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Short policy-relevant contributions – Korte beleidsrelevante bijdragen

(in reverse chronological order)

[1] Nederlandstalige bijdragen [go to]

[2] Posts on www.voxeu.org [go to]

[3] Policy reports commissioned by governments [go to]

[4] Policy presentations [go to]

[5] Other [go to]

[1] Beleidsrelevante bijdragen

· Overheidsinterventies in de auto industrie. Te veel actie en te weinig strategie,

· Verschenen als: Zonder staalharde strategie geen belastinggeld voor automobiel, De Morgen, 1 augustus 2009

Nu de saga van het faillissement van General Motors, de uitverkoop van Opel, en de waarschijnlijke sluiting van Opel Antwerpen stilaan naar zijn eindpunt loopt is, loont het de moeite om te kijken welke lessen we kunnen trekken uit de vele overheidsinterventies in de auto sector.

· Voer voor een revolte, interview in De Standaard, 1 augustus 2009

Heeft het zin dat een overheid ‘haar’ automobielindustrie bijspringt met miljarden staatssteun? Of is dat weggegooid geld dat in een diepe put verdwijnt?

· Kris Peeters is niet gek, De Standaard, 29 juli 2009

Doet Vlaanderen gekke dingen door Volvo Gent te steunen? Niet als je vergelijkt met wat er in het buitenland allemaal gebeurt om noodlijdende autofabrieken kunstmatig in leven te houden.

· Welk beleid voor de (Vlaamse) auto-industrie, CES - Leuvens Economisch Standpunt #126, Juni 2009

Uitgebreidere schets van de problemen in de (globale) auto industrie, problemen met de interventies, en een aantal beleidsaanbevelingen toegespitst op de Vlaamse industrie.

· Wat met Opel Antwerpen?, De Standaard, 16 april 2009

Heeft Vlaanderen al nagedacht over de autosector? Er zijn talloze redenen waarom een Vlaamse kapitaalinbreng in een onafhankelijk Opel Europa weinig zin heeft. Vlaanderen zou zich beter eerst afvragen waar het met de autoassemblage naartoe wil, voor het nog eens de portemonnee opentrekt in een ondoordachte reddingsoperatie op het laatste moment.

· De overheid kan Opel niet redden, De Morgen, 18 februari 2009

De beslissing om Opel Antwerpen te sluiten is in zekere zin al genomen in 2006 toen de productie van de nieuwe Astra aan andere GM Europa vestigingen is toevertrouwd. Hoe kan het toch dat er toen geen haan naar kraaide, maar dat nu de overheid wel met belastingssteun klaar staat als de situatie er alleen maar beroerder voor staat.

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[2] Posted on Voxeu.org [My Profile on Vox: Johannes Van Biesebroeck]

· Canadian auto subsidies: Money for nothing? [post] February 10, 2009

Following the US bailout of the automotive industry, Canada is now bailing out its own auto firms, lest they risk southward migration. However, this column shows that this most recent action only continues a long history of lavish subsidies for the auto industry. Are governments giving away money for nothing?

(Full paper is forthcoming as “Bidding for Investment Projects: smart public policy or corporate welfare” in Canadian Public Policy) (paper)

· How to help the auto sector: Looking beyond bailouts [post] February 4, 2009

This column proposes ending six policies that hamper the US automotive industry. It suggests replacing discretionary environmental policies with a CO2 tax, addressing legacy costs, ending the distinction between right-to-work and other states, levelling the investment subsidy playing field, resolving uncertainty surrounding the future powertrain, and allowing direct sales to the public.

· Helping Africa export [post] with Garth Frazer, August 7, 2007

Recent research shows that the much-discussed African problems – poor infrastructure, poor public services, etc. – did not stop Africa from boosting its exports when the US lowered it tariffs and limited other subtle trade barriers. Other OECD countries should re-consider their trade policies towards Africa in this light.

Full paper is forthcoming as “Trade Growth Following the African Growth and Opportunity Act” in the Review of Economics and Statistics)(paper)

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[3] Policy reports commissioned by the Canadian (or other) government

· Prospects for Canada in the NAFTA Automotive Industry: A Global Value Chain Analysis [paper] with Gary Gereffi and Tim Sturgeon, March 2007, published online by Industry Canada.

Our work on global value chains(in truth, mostly my co-authors’ work) has sparked great interest in the subject by several Canadian government departments and a conference was devoted to the GVC framework in Ottawa in September 2007 that featured our work.(program)

· The Canadian Automotive Market [Abstract] [Executive summary] February 2006

Report to the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade on the likely impact of a Canada – South Korea FTA on the Canadian automotive market, both in terms of FDI, finished vehicles, and automotive components.

The full report has been published by DFAIT in 2006 edition of the volume “Trade Policy Research” (Paper)

· Impediments and Facilitators of Technology Adoption and Diffusion. A Literature Survey of the Last 10 Years [paper], September 2006, prepared for Industry Canada

· Performance and Regulatory Patterns in the OECD Countries, Working Party 1 report, OECD

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[4] Policy presentations

· Global Value Chains in the Automotive Industry [presentation] March 2009

Invited presentation at a conference by CRIMT (Centre de Recherche Interuniversitaire sur la Mondialisation et le Travail) in Montreal on the future of manufacturing in North America

· Outsourcing Multiple Parts: An Application to the Automotive Industry [presentation] with Lijun Zhang, October 2006

· Capability Building in China’s Auto Supply Chain [presentation] with Loren Brandt, October 2006

Two presentations to a conference on “Offshore Outsourcing: Capitalizing on Lessons Learned”, jointly organized by the Rotman School of Management (University of Toronto) and Industry Canada

· Outsourcing and Offshoring of Automotive Components [presentation] March 2005

Presentation delivered at the Global Supply Chain Roundtable (Ottawa). This was an industry-government roundtable organized by Industry Canada to discuss the role of Canadian firms in global value chains.

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[5] Other

· The next frontier in public policy: Bidding for Beckham [presentation] [ISCR newsletter]

A discussion of the remarkable New Zealand policy switch to abandon a program that gave money to foreign companies to invest in New Zealand to a program giving money to New Zealand firms to invest overseas. The former is an FDI attraction program that most countries operate and that has doubtful value. The latter is a novel insight that in order to play in global production networks firms need to be where the action is, and no government programs are there to help them out with these upfront investment costs.

(Full paper is published as “Governments at the bidding table” in New Zealand Economic Papers) (paper)

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