Effects of multilateral and preferential trade policy reform in Africa: The case of Uganda

Abstract

This paper estimates the effects on production, trade and economic welfare of current trade policy regimes throughout the world on Uganda relative to other economies. This will be a benchmark against which to examine various multilateral and preferential trade policy scenarios that might emerge over the next decade as part of the WTO's Doha Round and from the expected move later this decade towards Economic Partnership Agreements with the European Union. The results suggest modest gains or worse for Uganda, in part because it already has low tariffs and ready preferential access to rich-country markets. Several important caveats to this type of analysis are stressed though, before drawing out some trade and policy implications for Uganda.     

Estimating the impact of trade specialization and trade policy on poverty in developing countries

This paper investigates the impact of trade specialization on poverty. The empirical findings show that in developing countries manufacturing exports contribute to poverty reduction. But agricultural exports have a more significant effect on poverty in low-income countries. The analysis also confirms that trade specialization reduces poverty but under specific trade specialization patterns and policy conditions.     

农业国内支持政策研究综述

农业的弱质性和多功能性为农业国内支持政策提供理论依据,各国普遍对农业实施农业国内支持政策。由于OECD成员国在基期国内支持水平很高以及WTO农业协议与新一轮WTO谈判的约束,国外普遍利用定量的方法研究农业支持的消减、农业谈判、欧盟扩大和农业补贴的效率等国内支持相关问题;国内有关农业国内支持的研究一般停留在定性方面,农业国内支持的定量研究尤其是优化研究很少。因此,研究如何不断提高我国农业国内支持水平,优化国内支持结构,建立合理的农业国内支持政策体系,具有一定的理论意义与实践价值。     

The impact of agricultural and trade policies on price transmission: The case of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

This paper examines the extent and speed of price transmission from international to local markets in two transition economies, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The two countries have similar economic backgrounds, but a notable difference is that Tajikistan has adopted a more liberal agricultural trade regime than Uzbekistan. We use a vector error correction model to analyse how global agricultural prices are transmitted to domestic food prices in the two countries. We find strong cointegration between world market and domestic prices in Tajikistan for food crops but not meat, and no cointegration in Uzbekistan.     

The saving rate and the upgrade of the trade commodity structure in developing countries: A dynamic H–O model under an oligopolistic market structure

This paper constructs an oligopolistic dynamic Heckscher–Ohlin (H–O) model of a small open economy to analyze the relationship between the saving rate and the upgrade of the trade commodity structure. The analysis shows that the saving rate determines the trade commodity structure of a country in the long-run equilibrium. Furthermore, a developing country with a low capital–labor ratio in the initial state will change from exporting labor-intensive goods in the initial state to exporting capital-intensive goods in the long-run equilibrium if it has a higher saving rate, and this upgrade of trade commodity structure has a social welfare effect under an oligopolistic market structure. The effect of trade policy on the upgrade of the trade commodity structure is uncertain in our model; therefore, a high saving rate is the irreplaceable driving force for trade commodity structure upgrades in developing countries.     

The welfare effects of free trade agreements in quantitative trade models: A comparison of studies about Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

We compare different methodological approaches to predicting the welfare effects of trade policy experiments. We focus on studies that estimate the economic effects of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Methodologically, the studies can be divided into those employing computable general equilibrium (CGE) models and structural gravity (SG) models. We compare and critically discuss differences in the estimated trade cost reductions and in the economic models employed, and how these can explain the relatively wide range of economic effects found in the different TTIP studies. We conclude that reasonable estimates of the welfare effects for the TTIP partners are between 0.5% and 2%.     

Perceived buyer satisfaction and selling pressure versus pricing policy: A comparative study of retailers in ten developing countries

Observation of retail practices in ten developing countries in Asia, Africa, and South America explored the relationship between perceived buyer satisfaction and selling pressure as they relate to pricing policy. The study found that price bargaining appears more prevalent in Asia than in South America, and buyer satisfaction was lower for retailers that bargain than for retailers using a fixed-price policy. Selling pressure was higher among retailers that bargain than retailers using a one-price-for-all policy. There were, however, several interesting intercountry differences.     

e-banking culture: A comparison of EU 27 countries and Portuguese case in the EU 27 retail banking context

The aim of this research is two-fold. Firstly we conducted a wise comparative analysis of EU 27 countries and secondly we identified distinct e-banking user segments of Portuguese citizens. We used a questionnaire for data collection (n=2358) and Latent Class Models (LCM) for data analysis. LCM revealed three segments in EU 27 (Portugal is in the poorest cluster, concerning the indicators used, with Greece, Spain and Cyprus) and two e-banking user segments in Portuguese citizens: Those who do not risk (49%), and Those who risk (51%). Our findings enable e-banking managers for taking appropriate strategic decisions.     

巴西农业支持水平及支持政策分析——基于OECD最新农业政策分析框架

20世纪80年代以来,巴西农业发展迅速,除了拥有丰富的农业自然资源之外,政府所采取的一系列农业支持政策对农业发展的贡献也不容忽视。在对比和介绍OECD与WTO的农业政策评价方法和指标的基础上,对巴西农业政策支持水平、支持结构演变特征进行了分析总结。在支持结构特征的研究中,阐述了巴西主要的支持政策工具、措施和目的。在此基础上提出对中国农业政策调整的理论建议。     

出口贸易对我国城镇贫困的影响——基于1985—2005年中国数据的协整分析和格兰杰因果检验

贸易自由化能够通过很多渠道影响发展中国家贫困人口的生活状况,但理论分析和经验验证都表明其效果是不明确的。在总结相关文献的基础上,利用1985—2005年的数据,对我国出口贸易和城镇贫困之间的关系进行协整分析和格兰杰因果检验。结果表明,出口贸易降低了我国三种城镇贫困人口的收入份额,但缩小了他们内部的收入差距。对于这一不同于传统贸易理论的事实,可以从城乡劳动力流动等角度进行解释。     

Investigating exchange rate shocks on agricultural trade balance: The case of Tunisia

The paper studies the impact of changes in Tunisia's exchange rate on the net external position of the agricultural sector. It shows that substitutability on production and consumption among domestically produced goods leads to an ambiguous impact for reasons that go beyond the Marshall-Lerner condition. Using cointegration techniques to disentangle the long and short-run impact of changes in the exchange rate on the net agricultural trade balance, we find that the depreciation of the domestic currency leads to a deterioration of the net external position of Tunisia's agricultural sector in the long-run.     

Impact of political dispute on international trade based on an international trade Inoperability Input-Output Model: A case study of the 2012 Diaoyu Islands Dispute

While political disputes occur frequently and widely among many countries, their impact on the international trade is unclear and less systematically investigated. Considering the 2012 Diaoyu Islands Dispute, under several premised assumptions, this paper applies the international trade Inoperability Input-Output Model to determine the indirect economic loss and to screen out Chinese industries that are sensitive to the dispute. Results based on Leontief's technical coefficients matrix show that the total indirect economic loss of China's gross trade is between RMB 540.4226 billion and RMB 1023.3068 billion. Industries that are sensitive to the dispute include electrical equipment and machinery, general special equipment manufacturing, metal smelting and rolling processing, manufacture and processing of metals and metal products, and chemical. The empirical findings suggest that China establish an early-warning mechanism and trade assistance system, so that key industries that were damaged could be properly compensated.     

The Effects of Real Exchange Rate on Trade Balance and Domestic Output: A Case of Malaysia

The main objective of this study is to determine the effects of real exchange rate changes on the real Malaysian trade balance and the domestic output during the pegged exchange rate regime, 1977:1–1998:2, using quarterly data. The cointegration results suggest that a real ringgit exchange rate depreciation improves the Malaysian balance of trade in the long run. The impulse response analysis suggests that the effects of a depreciation of ringgit on the trade balance and domestic output are quite similar. A devaluation will initially improve the trade balance and domestic output, after which the trade balance starts to deteriorate and then the recession sets in, but subsequently both the trade balance and domestic output improve.     

建立ECFA对海峡两岸农产品生产与贸易的影响——基于局部均衡COMPAS模型的研究

文章基于局部均衡COMPAS模型,从产业层面上分析了两岸经济合作框架协议(ECFA)影响两岸特定行业的产出、就业、贸易等经济活动的内在机理。基于近年来两岸农产品生产与贸易的相关数据,就ECFA对两岸农产品生产和贸易的影响大小进行了模拟分析。结果表明:由于两岸农产品在产品品质与上市时间等方面存在较大差异,建立ECFA对大陆和台湾农产品生产的冲击都非常有限;ECFA的建立将极大地推动两岸农产品贸易,台湾农产品对大陆出口大约会增加14%,大陆农产品对台湾出口大约会增加17%。     

Propagation of changes in demand through international trade: A case study of China

China’s economy, the second largest in the world, is undergoing a fundamental transition. Its transition from a strong focus on investment and exports towards a larger share of consumption could have important ramifications for China’s trading partners. Using China as a case study, this paper deploys a sectoral input–output (IO) analysis to take into account higher‐round spillovers from a reduction of import demand or a shift in the composition of the Chinese economy. This approach demonstrates strong indirect effects that exceed by far the initial shock from direct trade links, reflecting China’s integration into a closely knit global value chain. The result suggests that the ongoing transition in China will have important effects on the global economy.     

The impact of long-term secured loans on exports at the firm-level: The case of a developing country

We analyze the role of the accumulation of long-term secured loans on the participation of firms in exporting activities. Internal sources of finance, such as cash balance and its equivalent as well as operating cash flow, may alleviate concerns on liquidity shocks and finance shorter-term variable costs but long-term secured loans are likely to be required to finance fixed costs related to investments in plant, machinery and other fixed assets that complement exporting activities. Exporting activities may involve hysteresis such that the likelihood of a firm to participate in exporting activities is influenced by the accumulation of long-term secured loans in the period prior to the export transactions. Even though the availability of internal sources of finance and the capital structure of a firm has greater economic significance, we observe that lagged long-term secured loans influences participation in exporting activities. Furthermore, we analyze the impact of one-year lagged long-term secured loans on the participation of firms in exporting activities based on the financial characteristics at the industry-level. This relationship holds for firms within industries with higher levels of long-term secured loans, higher levels of finance leverage, higher levels of asset tangibility and lower levels of total assets.     

碳关税征收对双边贸易的预期影响——基于中美两个碳经济大国的微观分析方法

文章用微观经济分析方法,基于中美两个碳经济大国的视角分析了碳关税的征收对双边贸易的预期影响。分析结果为:美国征收碳关税,短期内会由于美国进口需求减少和其他不被施加碳关税国家的价格优势导致中国出口量下降;长期中出口商需要提高价格来补偿技术投入的支出,国际价格上涨将进一步导致需求降低,贸易量减少;同时碳关税征收将导致出口国贸易条件恶化,社会福利损失;而进口国可能由于贸易条件的改善在短期内获得收益。     

钢铁利益集团影响下的贸易保护与产能过剩——基于钢铁进口保障措施与“冷轧板卷”反倾销案的案例研究

以钢铁进口保障措施与"冷轧板卷"反倾销案作为切入点,对两起案件中政府、国内外钢铁利益集团和钢铁下游利益集团之间的博弈展开案例研究。结果表明:当面对利益受损时,国内钢铁企业、国外钢铁企业和政府以及国内钢铁下游企业会迅速组成利益集团;从影响机制上看,国内钢铁利益集团主要通过政治联系影响政府,国外和国内钢铁下游利益集团主要通过政治压力影响政府;从影响结果上看,强有力的国内钢铁利益集团能够获得"双重"贸易保护,这样的保护虽在当时帮助国内钢铁企业扩大了产能,但也为后来的产能过剩埋下了隐患;另外,国外钢铁利益集团和钢铁下游利益集团的存在则可以在一定程度上减小贸易保护的力度,缩短贸易保护的时间。