There is not yet consensus in the trade agreements literature as to whether preferential liberalization leads to more or less multilateral liberalization.
... See More + However, research thus far has focused mostly on tariff measures of import protection. This paper develops more comprehensive measures of trade policy that include the temporary trade barrier policies of antidumping and safeguards. Studies in other contexts have also shown how these policies can erode some of the trade liberalization gains that arise when examining tariffs alone. This paper examines the experiences of Argentina and Brazil during the formation of the MERCOSUR over 1990-2001. The study finds that an exclusive focus on applied tariffs may lead to a mischaracterization of the relationship between preferential liberalization and liberalization toward non-member countries. First, any "building block" evidence that arises by focusing on tariffs during the period in which MERCOSUR was only a free trade area can disappear, once the analysis includes changes in import protection arise through temporary trade barriers. Furthermore, there is also evidence of a "stumbling block" effect of preferential tariff liberalization for the period in which MERCOSUR became a customs union, and this result tends to strengthen with the inclusion of temporary trade barriers. Finally, the paper provides a first empirical examination of whether market power motives can help explain the patterns of changes in import protection that are observed in these settings.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS7865 OCT 18, 2016
Macroeconomic conditions remained generally stable at end-2014. The growth rate is estimated at 3 percent, driven by extractive industry and services sector.
... See More + Inflation is contained at 6 percent on a year-on-year basis, although the country gradually returns to market prices of petroleum products. The tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio remains low (10.1 percent). Current expenditures continue to absorb a significant share of total spending (75 percent). Capital expenditures have been oriented towards the social sectors (education and health), agriculture, and public works. Public resources have been supported by the return of external financing. Initial estimates indicate a reduction in the deficit of the balance of payments. Credits to the economy increased by 18.8 percent. The national development plan should provide more visibility about the future intentions of the government. The price of crude on the international market sharply fell in 2014. This has accelerated the adjustment of the pump prices to the market price. This decrease in prices allows net-importing countries of petroleum products such as Madagascar, among others, to expand fiscal space, reduce import bills and lower inflation. The country should seize this opportunity to initiate reforms of energy subsidies.
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The Global Trade Logistics Advisory program is part of the Investment Climate Department of the World Bank Group. The Investment Climate Department helps governments implement reforms to improve their business environment, and encourage and retain investment, thus fostering competitive markets, growth and job creation.
... See More + Funding is provided by the World Bank Group (IFC, MIGA, and the World Bank) and over fifteen donor partners working through the multi-donor FIAS platform.
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The Global Trade Logistics Advisory program is part of the Investment Climate Department of the World Bank Group. The Investment Climate Department helps governments implement reforms to improve their business environment, and encourage and retain investment, thus fostering competitive markets, growth and job creation.
... See More + Funding is provided by the World Bank Group (IFC, MIGA, and the World Bank) and over fifteen donor partners working through the multi-donor FIAS platform.
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This report explores the role of trade facilitation and logistics in driving export and ultimately national competitiveness. It posits that this area of trade consists of three interrelated pillars: (i) transport infrastructure and logistics services; (ii) regulatory procedures for exports and imports; and (iii) supply chain organization.
... See More + Transport infrastructure and logistics services relate to the physical aspects of trade flows. Logistics services include a variety of services, the most important of which are transportation, storage and consolidation. This summary is organized into nine sections. After the introduction, section two presents the conceptual framework for this study. The economic context under which trade facilitation is discussed is outlined in section three. It describes Vietnam's evolving structure of trade and competitiveness. The country's trade logistics is part of this structure and this is germane to understanding the key issues and solutions proposed. This is followed by discussion of the three pillars of trade facilitation in sections four to six and then section seven presents the institutional framework underpinning these pillars. Section eight then pulls together the diverse roles of government, such as setting policies, acting as regulator, and being the facilitator working in collaboration with key stakeholders. The conclusion, section nine, suggests a set of recommendations.
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Other Poverty Study 79235 JUL 15, 2013
Pham, Duc Minh; Mishra, Deepak; Cheong, Kee-Cheok; Arnold, John; Trinh, Anh Minh; Ngo, Ngoc Huyen Thi; Nguyen, Phuong Hien ThiEnglishDisclosed
The least developed countries rely on preferential market access. To benefit from these preferences, proof of sufficient transformation must be provided to customs in importing countries by meeting the rules of origin requirements.
... See More + These rules of origin are complicated and burdensome to exporters in least developed countries. Since 2001, under the United States (U.S.) Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), 22 African countries that export apparel to the U.S. have been able to use fabric of any origin (single transformation) and still meet the criterion for preferential access (the so-called special rule). In contrast, the European Union (EU) has continued to require yarn to be woven into fabric and then made into apparel in the same country (double transformation). Panel estimates for the 1996-2004 period exploit this quasi-experimental change in the design of preferences. Estimates show that this simplification contributed to an increase in export volume of approximately 168 percent for the top seven beneficiaries, or approximately four times as much as the 44 percent growth effect from the initial preferential access under the AGOA without single transformation. This change in design was also important for diversity in apparel exports because the number of export varieties grew more rapidly under the AGOA special regime.
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Journal Article 112399 JUN 07, 2013
deMelo, Jaime; Portugal Perez,Luis AlbertoDisclosed
The objective of the proposed Emergency Crisis Recovery Project (ECRP) for Yemen is to assist the recipient in mitigating the impact of the 2011 crisis by providing cash benefits to eligible poor households.
... See More + The proposed ECRP will finance cash assistance grants to poor households in Yemen through the Social Welfare Fund (SWF) cash transfer program. Poor households to be covered by the grant have been added in 2011 to the SWF beneficiary list after applying a Proxy Means Test (PMT) poverty-based targeting. The project has two components. (1) Cash benefits to poor households' component will provision temporary cash benefits to eligible poor households for a maximum period of fifteen months. (2) Project monitoring and evaluation component will provide consultancy services necessary to support the SWF in monitoring and evaluation of project implementation, including external audit.
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In fiscal year 2013, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) issued 2.8 billion dollars in investment guarantees for projects in our developing member countries.
... See More + At 1.5 billion dollars, representing more than half of new business, the bulk of MIGA's guarantees issued support investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sixty-nine percent of new business volume this year was in complex projects in infrastructure and extractive industries, a strategic priority for the Agency. This year, 82 percent of MIGA's new volume fell into one or more of strategic priority areas: investments in the world's poorest countries, "South-South" investments, investments in conflict-affected countries, and investments in complex projects. MIGA also established the conflict-affected and fragile economies facility to further deepen support to this priority area.
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In fiscal year 2013, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) issued 2.8 billion dollars in investment guarantees for projects in our developing member countries.
... See More + At 1.5 billion dollars, representing more than half of new business, the bulk of MIGA's guarantees issued support investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sixty-nine percent of new business volume this year was in complex projects in infrastructure and extractive industries, a strategic priority for the Agency. This year, 82 percent of MIGA's new volume fell into one or more of strategic priority areas: investments in the world's poorest countries, "South-South" investments, investments in conflict-affected countries, and investments in complex projects. MIGA also established the conflict-affected and fragile economies facility to further deepen support to this priority area.
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In fiscal year 2013, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) issued 2.8 billion dollars in investment guarantees for projects in our developing member countries.
... See More + At 1.5 billion dollars, representing more than half of new business, the bulk of MIGA's guarantees issued support investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sixty-nine percent of new business volume this year was in complex projects in infrastructure and extractive industries, a strategic priority for the Agency. This year, 82 percent of MIGA's new volume fell into one or more of strategic priority areas: investments in the world's poorest countries, "South-South" investments, investments in conflict-affected countries, and investments in complex projects. MIGA also established the conflict-affected and fragile economies facility to further deepen support to this priority area.
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In fiscal year 2013, Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) issued 2.8 billion dollars in investment guarantees for projects in our developing member countries.
... See More + At 1.5 billion dollars, representing more than half of new business, the bulk of MIGA's guarantees issued support investments in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sixty-nine percent of new business volume this year was in complex projects in infrastructure and extractive industries, a strategic priority for the Agency. This year, 82 percent of MIGA's new volume fell into one or more of strategic priority areas: investments in the world's poorest countries, "South-South" investments, investments in conflict-affected countries, and investments in complex projects. MIGA also established the conflict-affected and fragile economies facility to further deepen support to this priority area.
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Services as a share of gross domestic product and in foreign direct investment flows have increased in importance both globally and in the transition countries of Europe and Central Asia.
... See More + So has the need for both academics and policymakers to understand the impacts of services liberalization in the transition countries. For this reason, the World Bank Institute, under a grant from the Government of Austria, commissioned seven studies under the auspices of the Economic Education Research Consortium (headquartered in Kiev, Ukraine) to investigate the impact of services liberalization on productivity, focusing on services reform in the transition countries of Europe and Central Asia. This publication consists of six research studies on the importance of economic reform and liberalization in the service sector development in countries with economies in transition in Europe and Central Asia. The studies contribute to the growing empirical literature establishing that liberalization of barriers against service providers can make an important contribution to increase total factor productivity, exports and growth in the economy. They also show that the issue of services liberalization is important for the transition countries in particular.
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This report is structured as follows. Chapter one analyzes the performance of Kazakhstans trade. Chapter two presents an overview of recent developments in Kazakhstan regional and international trade integration.
... See More + Chapter three examines in detail key issues related to market access, focusing on non-tariff measures and trade facilitation and logistics. Chapter four examines the services sector and offers a roadmap for actions to enhance its competitiveness. Chapter five addresses building institutional capacity for the trade and competitiveness agenda. The reports recommendations are summarized in the following table. In order of the four main messages of the report, they cover balancing regional and international integration efforts, measures to improve access to inputs and export markets by reducing non-tariff barriers and through trade facilitation measures, raising the quality and efficiency of the services sector, and strengthening institutional capacity to implement an effective trade policy and competitiveness agenda.
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Half a year ago, Russia's economic prospects looked uncertain. The global economy was losing momentum, the expansion in the euro area was grinding to a halt and commodity prices were beginning to fall.
... See More + Yet, while output growth is slowing this year in line with weaker growth in Europe and elsewhere, Russia's latest economy performance has been solid, though aided by favorable oil prices. The economy returned to the pre-crisis peak towards the end of last year, supported by strong consumption, as growth held steady at the same rate as in 2010. In 2011, measured in current dollars, Russia's economy was the ninth biggest in the world, compared to the eleventh biggest in 2007. This year, Russia's output might exceed US$2 trillion. Equalizing for prices difference with purchasing power parity, Russia's economy is already the sixth biggest today. The current account looks strong thanks to a large surplus in the trade balance, and the Central Bank of Russia added again in 2011 to its stock of foreign reserves. Employment returned to pre-crisis levels even earlier than output, and wages grew at a solid pace. Inflation reached its lowest level in two decades. Inequality declined and consumption levels of low-income households improved. The fiscal balance returned to a surplus. And while average public debt levels in advanced economies exceeded 100 percent of growth domestic product (GDP) in 2011, Russia's public debt was no more than 10 percent of GDP. Economic policies can help to shore up Russia's resilience in a volatile economic environment, diversify its economy, and strengthen its growth potential. First, fiscal policy should be used to rebuild fiscal buffers while oil prices are high. This will not only help to prepare for the next crisis, but also make sure that fiscal policy does not become procyclical as the output gap closes. Furthermore, monetary policy should continue to focus on low inflation, and financial policies on strengthening oversight. Finally, removing structural barriers to growth can help to bolster investment and productivity. Improving the business environment will go a long way to make the most of the economic benefits of Russia's World Trade Organization accession in summer 2012.
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Working Paper (Numbered Series) 68276 APR 01, 2012
Global markets offer important opportunities for companies in developing countries. By exporting to larger markets, the companies can increase production, growth, and employment at a faster pace than by focusing only on smaller domestic markets.
... See More + In this context, regional exports can be an important testing and learning ground for these companies. This is because barriers to accessing markets in the region are often lower than those for accessing global markets; neighboring countries' markets are often similar in taste, standards, distance, and culture. Creating regional markets can thus allow companies to expand operations and create economies of scale, making them more competitive. Gaining access to regional markets also increases incentives for more investment flows, and permits suppliers to specialize and integrate into regional supply chains that ultimately cater to both domestic and international markets. This note looks at the regional integration process in West Africa, focusing on Ghana and Nigeria. Both countries account for about 61 percent of population and 68 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). This note assesses the challenges that goods exporters within the region face when trying to benefit from the ECOWAS-wide Free Trade Area. It focuses on the experience of 30 exporting companies in Ghana that we interviewed to understand the difficulties of exporting to Nigeria under the scheme. The study finds that Ghanaian manufacturers believe the key barriers to increasing trade with Nigeria include substantial informal payments and delays regardless of whether documentation is complete transit charges, and requirements for product registration.
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This note outlines the critical barriers that constrain trade between Nigeria and Cameroon, describes the practical norms that have emerged as a response to those constraints, and recommends key reforms for the governments to undertake.
... See More + It is often difficult to get an accurate picture of the magnitude of informal cross-border trade in most developing countries. Many factors contribute to this difficulty, but chief among them are weak state institutions, widespread practices by traders to underreport trade in order to avoid high taxes, and porous borders that are hard to monitor and permit trade to cross borders unrecorded. In the case of Cameroon and Nigeria, officially recorded non-oil bilateral trade flows represent only a minor fraction of both countries overall trade. In 2010 and 2011, recorded official trade data show that non-oil trade flows from Nigeria to Cameroon were between 1 USD and 10 million USD, while Cameroon exported an estimated 10 to 30 million USD to Nigeria. Removing barriers to trade between the two economic blocs in West and Central Africa is of strategic importance for closer economic integration among countries in West and Central Africa, and to generate an Africa-wide free trade area by 2017, an objective endorsed by African governments.
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Trade enables countries to import ideas and technologies, realize comparative advantages and economies of scale, and foster competition and innovation, which in turn increases productivity and achieves higher sustainable employment and economic growth.
... See More + Countries open to international trade tend to provide more opportunities to their people, and grow faster. Afghanistan could derive far more benefit from its international trade opportunities than it does at present. This Diagnostics Trade Integration Study (DTIS) report is intended to identify concrete policy actions in three areas of endeavor: lowering the transaction costs of trade, increasing Afghanistan's competitiveness in world markets, and providing an analytical foundation for Afghanistan's national trade strategy. The study examines how to do this, looking not only at trade performance and policy, but also at three sectors with great export potential: agriculture, gemstones and carpets, as well as the investment climate, customs as a driver of trade facilitation, and on promoting infrastructure services. All five chapters in this report provide a detailed and comprehensive analysis of trade issues intended to reduce the transaction costs of trade. Growth in Afghanistan has been strong and volatile because of its heavy reliance on agriculture. Now it faces a transition: prospects of a drawdown of international military forces and a decline in civilian aid by 2014. Security issues and political instability could undermine Afghanistan's Transition. Such threats could harm not only economic growth, but deterioration would repel private-sector investment.
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This book is the result of an extensive agenda of analytical work on regional trade integration in Africa involving staff from various units of the Africa region of the World Bank.
... See More + The aim of this volume is to provide the main messages from this work to a wide audience the private sector, civil society, key ministries, relevant agencies that is necessary to provide the consensus and broad base for successful implementation of reforms. Africa is not achieving its potential in regional trade. The contributions to this volume highlight the enormous scope for increased cross-border trade in Africa and the reasons why such opportunities are not being exploited. The main objective of this introductory chapter is to draw attention to the key reason why Africa's potential for regional trade remains unexploited: the high transaction costs that face those who trade across borders in Africa. The contributions to the volume discuss a wide range of policy related barriers that drive up costs and limit trade. The chapter starts with a review of recent export performance in Africa, noting the strong growth rates in many countries. However, the impact of such growth on employment and poverty has been much muted and important challenges remain, especially with regard to greater diversification of exports, and it is here that effective regional integration that reduces transaction costs can play a key role. The paper then discusses the key barriers that raise costs for traders and continue to fragment the African market. Finally, the paper ends with some specific recommendations for action that policy makers can take at the regional level to support integrated markets in Africa and discusses how the World Bank and other donors can support those wishing to implement the necessary reforms.
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Development Policy Review (DPR) 68490 JAN 01, 2012
