Suchergebnisse

This study applies an econometric approach to estimate the impact of competition reform adoption and tightening on international trade, using Africa's envisaged Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) as a case study. An index measuring the extent to which competition regimes have been tightened and enforced between 2001 and 2016 in the TFTA countries is constructed. A gravity model of international trade, based on generalized method of moments, is then estimated to establish how exports are influenced by this competition index measure after controlling for other traditional gravity model variables. The results show that increasing competition reforms by 1% is associated with an increase in bilateral exports into the TFTA by 0.16%. However, if competition reforms in the importing country increase by 1%, then an approximate decline in bilateral exports of 0.46% would result. This underlines the role of competition enforcement in enhancing national competitiveness.

Zimbabwe's persistent economic challenges since the early 1990s have been largely attributed to unpopular political decisions at the expense of building productive capacity in different sectors of the economy. Using a global value chains framework taking into account political economy dynamics, this article explores how developments in the political space shape the opportunities for upgrading in different sectors of the economy. Using a case study approach relying on data from interviews with industry stakeholders in Zimbabwe, this paper identifies existing capabilities and potential areas for upgrading in production, processing, and exports in the fruit and oilseed-to-edible oils value chains in the context of recent political shifts in Zimbabwe. The fruit and oilseeds-to-edible oils value chains were selected particularly because of the underlying productive capabilities in agriculture and food processing, which provide the potential to drive substantial recovery and employment to meet local, regional, and international demand.