Download or read book Trade Liberalization Firm Performance and Labor Market Outcomes in the Developing World written by Paolo Epifani and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2003 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reviews the micro-level evidence on the effects of trade and investment liberalization in the developing world. He focuses, in particular, on the effects of the 1991 trade reform in India since it provides an excellent controlled experiment in which the effects of a drastic trade regime change can be measured. His main findings are: 1) There is evidence of trade-induced productivity gains (in this respect, however, India is an exception. 2) These gains mainly stem from intra-industry reallocation of resources among firms with different productivity levels. 3) The gains are larger in import-competing sectors. 4) There is no evidence of significant scale efficiency gains. Unilateral trade liberalization is often associated with a reduced scale efficiency. 5) There is evidence of a pro-competitive effect of trade liberalization. 6) There is no evidence either of learning-by-exporting effects or of beneficial spillover effects from foreign-owned to local firms active in the same sectors. 7) There is evidence, however, of positive vertical spillovers from foreign direct investment. 8) There is evidence of skill upgrading induced either by technology imports or by trade-induced reallocations of market shares in favor of plants with higher skill-intensity. 9) There is no evidence of trade-induced increases in labor demand elasticities. But direct evidence suggests that trade exposure raises wage volatility. 10) There is no evidence of substantial employment contraction in import-competing sectors.
Download or read book Trade Liberalization Firm Performance and Labor Market Outcomes in the Developing World written by Paolo Epifani and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Epifani reviews the micro-level evidence on the effects of trade and investment liberalization in the developing world. He focuses, in particular, on the effects of the 1991 trade reform in India since it provides an excellent controlled experiment in which the effects of a drastic trade regime change can be measured. His main findings are:ʼn There is evidence of trade-induced productivity gains (in this respect, however, India is an exception).ʼn These gains mainly stem from intra-industry reallocation of resources among firms with different productivity levels.ʼn The gains are larger in import-competing sectors.ʼn There is no evidence of significant scale efficiency gains. Unilateral trade liberalization is often associated with a reduced scale efficiency.ʼn There is evidence of a pro-competitive effect of trade liberalization.ʼn There is no evidence either of learning-by-exporting effects or of beneficial spillover effects from foreign-owned to local firms active in the same sectors.ʼn There is evidence, however, of positive vertical spillovers from foreign direct investment.ʼn There is evidence of skill upgrading induced either by technology imports or by trade-induced reallocations of market shares in favor of plants with higher skill-intensity.ʼn There is no evidence of trade-induced increases in labor demand elasticities. But direct evidence suggests that trade exposure raises wage volatility.ʼn There is no evidence of substantial employment contraction in import-competing sectors.This paper - a product of Trade, Development Research Group - is part of a larger effort in the group to assess the impact of trade and investment liberalization in developing countries.
Download or read book Trade Liberalization Firm Performance and Labour Market Outcomes in the Developing World What Can We Learn from Micro Level Data written by Paolo Epifani and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We review the micro-level evidence on the effects of trade and investment liberalization in the developing world. We focus, in particular, on the effects of the 1991 trade reform in India, since it provides an excellent controlled experiment in which the effects of a drastic trade regime change can be measured. The main findings can be summarized as follows. 1) There is evidence of trade-induced productivity gains (in this respect, however, India is something of an exception); 2) These gains mainly stem from the intra-industry reallocation of resources among firms with different productivity levels and: 3) they are larger in import competing sectors; 4) There is no evidence of significant scale efficiency gains. Indeed, unilateral trade liberalization is often associated with a reduced scale efficiency; 5) There is evidence of a pro-competitive effect of trade liberalization; 6) There is no evidence either of learning-by-exporting effects or of beneficial spillover effects from foreign owned to local firms; 7) There is evidence of skill upgrading induced either by technology imports, or by trade-induced reallocations of market shares in favor of plants with higher skill-intensity; 8) There is no evidence of trade-induced increases in labor demand elasticities. Direct evidence suggests, however, that trade exposure raises wage volatility; 9) There is no evidence of substantial employment contraction in import competing sectors.
Download or read book Trade and Employment written by Bernard M. Hoekman and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2005 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The substantial literature investigating the links between trade, trade policy, and labor market outcomes-both returns to labor and employment-has generated a number of stylized facts, but many open questions remain. This paper surveys the subset of the literature focusing on trade policy and integration into the world economy. Although in the longer run trade opportunities can have a major impact in creating more productive and higher paying jobs, this literature tends to take employment as given. A common finding is that much of the shorter run impacts of trade and reforms involve reallocation of labor or wage impacts within sectors. This reflects a pattern of expansion of more productive firms-especially export-oriented or suppliers to exporters-and contraction and adjustment of less productive enterprises in sectors that become subject to greater import competition. Wage responses to trade and trade reforms are generally greater than employment impacts, but trade can only explain a small fraction of the general increase in wage inequality observed in both industrial and developing countries in recent decades. A feature of the literature survey is that the focus is almost exclusively on industries producing goods. Given the importance of service industries as a source of employment and determinants of competitiveness, the paper argues that one priority area for future research is to study the employment effects of services trade and investment reforms. "--World Bank web site.
Download or read book Openness Outward Orientation Trade Liberalization and Economic Performance in Developing Countries written by Sebastian Edwards and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1989 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book International Trade and Labour Market Performance written by Alessandro Turrini and published by United Nations Publications. This book was released on 2002 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper summarizes the results of recent research into the effects of international trade on labor demand highlighting three areas which may require further investigation. These areas being: the relationship between labor market variables and trade policy measures, the issue of trade and labor market outcomes from a consistent cross-country perspective, and finally, the role of labor market institutions and production internalization.
Download or read book Trade Jobs and Inequality written by Ms. Kimberly Beaton and published by International Monetary Fund. This book was released on 2021-07 with total page 44 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper examines the impact of trade on employment, wages, and other outcomes across countries and explores the conditions and policies that help spread the gains from trade more evenly throughout the population. We exploit a large global firm-level dataset to examine the impact of import competition on employment, wages, and firm performance, as well as the firm, industry, and country factors that mitigate any negative impact of an import shock. In contrast to the results of some well-known single-country studies, we find limited adverse impact of import competition. In some countries and industries, import competition actually strengthens employment growth. In addition, import competition tends to improve average wages, investment, and firm profitability. Country characteristics, such as educational attainment, can also improve employment prospects in response to trade shocks. Finally, we find that firms experiencing greater import competition start with higher average wages; thus any relatively slower employment growth in this group of firms could lead to lower inequality.
Download or read book Sticky Feet written by Claire H. Hollweg and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2014-06-26 with total page 123 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The analysis in this report confirms the findings of previous studies that trade liberalization improves aggregate welfare and is in the long run associated with higher employment and wages. The analysis addresses a major gap in the literature, which has heretofore provided limited evidence about the trade-related adjustment costs faced by workers in developing countries and how they are affected by mobility costs. Labor market frictions reduce the potential gains from trade reform. For a tariff reduction in a given sector, the resulting change in relative prices raises real wages in some sectors and reduces them in the liberalized sector. The emerging wage gaps lead to labor reallocation. But workers typically incur costs to change jobs; the higher the mobility costs, the slower the transition to the new labor market steady state. Workers’ sticky feet result in foregone welfare gains from trade. This report presents an estimation strategy for capturing mobility costs when only net flows of workers between industries are observed, generating cross-country estimates for 47 developed and developing countries. The basic analytical approach is then refined to take advantage of micro-level data on worker transitions and wages when gross flows can be observed to derive mobility cost estimates that account for sector and formality status. These cost estimates are used to model the dynamic paths of labor reallocation between sectors and in and out of the labor force, the associated wage paths, and the resulting labor adjustment costs. The main findings of the report are that: labor mobility costs in developing countries are high; foregone trade gains due to frictions in labor mobility can also be substantial; workers bear the brunt of adjustment costs; mobility costs and labor market adjustments to trade-related shocks vary by industry, firm type, and worker type; entry costs are significantly higher for formal than for informal employment; trade reforms increase economy-wide wages and employment; and workers displaced by plant closings are likely to face relatively long adjustment periods. The findings provide insights that could be helpful to policymakers hoping to mitigate negative short-term consequences of trade liberalization and facilitate labor adjustment.
Download or read book Trade Liberalization and Poverty written by Neil McCulloch and published by . This book was released on 2001 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Openness to trade is a key element of economic policy; continuing extreme poverty in developing countries is a disgrace. This Handbook examines how concerns about the world's poor should affect our attitude towards trade liberalization. Part I draws on economic analysis and practical experience to construct a framework to analyse the links between trade liberalization and poverty. It shows policy-makers how to identify the critical features in their economies so they can ensure that the poor benefit from liberalization. Part II explores the reform of particular sectors -- agriculture, services, etc., and particular instruments of trade policy -- export subsidies, anti-dumping measures, etc. It presents an economic analysis of each type of reform, shows the likely outcome for the poor, and discusses the issue's status on the World Trade Organization's agenda. Book jacket.
Download or read book Making It Big written by Andrea Ciani and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2020-10-08 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economic and social progress requires a diverse ecosystem of firms that play complementary roles. Making It Big: Why Developing Countries Need More Large Firms constitutes one of the most up-to-date assessments of how large firms are created in low- and middle-income countries and their role in development. It argues that large firms advance a range of development objectives in ways that other firms do not: large firms are more likely to innovate, export, and offer training and are more likely to adopt international standards of quality, among other contributions. Their particularities are closely associated with productivity advantages and translate into improved outcomes not only for their owners but also for their workers and for smaller enterprises in their value chains. The challenge for economic development, however, is that production does not reach economic scale in low- and middle-income countries. Why are large firms scarcer in developing countries? Drawing on a rare set of data from public and private sources, as well as proprietary data from the International Finance Corporation and case studies, this book shows that large firms are often born large—or with the attributes of largeness. In other words, what is distinct about them is often in place from day one of their operations. To fill the “missing top†? of the firm-size distribution with additional large firms, governments should support the creation of such firms by opening markets to greater competition. In low-income countries, this objective can be achieved through simple policy reorientation, such as breaking oligopolies, removing unnecessary restrictions to international trade and investment, and establishing strong rules to prevent the abuse of market power. Governments should also strive to ensure that private actors have the skills, technology, intelligence, infrastructure, and finance they need to create large ventures. Additionally, they should actively work to spread the benefits from production at scale across the largest possible number of market participants. This book seeks to bring frontier thinking and evidence on the role and origins of large firms to a wide range of readers, including academics, development practitioners and policy makers.
Download or read book Trade Policy Industrialization and Development written by Gerald K. Helleiner and published by . This book was released on 1992 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume contributes to a better appraciation of the actual problems and constraints of industrialization and growth in developing countries and points the way to useful further lines of research.
Download or read book Trade Liberalization written by Romain Wacziarg and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This compelling two-volume collection presents the major literary contributions to the economic analysis of the consequences of trade liberalization on growth, productivity, labor market outcomes and economic inequality. Examining the classical theories that stress gains from trade stemming from comparative advantage, the selection also comprises more recent theories of imperfect competition, where any potential gains from trade can stem from competitive effects or the international transmission of knowledge. Empirical contributions provide evidence regarding the explanatory power of these various theories, including work on the effects of trade openness on economic growth, wages, and income inequality, as well as evidence on the effects of trade on firm productivity, entry and exit. Prefaced by an original introduction from the editor, the collection will to be an invaluable research resource for academics, practitioners and those drawn to this fascinating topic.
Download or read book Trading Promises for Results written by Mauricio Mesquita Moreira and published by . This book was released on 2019-11-07 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book World Development Report 2020 written by World Bank and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 2019-11-19 with total page 511 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Global value chains (GVCs) powered the surge of international trade after 1990 and now account for almost half of all trade. This shift enabled an unprecedented economic convergence: poor countries grew rapidly and began to catch up with richer countries. Since the 2008 global financial crisis, however, the growth of trade has been sluggish and the expansion of GVCs has stalled. Meanwhile, serious threats have emerged to the model of trade-led growth. New technologies could draw production closer to the consumer and reduce the demand for labor. And trade conflicts among large countries could lead to a retrenchment or a segmentation of GVCs. World Development Report 2020: Trading for Development in the Age of Global Value Chains examines whether there is still a path to development through GVCs and trade. It concludes that technological change is, at this stage, more a boon than a curse. GVCs can continue to boost growth, create better jobs, and reduce poverty provided that developing countries implement deeper reforms to promote GVC participation; industrial countries pursue open, predictable policies; and all countries revive multilateral cooperation.
Download or read book Openness Outward Orientation Trade Liberalization and Economic Performance in Developing Countries written by Sebastian Edwards and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper deals with the role of trade regimes in determining economic performance and growth in the developing countries. The policy and empirical literatures on trade orientation and economic growth are critically reviewed; it is argued that a key limitation of these works has been the inability to create measures of trade orientation that are: (i) objective; (ii) continuous and (iii) comparable across countries. A growth model that relates trade orientation to the ability to absorb technological progress from the rest of the world is developed for the case of a small country. The model is tested using a new index of trade orientation that is free from the limitations described above. The results obtained using a cross country data set provide strong support to the hypothesis that, with other things given, countries with a less distorted external sector grow faster than those countries with a more distorted external sector. The new theories of economic growth are also discussed, and their usefulness for analyzing the relation between trade orientation and growth in the developing countries is assessed.
Download or read book Best Practices in Trade Policy Reform written by Vinod Thomas and published by World Bank Publications. This book was released on 1991 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was recognized by many developing countries in the 1980s that integration with the global economy is necessary for economic development and technological progress. Efforts to liberalize trade were controversial. A unique body of evidence on developing country trade liberalization will examine why outcomes have varied from one country to another. The political economy of trade liberalization and the interaction among trade and domestic reform, macro-economic stability, and export development is examined using: (a) cross-sectional data, (b) country studies, (c) and interviews. The sequencing of reforms and implications for multilateral trade negotiations, foreign direct investment, and regional integration schemes is an additional consideration. The emphasis is on practical problems-economic and political-and recommendations of how policies can be designed and implemented to yield stronger and more sustainable results.
Download or read book Palgrave Dictionary of Emerging Markets and Transition Economics written by Jens Hölscher and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-10-21 with total page 589 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The period of transition from socialism to capitalism in parts of Europe and Asia over the past 25 years has attracted considerable interest in academia and beyond. From the Editors of Palgrave's iconic series 'Studies in Economic Transition' comes the Palgrave Dictionary of Emerging Markets and Transition Economics. This dictionary addresses the needs of students, lecturers and the interested general public to quickly find definitions and explanations of topics, institutions, personalities and processes in this historical phase of changing societies, which as such is not concluded. Today newly emerging market economies try to learn from the experiences of transition economies. Those who love The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics will enjoy the format of this Dictionary, which uses an encyclopaedia-based approach, where articles not only define the terms but provide an overview of the evolution of the term or theory and also touch on the current debates.
