Economic Policy Responses to Preference Erosion

Economic Policy Responses to Preference Erosion PDF Author: Bernard M. Hoekman
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Economic assistance
Languages : en
Pages : 31

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Book Description
Trade preferences are a central issue in ongoing efforts to negotiate further multilateral trade liberalization. "Less preferred" countries are increasingly concerned about the discrimination they confront, while "more preferred" developing countries worry that WTO-based liberalization of trade will erode the value of current preferential access regimes. This tension suggests there is a political economy case for preference-granting countries to explicitly address erosion fears. The authors argue that the appropriate instrument for this is development assistance. The alternative of addressing erosion concerns through the trading system will generate additional discrimination and trade distortions, rather than moving the WTO toward a more liberal, non-discriminatory regime. They further argue that prospective losses generated by most-favored-nation liberalization should be quantified on a bilateral basis, using methods that estimate what the associated transfer should have been and ignoring the various factors that reduce their value in practice (such as compliance costs or the fact that part of the rents created by preference programs accrue to importers in OECD countries). Given that many poor countries have not been able to benefit much from preference programs, a case is also made that preference erosion should be considered as part of a broader response by OECD countries to calls to make the trading system more supportive of economic development. The focus should be on identifying actions and policy measures that will improve the ability of developing countries to use trade for development.

Economic Policy Responses to Preference Erosion

Economic Policy Responses to Preference Erosion PDF Author: Bernard M. Hoekman
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Economic assistance
Languages : en
Pages : 31

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Book Description
Trade preferences are a central issue in ongoing efforts to negotiate further multilateral trade liberalization. "Less preferred" countries are increasingly concerned about the discrimination they confront, while "more preferred" developing countries worry that WTO-based liberalization of trade will erode the value of current preferential access regimes. This tension suggests there is a political economy case for preference-granting countries to explicitly address erosion fears. The authors argue that the appropriate instrument for this is development assistance. The alternative of addressing erosion concerns through the trading system will generate additional discrimination and trade distortions, rather than moving the WTO toward a more liberal, non-discriminatory regime. They further argue that prospective losses generated by most-favored-nation liberalization should be quantified on a bilateral basis, using methods that estimate what the associated transfer should have been and ignoring the various factors that reduce their value in practice (such as compliance costs or the fact that part of the rents created by preference programs accrue to importers in OECD countries). Given that many poor countries have not been able to benefit much from preference programs, a case is also made that preference erosion should be considered as part of a broader response by OECD countries to calls to make the trading system more supportive of economic development. The focus should be on identifying actions and policy measures that will improve the ability of developing countries to use trade for development.

Trade Preference Erosion

Trade Preference Erosion PDF Author: Bernard M. Hoekman
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821377485
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 488

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Book Description
The multilateral trade system rests on the principle of nondiscrimination. Unilateral trade preferences granted by developed countries can help beneficiary countries but can create tensions between 'preferred' developing countries typically beneficiaries from pre-existing colonial regimes and other developing countries. There is also concern about the potential erosion of these preferences through trade liberalization in the importing countries, an issue that has been important in the current negotiations under the Doha Development Agenda of the World Trade Organization. 'Trade Preference Erosion' provides the information needed to make informed assessments of the benefits of trade preferences for developing countries, the risks associated with the erosion of these benefits, and policy options for dealing with these problems. The authors provide detailed analyses of specific preference programs and undertake cross-country, disaggregated analyses of the impact of preferences at the product level. Understanding the likely impacts of these programs and how those impacts are distributed is a precondition for formulating appropriate policy responses. The authors argue that such responses need to go beyond trade policies and need to include a focus on enhancing the competitiveness and supply-side capacity of developing countries. This book is a useful and informative guide for policy makers, non-governmental organizations, and others who wish to better understand the debate on the magnitude and impact of preference erosion.

Policy Responses to Trade Preference Erosion

Policy Responses to Trade Preference Erosion PDF Author: Chris Milner
Publisher: Commonwealth Secretariat
ISBN: 9781849290098
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 160

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Book Description
A study that looks at how best developing countries should respond to the erosion of trade preferences caused by continuing multilateral tariff liberalisation, either through restructuring individual preference arrangements or by acting to offset the adverse effects of preference erosion.

Economic Policy Responses to Preference Erosion

Economic Policy Responses to Preference Erosion PDF Author: Bernard Hoekman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Trade preferences are a central issue in ongoing efforts to negotiate further multilateral trade liberalization. "Less preferred" countries are increasingly concerned about the discrimination they confront, while "more preferred" developing countries worry that WTO-based liberalization of trade will erode the value of current preferential access regimes. This tension suggests there is a political economy case for preference-granting countries to explicitly address erosion fears. The authors argue that the appropriate instrument for this is development assistance. The alternative of addressing erosion concerns through the trading system will generate additional discrimination and trade distortions, rather than moving the WTO toward a more liberal, non-discriminatory regime. They further argue that prospective losses generated by most-favored-nation liberalization should be quantified on a bilateral basis, using methods that estimate what the associated transfer should have been and ignoring the various factors that reduce their value in practice (such as compliance costs or the fact that part of the rents created by preference programs accrue to importers in OECD countries). Given that many poor countries have not been able to benefit much from preference programs, a case is also made that preference erosion should be considered as part of a broader response by OECD countries to calls to make the trading system more supportive of economic development. The focus should be on identifying actions and policy measures that will improve the ability of developing countries to use trade for development.

Preference Erosion and Multilateral Trade Liberalization

Preference Erosion and Multilateral Trade Liberalization PDF Author: Joseph F. Francois
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Access
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description
Because of concern that OECD tariff reductions will translate into worsening export performance for the least developed countries, trade preferences have proven a stumbling block to developing country support for multilateral liberalization. The authors examine the actual scope for preference erosion, including an econometric assessment of the actual utilization and the scope for erosion estimated by modeling full elimination of OECD tariffs, and hence full most-favored-nation liberalization-based preference erosion. Preferences are underutilized due to administrative burden-estimated to be at least 4 percent on average-reducing the magnitude of erosion costs significantly. For those products where preferences are used (are of value), the primary negative impact follows from erosion of EU preferences. This suggests the erosion problem is primarily bilateral rather than a WTO-based concern.

Trade Preference Erosion

Trade Preference Erosion PDF Author: Bernard M. Hoekman
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821377529
Category : Commercial policy
Languages : en
Pages : 466

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Book Description
This volume introduces the gender dimension in the empirical analyses on the links between trade and poverty. Gender disparities, an important component of overall inequality, may limit the gains from trade and the potential benefits to poor people. This view is supported by the robust finding that while growth (as well as the gains from trade) is the major vehicle of lifting people out of poverty, it is more likely to be pro-poor when initial inequality is low. High inequality directly lowers the rate of poverty reduction by hindering growth.Ample evidence shows that, in spite of recent impro.

Caribbean Bananas

Caribbean Bananas PDF Author: Cleary Haines
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1451963793
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description
This paper examines the macroeconomic effects of the erosion of trade preferences, with a focus on the export of Caribbean bananas to Europe. Estimates are made of the magnitude of implicit assistance provided over a period of three decades to eastern Caribbean countries through banana trade preferences. The value of such assistance rose until the early 1990s, and has declined precipitously since then. Using vector autoregressive analysis, the paper finds that changes in the level of implicit assistance have had a considerable macroeconomic impact, especially on Caribbean real GDP growth.

Preference Erosion and Multilateral Trade Liberalization

Preference Erosion and Multilateral Trade Liberalization PDF Author: Joseph F. Francois
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Because of concern that tariff reductions in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (oecd) countries will translate into worsening export performance for the least developed countries, the erosion of trade preferences may become a stumbling block for multilateral trade liberalization. An econometric analysis of actual preference use shows that preferences are underused because of administrative burdens-estimated to be equivalent to an average of 4 percent of the value of goods traded. To quantify the maximum scope for preference erosion, the compliance cost estimates are used in a model-based assessment of the impact of full elimination of oecd tariffs. Taking into account administrative costs eliminates erosion costs in the aggregate and greatly reduces the losses for countries most affected by preference erosion.

A Practical Guide to Trade Policy Analysis

A Practical Guide to Trade Policy Analysis PDF Author: Marc Bacchetta
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789287038128
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Trade flows and trade policies need to be properly quantified to describe, compare, or follow the evolution of policies between sectors or countries or over time. This is essential to ensure that policy choices are made with an appropriate knowledge of the real conditions. This practical guide introduces the main techniques of trade and trade policy data analysis. It shows how to develop the main indexes used to analyze trade flows, tariff structures, and non-tariff measures. It presents the databases needed to construct these indexes as well as the challenges faced in collecting and processing these data, such as measurement errors or aggregation bias. Written by experts with practical experience in the field, A Practical Guide to Trade Policy Analysis has been developed to contribute to enhance developing countries' capacity to analyze and implement trade policy. It offers a hands-on introduction on how to estimate the distributional effects of trade policies on welfare, in particular on inequality and poverty. The guide is aimed at government experts engaged in trade negotiations, as well as students and researchers involved in trade-related study or research. An accompanying DVD contains data sets and program command files required for the exercises. Copublished by the WTO and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

The Collapse of Global Trade, Murky Protectionism, and the Crisis

The Collapse of Global Trade, Murky Protectionism, and the Crisis PDF Author: Richard E. Baldwin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781907142239
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 112

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Book Description
The global financial crisis of 2008/9 is the Great Depression of the 21st century. For many though, the similarities stop at the Wall Street Crash as the current generation of policymakers have acted quickly to avoid the mistakes of the past. Yet the global crisis has made room for mistakes all of its own. While governments have apparently kept to their word on refraining from protectionist measures in the style of 1930s tariffs, there has been a disturbing rise in "murky protectionism." Seemingly benign, these crisis-linked policies are twisted to favour domestic firms, workers and investors. This book, first published as an eBook on VoxEU.org in March 2009, brings together leading trade policy practitioners and experts - including Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean and former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo. Initially its aim was to advise policymakers heading in to the G20 meeting in London, but since the threat of murky protectionism persists, so too do their warnings.