EU-India free trade agreement : a quantitative assessment

This report analyses the effects of a regional trade agreement (FTA) between the EU and India, for which negotiations are underway. The study starts with abrief overview of the key insights from the existing literature on FTAs and their relationship with multilateral negotiations. The remainder of the study is devoted to analysing the impact of tariff slashes under an FTA on merchandise trade between the EU and India. Of particular interest are the implications for agricultural markets, given the tension between agricultural liberalisation and India's policy goals relating to self-sufficiency in food grains and poverty reduction. The analysis employs GTAP, a global general equilibrium model using a recent database which has 2004 as its reference year. The results suggest that India's interests in a regional trade agreement with the EU are downplayed by the fact that India's economy is not well integrated in global markets. Impacts on the EU are minor and further reduced if a Doha agreement is in place when the FTA is implemented. Results indicate the rationale for a strongly asymmetric arrangement: it would be in the interest of both partners if the EU provides large concessions to India for market access, while India maintains the bulk of current border protection. An EU - India FTA delivers little scope for achieving efficiency gains via adjustments to the pattern of international specialisation. An EU - India agreement on merchandise trade is unlikely to embody substantial preferential treatment with regard to market access. Probably, India can find more suitable FTA partners. Agriculture is a key sector for India in the consideration of equity and growth purposes of a FTA with EU

Pegxit Pressure: Evidence from the Classical Gold Standard

We develop a simple model that highlights the costs and benefits of fixed exchange rates as they relate to trade, and show that negative export-price shocks reduce fiscal revenue and increase the likelihood of an expected currency devaluation. Using a new high-frequency data set on commodity-price movements from the classical gold standard era, we then show that the model’s main prediction holds even for the canonical example of hard pegs. We identify a negative causal relationship between export-price shocks and currency-risk premia in emerging market economies, indicating that negative export-price shocks increased the probability that countries abandoned their pegs

Source versus Residence. A comparison from a New Economic Geography perspective

Recently, issues of international taxation have also been analysed from a New Economic Geography perspective. These discussions show that agglomerative forces play a non negligible role. In the paper, we introduce explicitly taxation into a Footloose Capital Model and compare implications of taxation according to the residence principle and the source principle from a New Economic Geography perspective. We confirm that agglomerative effects change the results substantially compared to the standard analysis and that the two taxation principles have different implications for industry agglomeration. (author's abstract)Series: Discussion Papers SFB International Tax Coordinatio

Prebisch-Singer Redux

In light of ongoing concern about commodity specialization in Latin America, this paper revisits the argument of Prebisch (1950) that, over the long term, declining terms of trade would frustrate the development goals of the region. This paper has two main objectives. The first is to clarify the issues raised by Prebisch and Singer (1950), as they relate the commodity specialization of developing countries (and Latin America in particular). The second is to reconsider empirically the issue of trends in commodity prices, using recent data and techniques. We show that rather than a downward trend, real primary prices over the last century have experienced one or more abrupt shifts, or “structural breaks,” downwards. The preponderance evidence points to a single break in 1921, with no trend, positive or negative, before or since.

International convergence and local divergence

This work presents a north-south endogenous-growth model that reproduces some recent EU stylized facts: convergence between countries, divergence between the same countries, more spatial concentration of economic activity and higher growth rates. We claim that the ongoing technological reduction of transaction costs can conceivably spur those phenomena, specially if a regional productive duality within the less-developed countries were reinforced by a biased incidence of that fall in transaction costs. A key element is Grossman and Helpman's complementarity between innovation and imitation. The channels that allow for higher growth-rates are migrations and scale-effects in the industrialized regions of the poorest countries.

Must Improved Labor Standards Hurt Accumulation in the Targeted Sector? Stylized Analysis of a Developing Economy

This paper analyzes a stylized small open economy. The analysis clas- sifies the economy into two tradable output-producing sectors: a manu- facturing sector and a (mainly tourism-related) services sector. Assuming sectoral differences based on stylized facts, we explore the impact of higher labor standards in the manufacturing sector on the long-term prospects of the economy using comparative dynamic exercises to analyze changes in output, foreign direct investment, relative prices, sectoral distribution, and accumulation. We find, in particular, that imposing higher standards across the manufacturing sector could, in the long run, shift the structure of the domestic economy in favor of that sector. JEL Categories:

Agricultural institutions, industrialization and growth: the case of New Zealand and Uruguay in 1870-1940

In this paper we apply a model of early industrialization to the case of New Zealand and Uruguay in 1870-1940. We show how differences in agricultural institutions may have produced different development paths in two countries which were similar under many respects. While in New Zealand the active role of the Crown in regulating the land market facilitated access to land, in Uruguay land was seized by a small group of large landowners. Our model shows that land concentration may have negatively infuenced industrialization and growth by impeding the formation of a large group of middle-income landowners and, as a consequence, the development of a domestic demand for basic manufactures. We support this view with a comparative analysis of agricultural institutions and industrial development in New Zealand and Uruguay.Agricultural Institutions, Industrialization, Growth, New Zealand, Uruguay, Functional Distribution, Agricultural surplus

The Effect of Pigmentation on Thermoplastic and Thermoset Elastomeric Power Chain

Aim: The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of pigmentation on force levels and their degradation over time in orthodontic power chain of different chain types and manufactures. Materials & Methods: Groups consisted of closed power chain from American Orthodontic (AO) thermoplastic (TP) in 5 colors, AO thermoset (TS) in 2 colors, Ormco TP in 4 colors, Ormco TS in 2 colors, and Rocky Mountain Orthodontics (RMO) TS in 5 colors (18 groups total, 10 chain samples in each group). Testing was performed over a period of 6 weeks at intervals of initial (T0), 1 hour (T1), 1 day (T2), 1 week (T3), 2 weeks (T4), 4 weeks (T5), and 6 weeks (T6). At each timepoint, an Instron Universal Testing Machine was utilized to stretch a sample to 25mm and record the force level. After testing, the chain samples were placed on the 3D printed arch model, stretched 25mm from tooth #23 to #26 and stored in distilled water at 370C between time points to simulate canine retraction in the oral environment. Results: In general, force levels of all chains significantly decreased at each time point, but the decrease was larger for the TP groups early on and leveled off at the later time points. The TS groups exhibited a more gradual and continuous decrease in force values while maintaining overall higher force values. Chain pigmentation had a significant effect on force levels at all time points within each manufacturer and chain material. Chains containing blue pigment, in both TP and TS chain types, degraded faster and delivered significantly lower force values in all colored groups at most time points. In addition, at weeks 4 and 6, AO TS grey had a significantly lower mean force than the corresponding AO TS clear. Conclusions: Pigmentation played a significant role in force levels and their degradation over time, but the specific pattern is not consistent between manufacturer or chain material

Agricultural Institutions, Industrialization and Growth: the Case of New Zealand and Uruguay in 1870-1940

Abstract In this paper we apply a model of early industrialization to the case of New Zealand and Uruguay in 1870-1940. We show how di_erences in agricultural institutions may have produced di_erent development paths in two countries which were similar under many respects. While in New Zealand the active role of the Crown in regulating the land market facilitated access to land, in Uruguay land was seized by a small group of large landowners. Our model shows that land concentration may have negatively inuenced industrialization and growth by impeding the formation of a large group of middle-income landowners and, as a consequence, the development of a domestic demand for basic manufactures. We support this view with a comparative analysis of agricultural institutions and industrial development in New Zealand and Uruguaygricultural Institutions; Industrialization; Growth; New Zealand; Uruguay; Functional Distribution; Agricultural surplus;

Traceability system for capturing, processing and providing consumer-relevant information about wood products: System solution and its economic feasibility

Current research and practice reports indicate the existence of purchase barriers concerning eco-friendly products, e.g. wood products. These can be ascribed to consumers' mistrust regarding the non-observable environmental impact of wood products. To counter the mistrust, wood products are commonly endowed with eco-labels, which may be perceived mostly as a marketing tool, therefore not fulfilling their intended purpose. Current studies have shown that providing consumers with wood product information based on traceability systems increases product trust and purchase intentions, with those information items most valued by consumers being identified as well. Based on this, the paper proposes a traceability information system for the capturing, processing, and provision of product information using examples of wood furniture. Furthermore, a cost-benefit model for the proposed solution is developed. The calculations indicate the possibility of implementing traceability at the item level based on a four-layer system architecture enabling the capture and delivery of all information valued by consumers at acceptable costs. The proposed system helps to overcome purchase barriers of eco-friendly products, increasing consumers' product trust and purchase intentions