The purpose of the seminar is to provide a platform for presenting and discussing ongoing research on determinants and consequences of globalisation in general and global value chains in particular. The seminar will take place on an irregular basis at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy or at the Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel. Both are scientific partners of KCG. Information about upcoming presentations will be provided here in advance.

If you have any questions about the KCG Research Seminar, please contact Dr. Wan-Hsin Liu (KCG Coordinator).

KCG-Seminar 2018-10:

Zeroing in on zeros: Bias-Corrected Fixed Effects Panel Estimation of the Extensive Margin of Trade

Dr. Julian Hinz, Kiel Institute for the World Economy & Kiel Centre for Globalization

Abstract: Estimates of the determinants of the extensive margin of trade do not take into account bilateral unobserved heterogeneity for two reasons: (i) the large number of required fixed effects precludes the practical implementation of appropriate specifications and (ii) even if estimates could be obtained, they would suffer from an incidental parameter problem. We show how a fixed effects logit estimator with exporter-time, importer-time, and country pair fixed effects can be implemented for large panel data sets via an iteratively re-weighted least squares procedure for generalized linear models. Additionally, we demonstrate how a jackknife bias correction for the incidental parameter problem associated with these three-way high-dimensional fixed effects can be applied. We use this procedure to reassess the effect of joint WTO membership on the probability that a country pair engages in (aggregate and sectoral) bilateral trade and demonstrate the behaviour of the estimates in a calibrated Monte Carlo study.

Date: Friday, August 24, 2018, 12.00-1.00pm

Venue: Medienraum (A-211), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)

KCG-Seminar 2018-9:

Structural Transformation in Mexico: What is the Role of FDI?

Dr. Henning Mühlen, University of Hohenheim

Abstract: Foreign direct investment (FDI) flows to Mexico are substantial and play an important role in the Mexican economy in the recent past. These investments demonstrate the activities of multinational firms which shape to some extent the economic landscape and structure in this host country. Yet, there is considerable variation in the amounts of FDI within the country. Hence, FDI is likely to have different impacts on the economics structure across Mexico. We provide descriptive figures of FDI and structural change indicators that highlight these issues. Based on these observations, the main aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of FDI on structural transformation. We conduct an empirical analysis at the regional level covering the period 2006-2016. The unit of observation is a Mexican state for which we calculate structural change from the reallocation of labor between sectors. The results suggest that there is a positive effect from FDI. This effect depends critically on the lag structure of FDI. Moreover, there is evidence that the positive effect arises from FDI flows in the industry sector.

Date: Wednesday, July 4, 2018, 11.00 am -12.00 pm

Venue: Common Room (A-111), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)

KCG-Seminar 2018-8:

Is there Anything to be Gained from Export Processing? Micro-Econometric Evidence from China

Prof. Sourafel Girma, PhD.,  University of Nottingham & Kiel Centre for Globalization

Abstract: China’s policy of encouraging export processing has been the topic of much discussion in the academic literature and policy debate.  The fact that apparently the least productive firms engage in this form of activity raised doubts about its economic implications.  Our paper documents economically and statistically significant positive causal effects of export processing on productivity and wages.  This is done estimating average and quantile treatment effects in a potential outcomes framework, using a matched firm level and customs panel dataset.  Interestingly, the estimation of quantile treatment effects shows that these positive effects do not accrue to all types of firms, but only to those at the low to medium end of the distribution of the outcome variable.  In other words, firms with high productivity or wage growth do not experience any further positive growth effects from engaging in export processing.

Date: Friday, June 29, 2018, 12.00-1.00pm

Venue: Medienraum (A-211), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)

KCG-Seminar 2018-7:

On the Way to a More Institutionalized Framework for CSR? – Observations on Japan and Taiwan Compared to the Efforts of the EU

Bobby, Piao-Hao Hsu, Tamkang University; Max-Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law

Abstract: Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been a focus point within the realm of global corporate governance for decades. The European Union (EU) with its 2001 green paper proposed by the Commission, has also made significant efforts in promoting CSR. Countries in the EU, on top of the original development from the business enterprise themselves, also undertook facilitating measures, such as the NRE law (Les Nouvelles Regulations Economiques) of France and Financial Statements Act of Denmark. To understand various approaches taken by different countries in the respect of furthering CSR, this article tries to focus on the development as well as current practice of Asian countries such as Japan and Taiwan in this regard. It further introduces the legislative development of the two countries and possible unfolding endeavors in the future to explore the possibility regarding whether they may develop towards a more institutionalized framework of promoting CSR.

Date: Friday, June 15, 2018, 12.00-1.00pm

Venue: Medienraum (A-211), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)

KCG-Seminar 2018-6:

Business Ethics in the Greater China Region: Past, Present, and Future Research

Prof. Juelin Yin Ph.D., Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) & Kiel Centre for Globalization

Abstract: While business ethics has generated a great deal of research internationally over the last few decades, academic reviews of the business ethics literature remain limited. Moreover, there has been little attempt to date to analyze this literature specifically in the Greater China region, which has been experiencing rapid socioeconomic growth and dynamic evolution of business ethics in recent decades. This paper addresses this research gap by undertaking a comprehensive and critical appraisal of the business ethics literature on Greater China. In particular, it maps out the existing research findings, identifies limitations in methodology, and suggests future directions for business ethics research in this region. The findings indicate that the scholarly interests cover 24 research themes, including corporate social responsibility and social performance; ethical beliefs, judgment, values, decision-making, and culture; workplace ethics and behavior; marketing ethics and consumer behavior; and sustainability. This review reveals a growing imbalance between empirical and conceptual/theoretical studies on business ethics. In addition, the published works covered in this review heavily rely on survey method and convenience sampling, with a predominant focus on a single individual level of analysis. Importantly, this study identifies four directions for future research: contextualized theoretical development, addressing multilevel research, developing research design tailored to the Chinese context, and ensuring more diversified and rigorous data collection.

Date: Friday, May 25, 2018, 12.00-1.00pm

Venue: Medienraum (A-211), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)

KCG-Seminar 2018-5:

International Trade, Uni- and Multilateral Climate Policy, and Carbon Leakage

Joschka Wanner, University of Bayreuth

Abstract: Any subglobal climate policy potentially suffers from carbon leakage, i.e. the (partial) offset of the initial emission reduction by increases in other countries. To analyse the international effects of different climate policies in terms of trade, welfare, and carbon emissions, we develop a multi-sector, multi-factor structural gravity model that allows an analytical and quantitative decomposition of emission changes into scale, composition, and technique effects. We use this framework to investigate the effectiveness of carbon tariffs, the potential of degrowth to limit the extent of carbon leakage associated with unilateral action, and the implications of different countries withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. Besides others, we find that carbon tariffs are able to reduce world emissions (mainly via altering the production composition within and across countries), accompanying emission reduction targets with carbon tariffs can substantially lower the associated leakage effects, and unilateral degrowth reduces world emissions more strongly than pure unilateral emission targets due to smaller counteracting composition and technique effects in uncommitted countries.

Date: Monday, March 12, 2018, 12.00-1.00pm

Venue: Common Room (A-111), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)

KCG-Seminar 2018-4:

Global Value Chains: Should Honesty (not Hypocrisy) Pay in a Post Block-Chain World?

Prof. Aoife Hanley, Ph.D., Christian-Albrechts University of Kiel, Kiel Centre for Globalization, Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Abstract: Politicians and business leaders meeting in Davos in January 2018 debated the implications of blockchain technologies for increasing the visibility of transactions within global value chains. If firms have the option of verbalizing their CSR intentions or of making investments (potentially visible with blockchain technologies), is there evidence that tangible investments by multinationals create value for developing country suppliers?  Using data for suppliers in 19 African countries, we show that multinational firms which physically invest in their African suppliers generate authentic value.

Date: Tuesday, March 6, 2018, 1.30-2.00 pm

Venue: Lecture Hall, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)

KCG-Seminar 2018-3:

A Theory of Trade in a Global Production Network

Prof. Maarten Bosker, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Abstract: This paper argues that the determinants of the welfare gains from trade have fundamentally changed with the emergence of a global production network. Towards this end, we develop a novel counterfactual approach to decompose the welfare effects of any small trade cost variation in any general equilibrium model of international trade. Our findings stress a unique feature of supply chain trade: the gains from a further integration of the global production network are not so much determined by a country’s own local conditions or those of its direct trade partners. Instead, the economic prospects of a country depend on its connections to important trade intermediaries, countries that provide indirect access to the demand and supply of many other nations. We complement our theoretical findings by an easy-to-implement empirical strategy and identify each country’s key intermediaries.

Date: Monday, Feb. 12, 2018, 4.15-6.00 pm

Venue: Lecture Hall, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)

KCG-Seminar 2018-2:

Now We’re Talking: Quantifying the Effect of Languages on Trade with 2 billion Tweets?

Dr. Julian Hinz, Kiel Centre for Globalization & Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Abstract:  Economic transactions necessitate that buyer and seller communicate. While common spoken languages have been widely recognized as a determinant of trade, the mechanisms at play are largely lacking micro-foundations. In this paper we explicitly incorporate languages in a model of trade between locations with heterogeneous consumers and heterogeneous firms. The model yields a structural gravity equation that can be used to compute general equilibrium counterfactuals with different underlying local language distributions. We quantify the model by deriving the local distribution of languages from a sample of 2 billion geolocalized tweets and conduct several counterfactual experiments. For one such experiment, a common European language, we find welfare gains of on average 9 % across locations in Europe, with significant heterogeneity in magnitude between locations. For another experiment, the elimination of within-country language diversity in Europe, the model predicts significant welfare losses of on average -3 % across locations in Europe. The results underline a significant “economic value” associated with common languages and a large heterogeneity of the effect across and within countries.

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, 2.30-3.00 pm

Venue: Lecture Hall, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)

KCG-Seminar 2018-1:

Foreign Workers and Exports: Exploring a Reverse Causality Bias

Dr. Léa Marchal, Kiel Centre for Globalization & Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Abstract: The literature focusing on the impact of immigrants on exports acknowledges the presence of a reverse causality bias. However, virtually no study investigates this bias. We fill this gap by analysing how exports of French firms determine their employment of foreign-born workers. To allow for causal inference, we use an export demand proxy that reacts to macro-economic fluctuations in the firm’s export destinations but is exogenous to its employment decisions. Using firm-level data on the French manufacturing sector from 2005 to 2009, we find that exporters facing an increase in demand hire more skilled foreign workers. This effect is robust to the inclusion of labour flexibility proxies which suggests that firms do hire foreign-born workers for their knowledge of export markets.

Date: Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2018, 2.00-2.30 pm

Venue: Lecture Hall, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (Kiellinie 66, 24105 Kiel)