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This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical literature on the effects of the real exchange rate (RER) on international trade, economic development and growth. We summarize the main conceptual issues, briefly discuss the relevance of the RER as an instrument of development policy, provide an overview of the macroeconomic and microeconomic mechanisms that link the RER to trade and long‐run growth and development, analyse the challenges – especially the disconnect between theory and data – that often arise in empirical applications, and discuss new avenues for future research. In the process, we present some updated estimates and illustrative figures. The mechanisms through which the RER influences long‐run growth and structural change remains a promising area of research and the relevance of individual channels in different contexts deserves much more careful investigation. Greater data availability should help fill some of these gaps in our understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Efficient allocation of resources and transition towards cleaner sources of energy are among the key factors in minimizing the negative externalities arising from the growing dependency on fossil fuels. Moreover, environmentally benign trade policies are crucial due to the rapid expansion in global trade and comparative advantage. To explore the relationship between global trade and Consumption‐Based Carbon Emissions (CBCE) in China in the context of renewable energy consumption and energy efficiency from 1990 Q1 to 2020 Q4, this paper employs the dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lags (Dynamic ARDL) model to evaluate the connection between international trade, renewable energy usage, energy efficiency, and CBCE, with the Kernel‐Based Regularized Least Squares analysis being used to determine the causal association. The findings reveal that GDP and imports are directly linked with CBCE in the long run, while exports, energy efficiency, and renewable energy consumption have a negative significant long‐run and short‐run influence on CBCE. In addition, exports help in the reduction of CBCE by sharing and adapting environmentally friendly technologies adopted in, for example, renewable energy and ecological advancements. Renewable energy promotes the quality of the environment, which is attributable to the performance of renewable energy and environmentally friendly technologies that directly stimulate the reduction of CBCE emissions. By cutting CBCE, energy efficiency tends to boost environmental quality. The research findings have noteworthy policy implications; trade enhances the quality of environment by introducing lower energy intensive production methods and technology that support sustainable development. As a result, this study advocated quite stringent policies in terms of aligning international trade orientation with environmental quality policy in China. Furthermore, energy efficiency policies are required to lower CBCE by focusing on high‐energy‐using industries and providing alternative clean energy sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade in services has become the most dynamic segment of international trade. This paper examines the competitiveness of services exports in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) for the period 2005–2019 using revealed comparative advantage approach. The analysis shows that although SSA has a comparative advantage in traditional services, that is travel and transport, it has remained less competitive compared to other regions globally, and its share of world services exports is negligible. Moreover, SSA has not developed competitiveness in modern commercial services and, hence, continue to perform poorly. The results suggest only Nigeria and Kenya have so far developed comparative advantage in financial services. SSA's dismal performance of services exports can be attributed to various factors such as technological and infrastructure constraints, protectionist and regulatory barriers. There is need to rethink strategies of revamping and diversifying services esports to spur Africa's trade and economic transformation. These include leveraging the opportunities availed by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Unexploited opportunities include Africa's rich cultural diversity, recreation, business and conferencing services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper surveys developments in the literature on trade and inequality over the past decade. I first discuss the impact of trade on nominal income inequality, with a focus on firm heterogeneity and the role of mobility frictions. Then, I provide an overview of the literature on the redistributional role of government in an open economy. Finally, I assess the current state of studies on how trade affects real income inequality through the expenditure channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been 30 years since Central Asian '‐stan' countries, namely, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, declared their independence in 1991. The Republics have chosen various transition paths from centrally planned to the market‐based economic system. The research found that Central Asian leaders' protectionist policy, on top of the landlocked geographical environment, made trade costly, rendering these countries further isolated. Consequently, economic development slows down, unemployment increases and poverty rate extremes. Eventually, the isolated region (relatively, excluding Kazakhstan) is imprisoned in a low‐income trap and framed into a vicious circle. As a solution for tackling high‐trade costs in the region, this paper utilises the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) Computational General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling to simulate the impacts of implementing policy‐targeted scenarios. The study presents that tariff reduction/elimination and trade facilitation policies could flourish the region by bringing significant economic welfare and robust GDP growth. The trade facilitation scenarios impact the region's economy much more positively than do tariff liberalisation scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Services constitute a significant part of GDP and overall trade in modern economies, but little is known about the magnitude of its obstacles. Great effort has been made to establish measures of services trade frictions on the part of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank. A customary way of using these measures is to employ them in log‐linear regressions to gauge their effect on services trade flows. This may be problematic to the extent that these measures do not capture ad valorem (tariff type price increasing) trade costs. Hence, it is natural to believe that available services trade cost measures may have a nonlinear impact on services trade flows. The present paper documents that this is the case, using nonparametric estimates to quantify the direct impact of important trade cost measures captured by the Services Trade Restrictiveness Index of the OECD on cross‐border services transaction costs and trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The multilateral trading system, first established formally in 1947 with the goal of bringing about sustainable peace and greater prosperity through increased cross‐border commerce underpinned by globally agreed upon rules, has contributed significantly to economic development and reduced poverty. However, as the global trading system enters the 2020s it cannot rely on past success and must adapt to a rapidly changing world, one that requires both more and different kinds of inclusion in order to address new challenges around inequality and global economic and geopolitical shocks. To address these new challenges the World Trade Organization (WTO) must be updated and reformed by its member governments, who must also recognise that many current global challenges have linkages across trade, tax, environment, and health areas which require increased coordination across global bodies. Further, the challenges of growing domestic inequality in many countries, while a domestic policy concern, will have significant impact on the political will to undertake the necessary updating and reform of the multilateral trading system and the required enhanced coordination with other international bodies and agreements. The recent positive outcomes from the WTO's 12th Ministerial Conference in June of 2022 show that global cooperation on trade issues is possible. Building on this success, the WTO can reshape itself to be fairer and more resilient and better able to address current global and domestic challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the potential for South Africa to become an engine for intra‐regional trade and industrial development in Southern Africa. It focuses on new backward linkages that can be created from South African exports of final products to producers of intermediate inputs in other Southern African countries. We do so by identifying South Africa's lead products, where it has formed its own GVCs, and, in turn, earmarking intermediate inputs used in the production of these lead products. Using Revealed Comparative Advantage and Unit Cost analysis, we identify Southern African countries that could supply the identified imported intermediate inputs more competitively than South Africa's existing partners and kickstart regional integration. We explore issues around the nature of linkages, supplier capabilities and industrial policies in the region, with special reference to the identified product value chains. Focusing on the agricultural sector—a key regional priority with immense potential for industrial growth and large‐scale employment—we also identify existing agricultural lead products in South Africa, and the 'new markets' to which South Africa can export. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unsustainable wildlife trade is a major threat to many species, but quantifying trade remains challenging, as seizure data provides an incomplete understanding. For this reason, integrating multiple types of information, including interviews with actors involved in trade, is crucial if we are to understand the problem better. Hence, in this study, we digitized Bangladesh Forest Department tiger seizure records to identify trade routes and interviewed 163 individuals involved in trafficking tigers through Bangladesh's air, sea and land ports, including poachers, smugglers, and traders. We identified six ports used to import tigers, 14 ports used for tiger export and three ports showing bi‐directional trade. Elite Bangladeshis were the most important consumer group, and tigers were sourced from populations in NE India, Myanmar and Bangladesh Sundarbans to supply domestic demand. Tiger products were exported to 14 countries, including seven G20 nations, with Bangladeshi expatriates as the consumer group in three countries (United Kingdom, Germany and Qatar). Rising economic development in Bangladesh over the last decade, combined with deep‐rooted cultural ties to tiger consumption, has led to a rise in domestic demand. Additionally, rapid growth in international transport links has increased smuggling and connected local traders with global markets, increasing the complexity of global trade. These findings suggest Bangladesh is poised to play a pivotal role in tiger conservation over the next decade, requiring strong national strategies to reduce trade opportunities, disrupt networks and weaken demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution investigates the relationships between financial development, trade openness and economic growth on a panel of four North African countries (Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria and Egypt), over a 5‐year period from 1991 to 2015. In fact, using the generalized method of moment (GMM) in a panel data analysis, we found strong evidence of a positive link between trade openness and economic growth. Moreover, we found that trade openness appears to be working as a complement to financial development and that its effect is more pronounced in the presence of the financial development variable. Therefore, the policy implications of this study appeared clear. Hence, improvement efforts need to be driven by local‐level reforms to ensure the development of domestic financial system and take full advantage of the technology transfer induced by international trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agri‐food trade has expanded considerably over decades, with a remarkable increase in the market share of developing countries. The upward trend in trade flows has been parallel to the proliferation of non‐tariff measures, particularly of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures in the agri‐food sector. SPS measures may have a dual impact on trade, that is. standards as catalysts versus standards as barriers, and the net effect is likely to depend on the level of economic development of countries involved. We investigate whether the trade effects of SPS measures are correlated with the economic development of trading partners. In particular, we disentangle the trade effects of SPS measures implemented by developed and developing countries and look at differential impacts due to a mismatch in the economic development of trading partners. Using a structural gravity approach on bilateral trade and regulation data, we conclude that SPS measures are catalysts for developing importers, whereas no evidence is found for developed importers. We also find a pro‐trade effect of SPS measures when traders have different levels of economic development. Our findings have important policy implications: sharing SPS measures is strategic for economies characterised by different abilities to alter trade terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corruption has varying effects on international trade flows. Through the lenses of the institutional and transaction costs theories, we propose a novel institutional analysis of foreign aid as a formal institution that moderates the negative impact of corruption on international trade. We investigate this framework using a sample of the imports and exports of 30 Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) member countries and their 150 trading partners from 1995 to 2018. We analyze two main types of bilateral foreign aid within this framework: official development assistance and aid for trade. We present three main findings. First, the trading partners' corruption has a negative impact on OECD bilateral imports and exports. Second, both forms of foreign aid moderate the negative effect of the trading partners' corruption on OECD countries' exports. These findings confirm that OECD member countries are willing to export to very corrupt countries. Third, official development assistance does not moderate the relationship between corruption and imports, meaning that OECD countries do not import from corrupt locations. However, aid for trade still moderates the negative impact of corruption on OCED countries' imports. Overall, we confirm that foreign aid negatively moderates the adverse effect of corruption on exports but not on imports. Thus, foreign aid as a formal institution deserves more attention from OECD policymakers and managers of MNEs as a mechanism for reducing corruption and boosting international trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding economic growth has been a primary pursuit for generations of economists. Hidalgo and Hausmann (2009) (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 106, 10570–10575) charted new territory in this pursuit by using bipartite international trade networks to characterize the economic complexity of a country based on the capabilities implied by the products it exports. The resulting Economic Complexity Index (ECI) correlates strongly with income levels and predicts subsequent economic growth with some statistical precision. We propose an innovation‐adjusted ECI (i‐ECI) that uses a high‐resolution patent–trade concordance to construct trade networks weighted by domestic and international patent application flows. The i‐ECI thus reflects firms' decisions about where to seek patent protection on industry‐specific inventions, allows for heterogeneity in the relative importance of patenting across industries, and implicitly captures firms' perceived innovation potential in the recipient countries. Although the i‐ECI is highly correlated with the ECI (correlation coefficient greater than 92%), it is a stronger and more statistically precise predictor of economic growth than the unadjusted ECI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use a dynamic factor model with time‐varying parameters and stochastic volatility to decompose the variance of exports and imports over time for 22 Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development countries spanning the quarterly period of 1960:01–2016:04 into contributions from country‐ and region‐specific uncertainties and uncertainty common to all countries. We find that, while idiosyncratic uncertainty has a dominant role in explaining the volatility of international trade, global, country‐, and region‐specific uncertainties drive around 40% of the volatility of real exports and imports, with the impact of the latter three uncertainties rising in explanatory power during episodes of crises. Our results have important policy implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravity models, popular for estimating spatial interactions, assume independent spatial interactions from locations to all other locations and, therefore, overlook potential latent multilateral influences in play. This research combines self‐organizing map (SOM) and trajectory analysis to classify patterns of spatial interactions and trace changes in the patterns simultaneously across all locations and decipher the development and dependence of multilateral interactions in space and time. We use international trading among 207 countries from 1900 to 2014 to demonstrate the proposed SOM–trajectory analysis. We create SOMs of annual international trade for all countries, trace each country's changes in trading patterns over 115 years, and compare the trajectories for countries. The combined SOM–trajectory analysis elicits the hidden trading development and geographic influences brought into play. The proposed method is adaptable to other domains of spatial interactions (e.g., immigration) to characterize the temporal patterns of multilateral spatial interactions at locations individually or contextually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analytically examines the structure and characteristics of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and African trade networks by applying network analysis techniques through a critical and in‐depth description of the international trade of Eastern African countries as part of the world trade network. Sixty‐four countries' trade flow data between 2000 and 2018 from the International Monetary Fund, was used, and the network indices indicate that the BRI significantly enhances the trade network's connectivity. The empirical results indicate that density, the degree of centralization, and average node intensity are typically growing, and China is in the central position of the network. Furthermore, East African intra‐regional trade tends to be more densely connected under the BRI. This, in effect, demonstrates that the BRI countries have experienced a rise in intra‐regional trade at different levels of economic development. Therefore, this study recommends that policymakers should consider the BRI's critical role in reforming trade policies to build a resilient and sustainable African economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]