Singapore’s Bilateral Merchandise Trade Linkages with Japan and the United States: Trends,Patterns and Comparisons

This paper analyses and compares trends and patterns in Singapore’s bilateral merchandise trade relations with its two largest trading partners, Japan and the United States (US). Over the period 1976-1992, the analyses reveal that both Japan and the US have been relatively over-represented as Singapore’s trade partners. However, whereas Singapore’s trade with Japan has become more intensive in recent years, that with the US has become less so. Computations reveal that the degree as well as level of Singapore’s intra-industry trade with the US has exceeded that with Japan. Nevertheless, while the degree of Singapore’s intra-industry trade with Japan has been consistently increasing since 1981, bilateral trade with the US since 1987 has become increasingly inter- rather than intra-industry. The important nexus between trade and FDI is also highlighted.     

A review of trade trends: South Africa and the Indian Ocean Rim

Since 1990, intense diplomatic efforts have taken place to secure and negotiate trade treaties with South Africa's traditional trading partners (the European Union, in particular) and those countries in close geographic proximity. This article examines South Africa's trade links with some of its ‘non‐traditional’ trading partners, in particular the countries of the Indian Ocean Rim (IOR), in an attempt to ascertain the nature of the trade and its importance vis‐a‐vis the rest of the world. An examination of trade data for the years 1992‐5 indicates that trade with the IOR consists mainly of the mutual exchange of natural resource products and that this trade is growing much faster than South Africa ‘s trade in general. Given this trade dynamism, South Africa should pay increasing attention to international relations with these countries. South African trade with the Rim was also found to differ from trade with the rest of the world in that it comprises the mutual exchange of natural resource‐based products. This research shows that our imports and exports are positively related to the gross domestic product of our trading partners, and negatively related to their population size and distance from South Africa. Also, more open economies have absorbed more exports from South Africa. There is some ambiguity as to the role that distance plays in determining the level of imports into this country. The intensity indices computed in this article have to be viewed in the light of this research.     

“湾区经济”与东亚湾区城市经济合作——“上东首”自贸区的构建

中国经济的发展,在不同的阶段体现出不同的区域布局特征,区域布局的优化与升级推动着中国经济的发展。目前,中国的区域布局正在进行新一轮的优化与升级,由内陆、流域、"三角"的布局向境外、海洋、"湾区"延伸,即由珠三角、长三角、京津冀向粤港澳、沪宁杭、黄渤海三个大湾区延伸——中国的区域布局进入"湾区时代"。而不同的区域布局又与不同形式的开放联系在一起。粤港澳大湾区的开放延伸到境外——港澳,而沪宁杭、黄渤海两大湾区则应根据其自身的区位和地缘优势推动形成新的开放格局。经济发展提出了新的深度国际合作的需要,在新近签署的RCEP协定基础上推出RCEP+中日韩(1+3),推进中日韩自由贸易区协定签署,同时,构建上(海)东(京)首(尔)"金三角"城市自由贸易区,再将整个沪宁杭、黄渤海城市群纳入整个东亚湾区开放体系,作为"东亚合作的战略承载区和先行区",将会形成亚太地区以至整个世界经济新的增长极,并对世界的产业链和供应链产生深刻影响,有助于带动世界经济走出低迷状态。     

Singapore's Bilateral Merchandise Trade Linkages with Japan and the United States: Trends,Patterns and Comparisons*

This paper analyses and compares trends and patterns in Singapore's bilateral merchandise trade relations with its two largest trading partners, Japan and the United States (US). Over the period 1976–1992, the analyses reveal that both Japan and the US have been relatively over-represented as Singapore's trade partners. However, whereas Singapore's trade with Japan has become more intensive in recent years, that with the US has become less so. Computations reveal that the degree as well as level of Singapore's intra-industry trade with the US has exceeded that with Japan. Nevertheless, while the degree of Singapore's intra-industry trade with Japan has been consistently increasing since 1981, bilateral trade with the US since 1987 has become increasingly inter- rather than intra-industry. The important nexus between trade and FDI is also highlighted.     

Comparing Economic Interdependence and the Structure of Industry in the ASEAN-4: an International Input-Output Approach

Structural adjustment policies have been adopted in the ASEAN-4 countries. The policy changes were intended to shift manufacturing from import substitution to export promotion. We assess how successful this was using the Asian International Input-Output Tables for 1975 and 1985. The success of structural adjustment is verified, as the number of export-led industrial sectors increased in each of the ASEAN-4 countries. The 1-0 tables are used to evaluate the similarity of industrial technologies and input structures of the ASEAN-4, Japan, and other Pacific Rim economies. While there are some similarities in industrial technologies with Japan, input structures are dissimilar. Interdependence increased between the ASEAN-4, Japan and the United States. Increases in US final demand had a larger impact on ASEAN-4 textile exports, however, than did increases in Japanese final demand.     

新世纪中亚国家能源地位变化的实证分析

鉴于中亚国家在世界能源市场中竞争地位的凸显,本文采用聚类分析法,选取了12个主要经济体作为样本,对新世纪中亚国家的能源生产、消费及出口在世界能源市场中的地位予以分析。分析得出：从生产地位来看,中亚国家与世界主要能源生产国同属一类;从消费地位来看,中亚国家不属于世界主要的能源消费国;从出口地位来看,其生产地位和消费地位共同决定了中亚国家在世界能源市场中的出口地位越来越重要;综合能源生产、消费和出口地位来看,中亚国家在世界能源市场中的竞争地位凸显,与美国、俄罗斯、伊朗、埃及和印度同属一类。同时,分析还显示,与拥有丰富能源资源的中亚国家开展合作应该有利于解决我国能源短缺问题。     

Regional Trade Agreements in East Asia: Will They Be Sustainable?*

By assessing the sustainability of regional trade agreements (RTAs) for East Asia, we quantitatively evaluate the likely impact of proposed East Asian RTA strategies on the East Asian economies and the world economy with respect to consumption, production, volume of trade and terms of trade effects by applying a multi‐country and multi‐sector computable general equilibrium model. These strategies include: (i) the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA: a being‐left‐alone strategy); (ii) an ASEAN Hub RTA (a hub‐and‐spoke type of overlapping RTA strategy); (iii) the AFTA versus a China–Japan–Korea RTA (a duplicating or competing RTA strategy); and (iv) an ASEAN+3 RTA (an expansionary RTA strategy). We find that an expansionary ASEAN+3 RTA could be a sustainable policy option because the members’ gains would be significantly positive, with more equitably distributed gains between members than when using other strategies. The effect on world welfare would also be positive and the negative effect on nonmembers would not be very strong. More interestingly, if the East Asian countries cooperate with Pacific Basin countries to form an APEC‐level RTA, such as a free trade area of the Asia‐Pacific, the extension of the regional trade bloc might be considered a more desirable policy option than the proposed East Asian RTAs for East Asian economies, even though countries excluded from the free trade area of the Asia Pacific are worse off.     

The Evolution and Reshaping of Globalization: A Perspective Based on the Development of Regional Trade Agreements

With the weakening role of the World Trade Organization multilateral trading system, the globalization pattern is moving toward regional economic integration. As a result, the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has rapidly increased. New trends in international economics and trade, such as the withdrawal of the US from the Trans‐Pacific Partnership and the trade disputes between the US and China, have revealed the intention of the developed countries represented by the US to reshape the direction of globalization. This paper combines the relevant research conclusions and current stylized facts to examine the evolution and reshaping of globalization. We find that: (i) countries have different attitudes toward the recent round of globalization, which are related to changes in the patterns of income distribution within countries caused by the last round of globalization; and (ii) regional economic development is an effective way to reshape globalization. The self‐strengthening effect of the hub country in the trade network has promoted global RTA expansion.     

Demand patterns and Canada’s trade in services

Canada’s trade in commercial services appears inconsistent with what manufacturing-oriented Heckscher-Ohlin theory predicts. Canada’s services trade is overwhelmingly intra-industry, involving countries whose factor proportions and demand patterns are similar—findings consistent with the ‘new’ trade theory, and the Linder hypothesis: that there is a uni-directional causal relationship flowing from the similarity (convergence) in demand patterns amongst trading partners, to Canada’s exports to those partners. Support for this conjecture is found for the US, the UK, and Japan. We infer that liberalization of trade in commercial services is likely welfare enhancing, with gains greater within trade arrangements and entities such as the NAFTA, the EU, and the OECD.     

Who Influences the Asian–Pacific Real Estate Markets: The US,Japan or China?

As rapid economic growth in China has led to significant appreciation of urban real estate market values, this study examines China's influence on Asian–Pacific real estate markets by focusing on their respective market integration with the US, Japan and China during the period January 2005 to December 2017. Market integration is examined by unconditional and time‐varying conditional correlations, nonlinear Granger causality and dynamic connectedness effects. Overall, although the US and Japanese real estate markets have significantly influenced return and volatility in the regional markets, China has emerged as another major regional real estate volatility leader with rising influence over volatility integration, especially during the 2007–2011 crisis period. Financial crises have strengthened China's volatility connectedness effects and market integration with other Asian–Pacific real estate markets. Our results imply that the benefits of regional portfolio diversification may be declining as volatility integration across the Chinese and Asian–Pacific real estate markets becomes stronger. Therefore, diversified global investors should pay greater attention to these real estate markets.     

Yen bloc or koala bloc? Currency relationships after the East Asian crisis

During the 1990s, several studies found evidence for a “yen bloc”, a significant and strengthening relationship between the Japanese yen and East Asian currencies possibly due to regional trade and investment by Japan. It appears that the Australian dollar now plays a similar role in the East Asian region, and the linkages between the Australian dollar and the Asian currencies show as much support for a “koala bloc” as a “yen bloc”. This study concludes that the US dollar appears to have declined in importance in post-1997 crisis East Asia, while Australia and Japan are becoming increasingly important regional influences.     

Expansion of EU's Free Trade Agreements into Asian Countries and Its Impact on the Chinese Economy

Abstract

This study investigates the macroeconomic impact of EU's free trade agreements with Asian countries and the US on the Chinese economy. In addition we examine the impacts on the Chinese industry output based on the framework of production network and production fragmentation. The expansion of the EU's economic reach toward ASEAN and Japan through free trade agreement will generate a positive macroeconomic effect on negotiation participants while it generates a negative effect on the Chinese economy: Some portions of existing trade and foreign direct investment will be shifted to partner countries from non-partner countries. However, according to a sectorial analysis, EU's free trade agreements with three countries result in a positive impact on China's electronics and machinery industry, because China's industry is linked to the production fragmentation and foreign affiliates play a crucial role.     

The Impact of COVID-19 on Chinese trade and production: An empirical analysis of processing trade with Japan and the US

The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted international trade, leading countries to grapple with product shortages and firms to experience major supply chain issues. These challenges increased production costs and significantly contributed to lower trade and higher inflation. In this paper, we examine the impact of COVID-19 on Chinese trade through its two main trading partners: Japan and the US. By differentiating products by product type and processing status, we find evidence that products in the middle of the global supply chain were most affected by the pandemic and that the severity of the shock depends on the partner country’s role in the global supply chain. Additionally, we find that Chinese exports are more impacted than Chinese imports, regardless of processing status. These findings are largely consistent with economic theory. Understanding that the effects of global shocks vary by product and country will help guide policies that minimize supply chain disruptions.     

TRADE PATTERNS AND EXCHANGE RATE REGIMES: TESTING THE ASIAN CURRENCY BASKET USING AN INTERNATIONAL INPUT‐OUTPUT SYSTEM

This paper aims at analyzing exchange rates and trade patterns of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, China, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan in relation to Japan and the United States, with reference to the Asian currency crises in 1997. In order to analyze these issues, we constructed an international input‐output model linked with macroeconometric models of the ten countries/regions. Analyses on the Asian exchange rates with a currency basket peg framework show that the Asian exchange rate policy was the de‐facto dollar peg policy. As for trade patterns in relation to the yen‐dollar rate; when a country/region's industrial structure is similar to that of Japan's and the yen is weak, the appropriate change of the yen's weight proves to hold its competitiveness. By contrast, the weak yen shows a decrease of its imports, regarding complementary structure. In either case, however, effects are limited.     

Decomposing China–Japan–U.S. trade: Vertical specialization,ownership, and organizational form

We use the US International Trade Commission's uniquely detailed 1995–2007 Chinese Customs data to better understand the pattern of trade between China and its two largest trading partners, Japan and the United States. Our review finds that only a small share of these flows can be characterized as arm's length, one-way trade in final goods. Instead, we find extensive two-way trade, deep vertical specialization, concentration of trade in computer and communication devices, and a prominent role for foreign-invested enterprises. While these characteristics define both bilateral relationships, important differences between the two pairs do emerge, suggesting that trade costs influence the method by which multinationals choose to integrate their production with China. Consequently, we argue that dialogue on East Asian trade liberalization should include the possibility of significant production gains for the US from its inclusion in any regional agreements.     

Trade Specialization in Latin America: The Impact of China and India

This paper examines the extent to which the growth of China and India in world markets is affecting the patterns of trade specialization in Latin American (LA) economies. We construct a measure of Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) by 3-digit ISIC sector, country, and year. This RCA accounts for both imports and exports. The empirical analyses explore the correlation between the RCAs of LA and the two Asian economies. Econometric estimates suggest that the specialization pattern of LA—with the exception of Mexico—has been moving in opposite direction to the trade specialization pattern of China and India. Labor-intensive sectors (both unskilled and skilled) probably have been negatively affected by the growing presence of China and India in world markets, while natural resource and scientific knowledge intensive sectors have probably benefited from China and India’s growth since 1990. JEL no.  F10, F14     

Air Transport in the Asian–Pacific Region

Air transport in the Asian–Pacific region is growing faster than anywhere else. Asian airlines (other than Japanese) are the lowest cost operators in the world. But like all airlines, they operate in a tightly regulated framework. Some 2000 bilateral air service agreements among 160 countries specify which airline flies on a route, what capacity it offers and how much capacity third–country airlines are allowed. The regulatory system is now coming under various pressures: from the growth of a tourist industry demanding lower fares, from increased competition with the emergence of a new generation of low–cost airlines, and from the US ‘mega carriers’ and their alliances. The airlines of the region have the opportunity to benefit from these changes in the regulatory environment. But this will require a more trade–oriented approach to aviation than some countries of the region now have. A number of guiding principles for civil aviation policy in the 1990s suggest themselves

• ? More liberal arrangements for the allocation of traffic rights would benefit the regional economies
• ? Such liberalization is possible within the current bilateral system, but faster progress would be achieved through regional negotiations
• ? Such regional negotiations are likely to make greater progress if conducted jointly with other trade issues
• ? There remains a role for GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) type arrangements, especially in relation to so–called ‘soft rights’, and in laying down ground rules for regional negotiations.

     

中日跨境数字贸易规模测度分析

日本作为数字贸易发展大国和发展强国,在数字贸易规则制定权和相关领域话语权方面与中国存在一定的竞争。分析中日跨境数字贸易规模,有利于理解日本数字贸易发展情况,明确日本在数字贸易格局中所处的地位。从具体构成来看,中日跨境数字订购贸易和跨境数字交付贸易规模均不断扩大,2015年开始前者占据中日跨境数字贸易主体地位,后者比重呈下降趋势。两种贸易模式下日本均处于顺差地位且顺差呈扩大趋势,说明与中国相比日本在数字贸易领域拥有较强的国际竞争力。整体看来,中日跨境数字贸易呈持续增长态势,在中日进出口贸易中的占比不断提升,契合数字经济时代国际贸易发展规律。     

International monetary transmission in East Asia: Floaters,non-floaters,and capital controls

This paper analyzes the impacts of the United States (US) monetary shocks on East Asian countries using structural vector-autoregression (VAR) model. We find that the impacts of the US monetary shocks on East Asian domestic interest rates and exchange rates contradict conventional wisdom. The conventional exchange rate channel is unlikely to play much role in the transmission of the US monetary policy shocks to floaters in East Asian countries, excluding Japan. In these countries, the domestic interest rates respond strongly to the US interest rate changes, by giving up monetary autonomy, probably because of fear of floating. However, the domestic interest rate does not respond much in countries with fixed exchange rate regimes and capital account restrictions, such as China and Malaysia. This may suggest that the countries with fixed exchange rate regimes enjoy a higher degree of monetary autonomy, most likely with the help of capital account restrictions.     

广场协议后日本对外直接投资的影响因素实证分析

日本拥有庞大的海外投资,日本对外直接对外投资的研究一直备受关注。广场协议是日本对外直接投资的转折点,通过分析日本对外直接投资数据,实证分析发现广场协议之后日元汇率和日本的国际贸易额度是影响日本直接对外投资的重要因素。日元汇率的升高对增加日本直接对外投资有着明显的促进作用。日本的直接对外投资与国际贸易额度的关系是互补性的。随着日本国际贸易额的增加,也促进了日本的对外直接投资额的增加。