The effects of the European Union's and China's trade agreements on Africa's exports

Empirical studies have shown that trade agreements have different effects on countries based on their level of development, especially in trade potentials. There have been several trade agreements between North-South and South-South countries, which are accompanied with different outcomes based on output, macroeconomic stability and compliance with the agreements reached. This study evaluates the effects of Africa's trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and China on Africa's exports. This study found that trade agreements in both trade relations have not brought any significant increment to Africa's exports and that more market access conditions exist in South markets than in the North markets

The Issues of Zero Values in Trade Data and Modelling

International trade provides a channel with which the interaction, integration and partnership of countries can be attained and/or established. Despite the relevance of trade to national, regional and global economies, the documentation of these economic activities is sometimes inadequate such that it brings to question the validity of the generated data. Empirical scholars often find it difficult to analyze trade statistics with zero-trade values, especially in terms of finding natural logarithm. Researchers often deal with the zero trade statistics by employing the truncation method or censoring method. However, this has consequences for empirical analysis and policy formulation because there is information in the zero-value trade that will be lost if they are truncated from the dataset. Hence, the main challenge in the literature is the issue of the most appropriate and efficient empirical strategy for solving the problem of zero-trade values among available options. This has led to controversy in the literature with several proofs and reproofs, actions and reaction as well as counter-reaction. It is on this basis that this paper is situated to review the raging controversy on the solution to the consideration of zero values in trade statistics as applicable to positive trade analysis and/or modelling. 

The Issues of Zero Values in Trade Data and Modelling

International trade provides a channel with which the interaction, integration and partnership of countries can be attained and/or established. Despite the relevance of trade to national, regional and global economies, the documentation of these economic activities is sometimes inadequate such that it brings to question the validity of the generated data. Empirical scholars often find it difficult to analyze trade statistics with zero-trade values, especially in terms of finding natural logarithm. Researchers often deal with the zero trade statistics by employing the truncation method or censoring method. However, this has consequences for empirical analysis and policy formulation because there is information in the zero-value trade that will be lost if they are truncated from the dataset. Hence, the main challenge in the literature is the issue of the most appropriate and efficient empirical strategy for solving the problem of zero-trade values among available options. This has led to controversy in the literature with several proofs and reproofs, actions and reaction as well as counter-reaction. It is on this basis that this paper is situated to review the raging controversy on the solution to the consideration of zero values in trade statistics as applicable to positive trade analysis and/or modelling. 

Food safety standards, compliance and European Union's rejection of African exports: The role of domestic factors

This paper investigates the causes of rejections of African exports at the EU border as a barrier in accessing EU markets. Our results indicate that natural geographical hurdle, poor trade-related infrastructure, inefficient border procedure and a lack of technical personnel increase the incidences of rejection at the EU border and add to Africa's challenges in accessing EU markets. In addition, in line with the growing literature, this study finds empirical support for the proposition that institutions, infrastructure and logistic quality matter for increased market penetration and continuous integration into the global trading system. Thus, the barrier created by EU rejection of Africa's exports can be addressed through the strengthening of African's institutions and trade facilitation measures particularly her custom and border management including transit regimes

The implication of European Union's food regulations on developing countries: Food safety standards, entry price system and Africa's export

We examine the impact of two important non-tariff measures presumed to simultaneously affect firms' decisions to export to the European Union (EU). As a novelty to the literature, we analyse the impacts of EU pesticide standards on African exports alongside a complementary non-tariff measure in the form of a minimum entry price control measure which aims to protect EU growers of certain fruits and vegetables against international competition. We represent these trade costs in the context of a Melitz firm heterogeneity framework using Helpman, Melitz and Rubenstein (2008) method. Analysis was based on Africa's exports of tomatoes to the EU from 2008 to 2013, using the gravity model of trade. Our results show that at both the extensive and intensive margins of trade, the high stringency of EU pesticide standard prevents new entry into the EU market, drives less productive firms away, and discourages existing exporters from expanding their market base. Furthermore, we find the EU entry price system acts like an export tax, inhibiting tomatoes export to the EU, but only at the intensive margin

Protecting health or protecting imports? Evidence from EU non-tariff measures

Non-tariff measures such as food safety standards are aimed at protecting consumers' health but may also be used as protectionism tool to limit imports. This study investigates the protectionist intent of EU food safety standards using a sample of EU food imports from African countries. We formalized protectionism by comparing EU standards to the internationally scientific benchmarks. Our results support the hypothesis that heavily import dependent sectors are less protected. Further analysis shows no substantial rise in the usage of these measures as protectionism tool during the period of financial crisis

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Specification and estimation of gravity models : a review of the issues in the literature

The gravity model has become an efficient tool in the analysis of international economic relations due to its theoretical derivation and ability to explain these relationships. The contending issue now is the appropriate specification and estimation techniques. This paper presents a review of current controversy surrounding the specification and estimation of gravity model with zero trade data, which we called ‘gravity modeling estimation debate’. Different positions in the literature were enunciated with the view of bringing the readers to the frontier of knowledge in this area of empirical strategies revolving on the gravity modeling in the presence of zero trade. By and large, the identification of the most appropriate estimation technique in the presence of zero trade is still an empirical issue. This paper deduced that the choice of the estimation technique should largely be based on the research questions, the model specification and the choice of data to be used for the analysis

European Union’s SPS and TBT Measures, Gender Specific Obstacles and Agricultural Employment

We investigate the implications of EU non-tariff barriers in the form sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade (TBT) on gender relations in the agricultural labour market between 1995 and 2012. Our results indicate that women are disproportionately disadvantaged in the agricultural sector not only because of the inimical effect of the non-tariff measure, but more so because of their unequal access to opportunities such as gender inequality in secondary schooling the heavy burden of reproduction actives which makes them less available for gainful employment. However, gender parity achieved in primary education and increased access to time saving infrastructure increases their share of employment in the agricultural sector. Thus, proactive measures aimed at infrastructure investment that reduces women care burdens and building the educational capacity of women to effectively deal with such non-tariff barriers, could work to remove these gender specific obstacles, enable women respond to employment opportunities and minimise any gender disparity caused by trade