Search

In the 1780s, Dutch Patriot revolutionaries celebrated the independence of the United States as an event that would revitalize their downtrodden economy and society at large. Why would they believe that the newly independent United States could resurrect the Dutch Golden Age? This article demonstrates that, from the Seven Years' War onward, political and economic thought and practice in the Dutch Republic became deeply entangled with the unfolding of the American Revolution. Ideas about commerce and innovative practices that emerged in the context of a rapidly changing Atlantic world proved foundational to the Dutch Patriot Revolution of the 1780s. In this way, the transatlantic connections between the American and Dutch Patriots were longer and more complex than previously argued. As a result of these connections, the American Revolution forged the political and economic program of the Dutch Patriot Revolution, which would ultimately signal the beginning of the end of the two-hundred-year-old Dutch Republic. In the 1780s, Dutch Patriot revolutionaries celebrated the independence of the United States as an event that would revitalize their downtrodden economy and society at large. Why would they believe that the newly independent United States could resurrect the Dutch Golden Age? This article demonstrates that, from the Seven Years' War onwards, political and economic thought and practice in the Dutch Republic became deeply entangled with the unfolding of the American Revolution. Ideas about commerce and innovative practices that emerged in the context of a rapidly changing Atlantic world proved foundational to the Dutch Patriot Revolution of the 1780s. In this way, the transatlantic connections between the American and Dutch Patriots were longer and more complex than previously argued. As a result of these connections, the American Revolution forged the political and economic program of the Dutch Patriot Revolution, which would ultimately signal the beginning of the end of the two-hundred-year-old Dutch Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article titled "Differential Pricing: Violation of Fundamental Principles or Justified Measure?" discusses a case brought by Peru against Ecuador regarding the alleged violation of principles in the Andean Community. Peru claims that Ecuador's differential pricing system for fuel, which charges higher prices for vehicles with foreign license plates, violates principles of national treatment, non-discrimination, equal legal treatment, and free competition. The Court of Justice of the Andean Community rules in favor of Peru, stating that the pricing system violates these principles. The article also discusses the action for non-compliance within the Andean Community legal system, emphasizing the importance of smooth transportation services for economic integration and the welfare of consumers. It concludes that the differential pricing in Ecuador's fuel sale violates Andean Community laws and should be discontinued. [Extracted from the article]

Nativist political movements are globally ascendant. In advanced democracies, rising anti‐immigrant politics is in part a backlash against economic globalization. In emerging economies, where nativists primarily target internal migrants, there is little investigation of whether trade liberalization fuels antimigrant sentiment, perhaps because trade benefits workers in these contexts. I argue that global economic integration causes nativist backlash in emerging economies even though it does not dislocate workers. I highlight an alternative mechanism: geographic labor mobility. Workers strategically migrate to access geographically uneven global economic opportunity. This liberalization‐induced mobility interacts with native–migrant cleavages to generate nativist backlash. I explore these dynamics in the Indian textile sector, which experienced a positive shock following global trade liberalization in 2005. Using a difference‐in‐differences analysis, I find that exposed localities experienced increased internal migration and nativism, manifesting in antimigrant rioting and nativist party support. Liberalization can fuel nativism even when its economic impacts are positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of the cost of labor on macroeconomic imbalances within the eurozone. For this purpose, we construct a three-country Stock-Flow Consistent (SFC) macroeconomic model in an open economy including the eurozone and the rest of the world. We show that internal devaluation is not effective as an economic policy for getting the eurozone economies to converge. Cutting labor costs cannot kick-start economic activity through a rebound in exports of those countries that do so. Instead, it involves the risk of locking their economies concerned into low-wage production activities. The fall in unemployment it entails is the consequence, then, of a downturn in labor productivity. In contradistinction, we defend the idea that the introduction of a new wage rule making monetary wages dependent on productivity gains and on the target for inflation set by the European Central Bank, together with a budgetary stimulation policy, would be conducive to initiating convergence among European economies. In particular, it would produce a convergence in living conditions by improving labor productivity but it would also bring production structures closer together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Luridica is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study investigates the effects of monetary policy credibility and the open economy trilemma on monetary policy efficiency in developing countries. Based on a sample of 28 developing countries, the findings reveal that monetary policy credibility increases monetary policy efficiency. The results also show that central banks in developing countries have more efficient monetary policies when they choose a policy arrangement contrary to the 'middle‐ground convergence'; but, to the extent they accumulate international reserves, it allows them to move to a middle‐ground strategy. Regarding the trilemma, the estimates suggest when monetary policy is independent, monetary policy is more efficient. Furthermore, when financial openness and exchange rate stability are deepened, central banks become less efficient in conducting monetary policy. However, when countries hold higher levels of international reserves, the positive effect of monetary autonomy on monetary policy efficiency decreases and the negative effect of financial liberalisation on monetary policy efficiency decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the collective choice perspective, this paper examines how different trade regimes have differing implications for two enemy countries' arming decisions in a three-country world with a neutral third-party state. We compare the two adversaries' aggregate arming (i.e., overall conflict intensity) and show that it is in ascending order for the following regimes: (i) a free trade agreement (FTA) between the adversaries, leaving the third-party state as a non-member, (ii) worldwide free trade in the presence of the interstate conflict, (iii) trade wars with Nash tariffs, and (iv) an FTA between the third country and one adversary, excluding the other adversary from the trade bloc. These results have policy implications for interstate conflicts. First, "dancing between two enemies" with an FTA results in lower aggregate arming than under worldwide free trade. Second, the world is "more dangerous" in tariff wars than under free trade. Third, an FTA between one adversary and the third party while keeping the other adversary as an outsider is conflict-aggravating since aggregate arming is the highest compared to all other trade regimes. We also analyze aggregate arming under a customs union (CU) and discuss differences/similarities in implications between a CU and an FTA for interstate conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of agricultural trade liberalization on economic activity and political violence in emerging countries. We use data on all preferential trade agreements (PTAs) signed between 25 low- and middle-income countries and their high-income trade partners between 1995 and 2013. We exploit the implied reduction in agricultural tariffs over time combined with variation within countries in their suitability to produce liberalized crops to find that economic activity increases differentially in affected areas. We also find strong positive effects on political violence, and present evidence consistent with both producer- and consumer-side mechanisms: violence increases differentially in more urbanized areas that are suitable to produce less labour-intensive crops as well as crops that are consumed locally. Our estimates imply that economic activity and political violence would have been around 2% and 7% lower, respectively, across countries in our sample had the PTAs not been signed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mexican economy experienced two large crises: in 1995 and in 2008. The dynamics and origins of the episodes are very different; nevertheless, is there a common underlying mechanism? First, by applying the Business Cycle Accounting method, we find that the efficiency wedge is the main driver of output during both episodes. We present an equivalence between the neoclassical growth model with distortions and a small open economy with imported intermediate goods inputs, in which relative price changes manifest themselves as changes on the efficiency wedge. This result proposes a solution for the theoretical puzzle regarding the relationship between terms of trade shocks and productivity. Finally, the model is able to reproduce both the intensities and velocities of the crises in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically and theoretically investigates the relationship between budget balances and external balances, the so-called twin deficit hypothesis. Using the US post-World War II data, I estimate a time-varying structural vector autoregressive model to evaluate the effects of structural breaks on this relationship. The empirical results reveal that the relationship is significantly time varying: (1) an increase in government spending and the consequent budget deficits tend to cause trade deficits in the Bretton Woods era; (2) in contrast, an increase in government spending tends to induce trade surpluses in the post-Bretton Woods era; and (3) with the exceptions of the 1980s and 2010s, government spending shocks cause trade deficits under a floating exchange regime. Using the open economy New Keynesian model with rule-of-thumb consumers, I find that a shift in exchange rate regimes helps in understanding empirical results (1) and (2). Moreover, slowly adjusted taxes inform our comprehension of exceptions in the 1980s, whereas zero lower bound aids our explanation of exceptions in the 2010s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oman's trade performance achievements with Singapore are assessed within the Gulf–Singapore Free Trade Agreement (GSFTA) framework. Since coming into force in January 2015, Oman's total export value to Singapore has plunged significantly. The number of imported products from Singapore remained significantly higher than the number of Oman's exports to Singapore, confirming that Omani exports have a weaker presence in the Singaporean market. In the post‐2015 period, Oman's export partner share in trade remained below its import partner share. Although Oman's comparative advantage strengthened in consumer goods, intermediate goods, chemicals and metals since 2015, animals, food, vegetables and wood consistently revealed their comparative disadvantage since 2000. Between 2015 and 2018, Oman's export share of capital and intermediate goods to Singapore fell from 45.23% to 33.57%, while it rose for consumer goods, chemicals, fuels, machinery and electrical products. Oman's trade reforms have resulted in weighted average tariffs on all products falling from around 5% in 2005 to below 0.60% in 2018. While GSFTA has delivered on expanding trade between Oman and Singapore (though with different magnitudes), it has fallen short of delivering the 'level playing field' as expected of Oman's bilateral trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study unanticipated tariffs in a setting with firm-to-firm supply relationships. Firms conduct costly searches and negotiate with potential suppliers that pass a reservation level of match productivity. Global supply chains form in anticipation of free trade. Then, the home government surprises with an input tariff. This can lead to renegotiation with initial suppliers or search for replacements. Calibrating the model's parameters to match initial import shares and the estimated responses to the US tariffs imposed on China, we find an overall welfare loss of 0.12 percent of GDP, with substantial contributions from changes in input sourcing and search costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to empirically explore the nexus between foreign direct investment (FDI) and other factors for global value chain (GVC) participation (backward and forward) in Vietnam, a transitional economy. The estimation shows that the economic size and market development of Vietnam and its trading partners are the main determinants of the nation's GVC participation. Inward FDI flows into the country have a positive impact on its GVC participation in both forward and backward linkages. Geographical distance is an impediment to Vietnam's backward GVC participation, whilst engagement in free trade agreements is advantageous to its GVC participation in both backward and forward linkages. We find that the logistics performance of Vietnam and its trading partners also positively affects the country's GVC participation. The paper provides policy implications for Vietnam to better use FDI and other factors to enhance its GVC participation, such as by attracting large supplier firms in upstream industries across the multinational enterprises' (MNEs) value chains, promoting trade liberalization and improving logistical efficiency. Keywords: Vietnam, global value chains (GVCs), foreign direct investment (FDI)., 1. Introduction Research by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) (2013) has estimated that about 80 per cent of global trade (in terms of gross exports) is [...]

In the backdrop of criticism that the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement has disproportionately favored China, particularly in agricultural trade, there has been a surge in Pakistan's imports, leading to a trade deficit. This study attempts to evaluate the impact of CPFTA 1&2 on the vegetable exports of Pakistan which is an important sector of the agricultural industry. A panel data set of Pakistan's vegetable exports to its trading partners from 2003 to 2021 was analyzed with the extensively used gravity model of trade. The vegetable export data was sourced from the International Trade Centre (ITC) which is based on the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The results suggest that the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA-I) has a positive association with Pakistan's vegetable exports to China. However, trade liberalization with Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia plays a more substantial role in driving Pakistan's vegetable exports. CPFTA-II has not had a measurable or statistically significant impact on the vegetable exports of Pakistan as this period was highly influenced by COVID-19. The results of colonialism variables show that Pakistan is exporting more to countries with the same colonial history. Moreover, the results of the geographical variable suggest that Pakistan should explore more close markets to expand vegetable exports. Policy implications suggest the need to reduce trade costs, leverage CPEC infrastructure, enrich trade relations with neighboring countries, and involve business professionals in policy negotiations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a Free Trade Port in China, the protection of ecological environment and highquality tourism development on Hainan Island have become a national strategy. Exploring the coupling relationship of the two subsystems holds great practical significance for promoting the island's international demonstration area and high-quality development. Based on the characteristics of international islands, a comprehensive index system is established to explore the coupling coordination evolutionary process and interactive stress relationship of tourism development and the ecological environment in Hainan Island from 2005 to 2020. The results show: (1) From 2005 to 2019, the comprehensive evaluation index of the two subsystems of Hainan Island generally showed a continuous growth trend. (2) From 2005 to 2019, the coupling degree of the two subsystems of Hainan Island strengthened continuously, the coupling coordination degree increased steadily from a moderate imbalance to good coordination, and tourism development and the ecological environment entered a stage of parallel and benign interactive development. (3) In 2020, affected by COVID-19, the tourism development indicators declined rapidly, while the ecological environment still maintained a rising trend. (4) Based on the inverted U-shaped curve model, when the tourism development index reaches 0.7269, the ecological environment quality reaches the maximum value of 0.7956, which is the best state between the two subsystems. The ecological environment and tourism development of Hainan Island are generally in a benign interaction, but there are signs of interactive stress starting in 2017. In the future, the pressure on the ecological environment of Hainan Island will increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about Libyan trade unionism and its role in the Arab workers' movement. Drawing on a variety of archival sources, this article contributes a general overview of trade unionism in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica from the time of the British Administration (1943–1951) until 1957. In this period, the Libyan General Workers Union (LGWU) emerged as the main workers' organisation and the first trade unions laws were promulgated. Since 1957, with the establishment of the Petroleum Workers Union and the presence of foreigners working in oil companies, the LGWU's supremacy as a representative of Libya's workers waned, and Libyan unionism entered a new phase. This article chronicles the unknown history of Libyan trade unionism and highlights the significance of trade union internationalism, specifically, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions in Libyan labour affairs. This research discusses internal enablers as well as frictions within the labour movement, which ultimately hampered its social and political influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the evolution of the Liberal Party's views on the British empire and the Commonwealth from 1900 to 1979. The party's early manifestos criticized the government's handling of British interests abroad, but later shifted focus to domestic issues and social reform. The party acknowledged racial injustice within the empire and embraced European cooperation and anti-racism in the 1950s. The article concludes that the Liberal Party did not display excessive nostalgia for the empire. [Extracted from the article]

This paper contributes to the literature on EU trade policy by introducing insights from the political economy literature on development to the study of how EU trade liberalisation affects development in trading partners. Drawing on a comparison of EU trade liberalisation with Moldova and Georgia, we argue that the type of coalition between public and private actors in partner countries' top export sectors determines which firms benefit from better market access to the EU, as indicated by their ability to increase their exports. We show that liberalised trade with the EU tends to contribute to achieving the EU's declared objective of inclusive development if the presence of inclusionary development coalitions ensures that a broad range of firms is enabled to increase their export capacities through a mechanism that we call 'inclusive empowerment'. Otherwise, trade liberalisation contributes to exclusive development, benefitting big, mostly foreign firms, or, at worse, consolidating rent-seeking practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat market integration between the US and the UK before the "first era of globalization" (in the second half of the nineteenth century) was frequently interrupted by policy and "exogenous" events such as wars. This paper adds Canada to this story by looking at trade and price data, as well as contemporary debates. This allows us to triangulate the role of policy and wars, since Canada as a small open economy was part of the British Empire. We find that, despite its privileged access to British markets, Canada faced similar barriers to the US, suggesting that membership of the British Empire provided only a modest benefit to trade. We also describe the limitations she faced accessing the US market, in particular after American independence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article empirically investigates the role of import intermediaries in Canada and discusses how public policies can affect them. Among the main results is that intermediaries are shown to play a very different role with respect to manufacturers and retailers regarding differentiated and complex products, but their role is qualitatively the same across North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and non-NAFTA countries, and the share of intermediaries' imports is always boosted by a greater mass of small domestic manufacturers and retailers. These results suggest that import wholesalers play an important role in the Canadian economy, especially with respect to domestic manufacturers, and that policy-makers should be mindful of policy impacts on this sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses the case of Benin to explore the tension between the political realities of African countries and the objectives of the AfCFTA. For most of the country's independence, Benin's political economy has been based primarily on informal and/or illegal entrepôt trade with Nigeria. Benin's entrepôt system creates a loophole around trade barriers for products that are stringently regulated in Nigeria by enabling their importation to Benin, and then in turn, re-exporting or smuggling them into Nigeria. This article argues that informal and/or illegal entrepôt trade with Nigeria is so ingrained in Benin's political economy that regional and continental free trade (which is incompatible with entrepôt trade) is all but impossible from Benin's perspective. The entrepôt system is one of the main sources of government revenue, which ruling elites are not willing to surrender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has been hailed as a key pillar and catalyst for economic growth, industrialization, and sustainable development in Africa. One of the anticipated benefits is the promise to increase intra‐African trade through the elimination of import duties and other tariffs among countries. However, due to the heterogeneity between the African countries, questions remain as to whether each country will benefit from tariff elimination. This paper aims to evaluate the macroeconomic, fiscal, and welfare consequences of import tax removal in Senegal with the rest of Africa. We link an extended version of the partnership for economic policy (PEP) static computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with a non‐parametric microsimulation approach. We calibrate the model with Senegal's most recent Social Accounting Matrix. The microeconomic model is calibrated using the latest Senegalese household consumption survey. The findings indicate that tariff removal from the rest of Africa has favorable economic, fiscal, and welfare impacts for Senegal. The paper suggests that it will lead to an increase in economic growth and investment. The removal of tariffs is expected to favor urban households over rural ones and leads to a modest decrease in income inequality, accompanied by a 3.36% reduction in the number of poor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture trade helps countries capitalize on the untapped benefits of their agro-climatic, geographic, and socio-economic endowments to maintain food security. Vegetables among the crops grown in Pakistan hold a key position. Despite the agricultural potential, Pakistan's vegetables have a negative trade balance. Since China is Pakistan’s largest trading partner offering a huge market, this study explores the potential trade opportunities in the vegetable sector between China and Pakistan aiming to overcome the trade deficit, and evaluates the trade specialization and competitiveness of vegetable products between China and Pakistan. We employed the Revealed Comparative Advantage index, Symmetric Revealed Comparative Advantage index, Imports Revealed Comparative Disadvantage, and Trade Complementarity index. Results indicated that China and Pakistan have a comparative advantage in vegetable trade, however, a notable distinction between the degree and products exhibit comparative advantage. China exports and Pakistan imports are highly complementary. Further, the studied indices revealed that some products are exactly the same. China has export comparative advantage while Pakistan has a comparative import disadvantage, indicating a potential trade gap. The results demonstrated that China Pakistan Free Trade Agreement positively impacts the two-sided vegetable trade. However, the potential of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is not fully exploited. Finally, suggestions were put forward to strengthen bilateral trade for mutual benefit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The free movement of goods is widely believed to be a prime example of the negative integration paradigm. Its defining characteristic is a strong judicial process, fuelled by – and fuelling – litigation, which eclipses the weak(er) political process. The article argues that this dominant narrative is no longer accurate. Based on a new dataset of all Article 34 TFEU cases decided by the CJEU between 1961 and 2020, it shows that goods litigation has been disappearing from the Court's docket since the mid-1980s. The reasons for this, it is argued, lie in changing incentive structures for both litigants and national courts, which have reduced the appeal of bringing goods cases, as well as a rise in EU legislation. The consequence is a demise of negative and a turn towards positive integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Economic policies are increasingly guided by a whole set of different concerns from those that inspired International Economic Law (IEL). Instead of interdependence, trade liberalization, and market-orientation, rules and government decisions are increasingly directed to pursue goals such as reduction of dependence, resilience, autonomy, and even self-reliance. A geoeconomic logic is gradually replacing the liberal rationale that underpinned IEL for the past decades. Understanding where IEL might be headed requires an appraisal of this changing logic. This Article makes the following contributions to this effort. First, it proposes a conceptual framework centered around the notion of "geoeconomics," which provides a coherent meaning to many developments that are transforming economic relations. The framework is unique in that it clearly outlines what is considered under the concept of geoeconomics, particularly by distinguishing it from other potentially misleading notions. This Article describes the assumptions that back the geoeconomic framework and show how they play out in practice. Thus, it sheds light on the factors driving many recent developments in the global economy which are difficult to explain from a liberal logic. Second, it contributes to sophisticate the terms of the debates among international economic lawyers that seek to address the transformations impacting IEL. These debates have neglected elements that are brought to light by the geoeconomic framework. This Article presents the insights arising from the geoeconomic framework and how they offer directions for future debates on the evolution of IEL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After over 20 years of a strict moratorium on the turnover of agricultural land in Ukraine, an official market for this type of land has recently been established. The purpose of this study was to examine the functioning of the fundamental elements of this market from the moment of its introduction on 1 July 2021 until today, as well as to understand the possible directions for its further development. The analysis of the agricultural land market and the visualization of the obtained results were carried out using the PostgreSQL database, Python and SQL programming languages, and the QGIS and Metabase tools. It was found that the volume of the agricultural land market remains insignificant, as the total area of sold land during this period made up only 0.7% of the arable land area of Ukraine. Prices for land plots remained at the level of their normative monetary value and are still relatively low, which indicates the significant undercapitalization of agricultural land as a production factor. The stability of agricultural land prices under the influence of various factors also indicates their relative virtuality, which, taking into account the further lifting of restrictions on the size of land plots to be sold as of 1 January 2024, requires the use of appropriate land policy instruments in order to fully utilize the multipurpose role of land in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, which should be based on a human-rights-based approach to rural development, food security, and land policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces the development process and main characteristics of China’s Hainan Free Trade Port (Hainan FTP) and analyses the risks and challenges China Customs may encounter in matching the high-standard international economic and trade rules in promoting its construction. A comparative analysis is used to demonstrate the comparative advantages of Hainan FTP with other free trade zones (FTZs) around the world. This research shows that, as an important measure of China’s high-level economic reform, even though China Customs has to some extent reformed the tariff collection and supervision models towards Hainan FTP, it is still necessary to improve trade facilitation and continuously optimise the business-enabling environment to achieve high-quality development of Hainan FTP [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this study is to examine the extent of financial integration between Latin American and US financial markets, particularly in light of recent efforts to foster integration through trade agreements. Spanning from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2019, the sample focuses on major market indices and key sectors. Financial integration is quantified using a DCC multivariate GARCH model, incorporating a smooth transition model, structural breaks, and regression-based approaches. Results indicate increased comovement with the US for main market indices in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, while Brazil shows a decrease. Similar trends are observed in sectoral analyses. This study also reveals heightened correlation post-trade agreements. Structural break analysis highlights significant shifts in dynamic correlations for countries with US free trade agreements. These findings support the argument of increased financial integration, bearing significance for portfolio diversification and international policy formulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a flexible class of trade models with international production networks and arbitrary wedge‐like distortions like markups, tariffs, or nominal rigidities. We characterize the general equilibrium response of variables to shocks in terms of microeconomic statistics. Our results are useful for decomposing the sources of real GDP and welfare growth, and for computing counterfactuals. Using the same set of microeconomic sufficient statistics, we also characterize societal losses from increases in tariffs and iceberg trade costs and dissect the qualitative and quantitative importance of accounting for disaggregated details. Our results, which can be used to compute approximate and exact counterfactuals, provide an analytical toolbox for studying large‐scale trade models and help to bridge the gap between computation and theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With a rapidly growing young population, the African continent provides a high but barely exploited economic potential. Creating an African free trade zone is one of the African Union's major initiatives to increase prosperity. Even though the AfCFTA has already come into force, its potential has not yet been fully exploited. This study investigates the logistics challenges associated with the AfCFTA and potential solutions and development paths for future value chains. Methods: The study builds upon a two-stage research process. First, applying the Nominal Group Technique with a group of 19 industry experts, current challenges and strategies to deal with them are conducted, and statements about potential development paths emerging from the AfCFTA are synthesized. Second, a questionnaire among additional industry experts is done to assess the results of the first stage. Results: The article sheds light on the barely untapped field of logistics challenges hindering the AfCFTA to leverage its potential. Strategy fields to address current challenges are explained, and the first indications of how the AfCFTA will shape supply chains in the mid-term are outlined. Conclusions: The article underlines the importance of logistics in the development of pan-African value chains and highlights potential development paths that may arise in the medium term. It also emphasizes the growing need for cooperation between politics, business, and research to overcome current logistics challenges and leverage the potential of the AfCFTA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European Central Bank (ECB) staff have repeatedly justified the carbon bias of the Asset Purchase Programme (APP) in terms of "market neutrality". Yet this term is not included in the Treaties so its meaning and legal nature are unclear. To clarify the meaning of market neutrality in the euro area's monetary policy we develop a summative content analysis of the textual data contained in relevant legal and policy documents that are publicly available. We conclude that, in the context of monetary policy, the ECB and its staff have used the term market neutrality with two meanings: (i) the minimisation of any impact on the operation of markets and, in particular, on the operation of the price discovery mechanism; and (ii) the mirroring of the composition of a particular market to guide asset purchases. We then examine the legal nature of market neutrality in each of these two meanings. In its first meaning, we argue that market neutrality is the ECB's definition of the so-called 'principle of an open market economy' ('OME principle') and it is therefore primary law. In its second meaning, we argue that market neutrality operationalises the OME principle and is therefore secondary law. Our conclusions differ from those reached by the first academic enquiries into the legal nature of market neutrality and open an academic debate on the matter. A clear understanding of the legal nature of market neutrality is also essential to assess the validity of the ECB's climate change action plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether trade openness is one of the determinants of poverty in upper middle-income countries using panel data (1991-2020) analysis methods such as fixed effects, pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS). Models 2 and 3 consistently produced results which show that trade openness reduced poverty in upper middle-income countries. The complementarity variables (1) trade openness and financial development and (2) trade openness and human capital development had a poverty reduction influence in upper middle-income countries. The study therefore urges the authorities in selected upper middle-income countries to craft and implement policies which further opens trade with other countries and which also enhances both human capital and financial development to alleviate poverty. A future study on the threshold levels of trade openness, human capital and financial development that significantly reduces poverty will add value to the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cooperation among rival firms raises serious skepticism among economists, policymakers, and legal experts, since it generally hurts consumers. We show that this may not be the case in an open economy with strategic foreign direct investment (FDI). Under Cournot competition, increased cooperation among firms reduces the domestic welfare, but it may benefit the consumers by attracting FDI. Under Bertrand competition with differentiated goods, increased cooperation may increase consumer surplus, and it may increase or decrease the domestic welfare by attracting FDI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The rise in business activities coupled with free trade liberalisation across countries has entailed an increase in securities transaction as well as insider trading (IT). In fact, IT is characterised by the influence and usage of some prior knowledge concerning sensitive information of a corporate body which results in a financial benefit to the insider trader. The practice of IT is not only unethical but also illegal and this statement is witnessed by the mushrooming of laws across the globe categorising IT as an offence. However, the type of punishment varies in different countries depending on various factors. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to assess the adequacy and efficiency of IT laws in the context of a developing country being Mauritius. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the research objective, the Mauritian laws on IT were compared with the corresponding laws of some developed countries like the USA and the UK. As such, a qualitative research method was adopted. In particular, the black letter approach was used to examine the relevant laws of Mauritius, UK and USA on IT. A comparative analysis was conducted concerning IT laws for each country with the view of suggesting recommendations for Mauritian stakeholders to adopt to enhance the existing legal and regulatory framework on IT. Findings: It was found that Mauritian IT laws are largely inspired from both the US and UK corresponding legislation. However, Mauritian laws need to be strengthened by imposing some more severe penalties in terms of fines and terms of imprisonment like the USA has established. The Mauritian Financial Services Commission as the regulator also needs to play a more active role in disseminating particularities of IT laws, offences and penalties to the civil society at large. Originality/value: At present, this study will be among the first academic writings on the efficiency of IT laws in Mauritius and also, because existing literature is quite scarce on assessing the adequacy of IT legislation in developing countries, this research aims at filling in the gap in literature. The study is carried out with the aim of combining a large amount of empirical, theoretical and factual information that can be of use to various stakeholders and not only to academics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So far, especially underdeveloped and developing countries have tried to attract foreign direct investments by adopting open economy policies. In this study, we investigated whether foreign direct investments have a significant impact on the gross domestic product of Türkiye. For this purpose, we examined the long-term relationships between GDP and foreign direct investment between 1986 and 2020 in Türkiye, which is considered a developing country, with a new approach, structural breaks. The results show that there is a two-way positive relationship between the variables. Accordingly, while GDP affects foreign direct investments in the long run, foreign direct investments also affect GDP. The findings obtained from the CCR, FMOLS and DOLS methods used to estimate the coefficients in the long term are generally consistent with each other. It is understood from this study that the policy of adopting open economy policies and attracting direct investments continues to be valid in Turkiye. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International trade agreements contribute to the development of international trade and services. The European Union is currently modernizing the system and structure of international agreements related to international trade, investment and services. The aim of the scientific study is to clarify and identify the characteristic features of the agreements of new generation that are concluded between the European Union and non-EU member states. Based on the facts, we can confirm that trade policy supports, among others, values such as the protection of human rights, the protection of labor rights, the environment and the fight against climate change. Such an approach of the European Union to the liberalization of world trade through comprehensive trade agreements is also supported by the strategy of the European Commission „Trade for All". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small island developing states (SIDSs) traditionally face a set of challenges like the weak and highly fragile economic configuration, environmental issues, and a traditional dependence on a few economic activities forcing them to open the economy to the exterior. Therefore, their development model, like in Cape Verde, depends on migration, remittances, dependence on aid, tourism, and state employment. The current research offers an insight into the nature of Cape Verde's economy as a SIDS economy and the degree to which the country has been relying on tourism receipts, external remittances from migrations, aid programs, and government services. Understanding Cape Verde's development model is important to clarify the challenges the country faces and its development needs to gather a long-term resilience and to understand if it is changing from a MIRAB (Migrations, Remittances, Aid, and Bureaucracy) model into another one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several nations, including Mexico, are encountering problems with accomplishing the targets of sustainable development goals (SDGs). This study addresses how to develop SDG agenda for Mexico, which may also be applied to other emerging markets with comparable profiles. Therefore, this study utilizes a newly developed load capacity factor (LCF, a detailed environmental evaluation tool) that combines biocapacity (supply side) and ecological foot (demand side) to examine the effect of renewable energy consumption and trade openness on LCF while controlling for nonrenewable energy consumption and economic growth in the case of Mexico during 1970–2017. Using the dual adjustment approach, we find evidence of long-run cointegration nexus among the series. In addition, trade openness affects LCF positively, whereas renewable energy consumption, economic growth, and nonrenewable energy consumption impact LCF negatively. Furthermore, results of the frequency domain causality show that all the variables can predict LCF in the long-term. Based on these results, Mexico should focus on promoting public understanding of green energy and environmental preservation measures and participate in the production of nonenergy-consuming and ecologically friendly products while compelling polluting enterprises to migrate to countries with less stringent environmental restrictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The equity and efficiency of medical and health resource allocation is the key point of health reform in all countries. Poor allocation efficiency of health resources will seriously affect the sustainable and high-quality development of health causes. Hainan Province is the only free trade port with Chinese characteristics in China, which means that Hainan has ushered in a brand-new development under the policy of free trade port. This study aims to adopt policies to improve the efficiency of medical and health resource allocation in Hainan Province and provide references for other regions. In this study, the Super-efficiency SBM and Malmquist models were used to analyze the static and dynamic efficiency of medical and health resource allocation in Hainan Province during 2016–2020. The results showed that, statically, the average efficiency of comprehensive allocation of health resources in Hainan Province from 2016 to 2020 was 0.975, showing poor overall performance and significant regional differences. Dynamically, the average index of allocation efficiency of medical and health resources was 0.934, showing a negative growth trend. The technical efficiency and scale efficiency of health resource allocation efficiency showed positive growth, while the technical progress and pure technical efficiency showed negative growth. It shows that it is influenced by both scale efficiency and technological progress, among which technological progress is the key factor. Therefore, some policy suggestions are put forward to further optimize the allocation of medical and health resources and improve utilization efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the effects of news events related to the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) on the Vietnam stock market from 2010 to 2020. We calculate sectoral abnormal returns prior to, during, and after announcements and find that the Vietnamese stock market is susceptible to these events. We discovered that the announcement had a negative impact on the market, which might diminish the effectiveness of the Agreement. The findings show that more than half of Vietnam's sectors had an immediate reaction to EVFTA announcements, with fourteen reacting negatively and six responding positively. Two of the ten events did not have any immediate impact on these industries but all events resulted in either early or delayed reactions. We also find market scepticism and major changes in the deal led to the emergence of a diamond risk structure. We run multiple robustness tests to account for market integration and other factors that may affect stock returns. In addition, we explore potential sectoral systematic risk changes following these occurrences using different ARCH-type models. These additional tests confirm the robustness of our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]