Aid for trade and export diversification in recipient‐countries

The Aid‐for‐Trade (AfT) Initiative was launched by the Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) with a view to helping developing countries and the least‐developed countries (LDCs) expand their trade. The current paper contributes to the literature on AfT effectiveness by examining how AfT affects recipient‐countries' export product diversification. The analysis has been carried out on a sample of 104 AfT recipient‐countries over the period 2002–2015 and uses the two‐step system generalised methods of moments (GMM) approach. Results show that AfT flows are conducive to export product diversification in recipient‐countries. In addition, the analysis has shown a positive impact of the cumulative AfT flows on the export product diversification path of these countries. These results apply as well to the subsamples of LDCs and other developing countries. One policy implication of these results is that a scale‐up of AfT would help recipient‐countries to diversify their export products baskets and hence facilitate their greater integration into the global trading system.     

The potential of African trade integration – Panel data evidence for the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite

ABSTRACT

The COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite FTA, formed in 2011, is supposed to be a milestone towards Africa's continental trade integration. This study analyzes the impact of regional integration among the Tripartite countries on their bilateral imports before that date to evaluate the latest integration efforts. We estimate an extended gravity model on a large panel of 51 African countries using yearly observations from 1995 to 2010. We proxy existing formal trade barriers by sample average tariff data on imports from the world as well as indicator variables for the membership in regional FTAs. We consider different estimation techniques and discuss distinct sets of fixed effects. The PPML regression results indicate that remaining tariffs are significantly negatively correlated with imports throughout the preferred multiplicative models. An FTA status does not show a clear-cut import enhancing effect. In the specifications that control for country-year effects, the EAC coefficient is positively correlated with imports, and the COMESA and SADC FTA membership show a positive relation to imports within some reduced-sample robustness checks.     

The impact of domestic diversification and top management teams on the international diversification of Chinese firms

Despite increasing research on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by firms from emerging economies, our understanding of the relationship between domestic operations and international diversification of these firms is still limited. Using a unique dataset of Chinese listed firms, we examine the impact of domestic diversification on their international diversification. We find that international diversification is positively affected by firms’ domestic industrial and domestic regional diversification. We also find that top management team (TMT)’s previous international experience strengthens the impact of domestic diversification on firms’ international diversification, whereas TMT's prior political connections weakens the impact of domestic diversification on international diversification.     

Free trade agreement and transport service trade

This study investigates the effects of free trade agreements (FTAs) on trade in transport services using OECD data from 2003 to 2006. Our analysis found that FTAs had a positive overall impact on transport services for multiple countries (i.e., 26 home and 56 partner countries). The resulting positive overall impact assures that, even with the challenges associated with different layers of services and the obstacles formed by generally low trade openness in the sector, the provisions in FTAs (e.g., national treatment and market access for goods and services) promote transport service trades. Our findings suggest that the provisions in FTAs encourage economic agents to increase engagement in transport services because of expanded openness of the physical movement of goods across international borders.     

Overlapping free trade agreements and international trade: A network approach

In our work, we have analysed the effect of the hub‐and‐spoke nature of free trade agreements (FTA s) on trade. Contrary to previous analyses, we have considered the effects of the country's position in the FTA network on the bilateral trade of the hub country. We have conducted an in‐depth analysis of the global network of FTA s, focusing particularly on its evolution in the last 15 years. We have utilised a panel data set covering the period 1960–2010 to investigate the effects of the hub‐and‐spoke on trade. Our results show that the countries that are more connected to FTA s export more than those that are less involved, although not all the partner countries you can connect with are the same. An increase in the number of spokes that have no link between them has, on average, a negative effect on the trade of the hub, which indicates that signing FTA s with every country is not the optimal strategy for increasing trade. However, if we consider the way new FTA s change the relative position of a country, we can see that if new FTA s make the country more central or less constrained in the network, these new agreements have a strongly positive and significant pro‐trade effect.     

中印给非洲经济增长带来契机

<正>世界银行9月17日发布最新报告指出,中国和印度这两个新兴亚洲经济大国近年来在非洲的贸易和投资大幅度增加,可望为非洲的经济增长和创造就业带来巨大的潜力。该报告收集了关于中国和印度企业在非洲经营情况的新证据,发现非洲出口额的27％是面向亚洲,为1990年的3倍。目前非洲对亚洲的出口水平与对传统贸易伙伴美国和欧盟的水平基本相同。与此同时,亚洲对非洲的出口增长速度保持在每年18％,超过对世界其他地区     

澳大利亚对华反倾销法律政策演变和最新发展

自1996年以来,澳大利亚对华反倾销法律政策不断调整?最初澳大利亚认为中国是“非市场经济国家”．后承认中国为“转型经济国家”。判断转型经济国家的正常价值标准由“价格控制”测试变为“市场条件主导”测试。由于澳大利亚海关法作了最新修正,且中澳正在进行双边自由贸易区谈判,澳大利亚目前正处在是否承认中国完全市场经济地位的分水岭时期。     

The impact of geographic diversification on export performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

Two alternative diversification strategies—the geographic diversification of export sales and key market concentration—are extensively discussed in management, strategy, entrepreneurship, and economics literature. However, no conclusive evidence currently exists as to how either of these strategies affects the performance of international sales. This paper contributes to a better understanding of geographic diversification as a key dimension of the internationalization process for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In it, we analyze a comprehensive database of Polish exporters over a 3-year period to better understand the geographic diversification patterns of exporters. Based on this analysis, six propositions emerged from the export patterns examined and two viable strategies for exporting SMEs are identified: (1) concentrating on a single market and (2) a balanced approach aimed at targeting a small number of key markets, combined with a strategy of penetrating other markets. Implications for practice and future research are also discussed herein.     

CAFTA的制度约束与中新双边自由贸易区建设研究

中国—东盟自由贸易区(CAFTA)建设中存在一定的制度约束。近期内东盟内部成员国与中国外贸具有趋同性。东盟成员新加坡的双边自由贸易区建设,对于中国在执行CAFTA的同时积极关注域外双边自由贸易区的合作路径提供了可能。借鉴新加坡的双边自由贸易区建设机制,加快与韩国、日本及印度等不同发展程度国家的贸易磋商与谈判,建立CAFTA域外双边自由贸易区将是中国外贸可持续发展的有效模式。     

The Effects of Cultural Distance,Free Trade Agreements,and Protectionism on Perceived Export Barriers

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the questions as to whether cultural distance and a free trade agreement with a trade bloc, as well as protectionism, have an impact on perceived external export barriers. The evaluation of a mail survey of chief executive officers from 459 Norwegian companies shows that protectionism has a strong significant effect on the level of perceived external export barriers. The cultural distance to the export markets has only a small effect, while the free trade agreement with the European Union has no effect.     

The Role of Multinational Enterprises in West African Regional Economic Integration

Abstract

Studies on regional economic integration in West Africa have concentrated on conventional accounts, which focused primarily on the activities of states and their agencies. The role and activities of actors who play a key function in the political economy of the integrating states and in the integration process are largely ignored or given limited attention. This paper contributes to a better understanding of the integration process in West Africa by exploring the role and the activities of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the development and growth of the Economic Community of West African States (ECO-WAS). Further, this paper contends that MNEs are never passive in market integration. And through their membership in business associations, they participate in the creation, development and growth of the regional scheme. As the winds of economic liberalization and political reforms sweep across the West African subregion, it will become ever more crucial to forge partnerships between multinational enterprises and the host countries with the desire of fostering regional economic     

Domestic institutions and export performance: Evidence for Cambodia

The paper analyzes the relevance of domestic institutions for export performance of Cambodia. Regulatory quality, control of corruption, rule of law, government effectiveness, and political stability are introduced in an augmented gravity model with a panel data set over 1996–2015. The research is the first application to Cambodia, until 2015 a least developed country which is generally believed to have poorly developed institutions. Due to high multicollinearity among the variables, the institutional variables are introduced in the model one by one. Estimation is by the Hausman–Taylor method, which reduces or removes the correlation between the composite error terms and the included variables. All institutional variables show a highly significant positive relationship with Cambodia's exports, with rule of law having the largest impact. It is concluded that the government should give high priority to the further improvements of the legal environment and to strong enforcement of property rights and contracts.     

The GATT and gradualism

This paper shows how the institutional rules imposed on its signatories by the GATT created a strategic incentive for countries to liberalize gradually. Trade liberalization must be gradual, and free trade can never be achieved, if punishment for deviation from an agreement is limited to a ‘withdrawal of equivalent concessions’ and if initial deviation from an agreement is also limited. The paper shows how (sufficiently patient) countries have an incentive to deviate in a limited way when operating under GATT dispute settlement procedures.     

The moderating effect of technology and marketing know-how in the regional-global diversification link: Evidence from emerging market multinationals

In this study, we link regional diversification to global diversification of emerging market multinationals (EMNCs) and explore the importance of firm-specific technology and marketing know-how in that process. We develop our hypotheses and test them using a sample of 625 Chinese manufacturing multinationals across multiple industries. The results reveal that regional diversification predicts global diversification, and that firm-specific technology and marketing know-how both increase the likelihood of a firm’s moving from regional to global operations. Technology know-how was found to be more influential than marketing know-how.     

The great trade collapse and the Spanish export miracle: Firm‐level evidence from the crisis

We provide novel evidence on the microstructure of international trade during the 2008 financial crisis and subsequent global recession by exploring a rich firm‐level data set from Spain. The focus of our analysis is on changes at the extensive and intensive firm‐level margins of trade, as well as on performance differences (jobs, productivity and firm survival) across firms that differ in their export status. We find no adverse effects of the financial crisis on foreign market entry or exit, but a considerable increase in the export intensity of firms after the financial crisis. Moreover, we find that exporters were more resilient to the crisis than non‐exporters. Finally, while exporters showed a significantly more favourable development of total factor productivity after 2009 than non‐exporters, aggregate productivity declined substantially in a large number of industries in Spanish manufacturing. We also briefly explore two factors that might help explain the surprisingly strong export performance of Spain in the aftermath of the great trade collapse: improved aggregate competitiveness due to internal and external devaluation and a substitutive relationship between domestic and foreign sales at the firm level.     

重庆市产业结构对经济增长的影响——基于面板模型分析

利用重庆市各区县1999-2010年的经济数据,从个体及时间两方面,分析重庆市产业结构对经济增长的整体影响,从而解释产业结构带动经济的增长方式,进而对产业结构布局提出一些建议:集中资金技术、人力发展第二产业;同时加大发展第三产业。     

WTO视角下中国(上海)自由贸易试验区知识产权保护问题探析

中国(上海)自由贸易试验区(简称"上海自贸区")不是世界贸易组织体制下的国际自由贸易区,而是根据《中国加入世界贸易组织议定书》所建立的国内特殊经济区。知识产权保护是世界贸易组织密切关注的重要议题,上海自贸区知识产权保护也是不可回避的焦点问题。"一线监管放开"的上海自贸区不是知识产权侵权的避风港,上海自贸区应当加强知识产权保护政策体系建设,严格知识产权海关执法;利用"先行先试"的优惠政策,在知识产权管理和执法体制方面为促进和完善国家知识产权政策体系提供示范效应,并为知识产权规则的国际协调提供实证支持。     

《反假冒贸易协定》对我国企业商标的影响及对策研究

2011年,由欧、美、日等知识产权强权国家发起的《反假冒贸易协定》(AC-TA)生效,其矛头直指中国。ACTA的生效对中国的商标制度及涉及商标的进出口贸易都会产生巨大影响,中国在国际商标保护方面将面临更大的压力。研究ACTA对我国企业商标制度的影响并分析应对之策,意义重大。