Export Competitiveness: Featured Events

September 24, 2009

Trade Quality in LAC

William F. Maloney, Lead Economist, DECRG
Danieal Lederman, Senior Economist, DECRG

Time: 12:30-2:30
Venue: MC4-100

In this seminar, Bill Maloney and Daniel Lederman will discuss main results of their forthcoming paper on quality of exports from Latin America. The paper explores several dimensions of the relationship between trade volume and quality of exports and provides new insights and empirical evidence that shed light on crucial questions of the current growth debate such as: “Does what you trade matter? Are some goods “better” or of “higher quality” than others?” The paper is organized around four  themes: i)  a discussion of the theoretical reasons and empirical evidence on why one good might be preferred to another based on externalities and rents, and the two characteristics that can potentially justify support of a good against market signals; ii) an examination of  whether there is consistent evidence that certain sectors provide higher “skill premia” than other sectors and the associated question if these “Brainy Goods” should be encouraged due to market failures in the accumulation of education; iii) an analysis of new evidence on the variance across countries in differences of quality, approximated by price of export products; and iv) an exploration of the role of product innovation for diversification, including a discussion of  the new evidence on the importance of export diversification for managing macro volatility.

September 8, 2009

Duty and Tax Relief and Suspension Schemes for Improving Export Competitiveness

Professor David Widdowson
CEO, Customs and Excise Studies Center, University of Canberra, Australia

Time: 9:30-1:30
Venue: JB1-075

Video Streaming*: http://streaming2.worldbank.org/ramgen/DEC/2009-09-08/EC_Course.rm
*Please note that due to the technical difficulties for the first 3 minutes of the recording the audio is not available.

An interactive learning event on the application of various duty and tax related schemes for improving export competitiveness.  This course will deliver a comprehensive overview and discuss globally recommended practices on duty and tax drawback, bonded warehousing, manufacturing under bond, free zones and EPZs, inward processing and re-exportation in the same state.

The rational behind the duty and tax relief and suspension schemes is the fact that when imported goods are used in production of exports, it is consistent with WTO rules to relieve and suspend duty and taxes on them. Yet exporters in developing countries spend considerable time and and resources to receive their drawbacks which put them in disadvantage against their competitors. Public procedures and systems associated with such duty and tax drawback have important implications for export competitiveness of a country. This is recognized by the World Customs Organization (WCO) in the Revised Kyoto Convention 1999.

A NEW toolkit "Duty and Tax Relief and Suspension Schemes for Improving Export Competitiveness: A Reference and Learning Toolkit"  will be disseminated at this event.

This event will be live webstreamed within the World Bank server at http://webcast.worldbank.org/streaming/live.ram

April 28, 2009

Upgrading Competitiveness in the Time of International Crisis
[Watch the B-span video recording here]

Panelists and Chair:
Esko Aho, Exec VP of Corporate Relations and Responsibility of Nokia (Finland)
Jose Maria Figueres, Former President of Costa Rica and CEO of Concordia 21
Renato Baumann, Director, UN-ECLAC from Brazil 
Ritva Reinikka, Sector Director for Social and Economic Development, Middle East and North Afria region, World Bank

From the world's middle class to the most vulnerable populations, the financial crisis is predicted to affect millions for the next few years.  Aimed at gathering specialists and lead economists to discuss the economic landscape, the World Bank Povety Reducation and Economic Management Network (PREM) convened in its annual PREM Week 2009 conference a panel on export competitiveness and lessons learned from the global financial crisis.

Speaking at the stage set by Ritva Reinikka, the three distinguished speakers highlighted a number of issues.  First, it is important that countries should have a sound national business strategy that helps cope with the tremendous pressure of having to be selective during a crisis.  Second, it is important to consider that crisis may be an opportunity to push necessary reforms that may not have been possible during normalcy. Third, the use of cluster development -- as was the case in Costa Rica -- could be meaningful in mobilizing multiple stakeholders for developing a sort of 'national brand' that is necessary for an effective competitiveness strategy.  Fourth, competitiveness requires policies to be maintained for long periods of time enforced through effective institutions.

March 19, 2009
Industrial Clusters for Export Competitiveness: Tools and Current Practices

Instructors:
Christian Ketels, Faculty, Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, Harvard Business School
Kevin Murphy, CEO, J.E. Austin Associates, Inc

In a rapidly globalising world, competition is no longer held solely on the traditional fronts of costs and prices but increasingly on multiple fronts of: connectivity, standards and certifications, quality and innovation, exploitation of cultural and geographic endowments. These elements are captured by the concept of a cluster, which essentially is a system of interconnection between private and public sector entities affecting productivity.  Cluster-based approach can offer a new way of dividing and understanding an economy for formulating policies and practices.

Agenda
Background Materials
-  NEW!Cluster for Competitiveness: Practical Guide & Toolkit, World Bank, 2009
-  Powerpoint Presentation (pdf - 4.4mb) - internal access only

Resource pack section 1: Relevant papers
-  Global Competitiveness Index Chapter 1.2 on Microeconomic Foundations of  
   Prosperity, Porter, M.et al 2008 
-  Cluster Initiatives in Developing & Transition Economies, Ketels, C. et al 2006

Resource pack section 2:  Case studies and examples
-  Kenya Cluster Competitiveness Analysis, Porter, 2007
-  Columbia Cluster Competitiveness Analysis, Porter, 2007
-  Laos Cluster Competitiveness Analysis, World Bank, 2006
- Sierra Leone Tourism Cluster Pre-feasibility Study, World Bank/FIAS, 2009
- Sri Lanka Tourism Cluster Development, JAA 2008
- Rwanda Cluster Competitiveness Analysis, JAA, 2009

June 25, 2008

Is Free Trade Good for Developing Countries: Assessing Recent Critiques

[Watch video recording of the lecture]

Lecturer: Professor Jagadish Bhagwati, Columbia University
Chair: Dr. Justin Lin, Chief Economist and SVP, DEC, The World Bank

Has trade liberalization still a major role to play in such strategies or has the trade agenda shifted to behind-the-border policy issues? Is there scope for implementing new, "smarter" industrial policies? Are adjustment costs and the political economy of trade integration still significant issues that need special attention?

Relevant material
Jagdish Bhagwati (2007). Do Not Cry for Free Trade, The Financial Times, October 10, 2007

Critiques of Free Trade Animation

May 8, 2008
Implementing Cluster Competitiveness Initiatives

Kevin Murphy
President, J.E. Austin Associates Inc.

This seminar was a practical guide to the various steps involved in implementing cluster competitiveness projects.  It presented specific examples from countries as diverse as Laos, Croatia and Saudi Arabia to discuss how the foundations of competitiveness lay on productivity-enhancing collaborations among firms, supporting institutions, and governments.

April 24, 2008
Micro-Foundations of Competitiveness and Policy Implications

Michael Porter
Bishop William Lawrence University Professor
Harvard Business School

Sound macroeconomic policies and stable political and legal institutions are necessary but not sufficient conditions to ensure a prosperous economy. Competitiveness is rooted in a nation's microeconomic fundamentals -- the sophistication of entrepreneurial operations and the quality of the microeconomic business environment in which companies compete.

The lecture offered an operational framework for interpreting the policy implications of competitiveness.  It argued that competitiveness requires a paradigm shift where the government no longer drives economic development through policy decisions and incentives, but a collaborative process where the it engages with the private sector at multiple levels to enhance the productivity of existing industrial clusters.

Relevant materials
Global Competitiveness Report 2008, chapters 1 & 2
Columbia Case Study
Kenya Case Study

April 15, 2008
Export Competitiveness: Growth Prerequisite or Dangerous Obsession?
[Watch B-Span video recording here] 

Yung Chul Park, Professor - Economics, Korea University, KOREA
Anne Krueger, Professor - International Economics, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Stan Sutula III, Chief Financial Officer, IBM Americas Group, USA

Does export competitiveness offer a useful operational framework to complement traditional trade liberalization policy with trade facilitation and other behind-the border policies related to the business environment. And if so, what are its boundaries? To what extent should countries invent new, smarter and active policies to deal with imperfect information, externalities, and other market failures in their quest for export competitiveness?

March 5, 2008
Searching for Industrial Policies: Why and How?

Charles F. Sabel
Professor of Law and Social Science
Columbia Law School

The paper takes "good" industrial policy to consist of institutional arrangements and practices that organize effective collaboration between the public and the private sectors for development of public goods such as standards, infrastructure, certification, property rights. Hence, the right questions are not about tax breaks, subsidies or promotion; they instead are: have we set up the institutions that engage the bureaucrats in an ongoing conversation of pertinent themes with the private sector?

Relevant Paper:
Hausmann, R.; Rodrik, D. and C. Sabel (2007). Reconfiguring Industrial Policy: A Framework with an Application to South Africa

February 14, 2008
FDI and Export Competitiveness: Good News, Bad News, Surprising News

Theodore H. Moran
Marcus Wallenberg Professor of International Business and Finance
Georgetown University

Contrary to popular assumptions, flow of FDI to medium-skilled industrial sectors in developing countries -- such as in electrical equipment, autos and auto parts, industrial machinery, chemicals -- is more than ten times larger than flow to low-skill, labor-intensive operations, and is speeding up over time. How can developing countries use inward manufacturing FDI to generate productivity gains and promote higher skill-intensive activities? What are respective roles of trade policy, infrastructure, human resources and proactive measures? What can the recipient countries learn from experiences around the world in terms of negotiating with MNCs?

Relevant Paper:
Moran, T.H. (2007). Multinational Enterprises, Decent Work, and Development -- A Perspective from the MNE Declaration to the Present: Mistakes, Surprises, and Newly Important Policy Implications.
Draft. Brookings Occasional Paper Series

January 22, 2008
Competitiveness Through An Industry Lens

Vincent Palmade, Lead Economist, FIAS
(Soon in Africa Finance and Private Sector Development)

Can an industry lens add to the Bank's economic and sector work in developing countries? There is a growing evidence that industry-specific policy and enforcement issues are the main constraints to private investment and fair competition -- the two drivers of productivity and thus economic growth. This might add a valuable dimension to the work on incentive structure and setting of reform priorities.

April 24, 2008
PREM Week Learning Event: Tools for Assessing Trade Competitiveness