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on International Trade |
| By: | George Alessandria; Horag Choi; Kim Ruhl |
| Abstract: | We build a micro-founded two-country dynamic general equilibrium model in which trade responds more to a cut in tariffs in the long run than in the short run. The model introduces a time element to the fixed-variable cost trade-off in a heterogeneous producer trade model. Thus, the dynamics of aggregate trade adjustment arise from producer-level decisions to invest in lowering their future variable export costs. The model is calibrated to match salient features of new exporter growth and provides a new estimate of the exporting technology. At the micro level, we find that new exporters commonly incur substantial losses in the first three years in the export market and that export profits are backloaded. At the macro level, the slow export expansion at the producer level leads to sluggishness in the aggregate response of exports to a change in tariffs, with a long-run trade elasticity that is 2.9 times the short-run trade elasticity. We estimate the welfare gains from trade from a cut in tariffs, taking into account the transition period. While the intensity of trade expands slowly, consumption overshoots its new steady-state level, so the welfare gains are almost 15 times larger than the long-run change in consumption. Models without this dynamic export decision underestimate the gains to lowering tariffs, particularly when constrained to also match the gradual expansion of aggregate trade flows. |
| JEL: | E22 F12 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20663&r=int |
| By: | Ina Simonovska; Michael E. Waugh |
| Abstract: | We argue that the welfare gains from trade in new models with micro-level margins exceed those in frameworks without these margins. Theoretically, we show that for fixed trade elasticity, different models predict identical trade flows, but different patterns of micro-level price variation. Thus, given data on trade flows and micro-level prices, different models have different implied trade elasticities and welfare gains. Empirically, models with extensive or variable mark-up margins yield significantly larger welfare gains. The results are robust to incorporating into the estimation moment conditions that use trade-flow and tariff data, which imply a common trade elasticity across models. |
| JEL: | F10 F11 F14 F17 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20495&r=int |
| By: | Missios, Paul; Saggi, Kamal; Yildiz, Halis Murat |
| Abstract: | In a game of endogenous trade agreements, we examine whether the pursuit of free trade agreements (FTAs) affects the prospects of global free trade differently than the pursuit of customs unions (CUs). Our analysis is driven by a fundamental difference between these two types of preferential trade agreements (PTAs): while CU members impose jointly optimal common tariffs on non-members, members of an FTA adopt individually optimal external tariffs. This implies that (a) FTAs are relatively more flexible than CUs in the sense that an FTA member can decide to undertake further trade liberalization with respect to non-members on its own whereas a CU member can do so only if all other members also wish to do the same and (b) coordination during tariff setting allows CU members to pool their market power. In our comparative advantage based three country framework, the formation of either type of PTA induces the non-member to lower its external tariffs due to the reduction in the volume of exports flowing from members to the non-member (we call this external trade diversion). While the pursuit of CUs prevents free trade from emerging as a coalition-proof Nash equilibrium, the pursuit of FTAs does not. This key result is driven by the relative flexibility of FTAs; the higher market power of CUs by itself does not undermine the objective of reaching global free trade. |
| Keywords: | Free Trade Agreement, Customs Union, Hub and Spoke Agreements, Free Trade, Optimal Tariffs |
| JEL: | F12 F13 |
| Date: | 2014–09–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60063&r=int |
| By: | Liao, Wei; Santacreu, Ana Maria (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) |
| Abstract: | Countries that trade more with each other tend to have more correlated business cycles. Yet, traditional international business cycle models predict a much weaker link between trade and business cycle comovement. We propose that fluctuations in the number of varieties embedded in trade flows may drive the observed comovement by increasing the correlation among trading partners’ total factor productivity (TFP). Our hypothesis is that business cycles should be more correlated between countries that trade a wider variety of goods. We find empirical support for this hypothesis. After decomposing trade into its extensive and intensive margins, we find that the extensive margin explains most of the trade–TFP and trade–output comovement. This result is striking because the extensive margin accounts for only a fourth of the variability in total trade. We then develop a two-country model with heterogeneous firms, endogenous entry, and fixed export costs, in which TFP correlation increases with trade in varieties. A numerical exercise shows that our proposed mechanism increases business cycle synchronization compared with the levels predicted by traditional models. |
| Keywords: | international business cycle comovement; TFP; extensive margin of trade. |
| JEL: | F12 F44 |
| Date: | 2014–11–14 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2014-043&r=int |
| By: | Davis, Christina; Fuchs, Andreas; Johnson , Kristina |
| Abstract: | Do states use trade to reward and punish partners? WTO rules and the pressures of globalization restrict states’ capacity to manipulate trade policies, but we argue that governments can link political goals with economic outcomes using less direct avenues of influence over firm behavior. Where governments intervene in markets, politicization of trade is likely to occur. In this paper, we examine one important form of government control: state ownership of firms. Taking China and India as examples, we use bilateral trade data by firm ownership type, as well as measures of bilateral political relations based on diplomatic events and UN voting to estimate the effect of political relations on import and export flows. Our results support the hypothesis that imports controlled by state-owned enterprises (SOEs) exhibit stronger responsiveness to political relations than imports controlled by private enterprises. A more nuanced picture emerges for exports; while India’s exports through SOEs are more responsive to political tensions than its flows through private entities, the opposite is true for China. This research holds broader implications for how we should think about the relationship between political and economic relations going forward, especially as a number of countries with partially state-controlled economies gain strength in the global economy. |
| Date: | 2014–11–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:awi:wpaper:0576&r=int |
| By: | Fedoseeva, Svetlana |
| Abstract: | Using aggregated EMU exports to the US as an example, VERHEYEN (2013) showed, that in the long run exports react to exchange rate changes in a nonlinear way. In this paper we test whether this holds true for agri-food exports as well. To address this question we apply a partial sum decomposition approach and the NARDL framework of SHIN et al. (2013) to the aggregated agricultural exports of eleven European countries to the US, which is currently the major trade partner of the EU in agricultural trade. Our outcomes suggest, that the exchange rate nonlinearities are even more pronounced in agricultural than in total exports. European exporters seem to benefit more from Euro depreciation, than its appreciation harm them, which we interpret as a sign of possible pricing strategies application (e.g., pricing-to-market) to European agri-food exports. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural exports, asymmetry, exchange rate nonlinearity, export demand equation, NARDL., International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:gewi14:187428&r=int |
| By: | Ellero, Jeremy; Lagadec, Gael |
| Abstract: | When the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was created in 1947, the aim was to build a negotiation structure to regulate the liberalisation of trade and remedy protectionist measures. Fifty years on from its creation, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) includes 159 countries, has accompanied developments in free trade and remains the reference forum for settling trade disputes. However, the failure of the Doha Round in 2008 highlighted the failings of the decision-making mechanism and its inability to span all the different areas of trade. The Multilateral Trading System (MTS) is undergoing profound change and seems to be seeing a regional fragmentation of its spheres of influence. In this context, the initiative of the PICTA and PACER agreements would appear to be the first step towards the construction of a regional single market in the Pacific. Oceania represents a market of seven million consumers scattered over one-third of the surface area of the globe. Against a backdrop of gradual political emancipation, New Caledonia and French Polynesia must now re-examine the prospects for regional cooperation. However, the institution of a free trade zone via adoption of the PICTA and PACER agreements raises questions as to the very economic foundations of the French territories. Geographical isolation, lack of commercial openings and the heterogeneous nature of the Pacific Island economies have a direct influence on commercial policies. Given the nature of trade between the Pacific islands, any genuine stimulation would appear to be out of the question. The real stakes in trade integration in the Pacific would seem to lie in trade in services and the free movement of workers. While more than 40% of global trade is governed by around 170 bilateral and regional trade agreements, the development of the Pacific Island economies seems to be fundamentally compatible only with the establishment of a bespoke regional union. |
| Keywords: | free-trade zone, regional integration, French Pacific territories, PICTA, PACER. |
| JEL: | F40 |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:60043&r=int |
| By: | Siriwardana, Mahinda |
| Abstract: | This paper examines both economic and environmental impacts of the two new free trade agreements (FTAs) that Australia has recently negotiated with Japan and South Korea using the GTAP-E general equilibrium model. We analyse two trade policy scenarios: first a ‘Free trade scenario’ where bilateral tariffs are eliminated between Australia and Japan, and Australia and South Korea; second a ‘Green trade scenario’ where the ‘Free trade scenario’ is complemented by an environmental policy using an emissions trading scheme (ETS). The results indicate that two trade agreements enhance Australia’s trade at a modest expense on the environment. The paper illustrates that an ETS between Australia, Japan and Korea is an expensive policy to mitigate emissions arising from FTAs. |
| Keywords: | Free Trade Agreement, Australia, GTAP-E model, Emissions, Emissions Trading Scheme, International Relations/Trade, |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:nzar14:187405&r=int |
| By: | Belke, Ansgar; Oeking, Anne; Setzer, Ralph |
| Abstract: | This paper argues that, under certain conditions, firms consider export activity as a substitute of serving domestic demand. Our econometric model for six euro area countries suggests domestic demand pressure and capacity constraint restrictions as additional variables of a properly specified export equation. As an innovation to the literature, we assess the empirical significance through the logistic and the exponential variant of the non-linear smooth transition regression model. We find that domestic demand developments are relevant for the short-run dynamics of exports in particular during more extreme stages of the business cycle. A strong substitutive relationship between domestic and foreign sales can most clearly be found for Spain, Portugal and Italy providing evidence of the importance of sunk costs and hysteresis in international trade. JEL Classification: F14, C22, C50, C51, F10 |
| Keywords: | domestic demand, exports, hysteresis, smooth transition models, sunk costs |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20141740&r=int |
| By: | Nagengast, Arne J.; Stehrer, Robert |
| Abstract: | One of the main stylised facts that has emerged from the recent literature on global value chains is that bilateral trade imbalances in gross terms can differ substantially from those measured in value added terms. However, the factors underlying the extent and sign of the differences between the two measures have so far not been investigated. Here, we propose a novel decomposition of bilateral gross trade balances that accounts for the differences between gross and value added concepts. The bilateral analysis contributes conceptually to the literature on double counting in trade by identifying the trade flow in which value added is actually recorded for the first time in international trade statistics. We apply our decomposition framework to the development of intra-EU27 trade balances from 1995-2011 and show that a growing share of intra-EU bilateral trade balances is due to demand in countries other than the two direct trading partners. JEL Classification: F1, F2, C67, R15 |
| Keywords: | global value chains, input-output tables, trade balances, value added, vertical specialisation |
| Date: | 2014–07 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20141695&r=int |
| By: | Nianli Zhou; John Whalley |
| Abstract: | Preferential liberalization of trade in services is a central feature of the new regionalism. "GATS-Plus" and "GATS-Minus" have become the distinctive characteristics of the service RTAs and this paper aims to investigate and distinguish the different effect of the "GATS-Plus" and "GATS-Minus" components of RTAs on the service trade . The results of the empirical research by using the gravity equation either with time-varying exporter and importer fixed effects or with the specific exporter and importer fixed effect and year fixed effect both indicate : (1) belonging to a RTA (both "only goods" RTA and "service" RTA) can increase the bilateral service trade between the trading-pairs significantly. (2) almost all the "GATS-plus" and "GATS-neutral" commitments either on market access or on national treatment made by trading-pairs with each other under service RTAs have significantly positive effect on bilateral service export. (3) the commitments of "GATS-minus" characteristic do not have significant negative effects on bilateral service export because "GATS-minus" treatment can be neutralized to some extent by two main preferential erosion mechanisms under the RTAs: "liberal rule of origin" and "non-party MFN provision". |
| JEL: | F13 F15 |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20551&r=int |
| By: | Chunding Li; Jing Wang; John Whalley |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the potential impacts on both China and other major countries of possible mega trade deals. These include the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and various blocked deals. We use a numerical 13-country global general equilibrium model with trade costs to investigate both tariff and non-tariff effects, and include inside money to endogenously determine imports on the trade imbalance. Trade costs are calculated using a method based on gravity equations. Simulation results reveal that all FTA participation countries will gain but all FTA non-participation countries will lose. If non-tariff barriers are reduced more, the impacts will be larger. All effects to China on welfare, trade, export and import are positive. Comparatively China-TPP and RCEP will yield the highest welfare outcomes for the US in our model, China-Japan-Korea FTA will generate the second highest welfare outcome, and China-US FTA will generate the third highest welfare outcome. For the US, China-TPP FTA will generate the highest welfare outcome. For the EU, all China involved mega deals have negative impacts except China-US FTA. For Japan, RCEP will generate the highest welfare outcome. For both Korea and India, RCEP will generate the highest welfare outcome. |
| JEL: | C68 F47 F53 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20425&r=int |
| By: | Carraresi, Laura; Banterle, Alessandro |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the competitive performance of different European countries at sector level in the intra-EU market from 1995 to 2011, comparing food industry and agricultural sector. In particular, we aim to assess the effect of the EU enlargement (first period) and the economic crisis (second period) on the competitiveness of EU countries. The data come from the Eurostat database of international trade. The competitive performance of EU countries is measured through several trade indices, such as Export and Import Market Share, Revealed Comparative Advantage, Net Export Index, and Vollrath indices, analysing their values over the last fifteen years. Our analysis showed that, in the EU countries, agriculture and food industry do not reveal strong differences in competitive performance during the last fifteen years. Among big countries, France and Spain showed a continuous worsening competitive performance. A similar trend is found for Belgium. On the contrary, the Netherlands revealed the best performance, both in agriculture and in food industry, together with Italy. Nevertheless, the Netherlands has lightly lost specialisation because of a rise of total exports that have affected the value of RCA. Italy is characterised by a smaller increase, especially in the food sector. The only country showing a significant difference in competitive trends between agriculture and food industry is Germany. It became leader in the food industry of EU, with a growing performance over the period analysed, while it is not competitive nor specialised in agriculture. Among small countries, it is worth to highlight the performance of Austria. |
| Keywords: | competitive performance, agriculture, food industry, EU enlargement, global economic crisis, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Q17, F1, L66, |
| Date: | 2013–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:iefi13:164745&r=int |
| By: | TOMIURA Eiichi; ITO Banri; MUKUNOKI Hiroshi; WAKASUGI Ryuhei |
| Abstract: | Reciprocity has been an influential principle leading actual trade liberalization, while unilateral trade liberalization has been politically unpopular in spite of gains from trade. Based on a survey of 10,816 individuals in Japan, we disaggregate people into four categories by their opinions on import liberalization and reciprocity. People working in the import-competing protected sector (agriculture in the Japanese case) tend to demand not only protection but also reciprocity in trade liberalization. Unilateral free traders are found among people working in non-agriculture sectors, in managerial occupations, or who are above the retirement age. We also confirm the effect of education on protectionism. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:14067&r=int |
| By: | Peter Drysdale; Shiro Armstrong |
| Abstract: | The economic rise of Japan in the 1980s was underpinned by commitment to catching up through domestic reform and accommodated externally within the framework of the postwar multilateral institutions like the GATT/WTO. Regional cooperative processes like APEC later complemented that framework, encouraging unilateral reform across the region. Following the bursting of the asset bubble in the early 1990s and the onset of the Asian Financial Crisis, Japan turned from reliance on the multilateral system to policies based on preferential bilateralism in trade policy to secure its regional trading interests. Japan's bilateral trade agreements have been largely ineffective in supporting the kind of deep-seated reform to regulatory institutions and competition policies needed to sustain long-term productivity growth. The evidence suggests that Japanese productivity has underperformed against its peers in the industrial world and Asia. Instead of using foreign economic policy as an instrument of domestic reform and productivity enhancement Japan has used bilateral deals largely as political and strategic tools. Re-establishing a link between Japan's domestic reform agenda and its economic diplomacy is important for structural reform and national economic success, as is a more sure-footed engagement with China. |
| JEL: | F14 F15 F55 |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csg:ajrcwp:1406&r=int |
| By: | Matthias Helble (Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI)); Boon-Loong Ngiang |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how East Asia’s trade composition and orientation have changed over the past decade and analyzes the implications for the region and beyond. Over the last 2 decades we have witnessed the emergence of regional and global supply chains, in which production is divided into production stages or tasks across the most competitive locations. East Asia has been the most successful region in the world in building up or joining regional and global supply chains and has been described as “Factory Asia†(Baldwin 2008). Introducing a new and simple analytical tool, we show that over the past decade East Asia has successfully consolidated its role as the “Global Factory.†Furthermore, studying East Asia’s recent trade patterns in primary, intermediate, capital, and consumption goods, our results indicate that East Asia is on track to becoming one of the biggest “malls†in the world. Whereas in 1999–2000 around half of all consumption goods exported by East Asia went to the United States and the European Union-27, in 2011–2012 half stayed in the region or were traded with the rest of the world. |
| Keywords: | trade composition, East Asia, Factory Asia, global factory, trade pattern |
| JEL: | F14 F15 N15 |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eab:tradew:24515&r=int |
| By: | Charnovitz, Steve; Fischer, Carolyn (Resources for the Future) |
| Abstract: | In the first dispute on renewable energy to come to World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement, the domestic content requirement of Ontario’s feed-in tariff was challenged as a discriminatory investment-related measure and as a prohibited import substitution subsidy. The panel and Appellate Body agreed that Canada was violating the GATT and the TRIMS Agreement. But the SCM Article 3 claim by Japan and the European Union remains unadjudicated, because neither tribunal made a finding that the price guaranteed for electricity from renewable sources constitutes a ‘benefit’ pursuant to the SCM Agreement. Although the Appellate Body provides useful guidance to future panels on how the existence of a benefit could be calculated, the most noteworthy aspect of the new jurisprudence is the Appellate Body’s reasoning that delineating the proper market for ‘benefit’ analysis entails respect for the policy choices made by a government. Thus, in this dispute, the proper market is electricity produced only from wind and solar energy. |
| Keywords: | feed-in tariff, renewable energy, subsidies, international trade, WTO, green growth, local content requirement |
| JEL: | K33 Q48 Q56 Q58 |
| Date: | 2014–10–30 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rff:dpaper:dp-14-38&r=int |
| By: | Arita, Shawn; Dyck, John |
| Keywords: | International Development, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, |
| Date: | 2014–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:uersib:188428&r=int |
| By: | ITO Banri; MUKUNOKI Hiroshi; TOMIURA Eiichi; WAKASUGI Ryuhei |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the determinants of individuals' preferences of trade policies, using micro data on the policy preferences of 10,000 individuals in Japan. Particularly, we focus on the effect of regional factors on trade policy preferences, considering the fact that there is a significant difference in preferences across regions. The results of the binary choice model show that regional factors affect people's trade policy preferences even after controlling for labor market attributes and social attributes. Specifically, people living in a region with a high share of agricultural workers are likely to support import restrictions even if they do not engage in agriculture, which is the most protected sector in Japan. However, for people who are considering moving, there is no correlation between the probability of supporting the protectionist trade policy and the regional agricultural workers share, suggesting that inter-regional workers' immobility affects their preferences of trade policy. |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:14052&r=int |
| By: | Raphaël Chiappini (University of Nice Sophia Antipolis, France; GREDEG CNRS); Yves Jégourel (University of Bordeaux, France; LAREFI) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the impact of both exchange rate and futures price volatility on bilateral cereals exports from France. Using the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) estimator developed by Santos Silva and Tenreyro (2006) to deal with the problem of zero trade ows when estimating a gravity equation, we show that exchange rate uncertainty has a strong negative impact on French cereals trade. Surprisingly, we nd also that higher futures price volatility is associated with increased French cereals exports. Since the PPML method allows for commodity specific estimation of this relationship, we demonstrate that these results are rather commodity-specific and not uniform across individual cereals commodities. For example, we nd that realized futures price volatility has a significant and positive impact on French exports of four commodities: barley, durum wheat, maize and oats. We suggest that the storage behaviour of grains elevators and physical traders can explain this seemingly counter-intuitive result. In contrast to currencies, basis variability, i.e. the instability surrounding the spread between commercial spot prices and futures prices, can matter more than price instability, and can lead market participants to reduce their stocks, i.e. to sell, when the level of this instability is high. |
| Keywords: | Exports, exchange rate, futures prices, volatility, Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML) |
| JEL: | C23 F14 F31 G13 Q13 |
| Date: | 2014–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gre:wpaper:2014-34&r=int |
| By: | Jafari, Yaghoob; Tarr, David G. |
| Abstract: | A new database on the barriers faced by foreign suppliers of services has been produced by the World Bank. Data for 103 countries are available on 11 of the most important services sectors in international trade. Based on these data and building on the methodology and publications supported by the Australian Productivity Commission, this paper produces estimates of the ad valorem equivalents of the barriers for all these sectors and countries. Compared with estimates available in the literature that are based on assessments of country- and sector-specific barriers to services providers, the estimates expand the set of sectors and more than triple the set of countries for which estimates of the ad valorem equivalents of the services barriers are available. |
| Keywords: | Banks&Banking Reform,Emerging Markets,E-Business,Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Public Sector Corruption&Anticorruption Measures |
| Date: | 2014–11–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7096&r=int |
| By: | Meriküll, Jaanika; Rõõm, Tairi |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses differences in employment volatility in foreign-owned and domestic companies using firm-level data from 24 European countries. The presence of foreign-owned companies may lead to higher employment volatility because subsidiaries of multinational companies react more sensitively to changes in labour demand in host countries or because they are more exposed to external shocks. We assess the conditional employment volatility of firms with foreign and domestic owners using propensity score matching and find that it is higher in foreign-owned firms in about half of the countries that our study covers. In addition, we explore how and why labour demand elasticity differs between these two groups of companies. Our estimations indicate that labour demand can be either more or less elastic in subsidiaries of foreign-owned multinationals than in domestic enterprises, depending on the institutional environments of their home and host countries. JEL Classification: F23, J23, J51 |
| Keywords: | employment volatility, European Union, foreign direct investment, labour demand, labour market institutions |
| Date: | 2014–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ecb:ecbwps:20141704&r=int |
| By: | Vianney DEQUIEDT (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International); Simone BERTOLI (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International); Yves ZENOU |
| Abstract: | Destination countries have been resorting to selective immigration policies to improve migrants' quality. We propose a model that analyzes the effects of selective immigration policies on migrants' quality, measured by their wages at destination. Screening potential migrants on the basis of observable characteristics also influences their self-selection on unobservables that influences their wages. We show that the prevailing pattern of selection on unobservables influences the effect of an increase in selectivity, which can reduce migrants' quality when migrants are positively self-selected. |
| Keywords: | selective policies; self-selection; migrants' quality |
| JEL: | J61 K30 F22 |
| Date: | 2014–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdi:wpaper:1604&r=int |
| By: | Meas, Thong; Hu, Wuyang; Grebitus, Carola; Colson, Gregory J. |
| Abstract: | This article surveys British consumers’ preference for domestic and imported beef identified by country of origin labels (COOLs). Like previous studies related to COOL, we found a strong preference for domestic beef. Furthermore, the factors influencing such preference were examined. Using consumer patriotism and country of origin image perception, we found that stronger preference against imports was linked to higher perceived level of patriotism of the respondents toward their country, while better country of origin image improved the likelihood of the foreign country’s beef being selected. |
| Keywords: | Country of Origin Label, Country of Origin Image, Consumer Patriotism, Choice experiment, Willingness-to-Pay for Beef, Mixed Logit model, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, International Relations/Trade, Q13, |
| Date: | 2014–07–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea14:170628&r=int |
| By: | Hua Liao; Zhao-Yi; Ce Wang |
| Abstract: | The existing oil import dependence index cannot exactly measure the economic cost or scales, and it is difficult to describe the economical aspect of oil security. To measure the foreign dependence of one country's economy and reflect its oil economic security, this paper defines the net oil import intensity as the ratio of net import cost to GDP. By using Divisia Index Decomposition, the change of net oil import intensity in five industrialized countries and five newly industrialized countries during 1971¡ª2010 is decomposed into five factors: oil price, oil intensity, oil self-sufficiency, domestic price level and exchange rate. The result shows that the dominating factors are oil price and oil intensity; moreover, the newly industrialized countries have higher net oil import intensity than industrialized countries. |
| Keywords: | net oil import intensity, Divisia index, decomposition method |
| JEL: | Q40 |
| Date: | 2013–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:biw:wpaper:55&r=int |
| By: | Vassilis Monastiriotis; Dimitris Kallioras & George Petrakos |
| Abstract: | The Eastern Enlargement of the EU saw a proliferation of association agreements with countries in the ‘near abroad’ under EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy framework. Although such agreements are considered to be strictly welfare-enhancing, there is very little evidence to show their economic effects, including their distributional consequences across space, separately from other concurrent processes (transition, internationalisation, capital deepening, etc). This paper draws on the experience of pre-accession agreements in Central and Eastern Europe to estimate the effect that such agreements had on regional growth, and thus on the long-run evolution of regional disparities, in the associated countries. We apply an event-analysis and exploit the country variation in the timing of these agreements to identify their distinctive effect on regional growth, using regional data at the NUTS3 levels covering the period from the early transition phase (1991/92) until the eruption of the financial crisis (2008). Our results provide strong evidence that EU association agreements accelerate growth; but show that this is far from evenly distributed across space – with denser, larger and more diversified regional economies gaining the most. We discuss what these findings imply for regional growth and spatial imbalances in the new wave of associated countries under the ENP. |
| Keywords: | East-Central Europe; Europe Agreements; regional development |
| Date: | 2014–10–16 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erp:leqsxx:p0080&r=int |