Trade and Development Series Other notable trade titles: Other publications: For ordering information please visit the World Bank’s Infoshop
Agricultural Trade Reform and the Doha Development Agenda
Edited by Kym Anderson and Will Martin
Agricultural trade reform is critical to a favorable development outcome from the Doha Development agenda. But agricultural policies and the policy reforms being contemplated are fiendishly complicated, and the devil is in the details. The Doha Development Agenda will be “the one that got away” unless negotiators can maintain a focus on the market-opening raison d’être of the WTO, and avoid excessive use of exceptions like “sensitive” products that could easily eviscerate the favorable development impact of the Round.
This book focuses on the agricultural trade reform that is central to the development impact of the Doha Agenda. It contains detailed policy studies prepared by experts in the field, and uses these to provide a base for quantitative analyses of the effects of reform. It uses a quantitative approach to integrate the consequences of trade reform measures being taken on market access, agricultural domestic support, and export subsidies. The book was published in October 2005. More...
Poverty and the WTO: Impacts of the Doha Development Agenda
Edited by Thomas W. Hertel and L. Alan Winters
Poverty reduction is deemed to be a centerpiece of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) currently being negotiated under the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Yet there is considerable debate about the poverty impacts of such an agreement. Some are convinced it will increase poverty, while others are equally convinced that it will lead to poverty reduction. The purpose of this book is to bring the best scientific methods to bear on this question, taking into account the specific characteristics embodied in the DDA. Since the trade/poverty field is relatively new, the authors permit country authors to utilize a variety of different methods – based on their judgment of what is most appropriate for the country in question. However, all authors explore the same common set of scenarios, generated in a consistent manner. The editors have also asked authors to consider a range of complementary policies that might enhance the poverty outcome of the DDA, permitting poor households to take better advantage of new opportunities that might arise from such multilateral trade reforms. In addition, a 15 country study, coupled with the global analysis, allow the authors to draw more general conclusions about the poverty impacts of a prospective DDA. Assuming an ambitious Doha Development Agenda, the authors find the near-term poverty impacts to be mixed; some countries experience small poverty rises and others more substantial poverty declines. On balance, poverty is reduced under this DDA, and this reduction is more pronounced in the longer run. It is also found that deeper cuts in developing country tariffs would make the DDA more poverty friendly. Finally, in order to generate significant poverty reductions in the near term, complementary domestic reforms are required to enable households to take advantage of new market opportunities made available through the DDA. This book was published on December 2, 2005. More...
International Migration, Remittances, and Development
Edited by Çaglar Özden and Maurice Schiff
Interest in international migration has grown exponentially in recent years due mainly to increases in migration to the OECD, in the brain drain, remittances, and post 9/11 security concerns. The main lacuna in the migration area is data, a fundamental input in the design of sound migration policy. One of the objectives of the World Bank Research Program on International Migration and Development is to expand the migration data base through household surveys, census data, and the creation of a comprehensive data base on the brain drain. A second objective is to provide new and more rigorous empirical analysis based on these new data as well as some theoretical work. The four main areas of the Research Program are: impact of remittances, the brain drain, temporary migration, and migration, trade and FDI. The volume “International Migration, Remittances and Development” edited by C. Ozden and M. Schiff presents some of the output in the first two areas of the program. It consists of nine chapters: an introduction, four chapters on brain-drain-related issues, and four chapters on the determinants and effects of migration and remittances. This book was published in October 2005. More...
Safeguards and Antidumping in Latin American Trade Liberalization: Fighting Fire with Fire
Edited by J. Michael Finger and Julio J. Nogues
Until the 1990s, the main users of safeguards and antidumping laws were Australia, Canada, the European Union, and the United States. Since then, many countries have implemented such laws, leading to a proliferation in antidumping and safeguard activity across the world. This timely book documents the political economy surrounding the implementation of these laws in seven Latin American countries and provides details on the institutions created, implementation of the laws, and subsequent activity. It finds that, in the larger political context, antidumping and safeguards are a necessary quid pro quo to certain important sectors to obtain much more liberalized trade policies for the general economy. This book was published in December 2005.
International Trade in Health Services and the GATS Current Issues and Debates
Edited by Chantal Blouin, Nick Drager, and Richard Smith
Health policy makers and practitioners face many challenges and opportunities, both nationally and internationally. One that is likely to grow in importance during this new Millennium is that of international trade in health services. The question facing the health sector when faced with this burgeoning liberalization agenda is how to ensure that policymakers in trade are aware of – and take account of – implications for the health sector. This handbook attempts to address this question head-on, providing analytical tools to policymakers, in both the health and trade ministries, who are involved in the liberalization agenda more widely, and the current GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) negotiations more specifically. The book includes an overview of current evidence on the health sector implications of the liberalization of health services trade, and current practices in selected countries; focusing specifically on developing countries. This volume is a practical tool for trade capacity building and for facilitating national dialogues on what are the best policy options on health services and trade agreements. This volume is a joint initiative of the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO) and was published at the end of September 2005.
Global Integration and Technology Transfer
Edited by Bernard Hoekman and Beata Smarzynska Javorcik
The importance of international technology diffusion for economic development can hardly be overstated. Both the acquisition of technology and its diffusion foster productivity growth. As invention and creation processes remain overwhelmingly the province of industrialized countries, most developing countries rely largely on imported technologies as sources of new productive knowledge. The contributions in this volume advance our understanding of technology diffusion through trade and foreign direct investment in a range of developing and transition economies. The studies examine the relative importance of the two channels for productivity growth both at the firm and economy-wide level. They discuss policy intervention used by developing countries to stimulate international technology transfer and provide guidance on the likely effect of policies towards trade and inward investment on productivity performance in different “types” of developing countries. This book was published in November 2005.
Economic Development and Multilateral Trade Cooperation
Edited by Simon J. Evenett and Bernard M. Hoekman
The “Doha Development Agenda”, launched at the World Trade Organization (WTO’s) Ministerial Conference in November 2001 in Doha, Qatar, is the first multilateral round of trade negotiations where developing countries are playing a major role. A key challenge for the WTO is to address perceptions that the organization and the disciplines it embodies are not supportive of development. Whether the WTO is an organization that can be used to pursue development objectives is controversial—many are of the view that the focus of the WTO should be limited to increasing market access opportunities and negotiating away policies that impose negative spillovers on other countries. Others argue that the future of the WTO depends on changing the coverage and modus operandi of the institution to more directly address development issues. The purpose of this book is to bring together leading practitioners and analysts of the WTO to focus on the question how the Doha negotiating agenda could help to increase the development relevance of the WTO, addressing both the traditional domain of trade negotiations—market access—and efforts to extend the coverage of the WTO to “behind-the-border” regulatory policies that may only have an indirect link to trade. The chapters assess and draw lessons from the body of research that has emerged in the last 5 years on the role of the WTO and the economics of the issues that were put on the negotiating table, as well as the negotiating experience to date, to provide specific suggestions and ideas for moving forward on development in the WTO. This book will be published in December 2005.
Trade, Doha and Development: A Window into the Issues
Edited by Richard Newfarmer
In today’s economically integrated world, trade matters more for development than ever before. This book addresses the key trade issues relevant to the ongoing multilateral trade negotiations and the evolution of the world trading system. Topics include: a general overview of the Doha Round, potential gains from trade liberalization for developed and developing countries, agriculture, manufacturing trade, services, trade facilitation, TRIPs and the regulatory agenda, regional trade agreements, aid for trade and much more. This is an essential and accessible primer for policymakers, development practitioners, academics, and journalists. This book was published in December 2005.
Global Development Prospects 2006: International Remittances and Migration International migration, the movement of people across international boundaries to improve economic opportunity, has enormous implications for growth and welfare in both origin and destination countries. An important benefit to developing countries is the receipt of remittances or transfers from income earned by overseas emigrants. Official data show that development countries’ remittance receipts totaled $160 billion in 2004, exceeding development aid from all sources by 50 percent. This year’s edition of Global Economic Prospects focuses on the flow of international migrant remittances and improving their development impact. It presents available data on migration flows and examines current thinking on issues pertaining to migration and its development impact. The bulk of the book covers remittances, including their size, determinants, development impact, and steps to strengthen financial infrastructure and reduce transaction costs. More... |
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