Trade Liberalization in Textiles and Clothing and Developing Countries: An Analysis with Special Emphasis on the US Import Market

This article examines the role and importance of the textiles and clothing sector in the economies of the United States and developing countries as well as the qualitative changes in the dynamics of the industry. After briefly looking at the history of protectionism in the industry, the article addresses the impact of quota elimination on developing countries' exports to the United States. It also discusses the role of China as the dominant supplier. It suggests that with the elimination of quotas, most of the benefits will probably accrue to a handful of efficient suppliers, notably China and India. The article concludes by providing some recommendations to enable many developing countries to cushion the sudden effects of trade liberalization.     

Aid for trade and trade policy in recipient countries

ABSTRACT

This article explores the impact of Aid for Trade (AfT) flows on trade policy in 123 recipient countries over the period of 2002 to 2015. It shows empirical evidence that AfT interventions are conducive to trade policy liberalization. These results apply to both the entire sample and to the sub-sample of least developed countries (LDCs). Additionally, the analysis shows that the lower the development level, the higher the positive impact of AfT inflows on recipient countries’ trade policy liberalization, although above the US$ 4,885.40 threshold of real per capita income, AfT inflows exert no significant impact on trade policy.     

Military spending and the black market premium in developing countries

Researchers who have been concerned with the economic implications of military spending have mostly concentrated on its impact on economic growth, corruption, real exchange rate and inflation. In this paper we investigate the impact of military spending on black market premium, an area that has not been tackled so far. After adding a measure of military spending to a well established model of black market premium form the literature, we estimate the model by pooling annual data over the 1985 – 1998 period across 61 developing countries. Results from five panel specifications provide considerable evidence that higher military spending leads to higher black market premium.     

Sampling variability: some observations from a labour supply equation

In economics, the number of observations available for empirical work is often predetermined. Researchers assume some large sample distribution and carry through with measurement and testing applied to data sets of varying sizes. The consequences of sampling variability are generally ignored. It is shown in a re-sampling experiment, using data sets of different sizes and estimating log-linear male labour supply equations, that a wide range of what appears to be statistically supported estimates of the wage elasticity of labour supply are generated. Testing based on bootstrapped estimates shows that 4000 observations are required to reduce sampling variability to statistically acceptable levels.     

Convergence in per capita health expenditures and health outcomes in the OECD countries

Our analysis of 19 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries over the period 1972 to 2006 provides evidence of convergence in per capita health care expenditures for 17 countries, while the US and (to a lesser degree) Norway follow a different path. A simple decomposition of per capita health expenditures reveals that the divergence of the US comes from the divergence of the ‘ratio of health care expenditures to Gross Domestic Product (GDP)’ component, while Norway's divergence is mainly caused by the ‘labour productivity’ component. Interestingly, our results suggest that convergence in per capita health expenditures among the 17 OECD countries does not lead to convergence in health outcomes. Finally, we extend our analysis to examine convergence in various determinants of health expenditures.     

Assessing the trade impact of the European Neighbourhood Policy on the EU-MED Free Trade Area

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) set an additional objective for the Southern Mediterranean Countries (SMCs): the prospect of ‘a stake in the internal market’. The launch of this new policy has been the occasion for a revival of empirical studies aimed at assessing the impact of the EU-MED partnership on bilateral trade. The novelty of this work is twofold: (i) to present nonparametric matching estimators besides gravity estimates; (ii) to assume as a counterfactual of the treatment the ex-post long-run average treatment effects of the Europe Agreements. By controlling for likely selection bias and country and time heterogeneity, using both qualitative and quantitative measures of the policy variable, we assess ex-post the trade-enhancing impact of the EU preferential agreements towards SMCs and ex ante the actual efficacy of the ENP.     

The impact of output and exchange rate volatility on fixed private investment: evidence from selected G7 countries

This study examines the impact of shocks to exchange rate and output uncertainty (volatility) on real private fixed investment (FI) in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. The analysis is conducted using vector autoregressive models that contain the price level, real output, the volatility of real output, the real exchange rate, the volatility of the real exchange rate, an interest rate and FI. The results yield important public policy implications with regard to the impact of output volatility of FI. Our analysis indicates that volatility shocks, measured as output volatility or exchange rate volatility, do not have a significant impact on FI for any country in our study.     

Implementation and challenges of introducing NPM and accrual accounting in Indonesian local government

This article provides insights into the implementation of New Public Management (NPM) practices in Indonesia, including the introduction of an accrual accounting system for local government. The adoption of NPM practices was part of political, economic and public sector reforms introduced after 1998. The article discusses the background and obstacles to the reforms and the nature of the accrual accounting system adopted by Indonesian local government.

Finally, the authors make recommendations for policy-makers in Indonesia and other developing nations.     

Medición de la intensidad en el uso de las tecnologías de la información y la comunicación en Escandinavia

One characteristic of the processes related to technological innovation in the Scandinavian countries is the high participation level of public and private agents. The objective of this strategy is to assimilate knowledge and to spread it out in the best possible way. Thus, in this article we identify the profile of ICT users; we try to establish how important they are for these countries, their good use of these technologies and how they impact on their communication processes. The results derived from the research prove that: 1) Swedish and Danish homes are a reference when it comes to the utilization of ICTs, 2) Finnish companies lead the way in the adoption of ICTs, followed by Danish and Swedish companies; 3) When it comes to provision and implementation of public services on a technological platform, the leading countries are Denmark, Finland and Sweden; and 4) When it comes to the utilization of ICTs in infrastructures, the EU leadership is headed by Sweden and Denmark, far ahead from the other Member States.     

人格特质理论视角下东南亚国家对中国旅游形象感知差异研究

国家旅游目的地性格是影响国家旅游形象和国际游客旅游决策的关键因素,对入境旅游市场营销具有指导意义。本文运用内容分析法、扎根理论研究法,对东南亚3个国家的中文主播网络视频、在华留学生及其亲属的访谈内容进行分析,以探究东南亚国家人们对中国旅游目的地性格维度感知强度和差异。研究表明：根据感知强度大小,东南亚国家对中国旅游目的地性格维度感知依次是能力、真诚、魅力、友善和侠义。东南亚国家对中国旅游目的地性格维度感知存在国别差异,其中,越南人和缅甸人的感知总体呈正面,感知维度分别是“友善”“魅力”和“侠义”“斯文”;老挝人感知相对负面,感知维度为“随性”“自我”。据此建议中国加强与东南亚国家的文化交流,区别不同国家人们的感知特点,进一步强化正面性格感知,调整和优化针对负面性格感知的宣传策略。