The Need for Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries

SUMMARY The resolution on ECDC at UNCTAD V was one of the more positive achievements of the Conference. The various proposals which have been made for promoting ECDC are described, in particular the improvement of trading arrangements, and monetary and financial cooperation among ldcs. A number of UNCTAD sectoral studies have examined the current level of dependence of ldcs on dcs, defined as the extent of control of dc interests over production and trade. The results of studies of six products (bananas, tobacco, cotton, electrical goods, shipping and insurance) are described. They show that levels of dependence in this composite sense are very high, as well as demonstrating the need for CSR. This suggests that the constraints in the form of dc vested interests that will have to be faced by ldcs are severe. There is a strong case for setting up an ‘organisation for Southern economic cooperation and development’ as the institutional means to help overcome this kind of trade dependence. RÉSUMÉ La nécessité de la coopération économique entre les pays en développement La résolution de la cinquième CNUCED sur la coopération économique entre les pays en développement fut l'une des réalisations les plus utiles de la Conférence. Les diverses propositions avancées pour favoriser cette coopération y sont décrites, notamment celles concernant l'amélioraiton des arrangements commerciaux et la coopération financière et monétaire entre les PVD. Plusieurs études sectorielles de la CNUCED ont calculé le niveau actuel de dépendance des PVD à l'égard des pays développés, en fonction du degré de contrôle par les instances des pays développés de la production et du commerce des PVD.. L'article décrit ensuite les résultats des études de six secteurs (bananes, tabac, coton, produits électriques, transport maritime et assurances). Ils indiquent que le degré de dépendance en ce sens est très élevé et donnent à penser que les contraintes que représentent les intérêts des pays développés pour les PVD et auxquelles ils devront faire face sont très lourdes, Il faudrait établir une ‘organisation pour la coopération et le développement économiques du Sud’ pour surmonter ce type de dépendance commerciale. RESUMEN La necesidad de la cooperación económica entre los países en vías de desarrollo La resolución sobre cooperación económica entre los países en vías de desarrollo adoptada en la UNCTAD V fue uno de los éxitos más positivos de la conferencia. Se describen las diversas propuestas que se hicieron para fomentar dicha cooperación económica, especialmente el mejoramiento de las disposiciones comerciales, y la cooperación financiera y monetaria entre los países menos desarrollados. En varios estudios de sector de la UNCTAD se ha examinado el actual nivel de dependencia de los países menos desarrollados en los desarrollados, determinado como da amplitud del control de los intereses de los países desarrollados sobre la producción y el comercio. Se describen los resultados de los estudios sobre seis productos (plátanos, tabaco, algodón, productos eléctricos, navegación y seguros). Confirman que los niveles de dependencia en su sentido complejo son muy elevados, demostrándose al mismo tiempo la necesidad de una autodependencia colectiva. Esto sugiere que son muy graves las presiones que se presentan en forma de los intereses creados de los países desarrollados con los que tendrán que enfrentarse los menos desarrollados. Parece haber más que suficiente justificación para establecer una ‘organización para la cooperación y desarrollo económicos meridionales’, como los medios institucionales para contribuir a superar este tipo de dependencia comercial

Prospects for Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries

SUMMARY The paper seeks to explain the renewed attention in UNCTAD to ECDC (economic cooperation among developing countries) despite past failures by developing countries to devise workable arrangements for economic integration. (The traditional customs unions approach has been unsuccessful, at least so far. Non?traditional arrangements, such as regional industrial planning, have progressed only extremely slowly.) The main stimulus to renewed effort has been the slow?down of growth in Western markets and the rise of protectionism there. But there is support also from the expansion of inter?ldc trade—which has occurred despite the failure of formal groupings, and also from the success of the Andean Group and ASEAN in exercising greater bargaining power from a position of collective solidarity. New ideas are being considered and some tried out: planned complementarity between developing countries, global preferences, monetary cooperation. But problems involved in economic integration are great, as are those in welding developing countries into a more coherent negotiating unit. RÉSUMÉ Les perspectives de la coopération économiques entre les pays en développement L'article cherche à expliquer le regain d'intérêt suscité à la CNUCED par la coopération économique entre les pays en développement, malgré les échecs enregistrés à cet égard par les tentatives d'établissement de dispositions favorisant l'intégration économique des PVD. La démarche traditionnelle passant par l'union douanière n'a pas abouti, du moins jusqu'ici. Les dispositions non traditionnelles, telles que la planification industrielle régionale, ne progressent que très lentement. Le principal stimulant à la reprise des efforts a été le ralentissement de la croissance des débouchés occidentaux et la montée du protectionnisme dans les pays développés. Mais il faut également noter l'expansion du commerce entre les PVD, qui est survenue malgré l'échec des groupements officiels, ainsi que le succès du groupe andin et de l'Association des Etats du Sud?Est asiatique qui se sont acquis une puissance de négociation plus grande grace à l'adoption de positions solidaires. De nouvelles idées sont à l'étude, certaines sont mises à l'épreuve: la complémentarité planifiée entre les PVD, les préférences globales et la coopération monétaire. Mais Ses problèmes suscités par l'intégration économique sont importants, comme l'est la difficulté de 'souder' les PVD en une unité plus cohérente aux fins des négociations. RESUMEN Perspectivas de coooerarión económica entre los paires en vías de desarrollo En el artículo se trata de explicar la renovada atención suscitada en la UNCTAD a la cooperación entre los países en vías de desarrollo, a pesar de los fracasos anteriores por parte de dichos países para concebir disposiciones susceptibles de aplicación para la integración económica. La tradicional actitud de uniones aduaneras no ha tenido éxito, por lo menos hasta la fecha. Las medidas no tradicionales, tales como la planificación industrial regional, han progresado solamente de manera lentísima. El principal estímulo para renovar los esfuerzos ha sido el decrecimiento en el desarrollo de los mercados occidentales y el aumento del proteccionismo en dicha zona. Pero también cuenta con apoyo la expansión del comercio entre los países menos desarrollados, que se ha producido a pesar del fracaso de las agrupaciones oficiales y también debido al éxito del Grupo Andino y la ASEAN para ejercer mayor poder de negociación desde una posición de solidaridad colectiva. Se están estudiando nuevas ideas y se han probado algunas tales como la complementaridad planificada entre los países en vías de desarrollo, las preferencias globales y la cooperación monetaria. Pero los problemas que plantea la integración económica son enormes, lo mismo que los que plantea la vinculación firme entre los países en vías de desarrollo para constituir una unidad negociadora más coherente

UNCTAD and Commodities: towards a new agenda for research and action

SUMMARY Very few commodity agreements have been reached under UNCTAD's auspices and the IPC has fallen far short of expectations. Greater success in future depends on understanding the interests, groups and political factors that constrain governments' freedom in international negotiations, and on the reformulation of IPC proposals to take account of long?term structural changes in the world economy. RESUMEN UNCTAD y los productos básicos: hacia un nuevo programa de investigación y acción Hasta el momento, la UNCTAD ha conseguido muy pocos acuerdos sobre productos básicos y la actuación del PIPB ha sido decepcionante. Un mayor éxito en el futuro dependerá del conocimiento de los intereses, grupos y factores políticos que restringen la libertad de los gobiernos en las negociaciones internacionales, y en una reformulación de las propuestas del PIPB que tome en cuenta el cambio estructural que a largo plazo se efectuará en el mundo de la economía. RESUMES CNUCED et les produits de base: vers un nouveau programme de recherche et d'action Très peu d'accords sur les produits de base ont été atteint sous les auspices de CNUCED et le Programme Intégré pour les Produits de Base a été assez décevant. Un plus grand succès dans l'avenir dépend de la compréhension des intérêts, des groupes et des facteurs politiques qui limitent la liberté des gouvernements dans les négociations internationales, et de la restructuration des propositions du Programme Integré pour les Produits de Base afin de tenir compte des changements structuraux à long terme dans l'économie mondiale

Power, Ideology, and Global Development: On the Origins, Evolution and Achievements of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development

UNCTAD was created in 1964 as a forum for strategic thinking about international trade and development issues and for identifying mutually beneficial opportunities for policy coordination and international co-operation with the participation of both developing and industrialized countries. The history of UNCTAD, with its successes and failures, therefore, is closely intertwined with the history of ideas on trade and development and the interplay of political power and ideological manipulation in international trade and development policy making. This paper focuses on the intellectual traditions in economics which underpinned the formation of UNCTAD and examines the way such intellectual traditions have informed – both in method and substance – the subsequent thinking and research output by the institution and helped define its objectives. It compares UNCTAD’s methods and research output on a number of international development issues with the positions taken by other international institutions. These findings are used to reflect on the ideological element in development economics thinking

The MDG Paradigm, Productive Capacities and the Future of Poverty Reduction

The MDGs are important as they have led to a new international development consensus. However, this consensus has not effectively reduced poverty as it is based on a ‘Faustian bargain’, in which international commitment to promoting economic development and reducing global income inequality has evaporated, and national and international policies have focused on promoting global integration rather than production and employment. It is necessary now to build a new consensus around global sustainable development and a new policy narrative founded on the development of productive capacities and on rebalancing the terms of development partnership

Has China de-industrialised other developing countries?

China's opening to trade is interpreted as a shift in world average factor endowments, which altered the comparative advantage of other countries. In the rest of the world on average, this shift reduced the ratio of labour-intensive manufacturing to primary production by 7-10% for output and 10-15% for exports. China's impact is clearest on East Asian countries: in other developing regions, it was swamped by other causes of structural change. The de-industrialising effect was significant, but not big enough to be a serious threat to growth or equity in most other developing countries

International business: past, present and futures

This article provides the context for futures thinking in the field of international business (IB). The article begins by considering the nature of IB. Its historical development is then elaborated, before its current significance and trends are considered. Building on the review of past and present we speculate briefly on the possible futures of IB. In so doing, we provide a basis from which the contributions to this Special Issue on the Futures of IB can be understood and situated in a broader context

Competing for a duopoly : international trade and tax competition

Oligopoly is empirically prevalent in the industries where MNEs operate and national governments compete with fiscal inducements for their FDI projects. Despite this, existing formal treatments of fiscal competition generally focus on the polar cases of perfect competition and monopoly. We consider the competition between two potential host governments to attract the investment of both firms in a duopolistic industry. Competition by identical countries for a monopoly firm's investment is known to result in a 'race to the bottom' where all rents are captured by the firm through subsidies. We demonstrate that with two firms, both are taxed in equilibrium, despite the explicit non-cooperation between governments. When countries differ in size, a single firm will be attracted to the larger market. We explore the conditions under which both firms in the duopoly co-locate and when each nation attracts a firm in equilibrium. Our results are consistent with the observed stability of effective corporate tax rates in the face of ongoing globalization, and our analysis readily generalizes to many specifications with oligopoly in the product markets

Institutional reform and FDI decision in transition economies: a qualitative study of Syria

The article considers the impact of institutional reform on the decision of foreign enterprises and foreign entrepreneurs to directly invest in the transition economy of Syria. It responds to the calls for more open research design that can go beyond the borders of the quantitative findings of previous econometric research by adopting a qualitative research strategy. The results reveal that institutional reforms enhanced Syria’s attractiveness to foreign direct investment. Institutional barriers proved to be less daunting to foreign investors whose backgrounds were culturally similar to that of Syria and/or already had experience in Syria or in a similar type of economy. The impact of background similarity and previous experience in similar contexts appeared to be less important when the foreign investor was a multinational enterprise than for individual entrepreneur. Moreover, these factors also appeared to be less important for large enterprises compared to small enterprises