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
Cambodia’s economic activity continues to expand, led bysolid growth in garment exports and strong constructionactivity. Real growth is projected to reach 7.0 percent i
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Until 2010 Tunisia appeared to be doing well and was heralded by the World Bank and the IMF as a role model for other developing countries, and the World Economic Forum repeatedly ranked Tunisia as the most competitive economy in Africa.
... See More + Yet, the Tunisian model had serious flaws. Inadequate creation of jobs, notably for university graduates, and deep regional disparities were a source of increasing frustration across the country in the run up to the January 2011 Revolution. This development policy review shows that, in contrast to the façade often presented by the former regime, Tunisia's economic environment was and remains deeply deficient. The review highlights an economy that has remained frozen in low-value added activities and where firms are stagnating in terms of productivity and jobs creation. The review argues that Tunisian prosperity has been held back by policies that have reduced the countrys overall economic performance. This poor performance results from extensive barriers to entry and market restrictions coupled with a heavy business regulations and a poorly functioning financial system, have resulted in economic stagnation. Economic policies have exacerbated cronyism and rent-seeking, allowing under-performing firms to survive, regardless of their productivity. in order to fulfill its economic potential, Tunisia needs to create a level playing field by opening up the economy and removing Tunisia's three dualisms, namely the onshore-offshore division, the dichotomy between the coast and the interior, and the segmentation of the labor market. A strong social policy is also necessary, of course, and should be designed to accompany private sector-led growth. Tunisia can capitalize on a strong competitive advantage to export wage-intensive goods, expand its export of services, and unleash the potential of agriculture, to the benefit of small businesses, young graduates, and farmers in Tunisia's long-neglected interior regions. Realizing these benefits will require improving the investment climate, rationalizing regulations, and developing more equitable development policies that benefit all of Tunisia's regions. The Unfinished Revolution is a challenge for policymakers to rethink Tunisia's economic development model, to question existing assumptions, and to dare to think big about policy reforms which can accelerate growth and shared prosperity, create quality jobs and promote regional development.
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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
This overview, followed by five supporting reports, identifies these challenges of tomorrow, points to key choices ahead, and recommends not just what needs to be reformed, but how to undertake the reforms.
... See More + The overview is divided into nine chapters. The first chapter examines the characteristics of Chinas development since 1978; considers future opportunities, challenges, and risks; and describes a vision of China in the year 2030. The second chapter maps a new strategy that will realize this vision, focusing on the key choices ahead for China to sustain rapid economic and social development and become a modern, harmonious, and creative high-income society before 2030. Chapters three to eight elaborate on each of the six pillars of the new strategy: consolidating Chinas market foundations; enhancing innovation; promoting green development; ensuring equality of opportunity and social protection for all; strengthening public finances; and achieving mutually beneficial win-win relations between China and the rest of the world. The ninth and final chapter addresses implementation challenges, including the sequencing of reforms and overcoming obstacles that are likely to emerge.
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This Results Profile talks about enhancing enterprise competitiveness in Moldova. The unfavorable business environment was one of the main constraints to improvements in productivity and competitiveness of Moldovan enterprises.
... See More + The Competitiveness Enhancement Project supported major improvements in the business environment in Moldova, reducing the time required to register a company and comply with regulatory requirements and cutting the number of annual inspections. Further, the project improved competitiveness and export capacity of businesses by supporting implementation of International Organization for Standardization quality certification and offering exporter’s access to long-term financing.
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This Results Profile talks about enhancing enterprise competitiveness in Moldova. The unfavorable business environment was one of the main constraints to improvements in productivity and competitiveness of Moldovan enterprises.
... See More + The Competitiveness Enhancement Project supported major improvements in the business environment in Moldova, reducing the time required to register a company and comply with regulatory requirements and cutting the number of annual inspections. Further, the project improved competitiveness and export capacity of businesses by supporting implementation of International Organization for Standardization quality certification and offering exporter’s access to long-term financing.
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This Results Profile talks about The Business Environment Reform and Institutional Strengthening Project (BERIS) in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
... See More + The economy faced numerous challenges, such as a weak judicial sector, low competitiveness in an increasingly global market, slow materialization of foreign direct investments, and significant regulatory and institutional weaknesses that reduced investor confidence and affected the private sector’s ability to compete. In addition, national Metrology, Standardization, Testing and Quality system was outdated, which deprived the Macedonian enterprises of the appropriate means to control the quality of imported goods or to certify that the quality of their exported goods meets required standards. The World Bank provided assistance with policy reforms and capacity building through a combination of complementary investment and policy lending. BERIS assisted the government in implementing selected policy areas supported by a parallel series of Development Policy Loans. The project also accomplished notable improvements in the business environment by considerably simplifying and streamlining the regulatory environment for opening, operating and closing a business. As a result, investor protection was strengthened and the company law was revised in line with the European Union (EU) requirements. Business registration had been simplified and shortened to one day through the creation of a one-stop shop at the Central Registry. New calibration equipment for the Bureau of Metrology broadened the calibration services to companies in line with EU requirements and quality standards and increased their export potential and competitiveness.
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Using detailed data on trade and tariffs from 1992-2007, the authors examine how the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement has affected trade with nonmembers and external tariffs facing nonmembers.
... See More + First, the paper examines the effect of preferential and external tariff reduction on import growth from ASEAN insiders and outsiders across HS 6-digit industries. The analysis finds no evidence that preferential liberalization has led to lower import growth from nonmembers. Second, it examines the relationship between preferential tariff reduction and MFN tariff reduction. The analysis finds that preferential liberalization tends to precede external tariff liberalization. To examine whether this tariff complementarity is a result of simultaneous decision making, the authors use the scheduled future preferential tariff reductions (agreed to in 1992) as instruments for actual preferential tariff changes after the Asia crisis. The results remain unchanged, suggesting that there is a causal relationship between preferential and MFN tariff reduction. The findings also indicate that external liberalization was relatively sharper in the products where preferences are likely to be most damaging, proving further support for a causal effect. Overall, the results imply that the ASEAN agreement has been a force for broader liberalization.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS4960 JUN 01, 2009
This paper examines the effect of regionalism on unilateral trade liberalization using industry-level data on applied most-favored nation tariffs and bilateral preferences for ten Latin American countries from 1990 to 2001.
... See More + The findings show that preferential tariff reduction in a given sector leads to a reduction in the external (most-favored nation) tariff in that sector. External liberalization is greater if preferences are granted to important suppliers. However, these "complementarity effects" of preferential liberalization on external liberalization do not arise in customs unions. Overall, the results suggest that concerns about a negative effect of preferential liberalization on external trade liberalization are unfounded.
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Policy Research Working Paper WPS4751 OCT 01, 2008
This is the Annual Report on the operation of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) required by Article 6(1)(g) of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States.
... See More + This Annual Report covers the fiscal year July 1, 2005 to June 30, 2006. In fiscal year 2006, the number of ICSID pending cases reached an all-time high of 118. The total number of conciliation and arbitration proceedings registered with the Centre since its inception rose to 210 with the addition of 26 new arbitration cases instituted in the course of the fiscal year. The Secretariat continued its efforts to mitigate the impact of the significant caseload involving large and complex disputes by promoting more efficient ways of case management. During the year, ICSID's membership grew to 143 Contracting States following the ratification of the ICSID Convention by Syria.
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This regional report for Khabarovsk Krai in Russia is part of a survey that was conducted in the period from February the 1st to October the 17th, in 15 regions of Russia: Irkutsk, Nizhniy Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Rostov, Perm, Sakhalin, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Moscow, Sverdlovsk, Tomsk and Novgorod Oblasts, Khabarovsk Krai and the cities of Saint Petersburg and Moscow.
... See More + Among the procedures that imply obtaining land plot either as ownership or tenancy the overwhelming majority of legal entities and sole proprietors that attempted, underwent, or completed locating procedures in 2004 passed the procedure for obtaining tenancy rights. In respect to legal entities and sole proprietors providing intermediary services for locating procedures, it is impossible to pick out any tendency on account of low count of the respondents who passed the appropriate procedures. The most frequently completed procedure connected with real estate objects (building, structure, premise) for ARCS companies became the procedure of leasing a real estate object (building, structure, premise), which is municipal property without the procedure of tender (including purposive appointment cases). This paper includes a main report and an annex.
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This paper first explains the potential importance of World Trade Organization (WTO) accession as a development tool, and discusses the recent successful development models and the role of trade policy in their development.
... See More + The paper then summarizes the three parts of the Handbook. The first part treats trade policy (with applications to Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States [CIS]). The second part treats World Trade Organization institutions and disciplines, again with Russia and CIS applications. And the third part focuses on various aspects of the impact of WTO accession on Russia.
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Globalization is fact of life. As a result of innovations in transportation and communications and the opening up of economies world wide, the nations of the world are now irrevocably bound together.
... See More + Recognizing this reality, Cambodia decided to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although the accession process was an ordeal, and Cambodia had to agree to terms that were beyond the norm for least developed countries, in the end it accepted the challenge. The rationale is clear - at home it has a rapidly growing workforce and not nearly enough jobs to employ them. Beyond its borders there is fierce and increasing competition. A thriving and competitive private sector will help in creating sustainable jobs. One of the keys to private sector growth, especially for a country of Cambodia's size and stage of development, is international trade. As two decades of economic integration have shown, countries with the highest trade to GDP ratios, experience growth which averaged 3.5 percent per year in the 1980s, and 5 percent per year in the 1990s. At the same time, countries that did not integrate had average GDP growth of only 0.8 percent in the 1980s and 1.5 percent in the 1990s. However for trade to be mutually beneficial, it has to be governed by a common set of principles. These must commit parties to openness, transparency, predictability, non-discrimination and rule-based dispute resolution. By joining the WTO Cambodia aims not only to improve market access, and gain fairer treatment from powerful trading partners around the world, but we also to send a strong signal to potential investors that Cambodia is a good place to do business. However, Cambodia will only benefit if its businesses understand the rules of the new trading environment so that they can take advantage of new opportunities and also cope with new challenges. For this reason this Guide was prepared --to inform the private sector about the WTO. The Guide is organized into two main sections. The first presents a detailed overview of WTO rules and policies. The second part examines the probable impact that WTO membership will have on a number of different sectors; it gives a broad overview of the market for each sub-sector, the challenges that Cambodian businesses will face, and also provides sources for further information on each market.
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Working Paper 36842 MAR 01, 2005
Woods, David (World Trade Agenda Consultants)EnglishDisclosed
Developing countries have a substantial interest in totally integrating agriculture under the multilateral trade regime. Approximately 73 percent of the poor in developing countries live in rural areas, and the agriculture sector employs a large segment of the labor force.
... See More + Unfortunately agricultural exports from developing countries have experienced limited growth in the markets of industrialized countries, in large measure because of high trade barriers and agricultural subsidies in these markets. This report analyzes some important cases concerning the future of agricultural policy and its role in development, including putting forth some proposals for reform, which can considered in current trade negotiations.
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One of the main reasons Cambodia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) was to use its membership as a springboard for promoting a credible, open and fair business environment.
... See More + In joining the WTO, the government of Cambodia promised to enact a total of 47 regulations and laws that, if properly enforced, would foster investment and accelerate economic growth. The government agreed to a Work Program through which most of these laws would be completed by 2006; however, as of July 2006, only 19 laws and regulations have been adopted. The business community in Cambodia, particularly foreign companies, is paying close attention to whether or not the government delivers on these commitments. The slow pace at which the necessary laws have been developed could negatively impact Cambodia's efforts to attract foreign investment, and therefore to provide some of the jobs required by the 230,000-plus entrants to the labor market each year. This issue of the Business Issues Bulletin looks at the current status and expected timeframes of seven key commercial laws that formed part of Cambodia's WTO agreement: Secured Transactions Law, Commercial Leasing Law, Law on the Issuance and Trade of Non-Government Securities, Insolvency Law, Commercial Contracts Law, Competition Law, and Commercial Court Law.
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Brief 37577 JAN 01, 2005
Thora, Mao; Sannisith, Sum; Naron, Hang Chuon; Kun, AndyEnglishDisclosed
