Some econometric evidence on the impact of the multifiber agreement on the German clothing industry

Since 1974, the year of the first Multi-fiber Agreement (MFA), a considerable number of studies has analyzed the economic impact of quotas such as those of the MFA on industrialized countries. Examples are the studies by Hamilton (1980), Morkre and Tarr (1980), Wolf et al. (1984), and GATT (1984), to name a few. Most of the work so far has relied either on models of the comparative static type, with reasonable parameters substituted, or on more ad hoc comparisons of pre- and post-MFA market shares or other similar indicators. However, there seems to be a dearth of econometric evidence, in particular for Germany. The present paper is intended to start filling this gap. Its purpose is to investigate the effect of the MFA quotas and MFA-induced voluntary export restraints (VERs) on the German clothing industry.

Material Flow Analysis: Outcome Focus (MFA:OF) for Elucidating the Role of Infrastructure in the Development of a Liveable City

Engineered infrastructures (i.e., utilities, transport & digital) underpin modern society. Delivering services via these is especially challenging in cities where differing infrastructures form a web of interdependencies. There must be a step change in how infrastructures deliver services to cities, if those cities are to be liveable in the future (i.e., provide for citizen wellbeing, produce less CO2 & ensure the security of the resources they use). Material Flow Analysis (MFA) is a useful methodology for understanding how infrastructures transfer resources to, within and from cities and contribute to the city’s metabolism. Liveable Cities, a five-year research programme was established to identify & test radical engineering interventions leading to liveable cities of the future. In this paper, the authors propose an outcome-focussed variation on the MFA methodology (MFA: OF), evidenced through work on the resource flows of Birmingham, UK. These flows include water, energy, food & carbon-intensive materials (e.g., steel, paper, glass), as well as their associated waste. The contribution MFA: OF makes to elucidating the interactions & interdependencies between the flows is highlighted and suggestions are made for how it can contribute to the (radical) rethinking of the engineered infrastructure associated with such flow

Do Developing Countries Lose From the MFA?

This paper provides estimates of both national and global welfare costs of bilateral quotas on textiles and apparel using an applied general equilibrium model which covers bilateral quotas on exports of textiles and apparel negotiated between three major developed importing countries (the US, Canada and the EEC) and 34 supplying developing countries under the provisions of the Multifibre Arrangement applying in mid-1980s (MFA 111). Results using 1986 data clearly show that the vast majority of developing countries gain from MFA removal, with some gaining proportionately more than others. This suggests that despite foregone rent transfers, developing countries would receive gains by eliminating the MFA. In the central variant analysis, all developing countries gain by eliminating tariff and MFA restrictions because, contrary to popular belief, the developing countries (including Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan) are relatively small compared to developed countries even in apparel production. Rather than losing share to other developing countries under an MFA elimination, higher Income developing countries (like other developing countries) gain market share at the expense of reduced developed country production.

The History of Manpower Forecasting in Modelling Labour Market

The manpower forecasting approach (MFA) was one of the first attempts in educational planning purposes. Manpower planners attempted: 1) to calculate the demand for manpower classified by occupation; 2) to convert this classification of demand by occupation into demand by educational attainment; 3) to devise plans and policies aimed at equating projected demands and probable supplies. The paper recalls the basic principles of the MFA from the perspective of the history of the economic thought and attempts to clarify why there was a virtual failure in MFA during the 1960s.manpower planning,economic development,labour market

Harmonious Representation of PDF's reflecting Large Deviations

The framework of multifractal analysis (MFA) is distilled to the most sophisticated one. Within this transparent framework, it is shown that the harmonious representation of MFA utilizing two distinct Tsallis distribution functions, one for the tail part of probability density function (PDF) and the other for its center part, explains the recently observed PDF's of turbulence in the highest accuracy superior to the analyses based on other models such as the log-normal model and the $p$ model.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure

A Word From The Writing Team (July 2018)

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