Trade liberalisation and endogenous growth: Some evidence for Turkey

This paper examines the impact of trade liberalisation on the long-run economic development as measured by the real GDP per capita in Turkey. Based on the endogenous growth theory, we employ bivariate and multivariate cointegration analyses to test the long-run relationship among the relevant variables. Results for Turkey suggest a stable, joint long-run relationship among real GDP per capita, an index of trade liberalisation, human and physical capital in accordance with the endogenous growth theory. Statistically significant error-correction terms provide further evidence that those variables are indeed cointegrated. This also implies causal effects.     

The CAP: History and attempts at reform

This article outlines the economic consequences of the CAP, including the high level of protection, the burdens on consumers, taxpayers and the EU budget, environmental damage, the harm to international trading relations, and the failure to raise farmers' incomes. The numerous unsuccessful attempts at reform from 1968 to 1999 are described. Finally, some of the lessons of the reform attempts are drawn, including the apparent political impossibility of reducing farm support and bureaucratic intervention once it is in place.     

欧盟技术性贸易壁垒透析

欧盟凭借在科技、管理、环保等方面的优势制定并实施了大量的技术性贸易措施,本文重点分析介绍了欧盟以技术法规、技术标准、合格评定程序为主要内容的技术性贸易壁垒.     

Trade liberalisation and agglomeration with firm heterogeneity: Forward and backward linkages

This paper studies the impact of trade cost reductions on the geographical concentration of manufacturing in the presence of intermediate input linkages, firm heterogeneity and fixed export costs. The presence of non-exporting firms in this Melitz-like model hampers full agglomeration by weakening the forward and backward linkages and fortifying market-crowding effect. Gradual trade liberalisation causes gradual agglomeration rather than the catastrophic agglomeration that economic geography models have long suggested. Also, trade liberalisation produces divergent welfare effects with the periphery losing and the core gaining; even costless trade fails to equalise welfare in the core and periphery due to non-exported intermediate inputs.     

UK Intra-industry Trade with the EU North and South

This paper tests the traditional country and industry hypotheses of intra-industry trade (IIT) in vertically and horizontally differentiated products in the context of the UK's bilateral trade with EU countries. It distinguishes empirically between IIT in vertically and horizontally differential goods, between trade with EU 'North' and 'South' and between the effects of using GDP proxies and direct measures of national factor endowment differences. The paper shows that the robustness of the results of earlier multi-country studies are open to challenge, that the separation of IIT into vertical and horizontal IIT offers an important innovation to the empirical work in this area and that further development of large numbers models of IIT in quality differentiated goods is required.     

The failure of CAP reform: a public choice analysis1

This paper uses public choice theories to explain why agricultural subsidies were centralised and why this hinders reform. It shows that the Commission is not responsible for the expansion of the CAP by arguing that budget‐maximising behaviour is irrational in the circumstances and that bureau shaping explains its stance on reform. The input process and the success of agricultural groups vis‐à‐vis consumer and taxpayer groups is explained using both the pluralist and Olsonian account of interest group politics. The conclusion analyses the latest difficulties in achieving reform at Berlin and the prospects for reform.     

我国输欧消费品技术性贸易壁垒的新进展

2004～2009年,欧盟对华产品通报始终位居RAPEX系统首位。2009年,欧盟发布对华通报1993项,相比2008年增幅达7％。2009年,欧盟连续发布多项关于消费品和消费品中化学物质的安全指令,我国输欧消费品面临的技术性贸易壁垒形势愈加严峻。文章在统计和分析欧盟RAPEX对华产品通报新进展的基础上,围绕2009年欧盟新出台的法规与指令展开研究,综合分析了导致我国输欧消费品遭受技术性贸易壁垒的多方面因素,最后提出了应对策略与建议。     

欧盟贸易协定新进展及中欧经贸关系展望

近年来,欧盟根据国际经贸形势的变化,更加重视对外贸易协定的签订并取得了新的进展。欧盟与加拿大、日本、越南签署完成新的自由贸易协定,丰富了国际贸易中的条约实践。欧盟-日本经济伙伴关系协定大大提升了双方市场的开放程度,是对逆全球化风潮的有力回击;欧盟-加拿大全面经济贸易协定中规定的投资法院制度,是解决国际贸易争端的司法化尝试。欧盟签订的一系列新的对外贸易协定,给我国带来了一定影响。对此,应当采取针对性的措施维护我国的利益,同时继续推进中欧双边贸易协定的谈判。     

Agricultural incomes and the CAP

Concern with the living standards of farmers is central to the CAP yet it demonstrates the muddled objectives, inappropriate indicators and misdirected interventions that are the stuff of analysts' worst nightmares. As a consequence, the performance of the CAP in terms of this fundamental aim has, in all likelihood, been very poor. Attempts to reorientate the CAP to be more in line with its declared objectives face enormous vested interests in the agricultural industry and among policy-makers.     

Making unilateral trade liberalisation beneficial to the poor

In this paper, we investigate the impacts of unilateral import liberalisation by a representative South Asian developing economy, Nepal, and demonstrate those conditions required to make the impacts ‘pro-poor.’ Applying the Computable General Equilibrium model to Social Accounting Matrix data, we conclude that import liberalisation is growth-enhancing but that, unfortunately, the rich benefit more than do the poor. We envisage a restructured but plausible model economy that requires a transformational period of ten years, and simulate unilateral trade liberalisation but, in the context of a dynamic model. We conclude that improvement in efficiency parameters, reorganisation of investment patterns, along with reallocation of factors of production by both household group and activity type are required to make growth accrued by import liberalisation ‘pro-poor’ in developing economies such as that of Nepal.     

The Costs of the CAP

What are the effects of the CAP? Professor Thompson of Aberdeen University analyses the costs of the Common Agricultural Policy.     

a students'guide to the CAP

Linda Whetstone, farmer and economist, gives a brief account of the ill-effects of the Common Agricultural Policy. Is there nothing good to say about the CAP - only that it has increased the availability of supplies but at enormous cost?     

The CAP and the Economics of Regulation

Are the effects of regulation always bad? Catherine Blight of the University of Edinburgh argues that in certain circumstances regulation can offer a ‘second-best’ solution.     

Liberating Farming from the CAP

Global food producers face severe challenges in feeding the world's population at affordable prices. It is therefore essential that EU agricultural policy now focuses on maximising the Community's food production. This is only likely to be achieved if direct income payments are rapidly phased out allowing the industry to restructure, which will involve the concentration of production on larger‐scale farms.     

Earn Votes by Cutting the CAP

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) survives despite unprecedented popular opposition in all countries, Linda Whetstone (above), of the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, suggests drastic liberalization would bring political reward.     

Trade policies in Central Asia after EU enlargement and before Russian WTO accession: Regionalism and integration into the world economy

This paper analyses the choices between regionalism and multilateralism, and the impact of WTO membership on the five Central Asian countries. The two main sections analyse (1) why the large number of regional trade agreements signed by the Central Asian countries had little economic impact, and (2) the consequences for these countries of WTO accession. The Central Asian countries’ relationship to the WTO became more pressing after China's WTO accession in December 2001 and with imminent Russian accession. The push towards regionalism is also affected by external events, such as the introduction of the euro, and the EU's eastward expansion in 2004.     

Globalisation and technological convergence in the EU

We employ a two-step approach in investigating the dynamic transmission channels under which globalization factors foster technical efficiency by combining a dynamic efficiency analysis in the stochastic frontier framework, and a time series approach based on VAR and spectral analysis. Using the dataset of the 18 EU countries over 1970–2004, we find that both import and FDI are significant factors in spreading efficiency externalities and thus accelerating technology catch-up in the EU. In particular, the impacts of the import are more prominent in the short-run while those of FDI play a more important role over the longer-run. Furthermore, the impacts of the import are pro-cyclical only in the short-run whereas those of FDI are pro-cyclical mostly over the medium- to the long-run. This evidence is broadly consistent with the sample observation that the recent slowdown of the EU productivity has been closely related to the corresponding FDI decline especially after 2000. Hence, any protection-oriented policy will be likely to be more detrimental for the EU.     

The CAP is Destroying the EEC

The Common Agricultural Policy of the European Economic Community threatens to pull Europe apart. Seven eminent German economists, the Kronberger Kreis, demonstrate the political and economic tailings of the CAP. They argue in this short version prepared by Dr klaus Peter Krause of a book to be published in German that without radical reform the CAP will continue to generate massive wastage, subvent the efforts of farmers throughout the Community, provoke widespread political tension both inside and outside the Community, and force unnecessarily high prices on consumers. Two British commentators examine the importance of the Kronberger Kreis Supplement for the agricultural markets in Europe and the Third World.