...Working Paper 5314 Public Disclosure Authorized Regional Trade Agreements Caroline Freund Emanuel Ornelas Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized The World Bank Development Research Group Trade and Integration Team May 2010 Policy Research Working Paper 5314 Abstract This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on regionalism. The formation of regional trade agreements has been, by far, the most popular form of reciprocal trade liberalization in the past 15 years. The discriminatory character of these agreements has raised three main concerns: that trade diversion would be rampant, because special interest groups would induce governments to form the most distortionary agreements; that broader external trade liberalization would stall or reverse; and that multilateralism could be undermined. Theoretically, all of these concerns are legitimate, although there are also several theoretical arguments that oppose them. Empirically, neither widespread trade diversion nor stalled external liberalization has materialized, while the undermining of multilateralism has not been properly tested. There are also several aspects of regionalism that have received too little attention from researchers, but which are central to understanding its causes and consequences. This paper—a product of the Trade and Integration Team, Development Research Group—is part of a larger effort in the department to understand how regional trade agreements...
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...revised form 15 January 2009 Accepted 15 January 2009 Keywords: Complexity Institutional quality Human capital Division of labor Comparative advantage JEL classification: F10 a b s t r a c t This paper proposes a simple theory of international trade with endogenous productivity differences across countries. The core of our analysis lies in the determinants of the division of labor. We consider a world economy comprising two large countries, with a continuum of goods and one factor of production, labor. Each good is characterized by its complexity, defined as the number of tasks that must be performed to produce one unit. There are increasing returns to scale in the performance of each task, which creates gains from specialization, and uncertainty in the enforcement of each contract, which create transaction costs. The trade-off between these two forces pins down the size of productive teams across sectors in each country. Under free trade, the country where teams are larger specializes in the more complex goods. In our model, it is the country where the product of institutional quality and human per worker capital is larger. Hence, better institutions and more educated workers are complementary sources of comparative advantage in the more complex industries. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction “Ever since David Ricardo published his Principles of Political Economy, cross-country differences in technology have featured prominently...
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...Rev. Integr. Bus. Econ. Res. Vol 4(1) 469 Scope Change, Flexibility and the Management of Projects Daniel Adler University of Technology Sydney, Australia Daniel.adler@student.uts.edu.au ABSTRACT Managing scope on projects is universally recognized as a challenge for business. This paper will argue that the activity theory concept of contradiction is a useful method with which to re-frame debates around the origins of scope change that moves away from an either or approach to based on trade-offs between for example efficiency and flexibility. Scope change will be demonstrated to be a natural part of projects, and that managers who embrace it can benefit from the opportunities that arise. Using one live manufacturing project as a case example, the paper will conclude that both hard and soft paradigm stances in terms of project management can be accommodated under the activity theory banner of contradiction, giving rise to the potential transferability of this classification across all types of projects. Keywords: Project Management; Manufacturing; Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT); SME’s; Scope. 1. Introduction Scope change on projects can be very challenging for managers as it can be an admission that the original plans were inadequate, thus calling into question the expertise of the people who planned the project. Consequently when scope change results in time delays, budget increases, and disagreements about quality, this can often lead...
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...Hierarchicality of Trade Flow Networks Reveals Complexity of Products Peiteng Shi1, Jiang Zhang1*, Bo Yang2, Jingfei Luo1 1 School of Systems Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 2 Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, Beijing, China Abstract With globalization, countries are more connected than before by trading flows, which amounts to at least 36 trillion dollars today. Interestingly, around 30{60 percents of exports consist of intermediate products in global. Therefore, the trade flow network of particular product with high added values can be regarded as value chains. The problem is weather we can discriminate between these products from their unique flow network structure? This paper applies the flow analysis method developed in ecology to 638 trading flow networks of different products. We claim that the allometric scaling exponent g can be used to characterize the degree of hierarchicality of a flow network, i.e., whether the trading products flow on long hierarchical chains. Then, it is pointed out that the flow networks of products with higher added values and complexity like machinary, transport equipment etc. have larger exponents, meaning that their trade flow networks are more hierarchical. As a result, without the extra data like global input-output table, we can identify the product categories with higher complexity, and the relative importance of a country in the global value chain by the trading network solely. Citation:...
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...ECON 504 – Final Paper Domestic and Global protectionist policies affecting economies Throughout the global economy, there are free trade zones and there are restricted zones. Free Trade exists when there is an absence of government imposed barriers in existence between nations in order to restrict trade. When barriers such as those referred to as protectionist policies exist, free trade becomes restricted. Protection is essentially defined as any action by national governments that will give an artificial competitive advantage to domestic producers at the expense of foreign producers. National governments aim to protect their nation from the disadvantages of free trade, through protectionist policies in the form of subsidies, tariffs, local content rules, quotas, export incentives and voluntary export restraints. Reasons for protection include “The Infant Industry argument” which states that some industries in a given country may develop a comparative advantage if only they are sheltered from foreign competition for a while, by means of temporary protection. So if in the future, the infant industries ‘grow up’ and form a comparative advantage, the domestic economy will gain access to a larger demand market, creating an injection into the economy, resulting in increased economic activity and employment. The domestic protection argument states that free trade and increased global competition can result in structural unemployment. Therefore, it has...
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...A five step search and analysis method was employed in order to capture as wide a range of material as possible. Documents published in English that met criteria for a social science contribution were included for review. Via electronic bibliographic databases, websites and hand searches conducted in India, 113 relevant articles, books and reports were identified. These were classified according to topic area, publication date, disciplinary perspective, genre, and theoretical and methodological approaches. Topic areas were identified initially through an inductive approach, then rationalised into seven broad themes. Transnational consumption of health services; the transnational healthcare workforce; the production, consumption and trade in specific health-related commodities, and transnational diffusion of ideas and knowledge have all received attention from social scientists in work related to India. Other themes with smaller volumes of work include new global health governance issues and structures; transnational delivery of health services and the transnational movement of capital. Thirteen disciplines were found represented in our review, with social policy being a clear leader, followed by economics...
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...Collusive Behavior in the Industrial Thread Industry Table of contents 1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………… 2 2. The Thread Industry 2.1 Market Structure………………………………………………………………. 2 2.1 The Agreements ……………………………………………………………….. 3 3. Economic Impact on Competition 3.1 The Nature of a Carte………………………………………………………………… 4 3.2 Welfare analysis ……………………………………………………………………… 5 4. The European Commission`s decision 4.1. The decision…………………………………………………………………….. 7 5. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………… 8 References………………………………………………………………………………. 9 1. Introduction The European Commission (EC) convicted eleven companies in the thread industry for arranging cartels for customers in Benelux, the Nordic countries and the EEA in 2005. The 23 producers investigated are from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom and were fined to a total of 43.5 million € (European Commission, 2005). Industrial thread itself is a kind of thin yarn that is used for sewing. It is therefore a main component in the production of various products, such as clothes, home furnishings, mattresses, footwear and others. Additionally, the production of automotive seats and seatbelts can be assigned to the so called automotive thread. Both markets together amounted to around 6 billion € in in sales worldwide in 2000. The antitrust investigation...
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...UNDERGRADUATE REGULATIONS & SYLLABUSES 2014 - 2015 THE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES TABLE OF CONTENTS MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN ............................................................. 3 UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMMES ................................................ 4 ACADEMIC CALENDAR 2014-2015 ................................................ 5 DEFINITIONS ...................................................................................... 13 GENERAL INFORMATION & REGULATIONS .............................. 14 General Regulations for Bachelor of Science Degrees 14 Special Regulations for Degrees in Hospitality and Tourism Management........................................................... 27 Franchise Agreements .......................................................... 27 EVENING UNIVERSITY -GENERAL INFORMATION & REGULATIONS ................................................................................... 28 General Regulations for Bachelor of Science Degrees 28 General Regulations for Diploma Programmes ............ 36 General Regulations for Certificate Programmes ......... 37 STUDENT PRIZES .............................................................................. 38 CODE OF CONDUCT ........................................................................ 39 UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS ON PLAGIARISM .......................... 40 THE ACADEMIC SUPPORT/ DISABILITIES LIAISON UNIT (ASDLU) ..............................................................................................
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...The Relationship between Financial Markets and Economic Growth: Implications for Canada Research Study Prepared for the Wise Persons’ Committee Gordon Boissonneault Senior Economist, WPC Staff October 24, 2003 The Relationship between Financial Markets and Economic Growth: Implications for Canada Executive Summary The financial sector has experienced significant change over recent decades, driven by advances in information and communications technology and widespread reductions in international barriers to trade and investment. International integration is advancing rapidly, reflecting in part the development of global production chains and the rapid growth of emerging market economies. As a result of the forces of integration, international competition has become more fierce and firms are under increasing pressure to cut costs and differentiate their products to survive. Canada’s economy has numerous linkages beyond its borders, particularly with the United States. The future improvement of Canadians’ standard of living will depend in large part on foreign investment in Canada and the ability of Canadians to invest abroad. In this regard, a thriving financial sector will be a key component of our success. Canada has a small share of the global capital market. Thus, to be competitive, the Canadian capital market must be efficient and offer a low cost of capital. As much as possible, the policies and institutions that govern the Canadian financial...
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...DeVry University Principle of Economics ECON-312N Jmp092656@hotmail.com Introduction…………………………………………………………………………2 Unemployment………………………………………………………………………2 Inflation, GDP, and Unemployment…………………………………………………4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………6 Reference……………………………………………………………………………..7 February 14, 2014 Slippery Climb Up: To Recovery Introduction In the past five years the climb to get out of the effects of the Great Recession of 2008 has been very slippery. The current macroeconomic situation in the United States has been a very slow recovery and the public’s behavior is demonstrating much concerned. The concerns are unemployment, the value of their homes, and stagnant wages. Economic forecasters” believe that 2014 will be the “break out year” for the U.S. economy” (Hernandez, 2014). This paper will discuss the concept of inflation and unemployment and the GDP have on the economy; also what fiscal policies and monetary policies would be appropriate at this time for our economy. Unemployment The U.S. unemployment rate hit a new five year low of 6.6 percent in January 2014. Since October the jobless rate has decreased by 0.6 percentage point. The unemployment...
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...HIER Harvard Institute of Economic Research Discussion Paper Number 2097 Paternalism and Psychology by Edward L. Glaeser December 2005 HARVARD UNIVERSITY Cambridge, Massachusetts This paper can be downloaded without charge from: http://post.economics.harvard.edu/hier/2005papers/2005list.html The Social Science Research Network Electronic Paper Collection: http://ssrn.com/abstract=860865 Paternalism and Psychology Edward L. Glaeser† Does bounded rationality make paternalism more attractive? This Essay argues that errors will be larger when suppliers have stronger incentives or lower costs of persuasion and when consumers have weaker incentives to learn the truth. These comparative statics suggest that bounded rationality will often increase the costs of government decisionmaking relative to private decisionmaking, because consumers have better incentives to overcome errors than government decisionmakers, consumers have stronger incentives to choose well when they are purchasing than when they are voting and it is more costly to change the beliefs of millions of consumers than a handful of bureaucrats. As such, recognizing the limits of human cognition may strengthen the case for limited government. INTRODUCTION An increasingly large body of evidence documenting bounded rationality and non-standard preferences has led many scholars to question eco1 nomics’ traditional hostility towards paternalism. After all, if individuals have so many cognitive difficulties then...
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...THE INCREASING RETURNS REVOLUTION IN TRADE AND GEOGRAPHY Prize Lecture, December 8, 2008 by Paul Krugman Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton, NJ 08544-1013, USA. Thirty years have passed since a small group of theorists began applying concepts and tools from industrial organization to the analysis of international trade. The new models of trade that emerged from that work didn’t supplant traditional trade theory so much as supplement it, creating an integrated view that made sense of aspects of world trade that had previously posed major puzzles. The “new trade theory” – an unfortunate phrase, now quite often referred to as “the old new trade theory” – also helped build a bridge between the analysis of trade between countries and the location of production within countries. In this paper I will try to retrace the steps and, perhaps even more important, the state of mind that made this intellectual transformation possible. At the end I’ll also ask about the relevance of those once-revolutionary insights in a world economy that, as I’ll explain, is arguably more classical now than it was when the revolution in trade theory began. 1. TRADE PUZZLES In my first year as an assistant professor, I remember telling colleagues that I was working on international trade theory – and being asked why on earth I would want to do that. “Trade is such a monolithic field,” one told me. “It’s a finished structure, with nothing interesting left to do.” Yet even before the arrival...
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...ECON 125-HK2. Economics for Managers Exam http://homeworkfy.com/downloads/econ-125-hk2-economics-for-managers-exam/ To Get this Tutorial Copy & Paste above URL Into Your Browser Hit Us Email for Any Inquiry at: Homeworkfy@gmail.com Visit our Site for More Tutorials: (http://homeworkfy.com/ ) > TAKE ASSESSMENT: EXAM 1 Question 1 2 points Save Which of the following economic systems abolishes all private property? communism socialism fascism all of the above Question 2 2 points Save The profit motive is one characteristic of a command economy. True False Question 3 2 points Save In a market system, the government enforces laws ensuring that private enterprises and conditions of competition will prevail. True False Question 4 2 points Save The most common type of business in the United States is the corporation. True False Question 5 2 points Save Laissez-faire is a policy of no government intervention in the economic activities of individuals and businesses. True False Question 6 2 points Save In a partnership, each partner’s liability is limited to his or her contribution to the partnership. True False Question 7 2 points Save There are no government-regulated markets in the U.S. economy. True False Question 8 2 points Save Which of the following is not among the United States’ economic goals? ...
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...INTRODUCTION The need to facilitate access to essential medicines for those with lifethreatening or fatal diseases like HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria has generated significant interest. Yet, an inevitable tension exists between the need for pharmaceutical companies to profit from their patented inventions and the desire to provide access for impoverished persons. Developing nations have attempted to resolve this tension through the issuance of patent compulsory licensesFauthorizations for government-approved generic copies1Fso that those in need of the n Assistant Professor of Business Law, School of Business, University of Connecticut. This article received the Holmes-Cardozo Award for Outstanding Submitted Conference Paper as well as the Ralph J. Bunche Best Paper Award at the Academy of Legal Studies in Business Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, August 2007. Our thanks for comments and support go to Jayashree Watal, Peter Yu, Douglas Lippoldt, and the other participants at the University of Connecticut’s Center for International Business Education and Research Conference, ‘‘The Impact of Intellectual Property Rights on Innovation, Knowledge Diffusion, and Foreign Direct Investment in the Global Economy,’’ Storrs, CT, May 2007. Additional thanks to Anthony Kwasnica and Larry Cata-Backer for helpful comments. nn Associate Professor of Business Law, Smeal College of Business, The Pennsylvania State University. My research was supported by funding from the 2007 Smeal Competitive...
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...ECON 125 HK2 ECONOMICS FOR MANAGERS Exam Solutions https://hwguiders.com/downloads/econ-125-hk2-economics-for-managers-exam-solutions/ ECON 125 HK2 ECONOMICS FOR MANAGERS Exam Solutions Exam 1: Question 1 Which of the following economic systems abolishes all private property? communism socialism fascism all of the above Question 2 The profit motive is one characteristic of a command economy. True False Question 3 In a market system, the government enforces laws ensuring that private enterprises and conditions of competition will prevail. True False Question 4 The most common type of business in the United States is the corporation. True False Question 5 Laissez-faire is a policy of no government intervention in the economic activities of individuals and businesses. True False Question 6 In a partnership, each partner’s liability is limited to his or her contribution to the partnership. True False Question 7 There are no government-regulated markets in the U.S. economy. True False Question 8 Which of the following is not among the United States’ economic goals? full employment stable prices healthy economic growth equal distribution of income Question 9 Under the U.S. market system, land and capital goods are owned mainly by the federal government individuals and firms local governments state governments Question 10 The biggest disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is the...
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