding of Chinese Economics, the School of Chinese Economics and the Socialist Political Economy with Chinese Characteristics and puts forward several issues for further improvement on innovations of economic theory.

Price differentials, among other factors, persuade many residents of Northern Mexico to shop in the Southwestern United States border region. Employment patterns in the latter region are studied using a set of control variables and two indicators that are likely to influence cross-border shopping patterns. The first is a real exchange rate index, which captures changes in relative prices in the United States and Mexico. The second is real per capita gross state product in Mexican states adjacent to the international boundary. Both of these variables are found to impact retail and restaurant employment in the United States border zone, confirming that cross-border shopping influences labor market conditions in that region. Furthermore, the estimated elasticities vary across retail sub-sectors in ways that are generally consistent with prior research. Overall, the results suggest that economic setbacks in Northern Mexico and real peso depreciations are likely to have adverse consequences for important sectors of border economies in the United States.

This paper aims at discussing the applicability of the three-factor model in China’s multiple security markets. The monthly returns of Shenzhen Main Board Market, Shanghai Stock Market, GEM Securities Market and Small and Medium Board Securities Market from January 2012 to December 2016 are selected as samples. The following conclusions are drawn: the three-factor model is applicable in Shenzhen Main Board Market, that is, the change of stock return is proportional to market factor, book-to-market ratio factor, and inversely proportional to scale factor. Moreover, in terms of the explanatory power of the change of stock return, the market factor is the highest, the scale factor is the second, and the book-to-market ratio factor is the lowest. But in the other three markets, the two-factors model that excludes the ratio of book market value can explain the change of stock return better. In addition, the explanatory power of market factor is better than scale factor.

Using panel data of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) from 1990 to 2010, we find strong evidence that outward FDI from BRICS is significantly associated with “better exports, measured by EXPY, an index developed by Hausmann et al. (2007). Every 1% increase in outward FDI leads to around 0.1% improvement in export sophistication (EXPY). Meanwhile, inward FDI does not seem to improve BRICS’ export sophistication.