Download or read book Deep Integration Nondiscrimination and Euro Mediterranean Free Trade written by Bernard M. Hoekman and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1999 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: May 1999 - Preferential trade agreements that are limited to the elimination of tariffs for merchandise trade flows are of limited value at best and may be as easily welfare-reducing as welfare-enhancing. It is important that preferential trade agreements go beyond eliminating tariffs and quotas to eliminating regulatory and red tape costs and opening up service markets to foreign competition. Deep integration-explicit government actions to reduce the market-segmenting effect of domestic regulatory policies through coordination and cooperation-is becoming a major dimension of some regional integration agreements, led by the European Union. Health and safety regulations, competition laws, licensing and certification regimes, and administrative procedures such as customs clearance can affect trade (in ways analogous to nontariff barriers) even though their underlying intent may not be to discriminate against foreign suppliers of goods and services. Whether preferential trade agreements (PTAs) can be justified in a multilateral trading system depends on the extent to which formal intergovernmental agreements are technically necessary to achieve the deep integration needed to make markets more contestable. The more need for formal cooperation, the stronger the case for regional integration. Whether PTAs are justified regionally also depends on whether efforts to reduce market segmentation are applied on a nondiscriminatory basis. If innovations to reduce transaction or market access costs extend to both members and nonmembers of a PTA, regionalism as an instrument of trade and investment becomes more attractive. Using a standard competitive general equilibrium model of the Egyptian economy, Hoekman and Konan find that the static welfare impact of a deep free trade agreement is far greater than the impact that can be expected from a classic shallow agreement. Under some scenarios, welfare may increase by more than 10 percent of GDP, compared with close to zero under a shallow agreement. Given Egypt's highly diversified trading patterns, a shallow PTA with the European Union could be merely diversionary, leading to a small decline in welfare. Egypt already has duty-free access to the European Union for manufactures, so the loss in tariff revenues incurred would outweigh any new trade created. Large gains in welfare from the PTA are conditional on eliminating regulatory barriers and red tape-in which case welfare gains may be substantial: 4 to 20 percent growth in real GNP. This paper-a product of the Development Research Group-is part of a larger effort in the group to analyze regional integration agreements. The authors may be contacted at bhoekman@@worldbank.org or konan@@hawaii.edu.

Download or read book Deep Integration Nondiscrimination and Euro Mediterranean Free Trade written by Bernard Hoekman and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Impact of European Union Assocation Agreements on Mediterranean Countries written by Mr.Henri C. Ghesquière and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 1998-08-01 with total page 27 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By establishing free trade for industrial products in 12 years, the European Union’s Association Agreements with countries in the Mediterranean region seek to promote accelerated economic growth. This paper reviews the literature and evaluates the economic benefits and costs for Tunisia, Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan. It concludes that the benefits could be substantial, but only if accompanied by deep supplementary reforms, including extending trade liberalization to services and agriculture and on a multilateral basis, improving the environment for foreign direct investment, ensuring an adequate fiscal and exchange rate policy response, and strengthening European Union assistance.

Download or read book Regionalism in Europe written by Jürgen von Hagen and published by Springer. This book was released on 2012-11-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past 40 years, the European Union has been a great force of attraction for new members. At the same time it has entered a host of bilateral and multilateral regional agreements with non-member countries. The result of these developments is a rather unique form of regionalism in Europe, consisting of deep integration within the European Union and a network of sometimes overlapping arrangements involving the Union. Regionalism in Europe: Geometries and Strategies After 2000 brings together a collection of studies of the nature and the implications of this unique regionalism in Europe written by a group of renowned economists from various countries. The issues discussed in this book range from theoretical and institutional aspects to empirical studies of the EU's regional policy, the regional implications of European Monetary Union, and empirical studies of the trade and welfare effects of regional arrangements between the EU and other countries.

Download or read book Sustainable Development and Adjustment in the Mediterranean Countries Following the EU Enlargement written by Franco Praussello and published by FrancoAngeli. This book was released on 2006 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Development Centre Studies Regional Integration and Internal Reforms in the Mediterranean Area written by Dessus Sébastien and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2000-07-21 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors of this study highlight the opportunities trade liberaliastion agreements offer for supporting reforms to encourage industrial restructuring through financial transfers, providing incentives for producers to diversify, and securing new markets.

Download or read book Basic Legal Instruments for the Liberalisation of Trade written by Federico Ortino and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2004-01-30 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The interpretation and application of the rules of international and regional trade is becoming an increasingly specialised field. This study provides an in-depth analysis of the core legal concepts characterising the two most prominent and successful efforts in the regulation of international trade to date. Adopting a comparative method,it analyses the basic legal instruments employed by the EU and the WTO for the purpose of liberalising trade in goods among their respective Members. To this end, this study offers a fresh look at the principles underlying the basic rules of international trade law, including the prohibition of border measures, the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality, and the principle of reasonableness.

Download or read book Deeper Integration and Trade in Services in the Euro Mediterranean Region written by Daniel Müller-Jentsch and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication examines the importance of trade in services for the integration of non-EU members into the European Single Market. Further liberalisation is found to be a critical factor to deeper integration with the enlarged EU, which accounts for a quarter of global GDP and foreign direct investment. The planned Euro-Mediterranean free trade area for goods is judged as a positive first step, but additional measures are needed for deeper integration, including liberalisation of services trade. The study gives a detailed assessment of individual sectors, including core services relating to transport, telecommunication, financial markets and electricity, as well other markets such as tourism, IT and distribution services.

Download or read book Global Economic Prospects 2005 written by and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2004 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This annual publication analyses the global and national dimensions of the investment climate for developing countries, in terms of the policy and institutional environment. This edition examines the growth of regional trade agreements, which have risen eight-fold in two decades with currently, as much as 40 percent of global trade taking place among countries that have some form of reciprocal regional trade agreement. Issues discussed include: regional trading trends; effects of regional agreements on trade creation, trade facilitation and services, investment, intellectual property rights, and labour mobility; whether the proliferation of agreements poses risks for multilateral trading system, and if so, options for managing them. The report finds that agreements leading to open regionalism (that is, deeper integration of trade as a result of low external tariffs, increased services competition, and efforts to reduce cross-border and customs delays costs) are effective as part of a larger trade strategy to promote growth. Although regional agreements can prove beneficial to member countries, they can have adverse effects on excluded countries, and the lowering of border barriers around the world is crucial to minimising these effects. The completion of the Doha Development Agenda by all WTO countries will reduce the risk of trade diversion associated with regional agreements and will decrease trade losses of countries excluded from agreements.

Download or read book Regionalism Multilateralism and Economic Integration written by Gary P. Sampson and published by UNU. This book was released on 2003 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This publication considers whether regional trade agreements have led to a new form of economic co-operation, by promoting deeper integration in the regulatory structures of participating countries. An examination of recent experiences are found to show that, although there is no single model for deeper integration, regional trade agreements have generally more effective than more remote WTO procedures in facilitating trade and improving transparency. Regional processes and rules are found to have been consistent with the multilateral obligations of each party, with additional commitments in the regional agreements complementing WTO rules.

Download or read book Trade Competitiveness of the Middle East and North Africa written by Jos R. L pez-C lix and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the past decade, four major developments in global economic integration have shaped trade policy and the economic performance of countries within the Middle East and North Africa region: the emergence of global supply chains, the growth of trade in services, the rise of China and India as major international trading powers, and regional integration. These developments, along with the labor and natural resource endowments of particular countries (some are resource-poor but labor-abundant, some resource-rich and labor-abundant, and some resource-rich and labor-importing), have influenced export diversification outcomes across the region. Yet these countries may not be taking full advantage of all of the opportunities the four new trends offer to them. 'Trade Competitiveness of the Middle East and North Africa: Policies for Export Diversification' examines the region's trade policy agendas and their results by focusing on the countries' response to these four key developments in international trade. As the region recovers from the global financial and economic crises, the book identifies reforms that could allow countries to further strengthen global production networks, benefit more from trade in services, better compete in external markets to face the rise of China and India, and reach the full potential of regional integration. If thoroughly implemented, especially by oil exporters, all of these reforms could help boost growth and job creation in the region.

Download or read book WTO Negotiations and Agricultural Trade Liberalization written by Eugenio Díaz-Bonilla and published by CABI. This book was released on 2006-01-01 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on original research by the Food and Resource Economic Institute in Denmark and the International Food Policy Research Institute in Washington DC, this book addresses the controversial issue of the effects of developed countries' agricultural policies on developing countries. Written from the perspective of developing countries, it addresses the main issues raised by developing countries' governments, politicians, farmers organizations, NGO's, trade specialists and development specialists. It focuses on the key issues of food security, poverty, regional agreements, multifunctionality in agriculture and the trade of genetically modified products, as an input to policy reform within the World Trade Organization trade negotiations.

Download or read book Catching Up with the Competition written by Bernard M. Hoekman and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2010-05-18 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At a time when countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are joining the World Trade Organization, the lack of an economically sound analysis of trade policies in the region is especially notable. This volume remedies the situation by bringing together a distinguished group of applied trade economists to provide a broad view of the state of trade in and among the region's nations. The contributors provide original empirical analyses on key reform issues, and their work reflects deep knowledge of government concerns and policies. Part 1 sets the scene by comparing the performance of the MENA region with the rest of the world on a large number variables and indicators. Part 2 contains a number of CGE model-based analyses of trade policy reform options. Part 3 focuses on specific policy areas: standards as nontariff barriers and red tape, trade facilitation, an assessment of the impact of protecting intellectual property using partial equilibrium techniques, and a review of the existing Euro-Med agreements. Part 4 discusses how the region could benefit from WTO membership and from changing the existing regional integration schemes into arrangements that help promote a growth enhancing reform agenda. The volume will be essential reading for economists and policymakers working in and with the MENA nations, as well as officials at the multilateral and regional institutions. Contributors are A. Halis Akder, Benita Cox, Dean De Rosa, Hana'a Kheir El Din, Sherine El Ghoneim, Oleh Havrylyshyn, Bernard Hoekman, Denise Konan, Peter Kunzel, Will Martin, Keith Maskus, Mustapha Nabli, Thomas Rutherford, Elisabet Rutstrom, David Tarr, Subidey Togan, L. Alan Winters, Alexander Yeats, and Jamel Zarrouk. Bernard Hoekman is an Economist with the Development Research Group's Trade team of the World Bank. Jamel Zarrouk is an Economist with the Arab Monetary Fund.

Download or read book The EUs Enlargement and Mediterranean Strategies written by M. Maresceau and published by Springer. This book was released on 2001-03-01 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book analyses and compares the preferential relations between the EU and the countries on its eastern and southern peripheries. It presents a comprehensive study of the emerging pan-Euro-Mediterranean regional integration and analyses the economic, political and social strategies adopted by the EU and will be an indispensable reference work for those working on issues related to EU enlargement and integration.

Download or read book The European Union written by Ali M. El-Agraa and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-08 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The European Union has established itself as a leading text that provides readers from all disciplines with a sound understanding of the economics and policies of the EU. Its wealth of information, detail and analysis has ensured that previous editions have been read by a generation of students, researchers and policy makers. It covers all major EU policy areas as well as theories of economic integration, the theory of economic and monetary union (EMU), the measurement of the economic effects of European integration and the legal dimension in EU integration. It also includes an explanation and analysis of all recent developments affecting the EU such as enlargement, the ratification of the Nice Treaty and the Convention for the Future of Europe. This edition has been thoroughly revised and updated and includes new resources to help students and teachers, including summaries, review questions, suggestions for essay titles and further reading lists.

Download or read book The World Economy Global Trade Policy 2004 written by David Greenaway and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-02-04 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is the eleventh in an annual series in which: Top economists provide a concise and accessible evaluation ofmajor developments in trade and trade policy. Examines key issues pertinent to the multinational tradingsystem, as well as regional trade arrangements and policydevelopments at the national level. Provides up-to-date assessments of the World TradeOrganization's current Trade Policy Reviews.

Download or read book African Political Economy in the Twenty First Century written by Emeka C. Iloh and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2023-09-12 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: African Political Economy in the Twenty-First Century: Theories, Perspectives, and Issues edited by Emeka C. Iloh, Ernest T. Aniche, and Stephen N. Azom fills the gap in the discourses on African political economy from an African perspective. Since the end of colonialism in the second half of the twenty-first century, a wide-ranging debate has opened on the future of African development and the nature and character of its political economy, especially as it concerns its web of relationships in the international political and economic system. Two decades into the twenty-first21st century, the debate still rages on and is likely to continue for a long time. This book contributes to the debate by addressing the important question of how African countries can strategically and tactically approach global political economy at multilateral, continental, and regional levels in view of North-South versus South-South configurations. African Political Economy in the Twenty-First Century further suggests how African countries can effectively utilize global forces to Africa’s advantage in advancing domestic, regional, and continental development objectives.