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on International Trade |
| By: | Gabor Bekes (Institute of Economics - Hungarian Academy of Sciences); Peter Harasztosi (Phd Student - Central Europan University) |
| Abstract: | Firms may benefit from proximity to each other due to the existence of several externalities. The productivity premia of firms located in agglomerated regions an be attributed to savings and gains from external economies. However, the capacity to absorb information may depend on activities of the firm, such as involvement in international trade. Importers, exporters and two-way traders are likely to employ a different bundle of resources and be organised differently so that they would appreciate inputs and information from other firms in a different fashion and intensity. Getting a better understanding of such external economies by looking at various types of firms is the focus of present paper. Using Hungarian manufacturing data from 1992-2003, we confirm that firms perform better in agglomerated areas and show that traders gain more in terms of productivity than non-traders when agglomeration rises. Firms that are stable participants of international trade gain 16 % in terms of total factor productivity growth as agglomeration doubles while non-traders may not benefit from agglomeration at all. Results also suggest that traders' productivity premium is most apparent in urbanised economies. |
| Keywords: | agglomeration, international trade, firm heterogeneity |
| JEL: | F14 R12 R30 |
| Date: | 2010–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:has:discpr:1001&r=int |
| By: | Nu Nu Lwin |
| Abstract: | Since their accession to AFTA, trade volumes of CLM countries have being grown rapidly while their trade patterns and directions have significantly changed. Recognizing the importance of international trade in CLM economies, this study attempts to analyze the trade patterns of CLM countries based the gravity model. The empirical analysis is conducted to identify the determining factors of each country’s bilateral trade flows and policy implications for promoting their trade. |
| Keywords: | CLM Countries, ASEAN, East Asia, FTA, Bilateral Trade, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, International Trade |
| JEL: | F14 |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper215&r=int |
| By: | Nadav Halevi; Ephraim Kleiman |
| Abstract: | This paper examines trade across the Mediterranean against the background of the efforts to foster both North-South and intra-South trade flows as engines of growth. We first consider the shares of these regions (and of the countries constituting them) in the trade of each other as indicators of trade importance; and relative trade intensity indices – the ratio of these shares to the corresponding ones in the trade of the rest of the world – as measures of trade affinity and as means of identifying 'natural' trade partners. Because of the sheer size disparity, trade with the North-Med is more important to the South-Med than the other way round. But both regions display trade affinities with each other, making them natural trading partners, though there are wide disparities between individual countries within each region. Insofar as being natural trading partners forms a criterion for economic integration, there are promising prospects for some form of integration between the countries on the North and the South littorals of the Mediterranean. Contrary to the popular view of Arab South-Med trade being dominated by cultural, religious and linguistic commonalities, our findings show that geography still matters: the Arab South-Med affinity with the group of EU countries not lying on the Mediterranean littoral is much lower than with those that do. Arab commonality also seems to be more important in the trade of the Levant than in that of the Maghreb, whose trade affinities with its former colonial powers suggest the colonial heritage there to be still of importance. More generally, the differences observed here between the Maghreb and the Arab Levant have relevance to the EU's Barcelona Process policy, which encourages the formation of a South Mediterranean Free Trade Area. The findings of our study suggest that though the Arab Levant constitutes indeed a natural trading area, this is not as true for the region as a whole. |
| Date: | 2009–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:euirsc:p0227&r=int |
| By: | Bouet, Antoine; Mevel, Simon; Thomas, Marcelle |
| Abstract: | The Agreement on South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) entered its second phase of implementation in 2008. The creation of a free trade area is expected to affect its participants—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—very differently given their diversity in terms of size, income, and structure of trade and protection. Using the 2004 MAcMapHS6-v2 database on measures of applied protection at the HS6 level and MIRAGE, a computable general equilibrium global model, this study examines the effects of SAFTA on trade and net income in the region. The magnitude of the effects will depend on initial levels of protection in the region and whether the agreement is trade diverting or trade creating. An important component of the SAFTA agreement is the exemption of products (sensitive list) from the trade liberalization process. Because such exclusion can restrict significantly the benefits from the regional trade agreement, we simulate the effects of SAFTA with and without sensitive products. Our findings show that among South Asian countries, Sri Lanka gains the most from the agreement because it initially has relatively low tariffs and faces high tariffs in the region. Exempting sensitive products from the agreement limits gains from trade for the lower-middle-income members of SAFTA but may be welfare enhancing for the least developed economies. |
| Keywords: | South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), trade liberalization, Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model, welfare, trade, applied protection, income, FTA, Markets, Globalization, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fpr:ifprid:950&r=int |
| By: | Dilek Demirbas; Ajay Shah; Ila Patnaik |
| Abstract: | FDI by firms in developing countries is a recent phenomenon and demands a study of relationship between firm productivity and different modes of globalisation activities. This paper attempts to understand this relationship through ordered probit models, examining two key hypotheses using firm level panel data from India. First, it is tested whether there are characteristic differences between domestic firms, exporting firms and firms engaging with FDI. [NIPFP WP No. 2010-65]. |
| Keywords: | Outbound FDI, multinationals, Panel data, India, Ordered Probit models, firms, globalisation, developing countries, productivity, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2422&r=int |
| By: | G. Cornelis van Kooten |
| Keywords: | economics of elephant conservation, economics of ivory trade,trade bans |
| JEL: | Q57 Q27 O13 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rep:wpaper:2010-02&r=int |
| By: | Ayla Ogus (Department of Economics, Izmir University of Economics); Niloufer Sohrabji (Department of Economics, Simmons College) |
| Abstract: | The Turkish current account has been exploding in the last few years leading to concerns of a crisis. One of the primary factors identified in the rising deficits is the appreciating lira. In addition, income elasticity of exports and imports can also shed light on continuing trade deficits. In this paper we analyze exchange rate and income elasticity of Turkish imports and exports. We find a significant gap between domestic and foreign income elasticities (for exports and imports respectively) which points to a threat of growing trade deficits. In addition we also find that the exchange rate elasticity is negative for both Turkish exports and imports. This indicates that depreciation of the Turkish lira will have a negative effect on both imports and exports. |
| Keywords: | Cointegration; current account deficits; exchange rate and income elasticity, Turkey |
| JEL: | F32 F41 |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:izm:wpaper:0906&r=int |
| By: | Heifetz, Aviad (Open University of Israel); Meier, Martin (Institut fur Hohere Studien, Vienna and IAE, Barcelona); Schipper, Burkhard C. (University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: | We define a generalized state-space model with interactive unawareness and probabilistic beliefs. Such models are desirable for potential applications of asymmetric unawareness. We compare unawareness with probability zero belief. Applying our unawareness belief structures, we show that the common prior assumption is too weak to rule out speculative trade in all states. Yet, we prove a generalized "No-trade" theorem according to which there can not be common certainty of strict preference to trade. Moreover, we show a generalization of the "No-agreeing-to-disagree" theorem. |
| JEL: | C70 C72 D80 D82 |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:ucdeco:09-20&r=int |
| By: | Meier, Martin (Institut fur Hohere Studien, Vienna and Instituto de Analisis Economico, Barcelona); Schipper, Burkhard C. (University of California, Davis) |
| Abstract: | We generalize the "No-trade" theorem for finite unawareness belief structures in Heifetz, Meier, and Schipper (2009) to thinfinite case. |
| JEL: | C70 C72 D53 D80 D82 |
| Date: | 2010–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecl:ucdeco:10-2&r=int |
| By: | De Schutter, Olivier; Swinnen, Johan; Wouters, Jan |
| Abstract: | The lowering of barriers to foreign direct investment and waves of privatisation have caused amounts of FDI to increase greatly in recent decades, allowing enormous sums of money to flow into certain countries. Olivier De Schutter, Jo Swinnen and Jan Wouters introduce recent research focusing on the impact of FDI on Human Rights, beyond the much studied impact of FDI on growth, with a particular emphasis on measurement and policy issues. |
| Date: | 2009–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ner:leuven:urn:hdl:123456789/258855&r=int |
| By: | Ranja Sengupta; Abhilash Gopinath |
| Abstract: | Conceptual and empirical linkages between trade liberalization and gender equality in the context of development; and the impact of the WTO and PTA/FTAs on gender are discussed. It then provides a cross section of recent results on this linkage in India. Providing an overview of the main issues from a Southern perspective with an indicative literature survey, this can be used as a reference tool for CSOs, students, researchers and policy analysts. [Paper I]. |
| Keywords: | trade liberalization, gender equality, development, WTO, Economic Growth, poverty, NAMA, Agriculture, food, Services, women, InvestmentIndia, students, researchers, policy analysts, literature, |
| Date: | 2010 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ess:wpaper:id:2417&r=int |