Suchergebnisse

"Differences in the choices of trade and macro policies, both by developing countries and by developed countries towards developing countries, have been critical in determining the overall performance of developing countries. All too often, the performance of developing countries has not been assessed using appropriately conducted studies. The papers in this book are chosen to bridge this gap and show how a quantitative approach to policy evaluation can help resolve controversies and explain the choice of observed policies. The book brings together carefully selected papers that assess the impacts of various trade and macro policies, by quantifying the policies of developing countries at the macro level (exchange rate, investment, savings) and at the sector level (trade and industrial policies), in addition to policies of developed countries towards developing countries (trade preferences, quotas, VERs and migration policies). Facets of the political economy of trade, migration, and climate policies are explored (such as the enlargement of the EU, the rise of regionalism and how it can ease the pains of adjustment to trade liberalization, openness and inequality). Growing tensions between trade and the environment are also investigated. In short, this book covers a wide area of events ranging from external and internal shocks to external and internal policies, showing how the consequences of these events can be brought to rigorous quantitative analysis."--

In a span of fifty years, Mauritius has reached high-income status according to the World Bank criterion. Key to this success was the combination of: (i) effective policies; (ii) resilience to shocks; (iii) adaptation to changing external events cemented by close collaboration between Government, the private sector, unions, and civil society. These actors will need to continue to collaborate on the new challenges: (i) restoring trust in the Government following the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath; (ii) facing the 4th industrial revolution; (iii) shifting to a development path that arrests the deterioration in the environment.

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to revisit the celebrated conflict that lasted close to two decades and pitted the EU against the USA and against MFN suppliers of bananas. It starts by recalling the major turning points in the dispute and argues that the EU-USA conflict could largely be explained by the changing landscape on trade-policy making on both sides of the Atlantic. As to the EU-MFN grower dispute, it can be largely explained by uncertainty on the distribution of quota rents and on the reluctance to use economic analysis in the panel decisions. Econometric and simulation estimates are given in support of this argument.


Design/methodology/approach
– Analytical interpretation of the conflict supported by graphical analysis. Econometric and simulation estimates to support the arguments.


Findings
– The paper shows that the EU-MFN grower dispute is largely explained by uncertainty on the distribution of quota rents as result of the move away from region-specific quotas to tarification.


Research limitations/implications
– Lack of better data on transport costs and unreliable price data discussed in the paper is an important caveat only partly remedied through simulation analysis.


Practical implications
– The use of the simple and transparent models here would have helped the panel reach an informed decisions on what tariff would have preserved the same market shares for MFN growers of bananas.


Originality/value
– This is the first thorough political-economy review of the dispute since the often cited paper: Cadot and Webber, (2002) "Banana splits: policy process, particularistic interests, political capture, and money in transatlantic trade politics."