Corporate Strategy and NAFTA When Environmental Regulations Are Barriers to Trade

SUMMARY

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), domestic environmental regulations can have the ultimate impact of erecting entry barriers against foreign companies. These actions by domestic firms are part of a corporate “shelter”-seeking strategy. Five recent cases are analyzed out of twenty-four environmental disputes relevant to NAFTA.     

Constraints to Park Visitation: A Meta-Analysis of North American Studies

The constraints that curb visitation to parks have received considerable research attention and remain an important issue. Constraints to outdoor leisure in parks include structural barriers, such as cost of entry, interpersonal barriers, for example, lack of a partner to visit with, or intrapersonal barriers, including lack of interest. Using a meta-analysis approach, this article integrates the findings of 22 North American studies with 541 estimates, conducted over a 30-year period, to determine the key constraints to park visitation based on various socio-demographic factors. The findings highlight the varying roles that constraints play in limiting the visitation of people according to race, age, gender, education and income. Gaps in the literature are identified, with implications for encouraging visitation for more constrained groups discussed. An agenda for future research is presented.     

Why Developing Countries Have Failed to Increase Their Exports of Agricultural Processed Products

The article uses the case study of coffee, tea and cocoa to analyse whether tariff escalation constitutes a barrier to market access that thwarts diversification efforts of developing countries into exports of value‐added agricultural processed products. It also examines the extent to which non‐tariff barriers act as market access barriers that constrain developing countries from developing their exports of agricultural processed products. Our analysis shows that tariff escalation is not the main barrier; rather it is the prevalence of non‐tariff barriers (including domestic non‐tariff barriers) that limits the ability of developing countries to increase their agricultural processed exports. This has important policy implications in terms of the emphasis that trade negotiators and policy planners should place on addressing non‐tariff barriers.     

制度性进入壁垒与手机企业竞争战略分析

从1998年开始入市的国产品牌手机,十几年来经历了跌宕起伏的发展历程,2008年以来山寨机的兴起使国产品牌手机面临更为复杂的竞争环境,这些发展变化与手机业的制度性进入壁垒有极大的联系。在制度性进入壁垒的限制下,潜在进入企业的进入战略主要有寻租及贴牌生产,而在位企业的防御意识较弱。     

Market Power,Efficiency and the Dispersion of Systematic Risk

A number of studies have used the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) to integrate product market and financial theories of the firm. We reexamine the relationship between product market structure and systematic risk at the firm and industry level. We show that theory yields no testable implications at the firm level. We show, however, that there is a relationship between the intraindustry dispersion of systematic risk and industry concentration which depends on the causes and consequences of concentration. Estimates of the relationship between the intraindustry variance of and concentration for a 1987 cross-section of U.S. industries suggest that concentration allows larger firms to exercise market power.     

绿色贸易壁垒对我国外贸的影响及对策

随着经济全球化的不断推进,各国的保护措施从关税壁垒转向了非关税壁垒,面绿色贸易壁垒更是我国所遭遇的主要阻碍之一。因此,本文就绿色贸易壁垒的内涵和形式进行了认真研究,并分析其对我国外贸发展的不利影响,提出相应的对策建议。     

我国《对外贸易壁垒调查暂行规则》与欧共体《贸易壁垒条例》之比较

我国加入WTO,外国企业利用技术性贸易壁垒,对我国企业产品与技术连续发起狙击,引发国民对破除国外技术贸易壁垒的关注。本文通过对我国《对外贸易壁垒调查暂行规则》与欧共体《贸易壁垒条例》的比较,提出我国《对外贸易壁垒调查暂行规则》存在的问题与不足,建议根据不断变化的形势与特点,制定具创新意义的破除国外技术贸易壁垒的法律。     

Regional trade and food security in SADC

A number of pertinent questions on regional trade and food security in southern Africa is addressed in this paper, namely: Should a country go it alone or should it belong to a regional trade bloc? Within the SADC region, should countries be content to be cereal importers? How can free trade be phased in? How can intra-SADC trade be expanded? Potentially sensitive agricultural products are listed and the sensitivity in grain milling and cereals is discussed in detail. The major conclusion is that trade in the region can contribute substantially to provide improved food security. There is also considerable scope for greater intra-regional trade in grain and other food products, and for greater cross-border investment in agriculture and agro-industry.     

Estimation of trade elasticities in the presence of trade barriers, multinationals and imperfect competition

Recent research highlights the role that multinational trading companies may play in impeding price transmission. In markets characterised by imperfect competition, an estimate of the partial elasticity of demand may be of limited practical value if no account is taken of the reaction of competitors. In this paper, we demonstrate the potential for market structure to affect price transmission and trade elasticities, and challenge the presumption that only government intervention can impact upon price transmission, with examples supporting why theory would suggest otherwise.