African Poverty Reduction Strategy Programmes and the Fisheries Sector: Current Situation and Opportunities*

Abstract: The formulation of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) is one of the main conditions for concessional lending by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to developing countries. Nevertheless, while evidence indicates that the fisheries sector can contribute (often markedly at the local level) to improved livelihoods and the achievement of food security in Africa, the sector is often neglected in PRSPs. This article focuses on the 29 African states that have currently produced a PRSP, highlighting those nations for whom the fisheries sector has been a significant motor of economic growth or likely poverty refuge. It then analyses the extent to which the fisheries sector is incorporated into national PRSPs. Results of a mapping exercise demonstrate that while the sector is significant (in either growth or poverty terms) in 12 states, the sector was effectively mainstreamed in only three national PRSPs (Ghana, Guinea and Senegal).     

De gevolgen van de directe prijsbeheersing voor de internationale handel

Summary This paper contains a theoretical analysis of how a maximum price being put on homogeneous commodities affects international trade if rates of exchange are fixed. The consequences of a calculation scheme for fixing prices of differentiated products are also investigated.A maximum price that is lower than the import price is an impediment to import. This leads to oscillations of the import price if demand in the importing country is sufficiently high. The maximum price has no influence if it is higher than the import price. A maximum price that is equal to the export price (which is independent of the supply of the exporting country) retards the decline of export that would occur in consequence of a rise in home demand or a rise in costs of production. As soon as the average revenue per unit of product exported exceeds the maximum price, suppliers will try to export as much as possible. Importation of substitutes is stimulated indirectly and exportation of substitutes is discouraged, whereas the opposite effects occur with respect to complementary goods, materials used in the production process, and goods for the production of which the same materials and factors of production are used.If demand rises, a calculation scheme used for price control will reduce imports and stimulate exports. The calculation scheme reacts only on rises in costs of production that are not recognized officially by the government: imports will be smaller, and exports higher, than in the case of a free determination of prices. Calculation schemes check the importation of substitutes and stimulate their exportation, whereas the opposite effects may occur with respect to complementary goods, or due to changes in the production.In case of a general control of prices when inflation prevails, the whole set of price effects will affect the balance of payments. However, the final result will be uncertain, since some price effects tend to enhance the surplus of the balance of payments whereas others tend to reduce it. At the same time, income effects may affect the balance of payments in the adverse sense.National price control impedes the optimum allocation of resources in an economic community. This is due to the fact that it distorts trade.     

Reputation Management Capabilities as Decision Rules*

We draw on a detailed grounded theory study of the reactions of Dutch food firms to the recent introduction of genetically modified foods to inductively identify the capabilities that firms develop in response to reputational threats. Central to the view on capabilities we propose are the decision rules organizations use to link individual actions to organizational outcomes. Four reputation management capabilities were identified, which were aimed at, respectively: (1) engaging in a cooperative dialogue with relevant stakeholders; (2) presenting the organizational point of view favourably in the eyes of external beholders; (3) avoiding organizational ‘ownership’ of critical reputational threats; and (4) communicating meaningfully with affected parties, even under conditions of high adversity and time‐pressure.     

Regulation, market structure and service trade liberalization

In this paper, we develop a theoretical method to quantify the importance of regulation and market structure on the success of service trade liberalization. For this purpose, we incorporate a single imperfectly competitive service sector that can take on various market structures into a standard computational general equilibrium model. We apply our framework to analyze the impact of partial telecom liberalization in Tunisia. We show that if the regulatory environment guarantees competition, Tunisia's welfare can improve up to 0.65%. If a cartel is formed between the domestic incumbent and foreign entrant, however, Tunisia's welfare can drop up to 0.25%. Our results thus call for Tunisia among other developing countries to step up its pro-competitive regulatory reforms while liberalizing its telecom sector.     

On the static and dynamic costs of trade restrictions for small developing countries

We analyze the costs of trade restrictions for a small developing economy (LDC). Intermediate goods invented elsewhere are only introduced on the LDC market if it is profitable to do so. The LDC economy evolves to a balanced growth path in which income, welfare, and the share of available goods increase if trade restrictions fall. The adjustment path is asymmetric: an increase in trade restrictions leads to a slow-down of economic growth, while a decrease may lead to a rapid catch-up process. The dynamic costs of trade restrictions are in general substantially larger than the static costs.     

New Asian Regionalism: Evidence on the Impact Ofthe Asean +3 Free Trade Agreement on Its Member Countries

The emergence of new Asian regionalisms such as ASEAN+3 (10 ASEAN countries plus China, Korea and Japan) and other bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral free trade agreements in recent years requires research into these important developments and their underlying fundamental trade-growth causation. Popular existing methodologies such as the CGE/GTAP, gravity theory and panel regression (Dollar and Kraay, 2004) may be inappropriate due to their limited scope, heavily calibrated structure, cross-section data or non-simultaneity features (see also other criticisms in Productivity Commission Report, 2003). The paper extends the gravity theory to time-series data and applies a new flexible modelling approach to construct a simultaneous-equation model of trade and growth for the ASEAN and the East Asia 3. Using data from the World Bank national accounts and CHELEM regional and international trade over the period 1968–2000, the paper then estimates the model by both standard (OLS and 2SLS) and improved Stein-like (2SHI) estimation methods to provide superior MSE impact estimates. Implications of the findings for ASEAN+3’s economic integration, trade policy and prospects for trade and welfare improvement for this important regional FTA will also be discussed.