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The formation of new firms is an important determinant of regional economic development and agglomeration is a key factor affecting the formation and scale of operations of new firms. The present paper is among the first to explore the relationship between agglomeration economies (using localization and urbanization economies) and new firms' formation and scale of operations in a developing country. We make use of rich firm‐level data and find that agglomeration has a significant impact on the formation of new firms and their scale of operation in Punjab, Pakistan. Our findings also reveal that localization at all scales (small, medium and large) has a positive correlation with the arrival of new firms, while medium‐scale and large‐scale localization is positively correlated with the scale of operation of new firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores whether and to what extent evident trade reform, falling average tariffs and rising exports in recent decades overstate the extent to which protectionism has declined in developing countries, especially low-income developing countries. It identifies remaining significant protection, especially of final manufactured goods; this being associated with the presence of peak tariffs, escalating tariff structures by stage of production and replacement of old forms of non-tariff protection with new instruments of non-tariff protection. It also identifies significant protection arising from high international trade costs induced by inefficiencies in transportation, ports and customs, and from the growth of exports to preference-receiving, export markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does foreign direct investment (FDI) into developing countries affect the growth of local firms in host countries? Using a dataset of 38 sectors in China's electrical and electronics industry, in this paper, we analyze whether FDI has a positive effect on local firms, with technology spillovers, added value and increasing total factor productivity, or a negative, market stealing, effect. Estimating the relationship between growth of local firms and investment of foreign firms, our results show that FDI is likely to have a negative impact on the growth of local firms in sectors with large disparities in technology and less experience in business. Therefore, local firms lacking in technology need to find markets with no competition from foreign firms or determine strategies to compensate technology disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article examines the employment impact of Aid for Trade (AfT) flows to recipient countries. The analysis has used an unbalanced panel dataset comprising 126 countries, of which 42 Least developed countries (LDCs) over the period 2002–15. Based on the two‐step system Generalized Methods of Moments approach, the empirical analysis shows that over the full sample, AfT has exerted a positive and significant effect on total (male and female) employment share, as well as on female employment share, but no significant effect on male employment share. However, these effects are not the same in LDC economies versus non‐LDC economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an article published in this journal in 2005, Dorward et al. argued that non-market institutions are particularly effective in addressing market failures in the high-transaction cost institutional environment which is often characteristic of low-income countries. This comment develops additional theoretical underpinnings of this argument by exploring differences in the capacity for addressing market failure of for-profit firms, on the one hand, and third sector organizations representing a major type of non-market institutions, on the other. It is argued that while for-profit firms address market failures by facilitating market exchange, third sector organizations do so by replacing exchange with self-sufficiency. This recourse to self-sufficiency is reflected in the important role of third sector organizations in economic development in low-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines the impact of globalization on land peripheral to large cities of the south. It identifies such land as providing major arenas for contested claims between the requirements of international firms and those of local inhabitants and businesses, entailing both threats and opportunities in terms of local economic development. Much depends on the urban governance and institutional processes surrounding the use and allocation of land that are themselves directly influenced by the globalization process. In many cities national, state or provincial governments have set up special parastatal organizations with substantial funding and significant decision-making powers over infrastructure development and land use to facilitate the rebirth of their cities as havens for international investment. In the process local municipalities and the local population are often excluded from the decision-making process, while being left to cope with the aftermath and maintenance of the grand projects. The essay identifies weaknesses in elite governance models usually centred at the state or national levels, and asks if a better alternative may be a local government-led ‘inclusive leadership’ model capable of clear leadership, greater coordination of different governance layers and inclusion of local actors. Résumé Cet essai étudie l’impact de la mondialisation sur les terrains situés à la périphérie des grandes villes du Sud. Il identifie ces terrains comme des scènes majeures de contradiction entre les besoins des multinationales et les revendications des entreprises et habitants locaux, ce qui créent à la fois menaces et opportunités en termes d’expansion économique locale. Le résultat dépend largement des processus institutionnels et de gouvernance urbaine qui entourent l’utilisation et l’affectation des terrains, processus eux-mêmes directement influencés par la mondialisation. Dans de nombreuses villes, les organes de gouvernement nationaux, étatiques ou provinciaux ont créé des entités para-étatiques spécialisées, dotées de fonds et de pouvoirs décisionnels considérables en matière d’aménagement des infrastructures et d’occupation des sols, afin de réinstaurer leur ville en terre d’accueil de l’investissement international. Or, les municipalités et populations locales sont souvent exclues du processus de décision alors qu’on les laisse assumer les conséquences et la maintenance des grands projets. L’article repère les faiblesses des modèles de gouvernance par les élites, généralement centrés aux niveaux de l’Etat ou de la nation, et se demande si un modèle de ‘leadership inclusif’ sous la houlette du gouvernement ne serait pas une meilleure alternative, permettant un leadership clair, une meilleure coordination des différentes strates de gouvernance et l’intégration des acteurs locaux. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]