Suchergebnisse

Presents an analysis of trade policy reform in emerging markets. This book reviews developing country liberalization since the 1980s, which provides an analytical framework for interrogating the seven country (Australia, Brazil, Chile, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, and South Africa) case studies that follow

The number of preferential trade agreements has increased sharply over the past decade as a response to stagnant multilateral trade negotiations. Political economy features centrally in these negotiations, for instance in the context of the Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), which resulted from the most extensive negotiations for a preferential trade agreement ever to take place in Africa. In this paper, we discuss the challenges of rule-oforigin harmonisation in this process, which is a critical element for any further integration initiative in the continent. In particular, we review different approaches to the formulation of rules of origin, determining which firms qualify to take advantage of negotiated concessions. We focus on the experiences of the three African regional economic communities (COMESA, EAC and SADC) that are busy merging into the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) and assess their potential for harmonisation, drawing also on the examples of similar efforts being made around the globe, such as for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Strict rules of origin – as implemented by the European Union and the United States – require strong state institutional capacities to implement them and for competitive firms to incur high compliance costs. These two conditions are absent in most African countries. We hence caution against adopting rules of origin for the South African model in the CFTA on the basis of their restrictive nature and the high level of institutional and organisational capacities required for implementing them. Furthermore, we argue that rigid approaches risk undermining the very objectives they seek to achieve, since – for the most part – Africa's private sectors are comprised of small and informal enterprises that are illequipped to take advantage of rigorous rules of origin.

In this paper we develop a methodology which is based on two important criteria - sensitivity in delivery time and value-to-weight ratio - to classify products relevant for air transport. Detailed trade data by mode of transport are used to check the loading of an average airplane between South Africa and the European Union. The product classification is applied to evaluate the potential for air cargo transport in Southern Africa. We find that especially export of products with high and medium air cargo relevance grew much faster than exports of bulky goods and non air cargo products. South Africa´s most prominent export products to industrialized countries consist of diamonds, gold and platinum (HS71) which, however, are so precious that they tend to be transported in the hand baggage of a business or security person, because they leave the loading weight of an average airplane almost unaffected. When correcting South Africa´s trade for these invisible outliers in the loading freight we find that South Africa exports a much larger share of products with high air cargo relevance to its SADC partners than to industrialized countries. The results indicate that air cargo seems to be valuable option to overcome trade barriers associated with poor land transport infrastructure and corruption.

These days, plenty of cognoscenti in academia and politics share the common concern that the build-up of global macroeconomic imbalances threatens the international economy. While there is broad disagreement on the essence of what an imbalance exactly is, the term is generally associated with perceived macroeconomic disequilibria in balance of payments, but also fiscal and monetary policy. In the aftermath of the financial crisis the G20 leaders addressed these issues in the 'Seoul Action Plan' adopted in November 2010. The G20 emphasizes the need for domestic policies directed to increase savings in the deficit countries and to increase absorption in the surplus countries. In this paper we assess the G20's desire, mostly on paper, in the light of its implications for sub-Saharan Africa. We first review how sub-Saharan Africa was hit by the crisis and consider prevailing crisis responses. We then assess whether the G20 is on the right track and whether the G20 is the appropriate 'coordination' body to solve the dissonance problem of national economic policies. We conclude that there could be a potential positive impact of the 'Seoul Consensus' on Africa, if the rich countries really abstain from trade protection measures and currency wars.

Since 1994, the pivotal year in which South Africa held its first democratic elections, its companies have engaged in a sustained outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) thrust with substantial impact on Southern Africa, in the process generating some controversy. The paper revisits those debates and updates them in light of recent data and developments concerning the evolution of institutions supportive of South African regional OFDI, notably regulations governing investment and trade respectively. We find that South African OFDI to Africa is private sector dominated, concentrated in Southern Africa albeit evincing a discernible shift to West Africa in recent years, and its impact is on the whole beneficial. However, the actions of the South African government to support the activities of their nationals in the region are schizophrenic, particularly in its use of BITs, which seem to favour an approach that provides substantial advantages to its companies at the possible expense of host-nation policy space. We recommend therefore that in its ongoing review of its model approach to BITs the South African government should remedy this ambiguity.