United States – Anti-Dumping Measures on Certain Shrimp and Diamond Sawblades from China: never ending zeroing in the WTO? / Dukgeun Ahn and Patrick Messerlin

Despite many legal rulings to clarify the WTO inconsistency of zeroing practices, in practically all aspects of antidumping proceedings, the United States declined to categorically rectify the illegal antidumping duties based on zeroing calculation methods. This dispute is merely example of a number of disputes where the US government had to exhaust the whole process for proper implementation of the WTO rulings under its domestic legal system. The US approach is starkly contrasted with the position taken by the European Union that categorically terminates zeroing practices pursuant to the WTO rulings. While the WTO system indeed recognizes individual Member’s peculiar regulatory systems and policies during implementation phases, the current situation in which WTO Members must individually resort to the dispute settlement system in order to rectify the US zeroing practices raises a serious concern regarding the legitimacy and integrity of the WTO dispute settlement system. Maybe it is time for WTO Members to agree on better implementation mechanisms before more Members try to develop overly burdensome and complicated regulatory processes for compliance.

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The Trade Effects of US Anti-dumping Actions against China Post-WTO Entry / Guobing Shen and Xiaolan Fu

Since China’s entry into the WTO, US anti-dumping (AD) actions against China have increased, particularly with respect to multiple petitions. Distinguishing between US single and multiple petitions, we examine the trade effects of US AD actions against China based on an unbalanced panel of quarterly trade data. The results show that a US single petition investigation greatly restrains US imports of the filed products from China but also causes more significant import diversion from non-named countries. In the short run, a preliminary AD duty imposed on China via a US multiple petition not only restrains US imports of the filed products from China but also prevents trade diversion from non-named countries. In the long run, a final AD duty on China resulting from a US multiple petition creates a larger destructive effect on China and causes US import diversion from non-named countries. Thus, a final AD duty imposed on China following a US multiple petition not only harms China’s exports but also fails to help the US achieve import substitution. Furthermore, we have been able to reveal the negative trade effect of a preliminary AD duty even in cases where the ultimate decision is not to impose a final duty.

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Evaluating Aid for Trade: A Survey of Recent Studies / Olivier Cadot … [et al.]

The demand for accountability in ‘Aid-for-Trade’ (AFT) is increasing but monitoring has focused on case studies and impressionistic narratives. The paper reviews recent evidence from a wide range of studies, recognising that a multiplicity of approaches is needed to learn what works and what does not. The review concludes that there is some support for the emphasis on reducing trade costs through investments in hard infrastructure (like ports and roads) and soft infrastructure (like customs). But failure to implement complementary reform – especially the introduction of competition in transport services – may erode the benefits of these investments. Direct support to exporters does seem to lead to diversification across products and destinations, but it is not yet clear that these benefits are durable. In general, it is difficult to rely on cross-country studies to direct AFT. More rigorous impact evaluation is an under-utilised alternative, but situations of ‘clinical interventions’ in trade are rare and adverse incentives (due to agency problems) and costs (due to the small size of project) are a hurdle in implementation.

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Aid to the Services Sector: Does it Affect Manufacturing Exports? / Esteban Ferro, Alberto Portugal-Perez and John S. Wilson

Abstract:
The authors evaluated the impact of foreign aid to five services sectors (transportation, information and communications technologies (ICT), energy, banking/financial services, and business services) on exports of downstream manufacturing sectors in developing countries. To address the reverse causality between aid and exports, they relied on an original identification strategy that exploits (i) the variation of aid flows to services sectors and (ii) the variation of service intensities across industrial sectors and countries using input–output data. They found a positive effect of aid to services, in general, on downstream manufacturing exports of developing countries across regions and income-level groups.

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Aid for Trade: Do Those Countries that Need it, Get it? / Elisa Gamberoni and Richard Newfarmer

This paper is designed to help both the beneficiary governments and donors of aid for trade identify countries that are under-performing in trade and which are receiving less aid for trade than their global performance might otherwise suggest is necessary. Building on previous work, it provides a procedure to assess potential need for spurring trade volume, and then looks at country allocations of aid for trade to see which are receiving below-average amounts in the supply of aid for trade – relative to their potential needs. Countries, as they design national development strategies, may wish to consider giving greater attention to trade and requesting that donors allocate to them more aid for trade. As part of the analysis, the paper provides a conceptual framework for selecting indicators of trade performance and its policy determinants that the WTO and its partners might monitor closely as part of the aid for trade initiative.

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Aid for Trade Effectiveness: Complementarities with Economic Integration / Mariana Vijil

Abstract:
Developing countries are increasingly using regional integration as a main policy lever when pursuing a trade-led growth strategy, and today, ‘deep’ preferential trade agreements go beyond trade policy negotiations and cover trade facilitation issues. Since aid for trade (AfT) has been recognised as a powerful instrument for increasing developing countries’ trade capacity by targeting internal trade costs, this article tests whether complementarities exist between this type of aid and economic integration using a gravity model on panel data for the period 1995–2005. Results indicate that AfT, when combined with economic integration, has been effective in increasing trade flows. Both South–South and North–South trade flows have benefited, and the combination of the two instruments has been particularly effective in expanding the South’s exports to the North. Finally, when breaking down AfT into categories, assistance to trade-related institutions seems to generate the strongest complementarities with economic integration.

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Protection and Performance / Joseph Francois and Miriam Manchin

Abstract:
We examine the linkages between import policy and export performance, extending classic macroeconomic trade effects to more recent concepts from the modern literature on gravity models. We also examine these effects empirically with a panel of global and bilateral trade spanning 15 years. Our emphasis on the role of import policy (i.e. tariffs) of exporters as an explanation of trade volumes contrasts with the recent emphasis on importer policy in the gravity literature. It also reinforces the growing body of evidence on the importance of economic environmental (policy and infrastructure) conditions in explaining relative export performance and is in line with the literature on global value chains.

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Governance and Globalisation / Koen Berden, Jeffrey Bergstrand, Eva van Etten

Abstsract:
Unlike the large literature on ‘democracy and trade’, there is a much smaller literature on the effect of the level of democracy in a nation on the level of its foreign direct investment (FDI) inflow. These few studies reveal mixed empirical results, and surprisingly only one study has examined bilateral FDI flows. Moreover, few of these studies use multiple governance indicators separating the ‘pluralism’ effect of democratic institutions from the ‘good governance’ effect, there are no studies on democratic institutions’ various effects on the level of FDI relative to trade, and there are no studies of democratic institutions’ various effects on the selection of countries into FDI. We focus on three contributions. First, we examine the simultaneous effects of the World Bank’s (six) Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGIs) – which allow separating the effects of pluralism from those of five other good governance measures – on bilateral trade, FDI and FDI relative to trade using state-of-the-art gravity specifications. Second, we find strong evidence that – after accounting for host governments’ effectiveness in various roles of good governance – a higher level of pluralism as measured by the WGIs’ Voice and Accountability Index reduces trade levels, likely by increasing the ‘voice’ of more protectionist less-skilled workers, but not FDI levels. Moreover, we find qualitatively different effects of other WGIs – such as political stability – on trade versus FDI flows. Third, we account for firm heterogeneity alongside a large number of zeros in bilateral FDI flows using recent advances in gravity modelling. We distinguish between the (country) intensive and extensive margins and show that pluralism affects FDI inflows negatively at the intensive margin, but positively at the extensive margin.

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Globalisation and Inter-occupational Inequality: Empirical Evidence from OECD Countries / Arne Bigsten, Farzana Munshi

How does globalisation affect inter-occupational wage inequality within countries? This paper examines this by focusing on two dimensions of globalisation: openness to trade and openness to capital flows, using a relatively new data set on occupational wages. Estimates from a dynamic model for 15 OECD countries spanning the period 1983–2003 suggest that increased openness increases occupational wage inequality in poorer OECD countries as predicted by the Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson model, but for the more advanced OECD countries, we find no significant effect. The absence of the expected result for the latter category can be due to a rapid increase in the supply of skilled labour, to outsourcing of skilled jobs or because changes in the trade flows are too small to have any significant effect in those countries.

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The Impact of Aid and Public Investment Volatility on Economic Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa / Malimu Museru, Francois Toerien, Sean Gossel

This study investigates the effects of aid inflows and the volatility of public investment on economic growth in 26 Sub-Saharan African countries over the period from 1992 to 2011. Three volatility variables comprising aid, government revenue, and public investment are incorporated into an aid-growth model to test for their effect on economic growth. Using the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) technique and averaged data for five four-year sub-periods, we show that although foreign aid has a positive impact on growth once potential endogeneity has been accounted for, aid effectiveness may have been eroded by volatility in public investment.

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The Paradox of Export Growth in Areas of Weak Governance: The Case of the Ready Made Garment Sector in Bangladesh / Faisal Z. Ahmed, Anne Greenleaf, Audrey Sacks.

Can export growth occur in states with weak governance and competitive clientelism? Conventional wisdom is that effective industrial policy requires a politically stable country with a centralized government. Absent these conditions, countries can pursue alternative types of industrial policies. Contexts with stable, or predictable, mis-governance and a government committed to nonintervention can yield strong export performance. We test this hypothesis in Bangladesh by examining the creation of industrial policy in the Ready Made Garment (RMG) sector. This paper highlights how the particular “political settlement” in Bangladesh has created a viable environment in which the RMG sector continues to grow.

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The Persistence of Subjective Poverty in Urban Ethiopia / Yonas Alem, Gunnar Köhlin

Using data spanning 15 years, we study subjective and consumption poverty in urban Ethiopia. Despite rapid economic growth and declining consumption poverty, subjective poverty remains largely unchanged. We find that households with a history of poverty continue to perceive themselves as poor even if their material consumption improves. The relative economic position of households is a strong determinant of subjective poverty. Having some type of employment makes households less likely to perceive themselves as poor, even if they remain in objective poverty. We argue that any analysis to measure the impact of growth on welfare should also encompass subjective measures.

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Economic Development without Pre-Requisites: How Bolivian Producers Met Strict Food Safety Standards and Dominated the Global Brazil-Nut Market / Salo V. Coslovsky.

Brazilian firms used to dominate the brazil nut (BN) market to such an extent that the product still carries the country’s name. In a surprising twist, 77% of all BNs are now processed and exported by Bolivia, a country with far fewer resources than its neighbor. This paper analyzes the impact of EU regulations on the global BN market. It finds that Bolivian producers prevailed because they joined forces to revamp their manufacturing practices and meet EU sanitary standards despite continued mutual mistrust. In contrast, Brazilian producers have been unable to work cooperatively and lost access to the European market entirely.

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Inequality in China: An Overview /

This paper provides an overview of research on income inequality in China over the period of economic reform. It presents the results of two main sources of evidence on income inequality and, assisted by various decompositions, explains the reasons income inequality has increased rapidly and the Gini coefficient is now almost 0.5. This paper evaluates the degree of income inequality from the perspectives of people’s subjective well-being and government concerns. It poses the following question: has income inequality peaked? It also discusses the policy implications of the analysis. The concluding comments of this paper propose a research agenda and suggest possible lessons from China’s experience that may be useful for other developing countries.

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China’s Long-Term Economic Reform: Perspectives and Implications / Pyeong Seob Yang, Su Yeob Na.

China has recognized sustainable economic growth and harmonious social development as long-term national development strategies and has concentrated economic policies on changing the ways of economic development, economic restructuring, improvement of people’s lives. In particular, at the 3rd plenary session of the 18th-term Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CCCPC), held last November 2013, China’s new leadership expressed that they would carry out extensive economic reforms in the future.
This study analyzes the content and forecasts of the directions of China’s economic reform implementation in the eight categories of money market, marketization, public finance, tax system, prices, state-owned enterprises, labor, hukou system (household registration system), and international economy; presentation of implications for Korea and countermeasures that should be taken.

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Population, Poverty, and Climate Change / Monica Das Gupta

This literature review focuses on the relationships between population, poverty, and climate change. Developed countries are largely responsible for global warming, but the brunt of the fallout will be borne by developing countries in forms such as lower agricultural output, poorer health, and more frequent natural disasters. Although carbon emissions per capita have leveled off in developed countries, they are projected to rise rapidly in developing countries because of economic growth and population growth.

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Preferential Market Access Design: Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union / Jaime de Melo and Alberto Portugal-Perez.

The least developed countries rely on preferential market access. To benefit from these preferences, proof of sufficient transformation must be provided to customs in importing countries by meeting the rules of origin requirements. These rules of origin are complicated and burdensome to exporters in least developed countries. Since 2001, under the U.S. Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), 22 African countries that export apparel to the United States have been able to use fabric of any origin (single transformation) and still meet the criterion for preferential access (the so-called Special Rule). In contrast, the EU has continued to require yarn to be woven into fabric and then made into apparel in the same country (double transformation). Panel estimates for the 1996–2004 period exploit this quasi-experimental change in the design of preferences. Estimates show that this simplification contributed to an increase in export volume of approximately 168 percent for the top seven beneficiaries, or approximately four times as much as the 44 percent growth effect from the initial preferential access under the AGOA without single transformation. This change in design was also important for diversity in apparel exports because the number of export varieties grew more rapidly under the AGOA special regime.

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Policy Barriers to International Trade in Services: Evidence from a New Database / Ingo Borchert, Batshur Gootiiz and Aaditya Mattoo

Surprisingly little is known about policies that affect international trade in services. Previous analyses have focused on policy commitments made by countries in international agreements, but in many cases, these commitments do not reflect actual policy. This paper describes a new initiative to collect comparable information on trade policies for services from 103 countries across a range of service sectors and relevant modes of service delivery. The resulting database reveals interesting policy patterns. Although public monopolies are now rare and few services markets are completely closed, we observe numerous “second-generation” restrictions on entry, ownership, and operations. Even in instances in which there is little explicit discrimination against foreign providers, market access is often unpredictable because the allocation of new licenses remains opaque and highly discretionary in many countries. Across regions, some of the fastest-growing countries in Asia and the oil-rich Gulf states have restrictive policies in services, whereas some of the poorest countries are remarkably open. Across sectors, professional and transportation services are among the most protected industries in both industrial and developing countries, whereas retail, telecommunications, and even finance tend to be more open.

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Library acquisitions — March 2014

Dear all,

We are pleased to send you our list of selected new acquisitions for March 2014. You can send your requests to Web.Librarian

The list is also available on Library’s website: http://intranet/__resources/library/new_for_you_new_books.html

For continuous updates on the latest trade news, don’t forget to check out the “Latest in trade” http://intranet/en/resources/library/library.htm

Kind regards,

Your WTO Library Team

Covers	Title, Authors/Editor details, WTO catalogue records email request links	Previews
	TheWTO agreement on trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights: a commentary /JustinMalbon, Charles Lawson. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924760 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Preview: http://goo.gl/CDa6o1
	Access to information and knowledge: 21st century challenges in intellectual property and knowledge governance / edited by DanaBeldiman. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924758 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Preview: http://goo.gl/6bMqqr
	Assessing aid for trade: effectiveness, current issues and future directions / edited by MohammadARazzaque and Dirk Willem teVelde. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924720 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Review: http://goo.gl/SavM8M
	Changing urban and regional relations inaglobalizing world: Europe as a global macro-region / edited by Kathy Pain and Gilles VanHamme. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924436 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Review: http://goo.gl/IvJV3X
	Fueling up: the economic implications of America’s oil and gas boom /Trever HouserandShashank Mohan. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924718 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Preview: http://goo.gl/6B53Mm
	The future of the world trading system: Asian perspectives / edited by Richard Baldwin,Masahiro KawaiandGaneshan Wignaraja. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924764 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	E-Book: http://goo.gl/rkU7TW
	Globalization and America’s trade agreements / WilliamKrist. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924723 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Review: http://goo.gl/svRLLf
	Globalization in an age of crisis: multilateraleconomiccooperation in the twenty-first century / edited by Robert C.Feenstra and Alan M. Taylor. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924678 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Preview: http://goo.gl/jvdVhY
	Intellectual property, innovation and the environment / edited by Peter S.Menell and Sarah M. Tran. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924480 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Review: http://goo.gl/zg73kF
	MeasuringWTO’s contributions to global economic welfare / edited by Kym Anderson. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924449 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Review: http://goo.gl/oAy509
	Risk regulation, science, and interests in transatlantic trade conflicts / David J. Hornsby. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924725 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Review: http://goo.gl/cJoV0w
	Trade liberalisation and international co-operation : a legal analysis of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement / edited by TaniaVoon. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924755 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Preview: http://goo.gl/AX5oos
	Trade secrets and intellectual property: breach of confidence, misappropriation and unfair competition / William vanCaenegem. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1924762 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Review: http://goo.gl/RuIPj4
	Trademark and unfair competition law / edited by Graeme B.Dinwoodie and Mark D. Janis. WTO catalogue :http://wto.aquabrowser.com/?itemid=|WTO-Marc|1922914 Request: web.librarian@wto.org	Review: http://goo.gl/vs2iZf

Developments in Regional Trade Agreements and the Environment / Clive George

This report provides an update on recent developments in the field of Regional Trade Agreements and the environment. Issues arising in the implementation of RTAs with environmental considerations are examined as well as experience in assessing their environmental impacts.

Full-text available in .pdf