《欧洲议会和理事会关于农产品质量计划的法规提案》述评

对于中国地理标志产品出口而言,《欧洲议会和理事会关于农产品质量计划的法规提案》(《提案》)明显增强了技术性贸易壁垒,将直接影响中国农产品、食品或者传统特产在欧盟的市场份额。以第19条为例,《提案》是欧盟打压中国地理标志产品(尤其是中草药)的延续,将加重中国地理标志产品生产者的经营成本,增大中国地理标志产品生产者的经营风险,并将引发中国地理标志产品商业秘密的外泄。对此,应当强化中国地理标志产品的保护色彩,优化地理标志主管部门之间的协调机制,创新地理标志品牌提升的发展思路。     

Patterns and determinants of international fragmentation of production: Evidence from outward processing trade between the EU and Central Eastern European countries

Patterns and Determinants of International Fragmentation of Production: Evidence from Outward Processing Trade between the EU and Central Eastern European Countries. — In this paper we investigate a specific form of international fragmentation of production, that is, the form giving rise to international trade for reasons of processing. Data on textile and apparel trade between EU countries and Central European countries show that the magnitude of trade for reasons of processing greatly overshadows that of final trade. The industry appears to be affected by a process of international fragmentation whose understanding requires a new definition of the concept of comparative advantage. Our analysis suggests that this fragmentation is activated by labor cost differentials as well as by reasons of geographic and cultural proximity.     

Exchange rates and European countries’ export prices: An empirical test for asymmetries in pricing to market behavior

Exchange Rates and European Countries’ Export Prices: An Empirical Test for Asymmetries in Pricing to Market Behavior. — This paper uses forward instead of spot exchange rates to test for the presence of asymmetries in the response of export prices to exchange rate movements on a wide sample of European Union exporter countries and highly disaggregated product categories. In most cases, the data give support to the hypothesis of a symmetric pricing to market behavior during periods of depreciation and appreciation of the exporter’s currency.     

Antidumping and tariff Jumping: Japanese firms’ DFI in the European union and the United States

Antidumping and Tariff Jumping: Japanese Firms’ DFI in the European Union and the United States. — The relationship between EU and US antidumping measures and direct foreign investment (DFI) is examined through a micro-econometrical analysis of Japanese firms’ plant establishments in the electronics industry. After controlling for firm and industry capabilities, market size, transport cost, and product cycle effects, antidumping actions are found to have a substantial positive effect on Japanese DFL EU antidumping is roughly twice as likely to lead to tariffjumping DFI as US antidumping, which is ascribed to marked differences in antidumping procedures. Tariff jumping makes antidumping ineffective in combatting anticompetitive behaviour by foreign firms and may result in increased market concentration.     

European steel policies in the 1980s: Hindering technological innovation and market structure change?

European Steel Policies in the 1980s: Hindering Technological Innovation and Market Structure Change? — This paper examines the effects of the European Commission’s Manifest Crisis Policy of production quotas on the growth of European minimills during the 1980s. In particular, the study seeks to determine whether the Commission-approved secondary market for the quota rights created sufficient flexibility to ensure that low-cost suppliers increased production during this period of steel industry rationalization. The empirical results indicate that the policies did significantly hinder minimill growth during the quota period but did not prevent later minimill expansion.     

The Disciplinary Effect of the Single Market on Swedish Firms

In the 1980s it became increasingly clear that the European Community market was still segmented by national borders because of non-tariff barriers to trade. A major objective of the Single Market Program in 1992 was to remove these barriers, thereby enforcing intra-union competition. In this paper, a panel of Swedish firm-level data is used to evaluate whether domestic market power has been curtailed as a consequence of the SMP and of the Swedish membership in the European Union in 1995. Evidence of increased competition emerges, as price-cost margins have declined in industries with high non-tariff barriers prior to 1992. JEL Classification Numbers: F15, L11, C33     

EU Anti‐dumping Measures against ASEAN Countries: Impact on Trade Flows*

In the present paper, anti‐dumping (AD) duties levied by the European Commission against products from ASEAN countries in the period 1991–2001 have been considered. The ASEAN countries were among the countries most targeted by AD measures imposed by the EU in the 1990s. A panel regression has been applied to estimate the impact of AD duties on trade in some 12 products that have been subject to AD duties targeting ASEAN countries in the period considered. A significant negative impact of AD duties is found, on both the value and the quantity of imports from ASEAN countries. Our estimation provides some (although not overwhelming) indications of trade diversion in favor of EU countries, but no evidence of trade diversion in favor of non‐targeted non‐EU countries.     

Evolving geographical concentration of European manufacturing industries

Evolving Geographical Concentration of European Manufacturing Industries. — This paper analyzes the geographical concentration of 32 manufacturing sectors over the 1972–1996 period for 13 European countries. Concentration has increased continuously over the sample period in employment terms, while remaining roughly unchanged in export terms. On average, increases in concentration were stronger prior to the launch of the Single Market than afterwards. The sectors most sensitive to the Single Market however, showed an acceleration in concentration after 1986. There is also evidence that low-tech industries are the most strongly concentrated, and that center-periphery gradients across countries are losing importance for industrial location in the EU.     

Liberalizing Reforms and the European Union: Accession,Membership, and Convergence

The European Union (EU) may promote reforms to policies and institutions through at least two distinct mechanisms. First, accession to the EU requires countries to undertake reforms. Second, the EU common market may promote Tiebout jurisdictional competition. We empirically evaluate these two mechanisms using an unbalanced panel of up to 45 European countries during 1970–2010. We find that relationships between EU accession/membership and measures of policies/institutions are often statistically insignificant. Furthermore, when the estimated effects are statistically significant they are generally modest.     

The effects of Europe’s internal market program on production and trade: A first assessment

The Effects of Europe’s Internal Market Program on Production and Trade: A First Assessment. — The paper analyzes the extent of structural changes that have occurred inside the EC since the launching of the internal market program. The first part of the paper examines intersectoral shifts in the pattern of specialization within EC manufacturing and finds relatively little change from 1986 to 1992. The second analyzes the trade impact of the internal market program, and finds that internal and external trade creation have both prevailed. The third uses regression analysis to explain the share of intra-EC imports in total EC imports in 1986 and in 1992, and identifies the impact of the internal market program.     

Did the European unification induce economic growth? In search of scale effects and persistent changes

Did the European Unification Induce Economic Growth? In Search of Scale Effects and Persistent Changes. — In this paper we investigate whether the European unification has had an impact on the Union’s average labor productivity growth. Based on a time-series approach we do not find a scale effect as suggested by new growth theory. However, the data do not reject the hypothesis that the EU growth experience is well described by a textbook Solow model. Panel data estimations moreover firmly reject the idea of a growth bonus associated with EU membership.     

Eastern European trade and the Austrian labour market

Eastern European Trade and the Austrian Labour Market. — Recent years have seen a major break in trade relations between Western and Eastern European countries. Austria experienced a large bilateral trade creation with these countries. In this paper, the authors take a closer look at the impact this trade growth had on the Austrian labour market. To differentiate as far as possible between different segments of the labour market, they concentrate on unemployment experience and wage growth for a panel of individual workers in Austrian industry. The results show rather small employment effects, the impact on wage growth is more pronounced with interesting modifications for mobile and immobile workers.     

Is European antidumping protection against Central Europe too high?

Is European Antidumping Protection against Central Europe Too High? —In this paper, the author finds that the average level of European antidumping protection against Central Europe in 1985-1990 was by 14 to 20 percentage points too high. Her simulation results on the Central European antidumping cases show only ‘de minimis’ injury margins. Hence, the European Commission would have dismissed all European antidumping complaints against Central European imports and no antidumping measures would have been imposed. In view of these results, the author feels that European antidumping legislation and its implementation seriously undermine the credibility of the Association Agreements recently signed between the European Union and the countries of Central Europe.     

The potential trade effects of an FTA between the EU and Russia

The Potential Trade Effects of an FTA between the EU and Russia.- This paper analyzes some of the potential economic effects of free trade agreements between the EU and Russia and the other European CIS countries using standard indicators of trade patterns. It confirms that it would not be feasible for the EU to conclude such an agreement with Russia alone. It is also shown that, if the current high tariff levels are maintained in the CIS countries, they may not benefit from an agreement with the EU. More generally, the authors question the economic motivation for countries such as Russia in seeking free trade agreements with industrial countries which already have low levels of external protection.     

The gains from partial completion of the single market

The Gains from Partial Completion of the Single Market. — Some countries (Germany and Austria) are surprisingly slow in implementing EU directives, while other countries (Denmark and the Netherlands) have implemented most directives in their national legislation. Why these big differences in the speed of implementing Single Market measures? More importantly, what are the economic effects of being a first-mover country (like Denmark) in implementing the Single Market measures? What are the welfare effects of the partially completed Single Market? Answers to these policy questions are provided by simulations of a computable general equilibrium model.     

Trade Policy,Competition and Productivity: The Impact of EU Harmonization in the Dutch Food Processing Industry

Evidence broadly confirms that European Union (EU) harmonization of food regulations can be considered as a trade-promoting and market-integrating instrument in the Single Market. However, little is known on how this particular trade liberalization measure may impact total factor productivity (TFP). One of the general presumptions is that trade liberalization has a positive impact on productivity through the effect of competitive pressures to which domestic firms are exposed. For instance, as a result of lowering or removing regulatory barriers to trade, a decline in entry costs of foreign and domestic competitors leads to more competitive pressures which have a downward effect on prices and markups and higher TFP through a better reallocation of inputs. The overall evidence shown in this paper leads to the conclusion that the impact of EU harmonization on various TFP measures occurs through a markup mechanism: more EU harmonization results in more competition (lower markups) and greater TFP growth. We also investigate the impact of assumptions relating to market structure and the production function. We empirical test and refute the assumptions of perfect competition and constant returns to scale in our sample. The analysis is carried out at the level of Dutch food processing firms for the 1979–2005 period. We extend and built upon a new database on EU harmonization of regulations in the food industry. The product classification of this database follows the detailed Combined Nomenclature classification that codes the relevant harmonization initiatives of technical regulations at the product level.     

VALUE-ADDED TAX IN A BORDERLESS SA-BLNS REGION

Market integration and the abolition of border controls increase the mobility of consumers and cross‐border shopping. This makes it difficult to maintain a destination‐based VAT. Because of differences in the size of countries, governments of different sizes may engage in inefficient tax competition. Such externalities result in a call for tax coordination and a review of VAT regimes most suitable to a globalised world. One of the ultimate objectives of an African Union is a single market. This paper introduces the potential VAT policy implications of further economic integration within Southern Africa as a prelude to an African Economic Community, drawing on the experience of the EU in particular. When the critical factors that may impact on VAT policy are viewed together with SACU's long history of customs cooperation, a form of clearing‐house regime seems appropriate. However, this may not be politically appropriate, thus clearing the way for a more conventional approach, such as the transitional EU‐VAT regime.     

ASEAN Economic Community: A General Equilibrium Analysis*

The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is the largest integration effort attempted in the developing world; if realized, it will create a single market with the free movement of goods, services, foreign direct investment and skilled labor, and freer movement of capital encompassing nearly 600 million people. This study, a first attempt to evaluate the full benefits of the AEC, finds that the project could produce gains similar to those resulting from the European Single Market, amounting to 5.3 percent of the region's income. The benefits could be doubled if, as expected, regional integration also leads to new free trade agreements with key external partners. The whole region will share in these gains. There will be mild trade and investment diversion effects for some other countries, but the world will benefit too. Nevertheless, the AEC poses political challenges: the present study finds that the project will imply significant structural adjustments in several ASEAN economies.     

欧盟技术性贸易壁垒对中国农产品出口影响研究

欧盟是我国农产品第二大出口市场,但欧盟利用自身发达的科技水平和严密的技术性贸易壁垒体系,使中国农产品出口屡遭其技术性贸易壁垒的限制。本文立足欧盟技术性贸易壁垒和中欧农产品贸易的现状,分析欧盟技术性贸易壁垒对中国农产品出口的影响,并提出我国政府、企业和行业协会应共同努力,以突破欧盟技术性贸易壁垒。     

Capital mobility and EU enlargement

Capital Mobility and EU Enlargement. — The membership of the Eastern European transition economies in the EU would require inter alia the full liberalization of their capital flows. Using the correlation between domestic saving and investment, this paper provides empirical evidence of the openness with respect to foreign capital that the accession states have attained so far. A comparison with the southern members of the EU shows that the countries under review have reached a similar degree of integration in quantitative terms. Yet, further adjustment in qualitative terms, i.e., in the structure of capital flows, can be expected as the process of accession proceeds.