Determinants of European cross-border mergers and acquisitions

This paper investigates the determinants of European cross-border M&As using a large database. Specifically, we identify some of the different factors which contribute to the efficiency of the firms and divide these into two groups: those which can be changed through a merger or acquisition and those which cannot be altered and are more related to the environment where the acquired firm is established. Using a gravity model we find evidence for both of what have become to be known as the governance and outcome hypotheses. Additionally, we do not find any supporting evidence for more intense M&A activity between euro-zone countries.mergers and acquisitions, mergers, acquisitions, cross-border, M&A, Manchin

Preference utilization and tariff reduction in European Union imports from African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries

Despite the long relationship between the European Union and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries aimed at encouraging their exports while stimulating growth and investment, the ACP states still face difficulties in integrating into the world economy. The author examines the non-least developed ACP countries'preferential trade with the EU. Her objective is to explain the determinants of preferential exports of ACP countries toward the EU and to assess the impact of preferences on trade volumes. The author also investigates the existence of a threshold in the offered duty reduction under which traders have no incentives to ask for preferences.TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Economic Theory&Research,Rules of Origin,Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Policy

Economic Impact of a Potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Between the European Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States

We evaluate the effects of potential measures to liberalize trade between the EU and the CIS using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. We look at the CIS as an aggregate and we also present results for individual CIS countries. Our CGE model takes different underlying industry specific market structures and elasticities into account. Furthermore, the model incorporates estimated non-tariff trade barriers to trade in services. The results are compared to a baseline that incorporates recent developments in the trade policy environment, i.e. the phase out of ATC, enlargement of the EU and CIS accessions to the WTO. The analysis takes agricultural liberalization, liberalization in industrial tariffs, and liberalization in services trade as well as trade facilitation measures into account. While there is important heterogeneity in the impact of FTAs on individual countries, the results indicate that the CIS as a whole would experience a negative income effect if the FTA would be limited only to trade in goods. This is due to strong trade diversion effects. The CIS states have high tariffs, and these would remain against third countries under an FTA. This implies that the CIS would most likely to benefit from an FTA with the EU if it would incorporate deeper forms of integration not being limited to liberalization of tariffs in goods, or if it is accompanied by a general reduction in CIS tariffs against third countries.CGE, EU-CIS Free Trade Area, Russia, Ukraine, CIS

Economic Impact of a Potential Free Trade Agreement (FTA) Between the European Union and the Commonwealth of the Independent States

We evaluate the effects of potential measures to liberalize trade between the EU and the CIS using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. We look At the CIS as an aggregate and we also present results for individual CIS countries Our CGE model takes different underlying industry specific market structures and elasticities into account. Furthermore, the model incorporates estimated non-tariff trade barriers to trade in services. The results are compared to a baseline chich incorporates recent developments in the trade policy environment, i.e. the phase out of ATC, enlargement of the EU and CIS accessions to the WTO. The analysis takes agricultural liberalization, liberalization in industrial tariffs, and liberalization in services trade as well as trade facilitation measures into account. Chile there is important heterogeneity in the impact of FTAs on individual countries, the results indicate that the CIS as a whole would experience a negative income effect if the FTA would be limited only to trade in goods. This implies that the CIS would most likely to benefit from an FTA with the EU if it would incorporate deeper form of integration not being limited to liberalization of tariffs in goods.CGE, EU-CIS Free Trade Area, Russia, Ukraine, CIS

Making EU Trade Agreements Work: The Role of Rules of Origin

A key element of the EU’s free trade and preferential trade agreements is the extent to which they deliver improved market access and so contribute to the EUs foreign policy objectives towards developing countries and neighbouring countries in Europe, including the countries of the Balkans. Previous preferential trade schemes have been ineffective in delivering improved access to the EU market. The main reason for this is probably the very restrictive rules of origin that the EU imposes, coupled with the costs of proving consistency with these rules. If the EU wants the ‘Everything but Arms’ agreement and free trade agreements with countries in the Balkans to generate substantial improvements in access to the EU market for products from these countries then it will have to reconsider the current rules of origin and implement less restrictive rules backed upon by a careful safeguards policy.

Institutions, infrastructure, and trade

The authors examine the influence of infrastructure, institutional quality, colonial and geographic context, and trade preferences on the pattern of bilateral trade. They are interested in threshold effects, and so emphasize those cases where bilateral country pairs do not actually trade. The authors depart from the institutions and infrastructure literature in this respect, using selection-based gravity modeling of trade flows. They also depart from this literature by mixing principal components (to condense the institutional and infrastructure measures) with a focus on deviations in the resulting indexes from expected values for given income cohorts to control for multicollinearity. The authors work with a panel of 284,049 bilateral trade flows from 1988 to 2002. Matching bilateral trade and tariff data and controlling for tariff preferences, level of development, and standard distance measures, they find that infrastructure and institutional quality are significant determinants not only of export levels, but also of the likelihood exports will take place at all. Their results support the notion that export performance, and the propensity to take part in the trading system at all, depends on institutional quality and access to well-developed transport and communications infrastructure. Indeed, this dependence is far more important, empirically, than variations in tariffs in explaining sample variations in North-South trade.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Free Trade,Economic Theory&Research,Trade Law,Trade Policy

Institutions, infrastructure, and trade

We work with a panel of bilateral trade flows from 1988 to 2002, exploring the influence of infrastructure, institutional quality, colonial and geographic context, and trade preferences on the pattern of bilateral trade. We are interested in threshold effects, and so emphasize those cases where bilateral country pairs do not actually trade. We depart from the institutions and infrastructure literature in this respect, using selection-based gravity modeling of trade flows. We also depart from this literature by mixing principal components (to condense our institutional and infrastructure measures) with a focus on deviations from expected values for given income cohorts to control for multicollinearity. Infrastructure, and institutional quality, are significant determinants not only of export levels, but also of the likelihood exports will take place at all. Our results support the notion that export performance, and the propensity to take part in the trading system at all, depends on institutional quality and access to well developed transport and communications infrastructure. Indeed, this dependence is far more important, empirically, than variations in tariffs in explaining sample variations in North-South trade. This implies that policy emphasis on developing country market access, instead of support for trade facilitation, may be misplaced.exports; trade; institutions; infrastructure; zero-trade; gravity model

Global Evidence on the Relative Importance of Nonfinancial Drivers of International Migration Intentions

Using a global, individual-level survey, this article looks at the relative importance of local amenities and political institutions while controlling for other financial and nonfinancial incentives for individual plans to move between countries. Although the influence of wages and income differences has been extensively explored, less is known about specific non-income-related drivers of international migration and their relative importance. The analysis highlights that satisfaction with politics and amenities both at the origin and destination, are important drivers of migration intentions. These jointly with social networks explain about twice as much in international migration intention outcomes than employment-related incentives (such as relative individual income difference, employment, and job satisfaction), with relative income difference explaining only about 5 percent to 8 percent

Preference Utilisation and Tariff Reduction in EU Imports from ACP Countries

Despite the long relationship between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries aimed at encouraging their exports while stimulating growth and investment, the ACP states still face difficulties in integrating into the world economy. This paper examines the non-least developed ACP countries preferential trade with the EU. The objective is to explain the determinants of preferential exports of ACP countries towards the EU and to assess the impact of preferences on trade volumes. We also investigate the existence of a threshold in the offered duty reduction under which traders have no incentives to ask for preferences

Rules of origin and the web of East Asian free trade agreements

The authors provide an overview of the preferential rules of origin in East Asia, highlighting the aspects that might possibly generate some trade-chilling effects. They review characteristics of existing preferential trade agreements with special emphasis on lessons from the European experience, and analyze some important features of the existing rules of origin in East and South-East Asian regional integration agreements. The empirical analysis of the effectiveness of preferentialism on intra-regional trade flows focuses on the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA), with the aim of providing a rough estimate of the costs of requesting preferences. The results suggest that preferential tariffs favorably affect intra-regional imports only at very high margins (around 25 percentage points). This points to the likelihood of high administrative costs attached to the exploitation of preferences, particularly with regard to the compliance with AFTA's rules of origin.Free Trade,Trade Law,Rules of Origin,Trade Policy,Economic Theory&Research