Trade policy and protection in the European Community

The European Community is the world's largest trading entity. As a result, trade policy in the EC has an important impact on the world economy. This paper evaluates the formulation of trade policy in the EC and assesses the key instruments, both by sector and by target. The relative importance of tariff and non-tariff barriers is emphasised as is the role of anti-dumping. Finally, the impact of the single market programme and the Uruguay Round are assessed. Both will have a crucial bearing on the evolution of policy.     

Intra-industry and inter-industry trade in Switzerland

Zusammenfassung Intra-industrieller und inter-industrieller Auβenhandel der Schweiz. — Eine wachsende Zahl empirischer Untersuchungen hat gezeigt, daβ der intra-industrielle Handel einen relativ groβen Teil des gesamten Auβenhandels eines Landes ausmacht, besonders wenn es sich um Industriel?nder handelt. Auβerdem scheint der Befund darauf hinzudeuten, daβ die Bedeutung dieses Ph?nomens zunimmt. In diesem Aufsatz werden zwei verschiedene Meβkonzepte des intraindustriellen Handels benutzt, um die Bedeutung dieses Teils des schweizerischen Auβenhandels zwischen 1965 und 1977 zu untersuchen und die Schweizer Erfahrung mit der einer Anzahl anderer westeurop?ischer L?nder zu vergleichen. Die Ergebnisse lassen vermuten, daβ der beobachtete intra-industrielle Austausch nicht allein mit dem Hinweis auf die Aggregation der Warenkategorien erkl?rt werden kann und daβ das Ph?nomen für die Schweiz von geringerer Bedeutung ist als für andere westeurop?ische Volkswirtschaften.

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Résumé Le commerce intra-industriel et inter-industriel de la Suisse. — Un nombre accroissant des recherches empiriques a démontré que le commerce intraindustriel est responsable pour une part relativement grande du commerce total particulièrement si le commerce des économies développés de marché est concerné. De plus, l’évidence semble suggérer que l’importance de ce phénomène a augmenté. Cet article applique deux mesures différentes du commerce intra-industriel pour analyser l’importance du phénomène sur la période 1965–1977 et pour comparer l’expérience de la Suisse avec lesquelles d’un nombre des autres pays européens occidentaux. Les résultats suggèrent que le commerce intra-industriel ne peut pas être expliqué exclusivement en référant à l’agrégation catégorielle et que le phénomène est moins important que dans des autres économies européennes occidentales.

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Resumen Comercio intra-industrial e inter-industrial de Suiza. — Un cuerpo creciente de evidencia empfrica ha demostrado que el comercio intra-industrial contabiliza una proportión relativamente grande del comercio total, especialmente cuando se refiere a economías de mercado desarrolladas. Adicionalmente, la evidencia parece sugerir que la importancia del fenómeno ha ido aumentando. Este estudio utiliza dos medidas diferentes de comercio intra-industrial para examinar la importancia del fenómeno para el período 1965–1977 y comparar la experiencia suiza con aquélla de una serie de otros países europeos occidentales. Los resultados sugieren que la intra-industria registrada y el intercambio no pueden ser explicados solamente con referencia a agregatión categórica, y que el fenómeno es menos importante que en otras economías europeas occidentales.

     

Much Ado about Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit from Foreign Direct Investment?

Governments the world over offer significant inducements toattract investment, motivated by the expectation of spilloverbenefits to augment the primary benefits of a boost to nationalincome from new investment. There are several possible sourcesof induced spillovers from foreign direct investment. This articleevaluates the empirical evidence on productivity, wage, andexport spillovers in developing, developed, and transition economies.Although theory can identify a range of possible spillover channels,robust empirical support for positive spillovers is at bestmixed. The article explores the reasons and concludes with areview of policy aspects.      

Intellectual Property Rights and Economic Growth

Interest in links between protection of intellectual property and growth has been revived by developments in new growth theory and by the WTO’s TRIPS Agreement. The relationship between the strength of a country’s intellectual property rights (IPRs) regime and rate of growth is ambiguous from a theoretical standpoint, reflecting the variety of channels through which technology can be acquired and their differing importance at different stages of development. We investigate the impact of IPR protection on economic growth in a panel of 79 countries using threshold regression analysis. We show that whilst the effect of IPR protection on growth depends upon the level of development, it is positively and significantly related to growth for low‐ and high‐income countries, but not for middle‐income countries. This suggests that, although IPR protection encourages innovation in high‐income countries, and technology flows to low‐income countries, middle‐income countries may have offsetting losses from reduced scope for imitation.     

Skill Classification and the Effects of Trade on Wage Inequality

The extent to which rising wage inequality in developed nations can be attributed to increased North-South trade has been a contentious issue over the last 20 years. We contribute to the debate by outlining a new skill classification method and evaluating the link between trade and wages using an economy-wide model. Our skill classification considers both academic and vocational qualifications and uses cluster methods to group together occupations with similar skill characteristics. JEL no. F16, J24, J31