How to Balance the Outcomes of the Economic Partnership Agreements for Sub‐Saharan African Economies?

Since 2002, the Sub‐Saharan African countries ( except South Africa which already has a free‐trade agreement with the EU ) have embarked on free‐trade agreement negotiations with the European Union. These arrangements will replace the Cotonou scheme, which requires these countries to eliminate their tariffs on ‘substantially’ all their European imports. Based on a general equilibrium analysis, this study estimates the potential effects of these agreements by considering different levels of reciprocity in the commitments of the Sub‐Saharan African countries. It shows that the ‘standard’ EU proposal, whereby Sub‐Saharan African countries would cut tariffs on 80 per cent of their European imports, would not be enough to balance the outcome of the Economic Partnership Agreements. As a result of the asymmetries between European and African protections and supply‐side capacities, African countries could experience a balance of trade deficit of USD 1.8 billion associated with a 0.1 per cent decrease in GDP. This proposal, which also induces an industrial restructuring to the benefit of the agro‐processing industries, will create a significant fiscal burden. A lesser level of commitment could largely mitigate these unfavourable results; by reciprocating tariff eliminations on only 60 per cent of their European imports, African countries would reduce the trade imbalance and fiscal losses induced by these agreements by 21 and 51 per cent respectively.     

Rethinking Trade Preferences: How Africa Can Diversify its Exports

This paper argues that the contribution of trade preferences to economic development needs to be reappraised in light of the growth of globalised trade in manufactures. Trade preferences may be able to act as a catalyst for manufacturing exports, leading to rapid growth in exports and employment. To do so, preferences need to be designed to be consistent with international trade in fragmented ‘tasks’ (as opposed to complete products) and need to be open to countries with sufficient levels of complementary inputs such as skills and infrastructure. Recent experience with the African Growth and Opportunities Act shows that, in the right conditions, Sub‐Saharan African countries have had large manufacturing export supply response to trade preferences.     

Trade and the (dis)incentive to reform labor markets: The case of reform in the European Union

We study the relation between international trade and the gains to reform labor markets by removing firing restrictions. We find that trade linkages imply substantially smaller benefits to reform than those calculated in the closed economy general equilibrium model of Hopenhayn and Rogerson [Hopenhayn, Hugo, Rogerson, Richard, 1993. Job Turnover and policy evaluations: a general equilibrium analysis. Journal of Political Economy 101 (5), 915–938 October]. When economies trade, labor market policies in one country spill over to other countries through their effect on the terms of trade. A key finding in the open economy is that the share of the welfare gains from domestic labor market reform exported substantially exceeds the share of goods exported. Thus, with international trade, a country retains little to no benefit from unilaterally reforming its labor market. A coordinated elimination of firing taxes yields considerable benefits. We also find that the U.K. benefits from labor market reform by its continental trading partners. These insights provide some explanation for recent efforts toward labor market reform in the European Union.     

Currency Unions in Africa: Is the Trade Effect Substantial Enough to Justify their Formation?

Using estimates that currency unions double trade, we quantify the welfare effects of forming currency unions for the African regional economic communities and for the African Union as a whole. The potential increase in trade is shown to be small, and much less than that resulting from the adoption of the euro. Allowing for increased African trade does not overturn the negative assessment of African currency unions, due to asymmetries in countries’ terms‐of‐trade shocks and their degree of fiscal discipline.     

Globalization and Economic Growth in Developing Countries: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

This article investigates how globalization affects economic growth in developing countries. We use a dynamic growth model with data from 42 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, covering the period from 1980 to 2012. The evidence indicates an inverted U curve type response, robust to changes in globalization measures and to alternative model specifications. Our findings are promising and support the view that the relationship between globalization and economic growth is not linear for SSA. Accordingly, SSA countries have control of trade openness, particularly for the import level of consumption goods to boost their economic growth through international trade.     

Trade openness,tax reform and tax revenue in developing countries

This article investigates empirically whether the effect of tax reform (involving the progressive replacement of trade tax revenue with domestic tax revenue) in developing countries' tax revenue performance (measured by tax revenue‐to‐GDP ratio) depends on the degree of trade openness of these countries. The analysis has used an unbalanced panel data set of 95 developing countries over the period 1981–2015 and the two‐system GMM approach. Results suggest that tax reform is positively and significantly associated with tax revenue performance in developing countries, with the magnitude of this positive effect increasing as countries experience a higher development level. Additionally, and more importantly, countries that further open up their economies to international trade enjoy a higher positive effect of tax reform on tax revenue than countries that experience a lower degree of trade openness. Therefore, these findings should help dissipate the concerns of policymakers in developing countries that greater openness to international trade would further erode their tax revenue, including by lowering their international trade tax revenue. In fact, the implementation of an appropriate tax reform in the context of greater trade openness would generate higher tax revenue, while concurrently allowing countries to reap the well‐known benefits of international trade.     

PHEIC对中国的经济影响及对策

2020年1月31日,世界卫生组织宣布将中国新冠病毒疫情列为国际关注的突发公共卫生事件(PHEIC)。尽管在之前的PHEIC中,世界卫生组织均强调不应限制国际旅行和贸易,但各国仍对目标国采取了一系列限制措施,对其经济造成负面影响。此次PHEIC后,越来越多的国家对我国采取了广泛的限制措施。对中国造成的短期影响是国内经济、国际贸易、双向投资、全球价值链均受到冲击;中期影响是外商撤资、产业链转移的可能性大幅增加;长期影响是面临与全球经济脱钩的风险。对此,我国应借鉴之前目标国采取应对措施的经验教训,尽快结束疫情、缓解对国内经济的冲击、推动国际贸易和双向投资、加快产业链布局调整、加强国际经济合作,以缓解PHEIC的短期冲击并避免中长期影响。     

Intra-industry trade and heterogeneity in pollution emission

This paper develops a model of intermediate goods firms heterogeneity with respect to a pollution parameter to analyze the effects of intra-industry trade on final good output, pollution and welfare. By focusing on intra-industry trade we consider trade between similar countries. We analyze both trade between developed countries, and trade between developing countries. In our model, final good producers pay an environmental tax on the total pollution emitted in their country. Therefore, final good producers determine the overall level of pollution by demanding ‘cleaner’ or ‘dirtier’ intermediate goods. To focus on intra-industry trade we consider only intermediate goods firms trade. We analyze three scenarios: closed economy; open economy with no impediments to trade; and open economy with transportation cost. Our main findings are: i. a developing country closed to trade faces lower final good output and higher total pollution and is thus worse off than a developed country; ii. countries are better off under trade than under autarky, regardless of their development level; and iii. an open economy with low transportation costs are better off than an open economy with no impediments to trade.     

中国与日、韩、俄经贸关系对经济的贡献比较

本文分析了中国与日、韩、俄三国之间外贸依存度对相关国家经济的贡献程度,并运用贸易乘数比较了双边贸易对相关国家经济的贡献度(贸易所得);从(直接)投资依存度的角度分析了中国与三国间相互投资对经济的贡献程度,并运用投资收益率比较了相互投资对相关国家经济的贡献度(投资所得);综合贸易所得和投资所得,估算了双边经贸关系对相关国家经济的贡献度;最后,就如何深化中国与三国的经贸关系进行了若干思考。     

The challenges and opportunities for the trade union movement in the transition era: two socialist market economies – China and Vietnam

Both China and Vietnam are undergoing a social experiment as they diverge from the path of their Soviet compatriots and attempt the transition to a ‘socialist market economy’. This article tackles the role of trade unions in China and Vietnam in the context of globalization and market-orientated economic reform by identifying both challenges and opportunities for the trade unions in the areas of policy formation at national level and participation in collective bargaining and dispute mediation at enterprise level. Trade unions in both countries will have a significant role on a wide range of social issues under their special political, social and economic systems in the transition era into the twenty-first century.     

Welfare implications of trade liberalization and fiscal reform: A quantitative experiment

This paper studies the welfare implications of revenue-neutral trade liberalization and fiscal reform programs for developing economies using a multi-sector dynamic general equilibrium model of a small open economy. We analyze how different combinations of tariffs – on imported consumption goods, intermediate inputs, and capital goods – and taxes – on consumption, labor income and capital income – affect the transitional and long-run welfare. We report three main findings. First, trade liberalization programs financed by consumption and labor income taxes tend to result in substantial welfare gains, but financing the lost tariff revenue through capital income taxes can have an adverse impact on welfare. Second, a significant fraction of welfare changes is due to transitional effects stemming from the allocation of resources in response to changes in tariffs and taxes. Third, trade liberalization and fiscal reform programs often translate into much larger welfare gains in countries that are more open to international financial markets.     

Trade Policies in Southeast Asia in the Wider Asian Perspective

This paper takes stock of trade policies in Southeast Asia after the Asian crisis and in the wake of the current global economic crisis. It compares trade policies in individual Southeast Asian countries; places them in the context of regional and global economic integration; and particularly draws implications for the region from the rise of China and India. The first section looks at recent trade and FDI patterns in Southeast Asia. Then follows an overview of key trade‐policy trends, in the region overall and in individual countries. The next sections examine ASEAN countries in international trade negotiations and agreements: first in the WTO, especially in the Doha Round; then within ASEAN; and finally on cross‐regional FTAs. The paper concludes that ASEAN countries cannot rely on external tracks ‘from above’ for meaningful trade policy reform. Since the Asian crisis there has been a slowdown of reform momentum, and too much reliance on trade negotiations – especially FTAs. Rather, countries in the region have to rely on themselves –‘from below’ as it were. The engine of liberalisation and regulatory reform has to be home‐driven – as it was before the Asian crisis – with governments taking unilateral measures in response to internal and external conditions.     

中非贸易发展现状分析

中非贸易经过半个世纪的发展,近年以40%左右的增速呈现快速上升的趋势。同时,中国与非洲的贸易占各自对外贸易总额低、中国与各个非洲国家和地区的贸易水平不均衡、进出口结构单一的等问题也不容忽视。通过从世界贸易组织发布的《国际贸易统计年鉴(2009)》和国家统计网得到的权威数据数据,从总体贸易水平、进出口结构、贸易集中度等方面对中非贸易进行分析,揭示了中非贸易的现状及发展趋势,并找出与中国贸易往来最密切的非洲国家,可作为后续研究的重点关注对象。     

中美经贸摩擦的五个层次

中美贸易摩擦持续已近两年,成为影响中美两国及全球经济的重大问题。通过梳理中美两国产业结构、贸易结构以及相关政策措施情况,对比两国发展制度和道路的认知差异,探析中美贸易摩擦动因及内涵。事实上,中美经贸摩擦是经济问题但又不限于经济问题,涉及国际关系、国际政治与战略,不仅是贸易之争,还是全球经济地位之争、未来国际经济秩序与经贸规则制定权之争,更是不同经济体制与发展道路之争,是以经贸为载体的21世纪大国地位之争。因此,中美经贸摩擦将长期持续。中国将继续坚持自身发展道路和经济制度,深化改革开放、促进经济增长,稳步推进国内产业升级,提升经济效率,增强经济实力,同时积极参与全球经济治理,推动建立更为包容和开放的全球经济新格局,以及代表更广泛国家利益的国际经济贸易秩序与规则。     

China-Africa Relations Board The Ship Of A New Century

Founding of China-Africa Cooperation Forum and Beijing Ministerial Conference in 2000. Beginning from the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Egypt in 1956, friendly China- African cooperation has seen steady development in the past 44 years, China and African countries have been expanding and deepening cooperation in the areas such as politics, economy, trade, culture and education and health, resulting in remarkable achievements.     

浅析非洲经济一体化的贸易创造与贸易转移效应

在概述战后非洲一体化发展总体状况的基础上,通过构建理论模型,利用实证分析方法,选择南部非洲发展共同体为研究对象对南部非洲发展共同体的贸易创造和贸易转移问题进行探讨,从而为客观评估非洲经济一体化进程中的静态福利效应提供一种参考。研究结果表明,南部非洲发展共同体并没有发生明显的贸易创造及贸易转移效应,成员国从一体化中获得的福利收益是有限的。     

The Role of International and National Agencies in Trade–related Capacity Building

With increased recognition that trade can bring significant benefits to developing countries, and the launch of a new trade round, bilateral and multilateral agencies have begun to mobilise resources for trade–related capacity building (TRCB). The biggest challenge is to ensure that available resources are effectively utilised to deliver tangible benefits to developing countries. This paper argues that the effective delivery of TRCB relates specifically to two areas: in–country to help formulate appropriate trade positions as well as to place trade reform in the context of the country's overall development strategy that will promote a supply response and facilitate pro–poor growth; and secondly within the global rule making process to ensure that implementation of WTO rules and efforts to negotiate and implement future disciplines makes sense from a development perspective, and that TRCB is considered in the context of other competing development needs. The paper elaborates an issues based approach to bring the main providers to TRCB and bilateral donors together to support recipient countries to include a trade agenda in their overall development strategy and to facilitate developing country participation and implementation of WTO agreements that could be formulated within the global trade rules.     

On the exposure of the BRIC countries to global economic shocks

The financial crisis led to a deep recession in many industrial countries. While large emerging countries recovered relatively quickly, their performance deteriorated in recent years, despite the modest recovery in advanced economies. The higher divergence of business cycles is closely linked to the Chinese economy. During the crisis, the Chinese fiscal stimulus prevented an abrupt decline in GDP growth not only in that country, but also in resource‐rich economies. Due to lower commodity demand, the environment became more challenging for many emerging markets in recent years. This view is supported by Bayesian structural VARs specified for the individual BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. The results reveal a strong impact of the international economy on GDP growth. However, in contrast to the other countries, China plays a crucial role in determining global trade and oil prices. Therefore, the Chinese economy exerts significant spillovers to the other countries under analysis. The change in the Chinese growth strategy puts additional reform pressure especially in countries with abundant natural resources.     

EU/ACP Economic Partnership Agreements: Impact, Options and Prerequisites

The EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries (ACP) are presently renegotiating their trade relations. Behind these negotiations are the fundamental conflict between the existing arrangement and multilateral trade rules, the frustration regarding poor ACP trade performance, the ineffectiveness of trade and trade-related ACP policies, and the inefficiency of corresponding EU assistance. This article highlights the fundamentals of the envisaged Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) between the EU and the ACP countries, sums up previous estimates of their probable economic impact, discusses policy options for ACP countries and sheds light on basic prerequisites, particularly on institutional conditions, that should be fulfilled to ensure the success of EPAs.     

中国对非洲直接投资与贸易的关系研究——基于面板数据的实证分析

文章从理论上回顾了对外直接投资的贸易效应,以非洲33个国家为样本,运用2002～2006年的数据,建立了中国对非洲直接投资与贸易之间关系的面板数据(Panel Data)模型,并进行了实证分析.研究发现,我国对非洲国家直接投资与贸易存在着互补效应;我国对非洲直接投资尚处于起步阶段,进一步拓展非洲市场有利于创造中非合作双赢局面.