Country size and economic growth and development

This paper attempts to provide limited empirical evidence on the nature of the relationship between country size and rates of economic growth and levels of economic development, and on the possible effects of trade concentration and dependence on trade on this relationship. It suggests that there is no discernible association between country size and economic development, nor between country size and economic growth, and that neither the dependence on trade of small countries nor their commodity and geographic export concentration are necessarily important factors in economic growth and economic development.     

Fair trade slippages and Vietnam gaps: the ideological fantasies of fair trade coffee

Fair trade coffee sales have boomed since the late 1980s, making it one of the most recognised forms of ‘ethical consumerism’ in the world. Around the same time exports of lower quality coffee beans from Vietnam also boomed, launching Vietnam from an insignificant coffee exporter to the world’s second largest with historically unprecedented speed. These disparate projects have had significant impacts on thousands of farmers – with Vietnam’s new class of coffee producers representing three and a half times the number of coffee families certified by fair trade. Northern actors, however, have given far more public and positive attention to fair trade. This article will argue that this difference does not stem from a strictly objective appraisal of the relative merits and shortcomings of each project, but from the compatibility of fair trade with ‘free trade’ and its emotionally charged ideological fantasies. This includes unconscious beliefs and desires around individualism, voluntarism, democracy and the affirmation of the exaggerated power of Northern consumers – as opposed to the Southern agency and complicated collective action implied by Vietnamese coffee statecraft.     

WTO agricultural trade battles and food aid

Recent agricultural trade battles at the WTO between the US and the EU have important implications for the Global South, in particular with respect to food aid. The current Doha round of trade talks hinges closely on agreement in the area of agriculture, and a key issue of disagreement between the US and the EU is the question of whether the WTO should impose disciplines on food aid and agricultural export credits. The US has also challenged the EU at the WTO over trade in genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The outcome of this dispute will affect food aid, as many countries have in recent years rejected GM food aid from the US on the grounds that it would harm their export markets in Europe. Decisions on both of these battles should be forthcoming within the next year or two, and the outcomes will affect food aid policies.     

Negotiating sustainable trade: explaining the difference in social standards in US and EU preferential trade agreements

Since the early 2000s, both US and EU Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) include social standards that aim to protect workers and the environment. However, the US and the EU have chosen fundamental different approaches for the enforcement of these clauses. While the US pursues a sanction-based approach, the EU solely relies on dialogue and cooperation mechanisms. Hence, to the surprise of many, social standards in U.S PTAs appear to be stricter than the ones in EU PTAs. Why do the two biggest trade powers of the world handle social clauses in PTAs so differently? In this paper, I argue that disparities in domestic politics account for their different strategies towards social standards. Drawing on the principal-agent literature, the paper analyses the PTA negotiations of the US and the EU with Peru and Colombia.     

Rich Country Corruption

Corruption in rich countries is different to corruption in poor countries. There are many analyses and models of corruption in poor countries, and interventions are structured with these in mind. When analyzing corruption in rich countries, borrowing from the experiences in poorer countries does not fit well with public administration practices. Ironically, citizens in rich countries have high levels of perceived corruption, yet they reported very little personal experience with corruption in any form. This article uses data to outline some corruption risks and proposes that any analysis focuses on classifying specific types of corruption in rich countries.     

春光无限的中澳经贸关系

1月15日,国务院总理温家宝在菲律宾宿务会见澳大利亚总理霍华德时说,自去年4月中澳双方就发展21世纪互利共赢的全面合作关系达成共识以来,中澳各领域的交流与合作取得了许多新进展,双边关系继续呈现良好的发展势头;事实证明,中澳关系完全可以成为不同社会制度和文化背景国家之间和谐共处的典范.正如温总理所说,刚刚过去的2006年对于中国与澳大利亚来说,的确是不同寻常的一年.     

Tansnationals and foreign trade: Evidence from Brazil

A recursive model of exports and imports of manufactures, in which imports depend in part on exports, is estimated using data for a cross‐section of 17,053 industrial firms. In this sample, 652 firms are foreign‐owned. Explanatory variables include firm size, skill intensity, advertising and other variables in addition to foreign ownership. Foreign ownership has a large, independent effect on both export performance and import propensities, but foreign ownership in itself explains little of the relatively low export/import ratios registered by affiliates of transnationals.     

中美贸易摩擦的背后

2005年,针对中国的贸易摩擦加剧,中国连续11年位居全球贸易摩擦目标国榜首,全年共有18个国家和地区对我国发起63起"两反两保"调查,涉案金额21亿美元.从涉案产品看,主要集中于轻工、纺织、机电等我国具有出口竞争力的产品,其中尤以纺织品贸易摩擦更为突出.任何一个国家经济发展到一定程度后,就必然会产生各种贸易摩擦.     

欧盟贸易保护主义日益抬头

近一时期,欧盟内外的保护主义现象不断抬头,根源于近年欧盟传统经济社会发展模式受到来自内部和外部的严峻挑战,其经济长期徘徊,福利改革推进步履维艰,政府、企业及民众对国际竞争疑惧心理上升等因素,值得密切关注.     

中国《反垄断法》与对外经贸合作

十年磨一剑,中国首部《反垄断法》于2007年8月30日获得通过.素有"经济宪法"之称的反垄断法,是中国建立和维护自由、公平和有效竞争秩序的保护神.中国《反垄断法》的出台影响广泛、意义深远,为内外资企业的竞争创造了一个良好的环境.政策更加公开透明、市场秩序日益规范的中国,必将为全球经贸伙伴和内外资企业带来更多发展机会,并对国际经贸合作的深化产生深远影响.