Veranstaltungen

We study the firm and sector level effects of an industrial policy designed to support the development of the IT sector in Romania. In 2001, Romania introduced an unexpected personal income tax break to programmers with eligible bachelor's degrees and who work on software development for firms in eligible IT sector codes. In 2013, policy-makers suddenly expanded the scope of the original tax break to cover more bachelor's degrees and sector codes in IT. We first use firm-level data and difference-in-difference designs around each policy episode to show that treated firms experience strong and long-lasting growth. We then employ sector-level data and a synthetic control design to show that after the introduction of this policy in 2001, the IT sector grew faster in Romania than in otherwise similar countries. Finally, downstream sectors relying more on IT services also grew and improved their competitiveness faster in Romania after 2001. Our results suggest that this policy has been effective in promoting the development of the IT sector, a sector typically seen as key to the transition to a knowledge economy.

The course focuses on a typical single-region applied general equilibrium model: the ORANI-G model of the Australian economy. Variants of the ORANI model of the Australian economy have been used extensively for policy analysis in Australia for more than two decades. ORANI-G, a generic version of ORANI, has been used to model the economies of more than 30 countries around the world. The course aims to introduce participants to the ideas and techniques of CGE modelling, and to equip them to start using, adapting or constructing CGE models for their own simulations.

Following successful previous ENEF meetings organised in Sheffield, Rotterdam, Nice-Sophia Antipolis, Cambridge, Paris, Amsterdam, Strasbourg, Bologna, Madrid, Manchester, Toulouse, Turin, Pisa and Brighton, we are pleased to announce that the 16th ENEF meeting will be held in Vienna at the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO). The theme of this year's meeting reflects core themes of ENEF and the long-standing tradition of research on competitiveness, industrial dynamics and international trade at WIFO. The interplay between new digital technologies and value chains shapes much of the observed globalisation of production structures. Recently, the emergence of new players (especially China) and new technologies (robotisation and digitalisation) have raised questions about the implications of technological change. These concern firm strategies, employment, productivity, market concentration, and industrial dynamics in general. A wide variety of approaches and concepts are necessary to understand the complex relationship between industrial dynamics and the strategies of firms embedded in value chains. These may include the role of trade, industry characteristics, firm capabilities, institutional frameworks and policy interventions. In keeping with previous ENEF workshops, we welcome submissions from all areas of the economics of the firm, as well as relevant contributions from management, organisation science and political economy. The workshop will focus on empirical, theoretical and policy analysis of topics that include, but are not limited to: innovation and the international division of labour and tasks, off- and reshoring of production and the organisation of global value chains, productivity, superstar firms and reallocation processes, value chain strategies at the firm level, complexity, comparative advantage and firm strategies, the role of exporting and importing activities for industrial dynamics, the economics and politics of strategic investment policies, business surveys and firm behaviour over the business cycle, knowledge, diversification, and firm performance.