Blue Box Policy Reform in the Doha Round Negotiations： Effects and China＇s Position

This paper uses an agricultural trade policy simulation model to quantitatively evaluate the effects of Blue Box policy reform on agricultural production and trade, and further provides specific proposals regarding China ＇ s reform position. The results indicate that, if the reform could achieve a reduction in distorting supports in more developed countries, China＇ s total agricultural production would increase, accompanied by a decrease in agricultural imports and a slight increase in exports. In terms of social welfare, producers would gain significantly, consumers would lose and government would not suffer greatly, which is in accordance with current agricultural policies in China. As a core member of G20, China should approve a subsidy level as low as possible required by Blue Box to achieve ＂substantial reductions in trade-distorting domestic supports＂.     

Financial Services in the Doha Round and China''''s Commitments

FinancialserviceswereincludedinthecurrentDohaRoundnegotiationsattheWorldTradeOrganization(WTO)aspartoftheefforttoexpandthecoverageoftheGeneralAgreementonTradeinServices(GATS).ThisagreementfirstappearedontheagendaoftheWTO,thenstilltheGATT,duringtheUruguayround(1986-1994).Whenitcameintoforcein1995,financialserviceswerenotcoveredbecauseofcontroversiesoverthestrengthofliberalizationcommitments.Asaconsequence,negotiationsonthisspecificservicesectorhadtobecarriedonaftertheofficialcompletio…     

Financial Services in the Doha Round and China＇s Commitments

Current negotiations on financial services at the WTO are concerned with improving liberalization commitments over the Financial Services Agreement which became an integral part of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) in 1997. Important underlying issues of these negotiations are member states‘ policy decisions in two particular areas: capital account liberalization and prudential regulation. These decisions not only determine the member countries‘ scope for liberalization,, the liberalization commitments in turn also limit the scope of national economic poliey in these two areas. Taking these characteristics offinancial services talks into account, there are two major goals for the ongoing negotiations:for industrialized countries to make progress with respect to trade business and for developing countries and emerging-market economies to concentrate on improving market access on an established basis. For China, the most important goal is to implement the far-reaching liberalization commitments that were made in the context of its accession to the WTO in December 2001.     

Political Economy of the Asia-Pacific Free Trade Area： A Dilemma for China

The Asia‐Pacific Free Trade Area (FTAAP) has become a topic of focus since the proposal was first raised in 2004. The present paper considers China's policy towards the FTAAP from a political economy perspective by probing the gains, impediments and concerns for China, and makes judgments based on several possible scenarios. The author argues that from an economic perspective, China would benefit from joining the FTAAP both in a static and a dynamic manner because both its main trade partners and trade barriers in export markets are concentrated in the Asia‐Pacific region. However, whether the Chinese Government is likely to support the initiative is largely dependent on certain crucial political and diplomatic elements, including the APEC approach, US‐Chinese relations, quality of treaty, sensitive sectors, competitive proposal of alternative and membership of Chinese Taipei. Therefore, if the Chinese Government cannot ratify the ideology and terms of the initiative, or issues that are central to China's interests are not addressed, the FTAAP will only remain a proposal possessing economic possibility in the long run, without political feasibility in the near term.     

A General Survey of the Quality of Life of Qingdao People

国际著名咨询机构益普索近日公布了对中国7个城市进行的《中国居民生活满意度研究》结果,青岛高居榜首,这7个城市居民生活满意度的排名依次为:青岛、秦皇岛、上海、沈阳、北京、广州、天津.     

Promoting the Reforming of the Processing Trade

On April 4th, 2006, Beijing City Bureau of Commerce issued it would apply for the logistics function for Shunyi District Tianzhu Export Area of Beijing City, build the Konggang freetrade logistics center, and declare to the Beijing Economic development zo…     

Study on Round Meshwork of the Knowledge-intensive Corporation

The knowledge-intensive corporations emerged recently generally adopt a style of linear.function and a traditional organizational st~ucture. While for knowledge-intensive corporations, this kind of organizational form is more and more inadaptable to their development. By analyzing the environmental factors that influence the design of the organizational structure in the knowledge-intensive corporations, the author has designed the organizational structure, the rouncl meshwork, which is adapted to the knowledge-intensive corporations of E-era. In this article, the author analyzes the significance and characteristics of this kind of organizational structure.     

Where is the balance? Implications of adopting Special Products and Sensitive Products in Doha negotiations for world and China's agriculture

This paper analyzes the potential impacts of the agreements of Special Products and Sensitive Products (SPs) in Doha negotiations on world and China's Agriculture. By linking a global trade model to a national policy model which itself is connected to a set of disaggregated household data, we are able to assess the effects of the inclusion of SPs into a Doha agreement on agriculture in China and the rest of the world and different farmers across China. Our results show that since the inclusion of SPs in a Doha agreement adds more protection in agriculture, the total quantity of resources used in world agriculture increases. Although increasing, it is important to note that the total rise is only a fraction of a percent of agricultural value added and the gains to rural income per capita are likewise small. Moreover, an important difference between the apparent benefits of SPs is highlighted when they are considered for one country alone and when they are made available to all WTO members. The benefits to agriculture in China (and other countries) from increases in protection resulting from SPs are typically offset when these flexibilities are made available to all countries. While there are some positive benefits for certain vulnerable groups in society (in China), we show that there are adverse effects on equity and the impacts differ largely among regions.     

Fiscal Faux Pas?: An Analysis of the Revenue Implications of Trade Liberalization

This paper examines the argument that trade liberalization depresses tax revenue/GDP ratios in developing countries. This occurs because the structural characteristics associated with developing countries limit their ability to make the transition from trade to domestic taxes. Using a panel of 80 developing and industrialized countries over 1970–98, the econometric analysis carried out employs a fixed-effects regression framework to examine the evidence. The results indicate that low-income and upper middle-income countries have experienced declining tax revenues as a result of falling income and trade tax revenues and that structural characteristics have been significant in explaining the decline.     

Does the WTO Make Trade More Stable?

I examine the hypothesis that membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its predecessor the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) has increased the stability and predictability of trade flows. I use a large data set covering annual bilateral trade flows between over 175 countries between 1950 and 1999, and estimate the effect of GATT/WTO membership on the coefficient of variation in trade computed over 25-year samples, controlling for a number of factors. I also use a comparable multilateral data set. There is little evidence that membership in the GATT/WTO has a significant dampening effect on trade volatility.JEL Classification Number: F13     

Has Trade Become More Responsive to Income? Assessing the Evidence for US Imports

This study tests the stability of a standard equation for aggregate US imports over the period 1975–2011. It finds evidence of significant parameter instability, though its dating varies with the equation specification and diagnostic. Nonetheless, the analysis finds a significant rise in the long-run income elasticity that is robust across most break dates and specifications. The increase in the long-run income elasticity is consistent with shifts in the composition of aggregate imports toward capital and consumer goods. There is further evidence that vertical specialization may be behind both the structural instability and the apparent rise in the income elasticity of aggregate US imports.     

Why do Estimates of the EMU Effect on Trade Vary so Much?

Larger data sets, with more countries and a longer span of time, exhibit systematically larger effects of European monetary union on trade. I establish this stylized fact with meta-analysis and confirm it by estimating a plain-vanilla gravity model. I then explain this finding by examining systematic biases in “multilateral resistance to trade” manifest in time-varying country fixed effects; bias grows as the sample is truncated by dropping small poor countries.     

What Futures for the People of the Tropical Forests?

The importance of forest products to households living in or near forests has been increasingly recognized. Estimates of numbers of people who in some way rely on forests, for survival or livelihoods, vary widely. Yet numbers alone do not reveal the forests' importance to diverse users. A typology that recognizes the varied relationships of people to forests and forest products permits assessment of the impacts of economic, cultural, and social changes. Understanding these relationships is crucial for institutions to adapt to changing patterns of demand, use, and supply, and to support both “forest-dependent” and “forest-related” peoples.     

Assessing the prospects for the development of the poultry market in Russia in the context of the country’s accession to the World Trade Organization

An attempt to assess the effects of Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the domestic poultry market is made. The measures of public control over the national poultry market are outlined, a simple model for assessing the effect of import duties on the domestic market is developed, and the midterm prospects of Russia’s poultry market in the context of the country’s accession to the WTO are predicted.     

Real Exchange Rates and the Balance of Trade: Does the J-curve Effect Really Hold?

Open Economies Review - In this paper, we re-examine the relationship between trade flows, real effective exchange rates, and incomes by using the bilateral trade flows of 33 countries that form...     

Can Trade Facilitation Prevent the Formation of Zombie Firms? Evidence from the China Railway Express

Using data on firms listed on Chinese A‐share markets from 2009 to 2017, this paper applies the difference‐in‐difference model to test the effect of trade facilitation on preventing the formation of zombie firms. We find that the China Railway Express (CRE) significantly prevented the formation of such firms. Mechanism tests show: (i) the CRE has accelerated the speed of sales, which increased the overseas sales revenue of firms; (ii) the economies of scale and the capital accumulation effect caused by the CRE can help increase firms’ solvency and development ability. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that the effect of the CRE on preventing the formation of zombie firms is mainly reflected in non‐state‐owned firms, firms in highly competitive industries, and firms in the eastern region of China. We suggest that China should continue to promote trade facilitation by expanding the CRE and strengthening the market's dominant role in preventing the formation of zombie firms. Disadvantaged firms should seize the development opportunities brought by the CRE.