Month: June 2021

THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON MEGA ENERGY PROJECTS AND LNG SHIPPING INFRASTRUCTURE; THE CASE OF EASTMED PIPELINE

Antonios STRATAKIS

PhD Candidate, University of Piraeus – Department of Maritime Studies

stratakismaritime@gmail.com

Theodore PELAGIDIS

Professor of Economics, University of Piraeus – Department of Maritime Studies, Deputy Governor – Bank of Greece, Tpelagidis@bankofgreece.gr

pelagidi@unipi.gr

Abstract

It is a matter of fact that COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant changes in political, economic and social level worldwide. The aim of this paper is to examine the potential impact of the pandemic on the launching of large scale energy projects in Southeast Mediterranean region, and in particular the construction of EastMed Pipeline. During 2020, many energy projects across the globe were postponed and that trend is mainly attributed to: a) the economic recession brought by COVID-19, b) a lack of investment appetite by major energy companies whose financial position was severely hit by the pandemic and the volatile energy prices and c) the switching to the use of alternative energy sources (mainly renewables and hydrogen) in an attempt to minimize the global share of fossil fuels and their emissions, the so-called “energy transition” process. This paper takes into account whether all the above exogenous factors create serious implications to the development of the most important mega energy project of Southeast Mediterranean in terms of energy geopolitics, the EastMed Pipeline. Finally, the paper examines the conflicted geopolitical interests of regional players such as Greece, Cyprus, Israel, Turkey and Egypt, as well as the role of European Union and the United States in the energy equation of Southeast Mediterranean.

Keywords: COVID-19, Economic recession, EastMed pipeline, Alternative energy sources, Southeast Mediterranean, Investments

JEL classification: F10, F51, R41, R42, R48

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DIVERSITY OR SPECIALIZARION? UNDERSTANDING KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVER MECHANISMS IN CHINA

Shicong XU

PhD candidate, Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, Suite 250 Ag. Administration Building, 2120 Fyffe Rd, The Ohio State University, Columbus OH 43210, USA

Shicong.x@gmail.com

Abdoul G. SAM

Professor, Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics, Suite 250 Ag. Administration Building, 2120 Fyffe Rd,  The Ohio State University, Columbus OH 43210, USA, Corresponding author

Sam.7@osu.edu

Abstract

China’s rise to the top echelons of the world’s economies was accompanied by an expeditious growth in domestic patent applications. Not surprisingly, this phenomenon has spawned a growing literature trying to sort out the determinants of patented research in China. However, mostly due to data limitations, many of the papers on this topic use aggregated innovation data at the industry, prefecture, or province levels. In this paper, we examine the empirical validity of important theories of knowledge spillover in the context of China at a micro-level, using a firm-level panel dataset comprised of publicly traded companies listed in the Shanghai and ShenZhen Stock Exchanges during the 2006-2010 period. Our study sheds light on whether locating near innovative firms increases patenting activity in general, regardless of the industry membership of these neighboring firms. We also explore how industry makeup, measured by the number of firms in the same or different industries, affects firm-level patenting activity. Our econometric results show that the number of patent applications by firms in close geographic proximity of a firm of interest has a significant and positive impact on that firm’s successful patent applications. In addition, we find that proximity to firms in the same industry reduces innovation while locating near firms from different industries stimulates innovation.

Keywords: patents, knowledge diffusion, MAR spillover, Jacobs spillover, China

JEL classification: O31, O32, O33, R12, D22

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FACTORS AFFECTING ON URBAN LOCATION CHOICE DECISIONS OF ENTERPRISES

Y Nguyen CAO

Dr.Eng, Vietnam-Japan Research and Development Center, Department of Transport Economics, University of Transport and Communications, Cau Giay, No.03, Lang Thuong, Dong Da, Ha Noi, Viet Nam

ynguyencao82@utc.edu.vn

Abstract

This paper focuses on analyzing the origin data source to find out the principle motives and preferences which influence the location choice behaviors of individual firms in Tokyo metropolitan area. A modeling framework is developed to analyze decisions regarding location choice for enterprises using a multinomial logit model. In case study, the proposed model is tested for retailers, wholesalers, warehouses and manufacturers. The results indicate that for choosing a location, the number of employees is a more important determinant for manufacturers and warehouses than that for retailers and wholesalers. Additionally, the results indicate that transportation cost and the land prices in a given zone strongly affect the decision making process of all the firms in the metropolitan area.

Keywords: Multinomial Logit Model, Location Decision Behavior, Location Choice Model

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