Assessment of trade liberalisation in sub-Saharan Africa

The following paper describes the efforts of sub-Saharan African countries to liberalise their trade regimes and analyses the response of the economy to this reform in the short and medium run. In a sample of eight countries the economic reaction is found to be consistent with the ranking of countries according to their trade restrictiveness. However, additional explanations are found to be crucial to the success of African trade reform. Particularly, the lack of supporting policies and institutions, such as export promotion and developed capital markets, threaten the pursuit of reform and undermine the medium-run response of the economy.     

Privatisation and local governments in Mainland China: A critical assessment

Local authorities in China have already privatised most of their small and medium-sized state-owned enterprises (SOEs) following the endorsement of this policy by the 15th Communist Party Congress in September 1997. Their incentives for doing so, however, are often to be found in rent-seeking rather than in the desire to increase competition or attract foreign direct investment. Profound economic and institutional reforms will be required if “market-preserving” incentives are to become the dominant ones in China’s transition process.     

Testing the Market Integration Process in the European Car Sector: Evidence from Pricing‐to‐market Behaviour

In this study, we investigate the process of the European car market integration by analysing the evolution of cross‐country differences in the degree of pricing‐to‐market behaviour of United Kingdom exporters. We estimate these country differences by exploiting statistical information for pre‐tax retail prices and for export unit values. Conclusions from both independent data sets are, in general, quite consistent. Results support the claim that, in the period before the Block Exemption Regulation (1400/2002) came fully into force, international price discrimination was an important source of car price dispersion within the euro area. For a more recent period, we found that estimated deviations in pricing‐to‐market behaviour across destinations have become lower. This convergence suggests that car market integration was progressively improved at the end of the last decade.     

Structural change in exports and economic growth: cointegration and causality analysis for Spain (1961–2000)

The Spanish export-led growth hypothesis is re-examined from the trade liberalization process initiated four decades ago. For this purpose both the export expansion and the progression from ‘traditional’ exports to manufactured and semimanufactured exports are taken into consideration. A new evidence is reported for the above period. Alongside a feedback between aggregate exports and real output, it has been proved that the structural transformation in export composition has also become a key factor for Spain's economic development.     

Reconsidering union membership in Spain, 1977-1994: halting decline in a context of democratic consolidation

Examining newly available figures, this article argues that in spite of Spanish high unemployment and economic re-structuring, union membership in Spain increased significantly from 1986 to 1993. The effect of democratic consolidation, as well as complex union dynamics in the labour market, generate this recovery that challenges, to some extent, the pessimistic union decline thesis.     

Measuring Pricing to Market in the Eurozone: The Case of the Automobile Industry

In this paper we measure the pricing to market for the main export products in the Eurozone automobile industry. Results reveal that significant markup adjustments exist following exchange rate variations. In general, these adjustments allow a strong stabilization of prices in buyer's currency terms. Nevertheless, the degree of pricing to market is quite heterogeneous and differs highly across both product categories and destination markets.