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Comecemos tendo em conta as imagens e a mensagem deste postal "As mudanças em curso na China - parte II" e esta imagem
retirada deste postal "O choque chinês num país de moeda forte (parte II)". Hoje, corrigiria o título para "O choque chinês num país com salários mais elevados". Os norte-americanos não têm uma moeda forte e, mesmo assim sofreram o mesmo impacte chinês como nós em Portugal.
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A figura é elucidativa do que acontece com o choque chinês:
Comecemos tendo em conta as imagens e a mensagem deste postal "As mudanças em curso na China - parte II" e esta imagem
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A figura é elucidativa do que acontece com o choque chinês:
- muitas empresas desaparecem;
- as empresas maiores desaparecem mais do que as mais pequenas, o nº de trabalhadores por empresa diminui;
- a quantidade total produzida diminui.
BTW, não percam os outros gráficos que se seguem nesse mesmo postal.
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Ontem, este "amigo" apresentou-me este outro "amigo": "An Alternative Theory of the Plant Size Distribution with an Application to Trade" de Thomas J. Holmes e John J. Stevens" publicado em Abril de 2010.
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Por um lado pensei "Duh! É o que andamos a dizer há anos neste blogue", por outro lado também pensei, "Meu Deus, se isto é assunto para artigo publicado é porque é novidade, logo... ainda vai durar a entrar na mente dos encalhados... bem dizia Max Planck:
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"Uma nova verdade científica não triunfa convencendo seus oponentes e fazendo-os ver a luz, mas porque seus oponentes finalmente morrem e uma nova geração que está familiarizada com ela cresce" (Moi ici: Mas Max Planck esqueceu-se da linha de montagem que os oponentes comandam nas escolas).
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Vamos lá ao que escrevem Holmes e Stevens no artigo, começamos pelo fim, pelas conclusões:
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"This paper develops a model in which industries are made up of mass-production factories making standardized goods and specialty plants making custom or niche goods. (Moi ici: Os governos e encalhados acham que uma unidade de produção pequena pode ou deve fazer o mesmo que uma grande) The paper uses a combination of confidential and public Census data to estimate parameters of the model and, in particular, produces estimates of plant counts in the specialty and standardized segments by industry. The estimated model fits the observed plant size/geographic concentration relationship relatively well. The estimates reveal that, for those industries that have been heavily affected by a surge of imports from China, there has been a dramatic decline in plant counts for the standardized segment, while the specialty segments have been relatively stable. (Moi ici: Em sintonia completa com a nossa recomendação de anos: fujam do campeonato de preço mais baixo. Esse campeonato joga-se com produtos maduros, grandes quantidades e é para quem pode e não para quem quer)
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The paper also shows that for the China surge industries, locations with large concentrations of the industry and large plants, like High Point, North Carolina, have declined relative to the rest of the country. (Moi ici: Recorrendo mais uma vez ao exemplo do calçado, recordar estes postais sobre o declínio das multinacionais do calçado em Portugal- aqui, aqui e aqui. Recorrendo ao exemplo do têxtil estes postais sobre a TMG e o renascer do sector - aqui e aqui) These results are consistent with the hypothesis that products made in China are close substitutes to the products of big plants (like those in High Point), and not so close substitutes to the products of the small plants that are diffuse throughout the country. The results are inconsistent with standard theories that assert that small plants are just like large plants, except for having a low productivity draw. (Moi ici: DUH!!!!! Que teoria tão tola e afastada da realidade... peca por desprezar o valor potencial do que se produz... É claro que se medirmos a produtividade em quantidade de coisas produzidas por unidade de tempo as fábricas maiores são mais produtivas. No entanto, se medirmos a produtividade num rácio entre o que se ganha a vender e o que se precisa de gastar para produzir o que se vende, a história é bem diferente como demonstram os outros gráficos do postal acima referido)
In our theory, if a plant in the United States is huge, it is a signal that the plant is potentially vulnerable to competition from China. A huge plant is likely making something that can be traded across space–something that can be put in a container and shipped–as a local market would not likely be able to absorb all the output of a given huge plant."
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O que é estranho é que estas conclusões, para a comunidade científica são ... novidade!!!
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Do abstract retiro:
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"There is wide variation in the sizes of manufacturing plants, even within the most narrowly defined industry classifications used by statistical agencies. Standard theories attribute all such size differences to productivity differences. This paper develops an alternative theory in which industries are made up of large plants producing standardized goods and small plants making custom or specialty goods. ... the predictions of the model for the impacts of a surge in imports from China are consistent with what happened to U.S. manufacturing industries that experienced such a surge over the period 1997—2007. Large-scale standardized plants were decimated, while small-scale specialty plants were relatively less impacted." (Moi ici: Os encalhados da tríade não fazem ideia disto... )
...
Isto vai ficar comprido mas vale a pena:
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"Take wood furniture as an example. The large plants in this industry with more than a thousand employees are concentrated in North Carolina, particularly in a place called High Point. These plants make the stock bedroom and dining room furniture pieces found at traditional furniture stores. Also included in the Census classification are small facilities making custom pieces to order, such as small shops employing skilled Amish craftsmen. Let us apply the standard theory of the size distribution to this industry.
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Entrepreneurs that enter and draw high productivity parameters would likely open up megaplants in High Point, North Carolina; those that get low draws might open Amish shops in other locations. The Melitz model and the BEJK model both predict that the large North Carolina plants will have large market areas, while the small plants will tend to ship locally. So far so good, because this result is consistent with the data, as we will show. But what happens when China enters the wood furniture market in a dramatic fashion, as has occurred over the past 10 years? While all of the U.S. industry will be hurt, the Melitz and BEJK theories predict that the North Carolina industry will be relatively less affected because it is home to the large, productive plants. In fact, the opposite turns out to be true in the data.
.
To address this shortcoming, our theory takes into account that most industries have some segment that provides specialty goods, often custom-made goods, the provision of which is facilitated by face-to-face contact between buyers and sellers. (Moi ici: Há anos que chamamos a atenção para a importância da proximidade, do desenvolvimento de relações amorosas, da flexibilidade, da rapidez, da relação) This specialty segment is the province of small plants. Large plants tend to make standardized products. ... When China enters the wood furniture market, naturally it follows its comparative advantage and enters the standardized segment of the market, making products similar to the stock furniture pieces produced in North Carolina. Thus, in our theory, the North Carolina industry is hurt the most by China’s entry into the industry, as actually happened.
...
We show that over the period 1997 to 2007, in industries where exports from China have surged, the domestic industry has shifted toward large metropolitan areas, places where average plant size has typically been small.
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These are places where we expect to see a large demand for specialty and custom goods.
.
And we also expect to find there a large supply of inputs suited for specialty and niche products. These are different from the low-skill inputs used in mass production of standardized products in large plants–inputs readily available in China and places like High Point.
.
(Moi ici: O mesmo no sector têxtil) That study explained how large plants in places like North Carolina tended to mass-produce standardized garments like nurses’ uniforms, while the small plants in New York City tended to produce fashion items. The new development is that China has entered to play the role of North Carolina, while New York still plays New York (Moi ici: É assim tão difícil perceber o que aconteceu por cá também?) (albeit in a relative sense, given the overall decline of manufacturing as a share of the domestic economy).
...
When we take into account that plants vary in productivity as well as in function (with small plants specializing in specialty goods), we cannot tell a priori whether a given large plant will be more likely to survive a trade onslaught than a small plant."
.
Por um lado pensei "Duh! É o que andamos a dizer há anos neste blogue", por outro lado também pensei, "Meu Deus, se isto é assunto para artigo publicado é porque é novidade, logo... ainda vai durar a entrar na mente dos encalhados... bem dizia Max Planck:
.
"Uma nova verdade científica não triunfa convencendo seus oponentes e fazendo-os ver a luz, mas porque seus oponentes finalmente morrem e uma nova geração que está familiarizada com ela cresce" (Moi ici: Mas Max Planck esqueceu-se da linha de montagem que os oponentes comandam nas escolas).
.
Vamos lá ao que escrevem Holmes e Stevens no artigo, começamos pelo fim, pelas conclusões:
.
"This paper develops a model in which industries are made up of mass-production factories making standardized goods and specialty plants making custom or niche goods. (Moi ici: Os governos e encalhados acham que uma unidade de produção pequena pode ou deve fazer o mesmo que uma grande) The paper uses a combination of confidential and public Census data to estimate parameters of the model and, in particular, produces estimates of plant counts in the specialty and standardized segments by industry. The estimated model fits the observed plant size/geographic concentration relationship relatively well. The estimates reveal that, for those industries that have been heavily affected by a surge of imports from China, there has been a dramatic decline in plant counts for the standardized segment, while the specialty segments have been relatively stable. (Moi ici: Em sintonia completa com a nossa recomendação de anos: fujam do campeonato de preço mais baixo. Esse campeonato joga-se com produtos maduros, grandes quantidades e é para quem pode e não para quem quer)
.
The paper also shows that for the China surge industries, locations with large concentrations of the industry and large plants, like High Point, North Carolina, have declined relative to the rest of the country. (Moi ici: Recorrendo mais uma vez ao exemplo do calçado, recordar estes postais sobre o declínio das multinacionais do calçado em Portugal- aqui, aqui e aqui. Recorrendo ao exemplo do têxtil estes postais sobre a TMG e o renascer do sector - aqui e aqui) These results are consistent with the hypothesis that products made in China are close substitutes to the products of big plants (like those in High Point), and not so close substitutes to the products of the small plants that are diffuse throughout the country. The results are inconsistent with standard theories that assert that small plants are just like large plants, except for having a low productivity draw. (Moi ici: DUH!!!!! Que teoria tão tola e afastada da realidade... peca por desprezar o valor potencial do que se produz... É claro que se medirmos a produtividade em quantidade de coisas produzidas por unidade de tempo as fábricas maiores são mais produtivas. No entanto, se medirmos a produtividade num rácio entre o que se ganha a vender e o que se precisa de gastar para produzir o que se vende, a história é bem diferente como demonstram os outros gráficos do postal acima referido)
In our theory, if a plant in the United States is huge, it is a signal that the plant is potentially vulnerable to competition from China. A huge plant is likely making something that can be traded across space–something that can be put in a container and shipped–as a local market would not likely be able to absorb all the output of a given huge plant."
.
O que é estranho é que estas conclusões, para a comunidade científica são ... novidade!!!
.
Do abstract retiro:
.
"There is wide variation in the sizes of manufacturing plants, even within the most narrowly defined industry classifications used by statistical agencies. Standard theories attribute all such size differences to productivity differences. This paper develops an alternative theory in which industries are made up of large plants producing standardized goods and small plants making custom or specialty goods. ... the predictions of the model for the impacts of a surge in imports from China are consistent with what happened to U.S. manufacturing industries that experienced such a surge over the period 1997—2007. Large-scale standardized plants were decimated, while small-scale specialty plants were relatively less impacted." (Moi ici: Os encalhados da tríade não fazem ideia disto... )
...
Isto vai ficar comprido mas vale a pena:
.
"Take wood furniture as an example. The large plants in this industry with more than a thousand employees are concentrated in North Carolina, particularly in a place called High Point. These plants make the stock bedroom and dining room furniture pieces found at traditional furniture stores. Also included in the Census classification are small facilities making custom pieces to order, such as small shops employing skilled Amish craftsmen. Let us apply the standard theory of the size distribution to this industry.
.
Entrepreneurs that enter and draw high productivity parameters would likely open up megaplants in High Point, North Carolina; those that get low draws might open Amish shops in other locations. The Melitz model and the BEJK model both predict that the large North Carolina plants will have large market areas, while the small plants will tend to ship locally. So far so good, because this result is consistent with the data, as we will show. But what happens when China enters the wood furniture market in a dramatic fashion, as has occurred over the past 10 years? While all of the U.S. industry will be hurt, the Melitz and BEJK theories predict that the North Carolina industry will be relatively less affected because it is home to the large, productive plants. In fact, the opposite turns out to be true in the data.
.
To address this shortcoming, our theory takes into account that most industries have some segment that provides specialty goods, often custom-made goods, the provision of which is facilitated by face-to-face contact between buyers and sellers. (Moi ici: Há anos que chamamos a atenção para a importância da proximidade, do desenvolvimento de relações amorosas, da flexibilidade, da rapidez, da relação) This specialty segment is the province of small plants. Large plants tend to make standardized products. ... When China enters the wood furniture market, naturally it follows its comparative advantage and enters the standardized segment of the market, making products similar to the stock furniture pieces produced in North Carolina. Thus, in our theory, the North Carolina industry is hurt the most by China’s entry into the industry, as actually happened.
...
We show that over the period 1997 to 2007, in industries where exports from China have surged, the domestic industry has shifted toward large metropolitan areas, places where average plant size has typically been small.
.
These are places where we expect to see a large demand for specialty and custom goods.
.
And we also expect to find there a large supply of inputs suited for specialty and niche products. These are different from the low-skill inputs used in mass production of standardized products in large plants–inputs readily available in China and places like High Point.
.
(Moi ici: O mesmo no sector têxtil) That study explained how large plants in places like North Carolina tended to mass-produce standardized garments like nurses’ uniforms, while the small plants in New York City tended to produce fashion items. The new development is that China has entered to play the role of North Carolina, while New York still plays New York (Moi ici: É assim tão difícil perceber o que aconteceu por cá também?) (albeit in a relative sense, given the overall decline of manufacturing as a share of the domestic economy).
...
When we take into account that plants vary in productivity as well as in function (with small plants specializing in specialty goods), we cannot tell a priori whether a given large plant will be more likely to survive a trade onslaught than a small plant."
