1- Introduction

2- Tariffs and trade

3- Endogenous trade agreements

4- Equilibrium agreements

5- Further analysis

6- Conclusion

References

Abstract

In a three-country model of endogenous free trade agreements (FTAs), we study the effects of requiring FTA members to eliminate tariffs on one another, as is essentially stipulated under current WTO rules. We explain why, in the absence of such a requirement, FTAs members impose positive tariffs on each other even when maximizing their joint welfare. We show that requiring FTA members to eliminate internal tariffs induces them to lower their external tariffs. Such external trade liberalization by FTA members undermines the prospects of global free trade since it reduces the non-member’s incentive to enter into trade agreements with them.

Introduction

Under the current rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), countries entering into a preferential trade agreement (PTA) are required to eliminate tariffs on “ substantially all trade” with each other.This condition and other related provisions governing PTAs are specified in Article XXIV of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the key multilateral agreement governing international trade in goods amongst WTO members. This paper develops a model of endogenous trade agreements to investigate the welfare implications of this free internal trade requirement facing PTAs at the WTO as well as the effect it has on the likelihood of achieving global free trade. In the existing literature, Article XXIV has often been invoked as a justification for the assumption that PTA members impose zero tariffs on each other. Though reasonable, this approach masks the incentives underlying the tariff-setting behavior of PTA members and, by design, fails to shed light on the consequences of requiring them to fully liberalize internal trade. We focus on free trade agreements (FTAs), the most commonly occurring type of PTA in today’s global economy. Our conceptual approach to the formation of trade agreements follows Saggi and Yildiz (2010) who develop an equilibrium theory of FTAs in a modified version of the three-country competing exporters framework of Bagwell and Staiger (1999a). Assuming FTA members impose zero tariffs on one another, they compare the relative merits of bilateralism and multilateralism as alternative routes to global trade liberalization. Although the WTO system sanctions discrimination in the specific form of PTAs, it also requires all member countries to grant most favored nation (MFN) status to one another which generally forbids discrimination on their part.

1- Introduction

2- Literature

3- Methodology

4- Findings

5- Discussion

References

Abstract

Tourism development has been examined from various aspects and studies examining relations between tourism and other sectors are increasing. This study tests the relationship between the incoming tourists and volumes of import and export of Turkey and 13 Silk Road countries, through Panel ARDL. The study is important since it is thought to be the first to check the relation between tourist flows and trade amongst the Silk Road countries. Findings point out that even though there are differences in short-term and long-term relations, tourist flows and international trade are related, which indicates that international trade is important for tourism development.

Introduction

The recent reign of neoliberal policies worldwide has popularized the policies to increase international trade. Therefore, activities facilitating trade and relations between trade and other economic activities are amongst the main agenda items for both academicians and decisionmakers (Kónya, 2006). According to World Trade Organization (WTO), export per capita has increased about 30 times over the last 50 years (Fischer & Gil-Alana, 2009). Moreover, the increase in international travels since 1950s has led tourism revenues to reach high sums as US $ 1.220 billion (United Nations World Tourism Organization [UNWTO], 2017). The sector is set to continue growing, and the number of international tourists is expected to reach 1.8 billion in 2030 (UNWTO, 2017) and revenues to reach US$ 2.1 trillion in 2050 (Coban & Ozcan, 2013). Tourism produces one-tenth of worldwide GDP and employment and is the third largest worldwide export sector after chemicals and fuels (UNWTO, 2018). Therefore, it would be logical to assume that there is a relationship between international tourism and trade of goods. International tourism, which is an on-site sale activity unlike traditional goods trade, is considered as export due to the foreign exchange inflow to the country (Brida, Cortes-Jimenez, & Pulina, 2016). It is also generally accepted that international tourists may cause international trade to increase since they can provide the transportation of goods from their own countries to destinations or from destinations to their homelands (Tsui & Fung, 2016). Given these, there has been an increasing interest in examining relationship between international trade and tourism. Researches are about whether there is a relationship between tourism and international trade and what is the direction and duration of the relation. Although relationships have been identified in empirical studies using different variables and in different counties and regions, there is no consensus on the direction and term of the relationship (Gwenhure & Odhiambo, 2017; Suresh & Tiwari, 2018). If it is determined that there is a systematic relationship between tourism and international trade, it can be an important step in terms of regulating international policies. Useful consequences can be set forth to determine the main success elements of foreign trade. In addition, identifying the existence and nature of the relationship between tourism and trade can steer the efforts to increase tourism demand. By this research, tourist arrivals from Silk Road countries (Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan) to Turkey and international trade of Turkey (import and export) with those countries were analyzed with Mean Group (MG) and panel cointegration methods. Behind the work lies the assumption that international trade will positively impact tourism development. This study contributes to the extant literature in three ways. First, the relationship between tourism and trade is examined amongst countries with different economic development. Secondly, it is probed for the countries with divergent economic relation volumes. Lastly, it provides empirical results from previously non-examined region, Silk Road.

This paper presents an analysis of the effect of China’s entry into the WTO on the quality choices of Chinese exporters in terms of their outputs and their inputs. Using highly disaggregated firm-level data, we show that the quality upgrading made possible by China’s tariff reductions was concentrated in the least productive Chinese exporters. These firms, which had been laggards in terms of quality prior to the tariff reduction, were the most aggressive in increasing the quality of their exports and their inputs and in redirecting their exports toward high income markets where demand for high quality goods is strong. Our empirical results are consistent with a simple model featuring scale effect and non-Hicks’ neutral productivity that disproportionately affects the efficiency with which firms use intermediate inputs. This latter feature does not appear in workhorse models of firm heterogeneity and endogenous quality choice which provide a distorted view of the impact of trade liberalization on quality upgrading.

Introduction

Firms from developing countries historically have failed to break into developed country markets. Much of their difficulties stem from an inability to produce at sufficiently low cost the high quality goods that these markets demand. One of the reasons proposed for the competitive disadvantage of developing country firms is that government efforts to protect domestic intermediate input producers artificially raise the cost of the high quality intermediate inputs necessary to produce high quality goods. This paper presents an analysis of the effect of China’s entry into the WTO on the quality of Chinese exports. We use highly disaggregated firm-product-level data and the shock of China’s entry into the WTO to trace through in detail the mechanisms through which trade liberalization contributes to quality upgrading by Chinese firms. We find that the chief beneficiaries of liberalized intermediate input tariffs are not the initially most productive firms but are instead the less productive firms that are operating in industries in which the scope for quality variation is the most pronounced. It is these lower productivity firms that are most likely to upgrade the quality of their exports, increase the quality of their imported intermediates, and upgrade their workforces. In so doing, these firms are better able to break into markets with high demand for product quality and reduce the gap in their quality performance relative to initially more productive firms. China’s entry into the WTO in 2001 provides an excellent opportunity to identify the causal effect of trade liberalization on quality upgrading. First, the tariff reductions imposed on China, viewed as unilateral trade liberalization, were largely outside of China’s control.2 Second, China’s imports are mostly dominated by intermediate inputs with tiny share of final consumption goods, and so the impact of import tariff reductions is largely operating on imported intermediate inputs.3 Third, the effect of tariff reductions on the cost of Chinese production is highly heterogeneous across industries and across firms within industries. We carefully calculate total factor productivity of Chinese firms just prior to the trade liberalization and provide the following stylized facts: low TFP exporters were most likely (i) to increase their export prices to foreign destinations, and (ii) to increase the wages they pay their workers and the prices they pay for their inputs. Importantly, these outcomes were only present in those industries in which quality heterogeneity across products is high. Moreover, the evidence at the extensive margin shows that low TFP exporters were most likely to expand into high income country markets where demand for high quality goods is strong.

International trade and investment agreements (TIAs) affect global health, equity and justice – the common good. TIAs can have positive benefits but, from a range of health and social good perspectives, also have negative outcomes. This article focuses on ideas for change to such agreements and their institutional contexts, with the aim of achieving public health objectives. Because of this future focus, material in the following sections provides only a brief summary of why change is needed, and does not duplicate the growing literature on the problems for public health arising from TIAs. For this article, we define TIAs as those agreements relevant to trade, international investment, and international intellectual property law. We define the common good as those benefits that can be shared by all, ‘that promote the full flourishing of everyone in the community. … includes, but is not limited to, public goods’[1] p.161. International trade law governs trade in products and services; investment law covers assets; and intellectual property law has rules on what kinds of intellectual property can be protected and for how long. There is an array of TIAs in these areas, with multilateral agreements administered by the World Trade Organization (WTO), and other bilateral and regional agreements outside the WTO framework (often referred to in broad terms as free trade agreements – FTAs). Several interrelated trends have intensified the significance of TIAs and hence their health implications. Accelerated globalisation, involving developments in transportation, technology and communication, has resulted in the extended reach and complexity of global trade. The character of TIAs has become more comprehensive, with far-reaching implications for nation states. The focus has shifted from that of tariff reduction (although that remains important) to a wide range of measures affecting many aspects of products, services, and investment [2]. ‘Trade’ and ‘investment’ agreements are tending to merge as instruments of large-scale regional economic governance, [3] with the overall number of investment-related TIAs now over 3000 [4]. Current agreements in active development include the Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership; in addition to the recently signed Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

مقاله سال 2016

1. Introduction

More than ever, the multilateral trade agreements and consensus reached at the meetings of international organizations such as World Trade Organization (WTO) and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) are shaping nation-states’ communication policy agendas and development priorities. Examples of these influential international agreements include the 1997 WTO Basic Telecommunications Agreement, and General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). At the regional level, this emerging order became more apparent in the African context with the 1996 United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) sponsored “Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI): An action framework to build information and communication technologies (ICTs) infrastructure in Africa.” The AISI, which African ministers of economic planning and social development endorsed at the UNECA’s Conference for African Ministers in Addis Ababa in May 1996, is the primary framework upon which the current ICT activities and policies in Africa are based on.

As the African regional framework for the ICT for development (ICT4D) agenda, the AISI’s primary objectives were to foster digital connectivity and to create “a sustainable information society” by the year 2010 (UNECA, 1996/2003). That is, a sustainable information society in Africa where: Every man and woman, school child, village, government office and business can access information and knowledge resources through computers and telecommunications; Access is available to international, regional and national “information highways,” providing “off-ramps” in the villages and in the information area catering specifically to grass-roots society; A vibrant business sector that exhibits strong leadership capable of forging the build-up of the information society; African information resources reflect the needs of government, business, culture, education, tourism, energy, health, transport and natural resource management; Information and knowledge are disseminated and used by business, the public at large and disenfranchised groups, such as women and the poor, enabling them to make rational choices in matters related to the economy (free markets) (UNECA’s AISI document, par.18. Emphasis added).

However, while there is a marginal improvement in the diffusion and usage of ICTs between 1996 and 2014, “Africa [still] remains the deepest part of the global digital divide” (Hafkin, 2001, p. 326) as it was in 1990s when the AISI was initiated. Many villages across the continent are still without electricity, telephone and Internet services, in spite of the AISI’s strategic goals to get every African village connected by 2010 (Foster & Briceño-Garmendia, 2010). Only about 10 percent of the rural areas in the sub-Saharan African region have electricity and less than 7 percent of them have mobile service coverage (ITU, 2008). Over 80 percent of the African population is not wired to the Internet (African Development Bank, 2013). Overall, the continent lags behind the rest of the world in ICT penetration rates. Table 1 shows the statistical comparison of ICT penetration rates between Africa and other regions of the world. Why is there a huge gap between the AISI vision and the “reality” on the ground? Within the conceptual framework of Amartya Sen’s capability approach, this paper assesses the challenges and obstacles that confronted the socio-political buyin of the AISI and ICT4D agenda in Africa.