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Strategy And Circumstance: The Response Of American Firms To Japanese Competition In Semiconductors, 1980-1995, Richard N. Langlois, W. Edward Steinmueller
Strategy And Circumstance: The Response Of American Firms To Japanese Competition In Semiconductors, 1980-1995, Richard N. Langlois, W. Edward Steinmueller
Economics Working Papers
The transistor was an American invention, and American firms led the world in semiconductor production and innovation for the first three decades of that industry's existence. In the 1980s, however, Japanese producers began to challenge American dominance. Shrill cries arose from the literature of public policy, warning that the American semiconductor industry would soon share the fate of the lamented American consumer electronics business. Few dissented from the implications: the only hope for salvation would be to adopt Japanese-style public policies and imitate the kinds of capabilities Japanese firms possessed. But the predicted extinction never occurred. Instead, American firms surged …
Technological Standards, Innovation, And Essential Facilities: Toward A Schumpeterian Post-Chicago Approach, Richard N. Langlois
Technological Standards, Innovation, And Essential Facilities: Toward A Schumpeterian Post-Chicago Approach, Richard N. Langlois
Economics Working Papers
In this essay, I attempt to take seriously Schumpeter's perspective on competition as fundamentally about innovation. Drawing on literatures that concern themselves centrally with the patterns and processes of technological change, I focus on a set of issues very much on the present-day agenda: antitrust policy toward network industries in which technological standards are important. As both scholars and legal cases have suggested, one might logically view a set of standards as an "essential facility" - a technological bottleneck - for those who wish to connect to the network.. I attempt to define the limits of the standard price-theoretic account …
The Relationship Between Large Fiscal Adjustments And Short-Term Output Growth Under Alternative Fiscal Policy Regimes, Stephen M. Miller, Frank S. Russek
The Relationship Between Large Fiscal Adjustments And Short-Term Output Growth Under Alternative Fiscal Policy Regimes, Stephen M. Miller, Frank S. Russek
Economics Working Papers
A small, but growing, body of literature searches for evidence of non-Keynesian effects of fiscal contractions. That is, some evidence exists that large fiscal contractions stimulate short-run economic activity. Our paper continues this research effort by systematically examining the effects, if any, of unusual fiscal events - either non-Keynesian results within a Keynesian model or Keynesian results within a neoclassical model -- on short-run economic activity. We examine this issue within three separate models -- a St. Louis equation, a Hall-type consumption equation, and a growth accounting equation. Our empirical findings are mixed, and do not provide strong systematic support …
Modularity In Technology, Organization, And Society, Richard N. Langlois
Modularity In Technology, Organization, And Society, Richard N. Langlois
Economics Working Papers
Modularity is a very general set of principles for managing complexity. By breaking up a complex system into discrete modules - which can then communicate with one another only through standardized interfaces within a standardized architecture - one can eliminate what would otherwise be an unmanageable spaghetti tangle of systemic interconnections. Such ideas are not new in the literature of technological design (Simon 1962, Alexander 1964), even if, as some claim (Baldwin and Clark 1997), modularity is becoming more important today because of the increased complexity of modern technology. What is new is the application of the idea of modularity …
The Level Of Development And The Determinants Of Productivity Growth, Habib Ahmed, Stephen M. Miller
The Level Of Development And The Determinants Of Productivity Growth, Habib Ahmed, Stephen M. Miller
Economics Working Papers
We examine the effects of technology on productivity growth by disaggregating total output into sectoral components, exploring the roles of investment and technology on productivity growth for countries in different income groups. We find that for low-income countries, investment is the most important determinant of productivity growth. While investment plays an important role in determining productivity growth in middle-income countries, additional effects resulting from technological change also emerge. Investment ceases to have a significant effect on productivity growth in high-income countries.
A Model Of Endogenous Union Density And Membership, Habib Ahmed, Stephen M. Miller
A Model Of Endogenous Union Density And Membership, Habib Ahmed, Stephen M. Miller
Economics Working Papers
We develop a theoretical model of endogenously determined union density and union membership. A union is formed, continued, or dissolved by majority voting. Given the profitability, production technology, and labor and product market conditions, the union determines the reservation wage that is acceptable to the firm. Based on this reservation wage and other subjective factors, workers vote for or against the union. If the union is formed, the firm determines the employment level at the union wage.
Crowding-Out And Crowding-In Effects Of The Components Of Government Expenditure, Habib Ahmed, Stephen M. Miller
Crowding-Out And Crowding-In Effects Of The Components Of Government Expenditure, Habib Ahmed, Stephen M. Miller
Economics Working Papers
We examine the effects of disaggregated government expenditure on investment using fixed- and random-effect methods. Using the government budget constraint, we explore the effects of tax- and debt-financed expenditure for the full sample, and for sub-samples of developed and developing countries. In general, tax-financed government expenditure crowds out more investment than debt-financed expenditure. Expenditure on social security and welfare reduces investment in all samples while expenditure on transport and communication induces private investment in developing countries.