Assessing the Consequences of the Economic Partnership Agreement on the Ethiopian Economy

The results presented indicate that a free trade area would reinforce the linkages between Ethiopia and European countries, including traditional partners such as Italy, with implications for the regional integration arrangements that Ethiopia is currently involved in. There will be significant trade diversion away from other African countries currently trading with Ethiopia. The diversion will occur in the lowtechnology sectors, which are potentially good foundations for deepened regional integration based on trade in industrial goods. The results further indicate some important implications with respect to Ethiopia’s industrialization strategy. The liberalization of industrial sectors result in more trade effects, particularly negative trade diversion, compared to the results from agricultural liberalization. The loss in revenue, which is a strong feature in general liberalization, is at the sectoral level, more pronounced in the industrial liberalization. The economic structure of Ethiopia, which supports self-reliance in food from the agriculture sector, underpins the limited losses in agriculture as compared to the industrial sector. Clearly, instead of opening the doors to economic diversification, the EPA could lead Ethiopia to deepen its comparative advantages in agricultural products.Ethiopia- Economic Partnership Agreement- Trade impact

Kresge Foundation 2010-2011 Annual Report

Contains an introduction to Kresge's strategy; board chair's letter; president's letter; foundation timeline; program information; grant summary, including geographic distribution; grants lists; financial summary; and lists of board members and staff

Critical Review of East Asia – South America Trade

There is a general consensus that trade between East Asia and South America is becoming increasingly important. However, we know little about the actual dynamic development of this inter-regional trade. This paper examines whether the trend of East Asia–South America trade is a general phenomena or a country- and commodity-specific issue, and whether the increase in trade values has a solid basis in terms of commodity diversification and/or price and quantity effects. While South America has an overall trade surplus with East Asia, detailed country and commodity analysis of inter-regional trade reveal several potential weaknesses in South America’s trade with East Asia. Our research finds that (i) the increase in trade between the two regions can be explained mainly by the increase in the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) trade with South America, (ii) the increase in the PRC’s imports from South America is limited to a few commodities, (iii) the increase in East Asia’s imports from South America is due partly to commodity price increases, and (iv) the PRC has started to export various types of electronics and machinery products to South America. Overall, East Asia’s exports to South America seem to show more promising signs of growth than South America’s exports to East Asia

Economic Partnership Agreements: Redesigning trade and development among EU and ACP Countries

The European Union is currently engaged in redesigning its trade relations with many of its partners in the Southern hemisphere. The present study assesses the economic implications of the negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Union and ACP’s regional groupings. These new trade arrangements, natural evolution of the Cotonou Agreements, represent an outstanding opportunity to favour the insertion of ACP countries into the world trade system and a genuine attempt to promote economic development and regional integration in developing world. Is this project bound to fail? Which are the prerequisites to make it work? Which lessons can be drawn from empirical evidences?EPA, Trade and development, Market access, Regional integration, Cotonou agreements, Kenya and Mauritius

Massachusetts Community Colleges: The Potential for Improving College Attainment

Provides an overview of the state's community colleges, examines promising strategies to improve graduation rates among different demographics, and suggests new practices for community colleges, for collaboration among institutions, and for state policy

China's trade competitiveness in the area of agricultural products after the implementation of the World Trade Organization commitments

The paper provides evidence on the implementation of China's trade commitments into its institutional and legal environment, which influenced its agricultural trade. The contribution to the trade balance index and the revealed comparative advantage index are used for the identification of changes in China's export competitiveness in agricultural products between 2001 and 2015. The World Trade Organization (WTO) trade liberalisation, followed by changes in the structure of economy, contributed to China building a trade deficit in the area of the agricultural products and losing competitiveness in some products. China gradually liberalised its agricultural trade in compliance with the WTO commitments. However, relatively high protection or state regulation of the domestic market has remained in products that China exports with a revealed comparative disadvantage. The existence of the state trading can also have a negative impact on the results of China's revealed comparative advantage in its exports of agricultural products.Web of Science64938837

Trade, Diversification and Growth in Nigeria

Nigeria’s trade policy is at a crucial turning point. Historically, the country has had a very restrictive import regime that generated substantial transfers to domestic producers and strong anti-export bias. Yet, in its current poverty reduction strategy, Nigeria identified deeper trade integration as a means to foster economic growth and alleviate poverty. Border tariffs are being reduced, trade regulations are under review, and ambitious modernization programs for customs services and port infrastructure have been launched. The envisioned reforms involve far-reaching changes to the trade regime that promise to create new opportunities by improving the efficiency of production and consumption, while requiring adjustment of domestic producers to the new, more competitive economic environment.Trade; tariffs; regional integration; preferences; world markets

Forgotten Youth: Re-Engaging Students Through Dropout Recovery

Each year, thousands of Massachusetts students drop out of school. The path forward for these students is difficult, and failing to fully educate the next generation of workers and leaders has substantial long-term consequences for our shared economic and social well-being. To address this, policymakers have devoted significant attention in recent years to raising high school graduation rates through dropout reduction strategies. Missing from this agenda, however, is any significant focus on dropout recovery, the act of re-engaging and re-enrolling students who leave school before graduating. Without a more systemic approach to connect with out-of-school youth, we will continue to struggle to fulfill our commitment to educate all students.To address this need, Boston Public Schools has established the Re-Engagement Center, a dropout recovery program that strives to re-enroll out-of-school youth through outreach, personal connections, and a variety of educational options that support students to graduation. The Rennie Center conducted a case study of the Re-Engagement Center in Spring 2012, the findings of which are highlighted in the policy brief Forgotten Youth: Re-Engaging Students Through Dropout Recovery.The purpose of this brief is to make a contribution to a growing body of work about dropout recovery. The brief begins by discussing the role of dropout recovery as a strategy to increase the graduation rate, identifies common practices in other dropout recovery models, and documents the development and operation of the Re-Engagement Center. Forgotten Youth then identifies promising practices and ongoing challenges of this program, and concludes by offering considerations -- based on literature and research findings -- for school and district leaders, community partners, and state policymakers

Special Economic Zones, Global Value Chains, and the Degree of Economic Linkages in the Dominican Republic

The Dominican Republic is often considered an example of the successful implementation of Special Economic Zones (henceforth SEZs) in the Western hemisphere. The zones fueled economic growth during the 1980s and 1990s and, while they experienced a sharp decline in employment due in part to the expiry of the end of the Multi-Fiber Agreement and stronger international competition in the textile and apparel industry in 2005, signs of recovery have been observed since 2009. Surgical equipment, chemicals and plastics, and footwear have recently emerged as the new drivers of export dynamism in the zones (World Bank, 2015). The objective of this report is to inform the policy discussion around the developmental impact of SEZs in the Dominican Republic by empirically assessing i) the implications of regulatory reforms aimed at complying with WTO disciplines regarding the elimination of incentives conditioned on export performance for SEZs firms, ii) the extent to which SEZs participate in Global Value Chains, and iii) their linkages with domestic suppliers. The report is organized as follows: The second section presents the historical importance of SEZ as an engine of economic growth in the country. The third section depicts the structural shift in terms of production in SEZs and evaluates the degree of value addition taking place in the Dominican Republic. The fourth section evaluates the degree and evolution of linkages between SEZs and local firms. The fifth section shows the impact of the regulatory changes in the SEZ regimen undertaken to comply with WTO disciplines. Finally, some conclusions and policy recommendations are presented in section six

Helping Poor Working Parents Get Ahead: Federal Funds for New State Strategies and Systems

Examines the cost-effectiveness of state job advancement systems and outlines a proposal for federally funding programs that provide more education and training, greater access to better-paying jobs, and more robust financial incentives and supports