Human capital and measurable dynamic gains from economic integration: An application to the economic integration of North and South America

The paper looks at the source of dynamic gains to trade liberalization using a two-country model with both physical and human capital accumulation. The model is calibrated and used to examine the effect of the economic integration of Canada and the United States with Latin America. The analysis assumes that differences in productivity levels between regions are due entirely to differences in human and physical capital endowments. Key assumptions are that capital is internationally mobile and human capital formation is income constrained. The simulated impact of moving to a hemispheric free trade area is significant. The long-run impacts are also different from the short-run efficiency effect predicted by conventional static triangle-rectangle analysis. The long-runmultiplier effect on static output gains are on the order of 2.0 to 2.5 for the South—that is long-run output gains are 2.0 to 2.5 times predicted short-run static gains. In the case of the North, static predictions of gain are ambiguous in sign over the longer run; in some cases there are small dynamic gains-in others. small losses. Investment diversion toward Latin America is a prominent characteristic of the results.     

Communications networks and virtual economic integration: The case of three countries

This paper proposes a three-country model of trade that captures the role of communications networks which enhance trade in business services. The interconnectivity of country-specific networks is found to determine the structure of comparative advantage in the good that requires business services provided via networks. In connected countries, producers of that good benefit from the growing connectivity of business services providers. It is also shown that the third country which is unconnected to the interconnected networks may be worse off from trade.The first author is grateful for the support of the Telecommunications Advancement Foundation.     

A century of economic growth in Latin America

This paper makes a contribution to the study of economic growth in developing countries by analyzing the six largest Latin American economies over 105 years within a two-equation framework. Confirming previous findings, physical and human capital prove to be key determinants of GDP per head growth. However, a more controversial result is an overall negative conditional correlation between trade openness and GDP per head growth — though openness has a positive link via investment. The evidence also shows that macroeconomic instability has been a drag on long-term growth in the region.     

Between European integration and regional autonomy: the case of Italy from an economic perspective

Italy has experienced a double political phenomenon over the last few decades: a transfer of powers to a supranational entity (the EU) and a move towards regional autonomy. This paper aims to evaluate how policy competences are attributed to and exercised by the European, national and regional institutions. It develops a set of quantitative indicators analysing the legislative production of the EU, the Italian parliament and the Italian regions in various policy areas. The main findings indicate a certain substitutability between European and national legislation and that different levels of government share competences in a larger number of sectors than suggested by the economic theory.

Biosimilars in North America

ABSTRACT

The United States (US) is the world leader in the development of biopharmaceutical products. These new drugs, numbering about 200, are now losing patent protection and imitators are entering the market of comparable drugs, called biosimilars. According to a popular belief, these producers of biosimilars (erroneously called copycats) are everywhere, except in the United States. In North America, on both sides of the US border, the increase in the number of biosimilar producers is evident. In addition, although the US federal government tries to erect barriers against the entry of foreign-made biosimilars in the country, many states are lobbying the federal government and allowing the use of biosimilars. And biosimilars represent a very convenient ladder for emergent and industrial countries to learn the enigmatic routines of the pharmaceutical industry. Where this segment of the industry will be located is another matter.     

Social security and economic integration

This letter analyzes the impact of economic integration on capital accumulation and capital flows when countries differ in their social security systems. Funding and early retirement both foster capital accumulation relative to pay-as-you-go pensions with flexible retirement. When economies integrate, both imply capital outflow possibly resulting in utility losses.     

Spectrum allocation in Latin America: An economic analysis

As elsewhere, wireless markets play a crucial role in Latin American economic growth. Mobile telephone networks increasingly provide the communications infrastructure that has largely been lacking throughout the region. Yet, governments have generally made only modest allocations of bandwidth available to Latin American wireless operators, either absolutely (in terms of spectrum each country could allocate at modest opportunity cost) or relative to countries in North America, Asia and the European Union. Using an empirical model estimated on mobile phone data for international markets, we show that very large social benefits are available to countries that make more spectrum available for mobile phone markets. We conduct simulations using our calibrated model to provide lower bounds for country-by-country gains from larger allocations. We also discuss the impact of alternative regulatory regimes on the feasibility to achieve those social gains.     

北美钻石之都——耶洛奈夫

加拿大耶洛奈夫市市长ＧｏｒｄｏｎＶａｎＴｉｇｈｅｍ以盛产黄金于２０世纪３０年代～４０年代发展起来的耶洛奈夫市而今已发展成为盛产钻石的城市。作为西北地区的首府 ,耶洛奈夫市拥有人口１８０２８人 ,座落于一座金山上 ,以北２００公里处有两座钻石矿。以“北极”注册的钻石是加拿大首屈一指的珠宝。·展现我们的优势随着钻石业的迅猛发展 ,耶洛奈夫市正式将自己的发展方向确定为“北美钻石之都” ,这无疑是一项激动人心的决策。耶洛奈夫市经济发展部将这一决策看作是确立自己在国内外钻石界地位的关键一环。为了促进社会各界的共识 ,…     

Dynamic comparative advantage: Some implications for trade policy in North America

This paper explores the implications of changing North American trade policies for dynamic comparative advantage and shows, with examples from the energy and high-technology sectors, how a new policy based on interdependence might work. Newly industrializing countries such as Mexico should aim to break into industries with progressively higher technological and value-added components, such as computer manufacturing—industries that are entering a period of expanded demand and going beyond the period of greatest capital intensity. Although few Mexican firms might be expected to enter such oligopolistic markets alone (at least in the short run), they could combine forces with established enterprises abroad in order to permit gradual market penetration. The examples in the paper illustrate the need for a stable macroeconomic framework for policymaking that includes exchange rates, investment incentives, relative price behavior, taxes, intellectual property rights, labor and environmental regulations, capital market policies, harmonization of standards, and other measures. There is also a need for policies that anticipate the potential private and social returns of activities that might be overlooked in a static framework.     

Financing North American economic cooperation

There are great opportunities to improve the standard of living of the people of North America. The smaller nations of the area especially stand to gain from these opportunities. The essential requirements are to improve productivity by increasing the size of the market, to encourage investment where it is most productive, and to facilitate the movement of workers to productive employment. The achievement of each of these goals requires that governments reduce the barriers which they have established to inhibit the free movement of people, capital, and ideas among the nations of North America. The United States has a special opportunity to play a leadership role in education and in financing the development of the area.     

闽北经济突破超稳定状态的策略思考

改革开放以来,闽北经济纵比有长足的发展,横比位次渐次退后。究其原因是多方面的,既有自然条件因素,也有社会历史原因。本文试图从分析闽北区域矛盾运动中形成的超稳定状态入手,研究探索闽北经济走出徘徊局面、步入快速发展的具体途径。     

The economic case for international labour standards

This paper explores the economic case for international labourstandards. Granting workers rights of free association and collectivebargaining confers both static and dynamic economic efficiencies.Static efficiencies refer to one-time gains from improvementsin economic practice. Dynamic efficiencies refer to gains fromimprovements to the growth path resulting from a shift awayfrom a ‘low road’ development path to a ‘highroad’ path. These efficiencies raise wages, employmentand output in developing countries, and they can also benefitworkers in developed countries. Labour standards are an institutionalmechanism for raising the quality of growth in both developingand developed countries. In this sense, they are a ‘win–win’institution.     

Crime and economic growth: A case study of Manaus,Brazil

Brazil became the seventh largest economy in the world in 2012. In the same year, the country was responsible for 13% of all worldwide murders. Despite the economic advances, crime is increasing over time in the country. This study explores the impact of organized crime on local economies, focusing on the case of Manaus, Brazil, and the emergence of the criminal group Família do Norte (FDN). We employ a synthetic control method to analyze the economic effects of the FDN's presence in Manaus. The findings reveal a significant negative impact on the city's economic growth and prosperity, with Manaus experiencing a 2% per year lower GDP per capita compared to what it would have been without the FDN. Robustness checks confirme this result, showing how organized crime can disrupt the country's economic advances.     

A Pasinettian approach to international economic relations: the pure labor case

In this paper, the pure labor version of Pasinetti's model of structural change and economic dynamics is extended to consider international economic relations. The conditions for full employment, full expenditure of national income and trade balance equilibrium are established along with solutions for the systems of physical quantities and prices in an open economy. Analytical results concerning the benefits of international trade and learning are studied with formal rigor. Then static and dynamic aspects of the principle of comparative cost advantages are analyzed considering the determinants of the level of specialization and international prices.     

Autocracies and regional integration: the Eurasian case

The establishment of the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in 2010, succeeded by the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015, constituted an important discontinuity in the development of post-Soviet regionalism: while the preceding organisations remained cases of ‘ink-on-paper’ regional integration, in the case of the Customs Union the members actually implemented their commitments. This creates an important theoretical challenge: the literature (which the previous experience of Eurasian regionalism was very much in line with) conjectures that authoritarian states are unable to successfully implement an economic regional integration agreement (RIA). The aim of the article is to explore the conditions under which implementation of economic RIAs by autocracies happens. We argue that the implementation is influenced by the extent of economic, social and political ties between member states, and suggest that, unlike democratic states, which are more likely to implement a RIA where there are strong economic ties, non-democracies are more likely to do so in the case of intermediate economic dependence.