Business, Government & the International Economy
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- 2024
- Working Paper
The Consequences of Export Controls in Target Countries
By: Xueyue Liu, Yu Liu and Jaya Y. WenExport controls are a common instrument of national security, but their economic consequences are not well understood. This paper evaluates how these controls affect firm performance and adaptation in targeted countries. We use variation in a 2007 US policy, commonly called the “China Rule”, that restricted Chinese imports of products with military end-uses. We find a substantial, persistent decrease in Chinese imports of these products from the United States, which are not replaced by imports from the rest of the world. Exposed firms exhibit decreased profits and productivity. Furthermore, exposed firms show signs of adaptation: they are more likely to have positive R&D expenditures and more likely to hold any patent. However, firms do not appear to adapt by substituting to other import partners.
- 2024
- Working Paper
The Consequences of Export Controls in Target Countries
By: Xueyue Liu, Yu Liu and Jaya Y. WenExport controls are a common instrument of national security, but their economic consequences are not well understood. This paper evaluates how these controls affect firm performance and adaptation in targeted countries. We use variation in a 2007 US policy, commonly called the “China Rule”, that restricted Chinese imports of products with...
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- June 2024
- Article
Real Growth in Space Manufacturing Output Substantially Exceeds Growth in the Overall Space Economy
By: Tina Highfill and Matthew WeinzierlAccurately measuring real economic output in the space economy is made difficult by the rapid increase in capabilities and decrease in prices of launch and satellite technologies achieved over the past two decades. Nominal measures of output in space will tend to underestimate real growth if customers are paying lower prices for better services over time. In this paper, we use price indexes that apply techniques to the space economy that have been used for decades to adjust nominal measures of output in sectors such as information technology, including matched-model and explicit hedonic quality adjustment. We find that adjusting for price and quality changes in the space economy has substantial effects on estimated growth in economic output, especially across its sectors. Price increases over time in the space information sector, which is dominated by direct-to-home (DTH) satellite television, mean that real growth has been slower than nominal growth since at least 2012, the typical pattern in industries not undergoing rapid technological change. In sharp contrast, rapid price decreases and quality increases in other areas—especially launch and manufacturing of satellite, earth observation, and positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) equipment—have meant that nominal growth rates substantially understate real growth rates in those industries. Given the central importance of space to our modern economy, having accurate information on growth in the space economy is vital for efficiently allocating the substantial private and public investment being devoted to its development.
- June 2024
- Article
Real Growth in Space Manufacturing Output Substantially Exceeds Growth in the Overall Space Economy
By: Tina Highfill and Matthew WeinzierlAccurately measuring real economic output in the space economy is made difficult by the rapid increase in capabilities and decrease in prices of launch and satellite technologies achieved over the past two decades. Nominal measures of output in space will tend to underestimate real growth if customers are paying lower prices for better services...
About the Unit
The BGIE Unit conducts research on, and teaches about, the economic, political, social, and legal environment in which business operates. The Unit includes scholars trained in economics, political science, and history; in its work, it draws on perspectives from all three of these disciplines.
The following demonstrates one way of classifying the approaches the Unit takes to learning and teaching.
- The Unit examines the “rules” and policies established by government and other non-business institutions that affect business in the United States.
- The Unit turns to history to understand the origins of today’s business environment as well as some of the alternatives that have emerged from time to time.
- The Unit examines other countries’ business environments and their historical development.
- The BGIE group is deeply interested in the impact of globalization and the way rules are emerging to govern international economic transactions as globalization proceeds.
Recent Publications
The Consequences of Export Controls in Target Countries
- 2024 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
The Case for Inclusive Alliances: America Must Rediscover the Ideological Flexibility That Helped It Win the Cold War
- July 17, 2024 |
- Article |
- ForeignAffairs.com
Apple's Supply Chains: De-Risk or Double-Down on China?
- June 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Real Growth in Space Manufacturing Output Substantially Exceeds Growth in the Overall Space Economy
- June 2024 |
- Article |
- Acta Astronautica
Inflation with COVID Consumption Baskets
- June 2024 |
- Article |
- IMF Economic Review
Debunking Immigration Myths: A Review Essay of 'Streets of Gold: America’s Untold Story of Immigrant Success' (PublicAffairs, 2022) by Ran Abramitzky and Leah Boustan
- June, 2024 |
- Book Review |
- Journal of Economic Literature
Refugees Are Hosted in Highly Vulnerable Communities
- May 2024 |
- Article |
- American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings
HarvEast
- May 2024 |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
Harvard Business Publishing
Seminars & Conferences
There are no upcoming events.