中国农食产品标准国际化能否提升出口产品质量?

执行国际标准能够促进产品质量提升,但也会给企业带来过高的遵从成本,从而可能不利于企业产品质量的提升。选取2000-2013年中国农食产品标准数据与企业-产品层面海关数据,实证分析中国农食产品标准"国际化"对企业出口产品质量的影响。结果显示:从整体来看,标准"国际化"对企业出口产品质量效应显著为负,而我国自行制定的国家标准对质量影响显著为正;按照对国际标准采纳程度分类,以及对出口产品和出口目的国发展程度分类,分样本检验发现,标准"国际化"对企业出口产品质量存在异质性影响。为此,照搬发达国家主导制订的国际标准不适用于中国出口企业,可能会由于过高的遵从成本阻碍企业产品质量升级。另一方面,以中国为代表的发展中国家需积极参与到国际标准的制定中,从而减少过高遵从成本对产品质量升级及出口带来的不利影响。     

欧盟环保“双绿指令”及其启示

随着世界经济的快速发展,人类面临前所未有的环保压力,因此环境保护成为世界各国所关注的重要问题.在国际贸易中,各国对进口商品实施高标准的环保要求已成为大势所趋.欧盟的"双绿指令"正是在此背景下诞生和实施的,是欧盟环境保护理念和贸易保护主义相结合的产物.本文介绍了欧盟"双绿指令"的主要内容,并对其作出评析,重点提出了对我国环境立法的启示.     

技术性贸易壁垒及其自由化对谷物出口的影响——基于中国数据的实证检验和政策模拟

技术性贸易壁垒成为我国农产品食品出口的主要障碍之一。本文在重力模型基础上,利用删失数据的最新处理技术,分别就黄曲霉毒素最大限量标准水平及其与我国标准的相对严格程度,对我国谷物出口的影响进行定量分析。结果发现,黄曲霉毒素限量标准的降低,即标准趋于严格,将对我国谷类出口形成限制。但是,这一结果在不同洲际之间有所差异。总体而言,我国对标准更严格国家的出口要明显少于标准更宽松国家的出口,这暗示了我国完善出口标准体系的重要性。此外,技术性贸易壁垒自由化政策模拟结果显示,国际标准协调对我国谷物出口的影响可能是不确定的。本文结论对我国标准化工作和长短期内出口战略的选择具有重要启示意义。     

The political economy of post-crisis international standards for resolving financial institutions

The development of post-crisis international standards for resolving financial institutions highlights an intriguing puzzle: the European Union (EU), which is often considered as a ‘great financial power’, had a marginal influence in the standard-setting process, which was led by the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). Why? This paper brings together and further develops the concepts of cross-border externalities derived from the hierarchical network structure of the international financial system and domestic regulatory capacity. The US and the UK had the incentives (externalities) to promote and the domestic capacity to shape international standards. By contrast, the EU was mainly exposed to regional (intra-EU) cross-border externalities and lacked regulatory capacity on the matter. Paradoxically, international standards contributed to developing EU resolution capacity by facilitating an agreement on EU (and later on, euro area) rules.     

国际贸易中的劳工、环境标准之争及发展趋势

近年来,发达国家与发展中国家就国际贸易中劳工、环境标准问题的争论愈加激烈.本文分劳工、环境标准的"公平贸易"之争、WTO引入劳工、环境标准的"合理性"之争两方面对此进行了评述,并预测了其发展趋势.文章认为,劳工、环境标准与国际贸易挂钩是迟早的事.我们一方面需防止贸易伙伴国出于贸易保护需要对劳工、环境标准的滥用;同时应积极主动地运用国际公认的劳工、环境标准,以提升我国产品的国际竞争力.     

透视国际趋同背景下的欧盟等效会计标准认可

欧盟坚持等效的理念并积极推行"等效会计标准"认可,是基于自身利益考虑和会计准则国际趋同的实际情况做出的理性选择.欧盟已经把美国、日本和加拿大三国列作等效会计标准候选国.我国内地与香港会计准则实现等效有利于今后与欧盟、美国等国家和地区开展会计准则等效工作.我国应坚持"趋同是第一步,等效才是目标"的理念,积极推进我国会计准则国际等效,并力争早日成为欧盟的第四个等效标准候选国家.     

标准掌控与全球价值链治理研究

对标准与全球价值链的研究有助于更好地理解全球经济的变迁,以及发展中国家在其中的作用与地位.在国际金融危机后危机时代及贸易保护主义兴起的背景下,标准作为新型贸易壁垒被各国频繁使用.标准对全球价值链的影响主要体现在它能将复杂的信息形式进行编码,从而减少价值链行动者的交易成本.特别是当全球价值链越来越趋向于“购买者驱动”时,主导企业可以通过被广泛接受的标准及相关认证程序,向其直接供应商传递复杂的产品质量要求.通过执行标准,可以提高信息的编码性,并使企业间的治理从相对的层级型转向更为模块型或市场型的关系,从而减少主导企业的协调.发展中国家只有积极参与全球标准的制定,培育主导企业,才能在未来的竞争中处于有利地位.     

Notes on Contributors

This research asks why the European Union (EU) ‘uploads’ financial regulation to international regulatory fora in some (few) cases, ‘downloads’ it in (many) other cases or neither. It uses the concept of ‘regulatory capacity’ with reference to the EU and the USA. It argues that the presence (or absence) of robust domestic regulatory templates strengthen (or weaken) the ability of these jurisdictions to shape international standards produced by regulatory fora. Timing is also important in that whichever of the two manages to be out in front and shape international standards in a given sector wins first-mover advantages. The paper considers variations across the main financial services (banking, securities and insurance) as well as over time.     

Monetary integration strategies and perspectives of new EU countries

The poor record of economic convergence between the euro area and those countries that joined the European Union (EU) in May 2004 raises serious doubts about the possibility for the latter countries to adopt the European single currency in the not too distant future. In fact, many new EU countries would have to make considerable efforts in order to fulfil all EMU criteria by the end of the present decade. These efforts could lead to output and growth losses in these countries, which would run counter to their catching‐up process with respect to the rest of the EU. To avoid a number of shortcomings elicited by the obligation to respect the convergence criteria in the short term, and also to avoid the financial instability risks implied by participation in the ERM II, this paper suggests an alternative plan for integrating the new EU countries monetarily. The plan consists in creating a European settlement agent in charge of the final payment of the new EU countries’ international transactions. These transactions would be settled using an international monetary standard whose creation would eliminate instability on the foreign exchange market by its being the yardstick that the current international monetary system lacks.     

低人力资本回报能否驱动产业结构演化升级——兼论国际金融危机对中国制造业自主创新的影响

国际金融危机对发展中转型国家的产业影响主要表现在传统劳动密集型加工制造业面临新的生存危机.这一方面是由于国际金融危机引发的国际贸易保护主义导致外贸出口额大幅缩减,但更为主要的是发展中转型国家传统劳动密集型加工制造业自身所处的国际低端产业价值链所致.实现制造业产业结构演化升级必须依赖自主创新.本文通过实证检验发现人力资本回报过低是目前制约处于转型期的中国产业结构演化升级的主要瓶颈.为此,必须利用国际金融危机淘汰竞争时手的效应,尽快提高国民的人力资本报酬,实现自主创新,推动产业结构演化升级,增强国家先进制造业的产业竞争力.     

Labour market implications of EU product market integration

European labour markets are in a state of flux due to the changing market situation induced by international integration. This process affects wage formation through more fierce product market competition and increased mobility of jobs. This development is by some observers taken to enforce labour market flexibility, while for others it signals an erosion of social standards and in turn possibly the welfare society. Since labour is not very mobile in Europe, the effects of international integration on labour markets are mostly indirect via product market integration. We review the channels through which product market integration affects labour markets and perform an empirical analysis of the convergence and interdependencies in wage formation among EU countries. We find that integration is changing labour market structures and inducing wage convergences as well as stronger wage interdependencies, but it is a gradual process. Moreover, the present study does not support the view that international integration will lead to a 'race to the bottom' and rapidly erode domestic labour markets standards, nor that it will relieve politicians of the need to consider labour market reforms to improve labour market performance.     

Industry-specific determinants of vertical intra-industry trade: the case of EU new member states’ agri-food sector

The determinants of intra-industry agri-food trade are analysed to only a limited extent in the literature. This article investigates the industry-specific determinants of vertical intra-industry agri-food trade between new member states of the EU and the other EU countries for the period 1999–2010 by applying a dynamic panel data model. Results suggest that IIT is mainly low vertical in nature, suggesting regional export of low-quality products to EU markets. Results also show that vertical product differentiation and FDI are positively related to VIIT, suggesting that quality growth and investments foster vertical intra-industry trade. As to productivity and factor endowments a negative relationship with VIIT was found, implying the labour abundant and similar nature of NMS agricultural sectors.     

Which sanctions matter? analysis of the EU/russian sanctions of 2014

We use a quasi-natural experiment of reciprocal imposition of trade sanctions by Russia and the EU since 2014. Using UNCTAD/BACI bilateral flows data we take this unique opportunity to analyse both sanctions. In particular, we study the effectiveness of narrow versus broadly defined sanctions, and differences in the effectiveness of sanctions imposed on exports and imports. We show that the Russian sanctions imposed on European and American food imports resulted in about an 8 times stronger decline in trade flows than those imposed by the EU and the US on exports of extraction equipment. These results do not appear to be driven by diversion of trade flows via non-sanctioning countries. Hence the difference in sanctions’ effectiveness can be attributed to the limited retroactivity of Western sanctions, which allowed exemptions for exports made pursuant to contracts made prior to 2014.     

From endogenous growth to stationary state: The world economy in the mathematical formulation of the Ricardian system

We analyse international trade in a Pasinetti–Ricardo growth model in the world economy scenario in which several small trading countries coexist and international commodity prices are determined by the interplay of supply and demand amongst them. We demonstrate that all the trading countries eventually reach the stationary state, though this process is not monotonic and the dynamics of capital and population may actually push some countries towards the stationary state and others away from it. We also use our model to assess an argument which Malthus employed in the second edition of An Essay on the Principle of Population (1803) to support a policy of agricultural protectionism.     

西方国家实施TBT对我国商品出口的影响

新贸易保护主义抬头,西方国家纷纷实施TBT这一效果最显著的非关税壁垒措施限制其它国家尤其是发展中国家的产品出口,这严重阻碍了世界经贸的健康发展.TBT不但是目前我国千方百计扩大出口面临的重大挑战,而且由于经济发展水平低、出口商品结构和档次仍较为落后及国内没有建立自己有效、强有力的TBT体系等因素的影响,在我国积极发展对外经贸事业的今天,技术标准、包装和标签、商品检疫和检验以及环境壁垒等TBT具体措施已严重制约着我国机电、轻工、纺织品、食品土畜产品等出口商品的竞争力,阻碍我国对外经济贸易尤其是出口贸易的发展.     

跨国银行国际监管的新发展及问题分析

近年来,国际社会在增强跨国银行国际监管共识、扩大国际监管范围、加强对大型金融机构的监管、拓展国际监管模式、提高国际监管标准等方面取得了一些新进展。然而,由于监管主体与客体在行政管辖上不一致、各国监管目标和法规差异大、国际监管组织权威性不足、监管规则落后于金融创新等原因,影响了跨国银行国际监管的实际成效。因此,还需要在增强国际组织的代表性和权威性、完善国际监管规则、鼓励双边和区域合作、反对金融保护主义等方面作进一步探索和努力。     

Normative Power Europe and the Moral Economy of Africa–EU Ties: A Conceptual Reorientation of ‘Normative Power’

‘Normative power’ is an increasingly popularised concept in the study of EU external relations in fields including military policy, human rights, and international trade. Defined by Manners, it acknowledges the normative foundations of the European project, examines how Europe acts to (re)shape internationally accepted norms, and makes the claim that Europe ought to influence external partners' conception of ‘normal’ behaviour in pursuit of a just global order. This article, however, argues that a moral economy perspective is central to a critical reorientation of the concept of normative power towards appraisal of discrepancies between nominal EU norms and material EU policy outcomes. Examining Europe's ‘normative power’ in its relations with the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries, it demonstrates how a moral economy of ACP–EU ties has been instituted in negotiation with European ethical norms as to solidarity with ‘the poor’. Nevertheless, the moral economy of ACP–EU ties is seen not to be ‘moral’ in terms of outcomes for vulnerable citizens in ACP countries. Rather the embedding of moral norms concerning pro-poor ‘development’ has rationalised asymmetric economic ties. ‘Normative power’ is understood as the EU's utilisation of moral norms in the public legitimisation and self-rationalisation of geopolitical interest and commercial gain in its relations with external ‘partners’.     

中国花生面临的绿色贸易壁垒及对策研究

文章从中国花生出口面临的绿色贸易壁垒出发,综述了中国及世界主要进口市场对花生的食品卫生安全要求,构建了绿色贸易壁垒影响中国花生出口的模型,最后提出了加强跟踪国际标准、建立GAP和CMP等对策措施。     

Tariffs and economic growth in the first era of globalization

Are liberal trade policies good for growth? Sceptics often point to the late nineteenth century as a period when protectionist policies promoted economic development. This apparent blueprint for the benefits of protectionism paradoxically comes from a period that is often described as the first era of globalization. In this paper we reassess the empirical evidence about the relationship between tariffs and growth between 1870 and 1914. Our key findings challenge the idea that in the nineteenth century countries that raised tariffs thereby increased their own growth rate. Using new and improved data and employing a whole portfolio of econometric tests we do not find evidence that increased protectionism raised the rate of individual countries’ growth. While some positive cross-sectional correlation exists between tariffs and growth, this may reflect unobserved country traits rather than a causal relation. There is equally little evidence that other external factors, such as real exchange rates and terms of trade changes, were key drivers of economic performance. A paradox of this first era of globalization is not that free trade was bad for growth; it is that international economic policies seem to have mattered little to countries’ growth trajectories.     

Environmental policy in the European Union: Fostering the development of pollution havens?

A pollution haven occurs when dirty industries from developed nations relocate to developing nations in order to avoid strict environmental standards or developed nations imports of dirty industries expand replacing domestic production. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the European Union (EU) has increased its imports of “dirty” goods from poorer, less democratic countries during a period of more stringent environmental standards. Previous empirical studies such as those by Levinson and Taylor [Levinson, A., and Taylor, M.S., in press. Unmasking the Pollution Haven Effect. International Economic Review.], Ederington, Levinson and Minier [Ederington, J., Levinson, A., and Minier, J., 2005. Footloose and Pollution-Free. Review of Economics and Statistics., 87: 92-99.], Kahn and Yoshino (2004), and Ederington and Minier [Ederington, J., and Minier. J., 2003. Is Environmental Policy a Secondary Trade Barrier? An Empirical Analysis. Canadian Journal of Economics., 36: 137-54.] find evidence that United States imports are responsive to changes in environmental stringency, but the effects of EU policy have not been examined as thoroughly. Our study follows Kahn [Kahn, M.E., 2003. The Geography of Us Pollution Intensive Trade: Evidence from 1958 to 1994. Regional Science and Urban Economics., 33: 383-400.] and examines the impact of industry energy intensity and toxicity, measured by an energy index and a Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) index, on imports into the EU, at the 2-digit industry level from 1970 to 1999. We use the signing of the Maastricht Treaty to signify a period of more uniform and stringent community wide environmental standards (1993-1999), and identify the level of per capita GDP within an EU trading partner. We find an increased amount of EU energy intensive trade with poorer countries during the period with more stringent EU environmental standards. This result is not robust, however, when poorer countries are defined by OECD membership and geographic region. We do not find an increased amount of EU toxic intensive trade with poorer countries although there is some evidence of increased EU imports of toxic goods from poorer OECD and non-EU European countries. For our full sample of trading partners in all regions, the evidence supports the PHH for EU energy intensive trade, but not for toxic intensive trade. Results for regional trade analysis are less clear.