BRICSAM and the Non-WTO

We discuss recent regional trade and economic partnership agreements involving the large population rapidly growing economies (Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa, ASEAN, Mexico) who (with the exception of Mexico) are also outside of the OECD. Perhaps 50 out of 300 that exist worldwide now involve BRICSAM countries and most are recently concluded and to be implemented over the next few years. Along with extensive bilateral investment treaties, mutual recognition agreements, and other country (or region) to country arrangement they are part of what we term the non-WTO. We are able to find little literature on these agreements, and our aim is to document and characterize, as much as analyze possible impacts. We note the sharp variation both across countries in the form that agreements take and also across agreements for individual countries. Agreements differ in specificity, coverage and content. In some treaties there are detailed and specific commitments, but these also coexist with seemingly vague commitments and (at times) opaque dispute settlement and enforcement. Whether these represent a partial replacement of WTO process for new negotiated reciprocity-based global trade liberalization over the next decade or so, or largely represent diplomatic protocol alongside significant WTO disciplines is the issue we discuss.

Economic Integration of Eurasia: Opportunities and Challenges of Global Significance

With the collapse of the Soviet Empire in 1991, a new frontier in the process of globalization of the world economy opened up: the economic integration of the Eurasian "super-continent". This paper begins to explore the process and prospects of economic integration of the huge land-mass that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans and from the Arctic Sea to the Indian Ocean. Since the Eurasian economic integration process is of global significance, there are also geo-political aspects and implications to be considered. This paper touches on some of these at the end, but focuses principally on exploring the economic dimensions and significance of the integration process of Eurasia. It compiles evidence on Eurasian integration in the areas of energy and non-energy trade and transport, illicit drug trade, investment and capital flows, migration, and communication and knowledge. It concludes with a consideration of the institutional and political dimensions that affect regional cooperation for Eurasia and with some broad policy recommendations. The paper represents only a first step in what is necessarily a major research undertaking. But the authors hope that it will provoke thought, debate and follow-up research.Capital flows, China, economic integration, Energy, Eurasia, European Union, illicit drugs, India, migration, Russia, trade

Electronic administration in Spain: from its beginnings to the present

This study presents the basic lines of electronic administration in Spain. The complexity of the Spanish political-administrative system makes such a study challenging, in view of the considerable degree of autonomy and competences of the regional administrative bodies and local agencies with respect to the central government, the former being more visible in the 17 regions of Spain. Nonetheless, the central government maintains a series of legal instruments that allow a certain common framework of action to be imposed, aside from what is put into effect through diverse programs aimed precisely to develop common tools for the regions and municipalities of Spain. After an introduction that provides some necessary background, this study describes the legislative framework in which Spain's electronic administrative system has developed. The data included in the study refer to investment in information and communication technologies (ICT) and the services offered by the different Administrations on the internet; internet access by citizens, homes, businesses, and employees, as well as the interactivity existing with administrations by means of the internet; the origins and rise of various political initiatives of the Central Government involving electronic administration; and finally, the situation of civil service personnel, as catalysts of the success of Information Society in the Public Administration within Spain

A free trade area between the Repbulic of Moldova and the European Union: feasibility, perspectives and potential impact.

This publication has been launched within the project “European Union – Republic of Moldova Trade Relations: Current Situation and Perspectives for Enhancement”. The project is sponsored by the Moldova-Soros Foundation. The major goal of this project is to help Moldovan government formulate and adopt balanced and sound positions for the future negotiations with the European Commission, so that an “enhanced trade regime” contributing to the economic modernization of the country and economic integration with EU is achieved.free trade agreement; feasibility study; Moldova; European Union;

Principles for Fairness and Efficiency in Enhancing Environmental Services in Asia: Payments, Compensation, or Co-Investment?

The term payments for environmental services (PES) has rapidly gained popularity, with its focus on market-based mechanisms for enhancing environmental services (ES). Current use of the term, however, covers a broad spectrum of interactions between ES suppliers and beneficiaries. A broader class of mechanisms pursues ES enhancement through compensation or rewards. Such mechanisms can be analyzed on the basis of how they meet four conditions: realistic, conditional, voluntary, and pro-poor. Based on our action research in Asia in the Rewarding Upland Poor for Environmental Services (RUPES) program since 2002, we examine three paradigms: commoditized ES (CES), compensation for opportunities skipped (COS), and co-investment in (environmental) stewardship (CIS). Among the RUPES action research sites, there are several examples of CIS with a focus on assets (natural + human + social capital) that can be expected to provide future flows of ES. CES, equivalent to a strict definition of PES, may represent an abstraction rather than a current reality. COS is a challenge when the legality of opportunities to reduce ES is contested. The primary difference between CES, COS, and CIS is the way in which conditionality is achieved, with additional variation in the scale (individual, household, or community) at which the voluntary principle takes shape. CIS approaches have the greatest opportunity to be pro-poor, as both CES and COS presuppose property rights that the rural poor often do not have. CIS requires and reinforces trust building after initial conflicts over the consequences of resource use on ES have been clarified and a realistic joint appraisal is obtained. CIS will often be part of a multiscale approach to the regeneration and survival of natural capital, alongside respect and appreciation for the guardians and stewards of landscapes

University-Industry Cooperation from a business perspective: a European approach

Cooperation between University-Industry (U-I) has been an area of interest for parts of the industry, higher education institutions, and governments insofar as it allows the development of companies and countries. Several reasons lead to U-I cooperation: product and process innovation, knowledge transfer (KT), and technology transfer. We currently live in a context of globalization and constant technological evolution, where financial, economic, political, and social crises significantly impact everyone's lives, individuals and companies. Thus, innovation is a crucial factor in competitiveness. To this end, companies establish partnerships with various agents, including universities. Knowledge management, innovation, and competitiveness, whether business or regions and countries, have been topics of much research and interest in the literature. Despite the numerous studies, this area has much to be explored, which is very fragmented. Therefore, further investigations will be needed to contribute to developing scientific knowledge of the U-I cooperation. The main objective of this research is to carry out a global analysis of the U-I cooperation process in the development of companies. Thus, it is analyzed the determinants considered crucial in cooperation, government role, and the impact of KT on the innovative capacities of companies. The study has the European space as its scope. Given the above, this dissertation will consist of 4 studies. The first is a systematic literature review (SLR) whose objective is to explore and describe the existing scientific literature on U-I cooperation and current and future trends within this theme. The results show that the analysis of the determinants that propitiate the UI cooperation is fundamental and that the government plays a crucial role in the development of the U-I cooperation with the universities. Also, the KT obtained by U-I cooperation has a predominant impact on companies' innovation on it is products and processes. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 adopted quantitative methodologies using the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) database analysis. Chapter 3 analyzed how the government plays an active role in creating knowledge and innovation through public funds. To this end, this study investigated the dynamics of relationships between Triple Helix agents, considering a business aspect. The analysis used STATA software to develop logistic regression models, and the results show that the government's role in U-I cooperation is fundamental. However, not all public funds have the same level of influence. Chapter 4 addressed the crucial determinants for U-I cooperation to develop, allowing companies to achieve competitive advantages. This analysis uses STATA software to create logistic regression models. This study indicates that the size of companies, Research & Development activities (internal and external), exports, and obtaining public funds are determining factors for companies to establish U-I cooperation. Chapter 5 analyzes the role of KT in the innovative capacity of companies and the influence of absorptive capacity (AC) as a moderating variable. This study used SPSS and Hayes' PROCESS software to analyze the hypotheses proposed through the development of logistic regression models. The results show that national and international KT positively impacts the development of product and process innovation. On the other hand, AC is considered a moderating variable when U-I cooperation is with universities of the same country because it impacts the relationship between national KT and innovative capabilities. The same does not happen when U-I cooperation is with universities from another European Union (EU) country, especially in products. The conclusions have important theoretical and practical implications. At the theoretical level, it identifies and fills gaps in the literature. On a practical level, it supports companies, policymakers, and universities in implementing measures that allow U-I cooperation under the best conditions, enabling companies to acquire new knowledge, skills, and advantages to grow and be competitive. Finally, future lines of investigation are exposed, as well as the limitations observed.A cooperação entre Universidade e Indústria (U-I) tem sido uma área de interesse por partes da indústria, das instituições de ensino superior, e também por parte dos governos na medida em que esta permite o desenvolvimento das empresas e também dos países. Os motivos que levam à cooperação U-I são vários: a inovação de produtos e processos, a transferência de conhecimento e a transferência de tecnologia. Vivemos atualmente num contexto de globalização e de constante evolução tecnológica, onde as crises financeiras, económicas, políticas e sociais, têm um impacto considerável na vida de todos, indivíduos e empresas. Assim, a inovação é considerado um fator chave de competitividade. Para tal, as empresas estabelecem parcerias com vários agentes, incluindo as universidades. A gestão do conhecimento, a inovação e a competitividade, quer empresarial quer das regiões e países, têm sido tópicos de bastantes pesquisas e interesse na literatura, demonstrando assim a relevância do tema. Apesar dos inúmeros estudos realizados, esta é uma área que tem muito por explorar e que se encontra muito fragmentada. Assim, serão necessárias mais investigações que permitam contribuir para o desenvolvimento do conhecimento científico da U-I cooperação. Face ao presente enquadramento da problemática em estudo, foram desenvolvidas as seguintes questões de investigação: 1. Quais os aspetos e categorização da literatura relacionados com a cooperação UI que têm sido estudados ao longo dos últimos anos? 2. Qual o papel do governo (fundos públicos) na criação de conhecimento? 3. Quais os fatores que influenciam a cooperação U-I? 4. Qual o efeito da transferência do conhecimento nas atividades inovadoras das empresas? 5. Qual o efeito moderador da capacidade de absorção na relação entre a transferência do conhecimento e a capacidade inovadora das empresas? Tendo por base essas questões de investigação, foram propostos os seguintes objetivos: 1. Contextualizar a literatura existente relativamente à cooperação U-I; 2. Estudar a cooperação entre universidade-indústria-governo; 3. Identificar os fatores determinantes na cooperação U-I; 4. Analisar o efeito da transferência de conhecimento na capacidade inovadora das empresas bem como o efeito moderador da capacidade de absorção na relação entre transferência do conhecimento e a capacidade inovadora das empresas. Este trabalho de investigação tem como principal objetivo realizar uma análise global ao processo de cooperação U-I no desenvolvimento das empresas, tendo por base uma perspetiva empresarial. Assim, pretende-se fazer uma análise aos fatores que são considerados cruciais na cooperação, ao papel do governo e ao impacto da transferência do conhecimento nas capacidades inovadoras das empresas. O estudo que se pretende realizar tem como âmbito o espaço Europeu. Perante o exposto, esta dissertação será constituída por 4 estudos. O primeiro tem por objeto uma revisão sistemática da literatura cujo objetivo consiste em explorar e descrever a literatura científica existente sobre a cooperação U-I e analisar as tendências atuais e futuras dentro desta temática. Para tal recorreu-se à recolha da literatura existente na base de dados Web of Science (WoS). Os 85 artigos selecionados na WoS foram analisados analiticamente e também com recurso ao software VOSviewer. Os resultados demonstraram que a análise dos determinantes que propiciam a cooperação U-I é fundamental, que o governo desempenha um papel primordial para que a indústria possa cooperar com as universidades e que a transferência do conhecimento obtida pela cooperação U-I tem um impacto preponderante na inovação de produtos e processos. Os capítulos 3, 4 e 5 adotaram metodologias quantitativas recorrendo à análise da base de dados do Community Innovation Survey (CIS). No capítulo 3 analisou-se de que forma o governo tem um papel ativo na criação de conhecimento e inovação. Para tal, analisou-se a dinâmica das relações existentes entre os agentes da Triple Helix, tendo em linha de conta uma vertente empresarial. Para a análise em questão recorreu-se à utilização do software STATA. Assim, foram desenvolvidos modelos de regressão logística a fim de avaliar o impacto dos vários fundos públicos disponíveis na cooperação que as empresas estabelecem com os sgentes da Triple Hélix. Os resultados demonstraram que o papel do governo é fundamental, embora nem todos os fundos públicos tenham o mesmo nível de influência. Os fundos do governo central e da União Europeia são os mais significativos no processo de cooperação. O capítulo 4 abordou a temática dos determinantes que são considerados cruciais para que a cooperação U-I se possa desenvolver permitindo às empresas alcançar vantagens competitivas. Para tal, recorreu-se ao software STATA e à utilização de modelos de regressão logística. Os resultados deste estudo indicam que o tamanho das empresas, as atividades de Investigação & Desenvolvimento (interno e externo), as exportações e a obtenção de fundos públicos são fatores determinantes para que as empresas estabeleçam a cooperação U-I. O capítulo 5 analisa o papel da transferência do conhecimento na capacidade inovadora das empresas. Por outro lado, á avaliado também o papel da capacidade de absorção enquanto variável moderadora. Para a análise em questão recorreu-se à utilização dos softwares SPSS e PROCESS, desenvolvendo modelos de regressão logística. Os resultados apontam que a transferência do conhecimento nacional e internacional tem um impacto positivo no desenvolvimento da inovação de produtos e de processos. Por outro lado, a capacidade de absorção é considerada uma variável moderadora quando a cooperação é desenvolvida com universidades do próprio país pois impacta a relação entre transferência do conhecimento nacional e as capacidades inovadoras. O mesmo não acontece quando a cooperação é com universidades de outro país da União Europeia, especialmente em termos de produtos. No que respeita a limitações, a principal foi sem dúvida de não ter sido possível utilizar os dados de todos os países que fazem parte do CIS pois nem todos facultaram os dados que se pretendiam analisar, impedindo assim que os resultados dos vários estudos se tornassem mais representativos e abrangentes. Contudo, os resultados obtidos fortalecem a teoria e a prática sobre a cooperação U-I, a importância do governo e o impacto da transferência do conhecimento no processo inovador das empresas. As conclusões têm implicações importantes ao nível teórico e prático. A nível teórico, identificando e preenchendo lacunas encontradas na literatura. No que se refere a implicações práticas, este estudo poderá ajudar as empresas e os governos nas suas tomadas de decisão no sentido de os alertar para a importância da cooperação U-I, pois essa permite o desenvolvimento das empresas e consequentemente dos países. Por outro lado, também pretende sensibilizar as universidades no sentido de estas desenvolverem mais estudos e projetos, e de os divulgarem junto da sociedade, desenvolvendo assim a sua terceira missão. Por último expõem-se as propostas de linhas futuras de investigação, bem como as limitações observadas na mesma

Economic Feasibility, General Economic Impact and Implications of a Free Trade Agreement Between the European Union and Armenia

This study of the feasibility, costs and benefits of a free trade agreement between the EU and Armenia was conducted from July 2007 to April 2008 under contract with the European Commission. The first meeting in Brussels in September 2007 with Staff members of Directorates-General for Trade, External Relations, Economic and Financial Affairs, Internal Market and Services, Competition, Enterprise and Industry proved indispensable in our work on this report. During mission to Yerevan in October 2007 the consultations were held with a number of ministries, research institutes and business organizations. We greatly benefited from consultations with the representatives of the Ministry of Energy, Customs State Committee, Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Union of Manufacturers and Businessmen (Employers) of Armenia, National Institute of Standards, Wine Producers Union, Ministry of Finance and Economy AEPLAC Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Armenian Development Agency UNDP, IMF and the World Bank. The European Commission Delegation to Armenia provided us with extensive information, consultation on key policy issues and organizational support, for chich we are very grateful. Several authors contributed to this study. David Dyker is the author of the introductory section (chapter 2) and the analysis of services sectors (chapter 7). Michael Emerson is the author of section on regional integration scenarios (chapter 3) and he also provided very valuable comments on all chapters in this study. Sveta Taran, Peter Holmes and Michael Gasiorek are the authors of chapter 4 employing the Sussex Framework to study the impact of FTA. Michael Gasiorek and Peter Holmes also provided valuable comments on the CGE modelling section. Evgeny Polyakov, Andrei Roudoi as well as Gevorg Torosyan contributed to the chapter on the institutional and regulatory harmonization (chapter 5). The team from the Global Insight including Andre Jungmittag, Vicki Korchagin, Evgeny Polyakov and Andrei Roudoi supervised the implementation of the survey and completed the analysis of the survey results (chapter 6). Also the same team from Global Insight contributed chapter 10 on sensitive sectors. The implementation of the survey of NTBs was conducted by AVAG Solutions under the supervision of Vardan Baghdasaryan and Melik Gasparyan. The analysis of FDI flows and their likely trends following an FTA was prepared by Malgorzata Jakubiak, while the estimation of the potential FDI flows was completed by Alina Kudina (section 8.4). The CGE analysis (chapter 9) was prepared by Maryla Maliszewska, who also acted as the project manager and the editor of the study. Finally, conclusions are a collective work of all the authors. Sierz Naurodski and Elena Kozarzewska provided an excellent administrative support. I would like to take his opportunity to thank them all for their cooperation, valuable contributions and comments.European Neighborhood Policy, free trade agreement, institutional harmonization, EU, Armenia

Does Global Climate Policy Promote Low-Carbon Cities? Lessons Learnt From The CDM

An increasing proportion of greenhouse gas emissions is produced in urban areas in industrializing and developing countries. Recent research shows that per capita emissions in cities like Bangkok, Cape Town or Shanghai have already reached the level of cities like London, New York or Toronto. Large parts of the building stock and service infrastructure in cities in rapidly developing countries is built in the coming decade or two. Decisions taken in this sector today may therefore lock in a high emissions path. Based upon a survey of projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol, we find that only about 1% of CDM projects have been submitted by municipalities, mostly in the waste management sector. This low participation is probably due to a lack of technical know how to develop CDM projects and an absence of motivation due to the long project cycle and the limited “visibility” of the projects for the electorate. Projects in the buildings and transport sector are rare, mainly due to heavy methodological challenges. A case study of the city network ICLEI and its experience with cities’ participation in the CDM adds insights from the practitioner side. We conclude that CDM reforms may make it easier for municipalities to engage in the CDM, and that new forms of cooperation between municipalities and project developers, potentially facilitated by ICLEI, are required to help to realize the urban CDM potential.CDM, cities, energy, climate policy, mitigation, transport, waste, local authorities