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We investigate the extent to which small and medium enterprises' (SMEs) external financing varies with the innovation profiles they reveal in terms of introduced and combined innovation typologies. Using Survey on the Access to Finance of Enterprises data, we address this research issue with respect to 11 European countries over the 2014–2019 period and overcome the context specificity of previous analyses. Results suggest that the innovative profile of SMEs is responsible for several nuances in both their demand for and supply of bank loans. Being an innovator increases SMEs' credit requests, but this demand increases also and above all with their involvement in specific innovation typologies and combinations. Having an innovative profile of nearly any type does not lead SMEs to refrain from demanding bank loans because of a fear of rejection, but a wide involvement in specific innovation types reduces the chance that their internal funds make them refrain from asking for credit. Innovative SMEs are significantly more likely to be credit-constrained than non-innovative ones, but the probability of not receiving bank loans increases only for firms that combine specific innovation typologies. An innovation status of SMEs makes banks more selective in their decision to completely fulfill a credit request, but the probability of this decision decreases only with respect to a few, multi-innovation profiles. The extent to which SMEs innovate in different domains, rather than the simple innovation intensity, appears to be a crucial dimension to consider in future research and in devising policies to attenuate financial constraints to innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the long-run income and price elasticity of import demand functions with a heterogeneous unbalanced panel of 34 countries over the period 1985:q1-2018:q3. To estimate world elasticities the model is tested with the activity variables derived from the theoretical and empirical literature: GDP, GDP minus exports, Private Demand, Aggregate Domestic Demand, National Cash Flow, and Import intensity-Adjusted Demand (IAD). First, we evaluate time series properties using second generation panel unit root and cointegration tests. Second, we rely on the dynamic common correlated effects mean groups (CCEMG) estimator to deal with cross-sectional dependence (CSD). We find that the IAD, whose world elasticity is close to one, is the best performing specification. Our results confirm that the most appropriate activity variable to assess import demand should encompass intermediate goods as suggested by the recent literature on global supply chains. Moreover, we partially solve the puzzle of the recent trade slowdown since, taking stock of the role of intermediates, the time needed to resort to the long run equilibrium in the aftermath of a global turmoil is greater than that predicted by previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

World trade suddenly plummeted in the last quarter of 2008 after the bankruptcy of Lehman brothers and the subsequent meltdown in financial markets. Even if the following recovery was impressive, trade growth is now noticeably below trend. The anaemic momentum in global export volume questionswhether the financial crisis has permanently changed the trade landscape. In this paper, we address trade elasticities in some Central and Eastern European economies by estimating a standard import function equation. We employ a dynamic panel Auto Regressive Distributed Lagmodel with the Common Correlated EffectsMean Group estimator to cope with cross-sectional dependence. Themodel is fit on a sample of eight countries over the period 1995:q1-2017:q1. First, we estimate long-run import elasticities with respect to gdp and the relative import price. Then, we discriminate between booms and slowdowns. Results confirm imports respond differently over the business cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction is a major industry in fast growing countries and plays a leading role in the process of economic development. Using input-output tables, the performance of the construction sector in six emerging countries (Brazil, Russia, India, Indonesia, China and South Africa) is compared from 1995 to 2005. First, the construction performance in these developing economies, by using standard indicators based on value added, gross output, final demand and intermediate inputs, is investigated. Then, the similarity cosine index is introduced to assess structural change and differences in input expenditures between countries. This index is a useful tool for identifying input bundles that require a probing international comparison of construction performance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article illustrates the results of a research project aimed at identifying the main economic and industrial characteristics of the port system of the Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) Region, Italy, and the role it plays within the economy. Combining a top-down and bottom-up approach, based on interviews and detailed data at firm level, a bi-regional input-output (I-O) table is built with a special disaggregation of the 12 port-related sectors of the FVG region. The I-O table provides the basis for the estimation of a bi-regional I-O model. Drawing from the I-O literature, the article also implements two methodologies to estimate: (a) the level of self-sufficiency of the port system and (b) its degree of substitutability, that is, what would happen if the FVG port system closes down, completely or partially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Eleven input-output tables are used for analysing the technological changes of the US construction industry from 1947 to 2002. Over the years, the industry has been characterized by a significant input shift that reflects the evolution of the USA towards services and away from a manufacturing-based economy. This evolution is also reflected in the 1997 adoption of a new classification system of the US industries by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Changes are also found in analysing the direct requirements of two key sectors of the industry, residential and highway construction, during the 1967-1997 period. New materials and labour-saving machinery have been some of the major drivers in the changing input structure of the two considered sectors. The study demonstrates the importance of using very long series of data and input-output tables with more than 400 industries for the further understanding of the secular changes of the construction industry and its constituent sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asymmetric wars of attrition between speculators and a Central Bank can provide a useful framework to address currency crisis length and explain why a speculative attack can fail after some time. Interest rate defence can be analysed too. A non-linear relationship between interest rates and peg defence emerges, as a rate upsurge can reduce both concession times. With some welfare loss functions, increasing the domestic rate too much is a self-defeating policy as the Central Bank will opt out before speculators concede, but the reverse holds for lower rates. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1992, Ranko Bon argued that in highly developed countries the relatively declining economic importance of the construction industry is followed by the absolute decline of its output. The shrinking volume has implications with production capacity that, at a certain point of economic maturity, tends to be added at a slower rate than in the past. By using statistical data of the Danish construction industry, this study attempts to verify Bon's proposition. The absolute decline of housing investments partially supports such a proposition. What is more, since the peak of the mid‐1970s, the addition rate to the capacity of the Danish economy has slowed down. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using OECD input/output tables at current and constant prices, this paper analyses the performance of the construction sector of eight highly industrialized countries -- Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Japan and the USA -- in the 1970s and 1980s. First, the main characteristics of the data set with country and time coverage are briefly introduced. Then, a set of simple indicators is used for comparative purposes, namely to assess the construction sector's diminishing role in terms of share in gross output, value added and GNP. Analysis focuses also on technologies, with emphasis on the relative role of manufacturing and services inputs. Lastly, standard measures of linkages are used to determine the main sources of induced output that are created by the push and pull effects of the construction sector on the rest of the economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using two sets of input-output tables, this paper analyses the role of the construction sector in the North and South regions of Italy, from 1959 to 1992. As expected, the sector has had differing impacts on the two regional economies over the years. In the highly developed North its importance has been declining, similarly to the case of other highly developed countries. In the less developed South, instead, construction has a relatively higher propulsive role in the creation of goods and income. This role is significantly diminished since most of the construction inputs are imported. Some differences are reported in the sector's input and output profiles of the two regions. From the technological and organizational points of view, in the South construction projects appear to be less complex than those in the North. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the evolution of Italian aggregate structural change over the years 1965-85. Model framework and data set; Aggregate structural change and qualitative analysis; Quantitative methods to assess aggregate structural change; Conclusion.