From Kyoto to Copenhagen: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge

In spite of some superficial success in achieving its overall global target, there has been much disillusionment with the progress on climate change since the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1997. The key problems in addressing GHG emissions under the Kyoto Protocol have been the incomplete coverage across countries and lack of credibility. While significantly more onerous reduction commitments should be expected and required of developed countries in the name of economic fairness, GHG emissions must also be capped effectively in developing countries.Clean Development Mechanism, Copenhagen Accord, greenhouse gas emissions, Kyoto Protocol, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy,

From Kyoto to Copenhagen: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge

In spite of some superficial success in achieving its overall global target, there has been much disillusionment with the progress on climate change since the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1997. The key problems in addressing GHG emissions under the Kyoto Protocol have been the incomplete coverage across countries and lack of credibility. While significantly more onerous reduction commitments should be expected and required of developed countries in the name of economic fairness, GHG emissions must also be capped effectively in developing countries.Clean Development Mechanism, Copenhagen Accord, greenhouse gas emissions, Kyoto Protocol, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade, Political Economy,

Learning-Driven Product Cycles, New Product Adoption and North-South Inequality

This paper examines how key product-cycle parameters, such as the ease of new product adoption and the pace of product obsolescence, influence North-South wage inequality and the trade pattern. An innovative feature of the paper is in modeling the interaction between endogenous Northern product innovation and endogenous production transfers to South with industry specific learning, cross-industry learning spillovers, and product obsolescence. Greater difficulty in adopting new products raises wage inequality while lowering Northern innovation and Southern learning rates. Slowing the pace of product obsolescence reduces wage inequality in the short run, but does the opposite in the long run.

Will the Kyoto Protocol Be Good for the Environment? Implications for Agriculture

Global warming or, more accurately, climate change remains a hotly debated issue in scientific, government and public circles. While the extent of the human contribution to climate change through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remains highly controversial, the scientific evidence of significant changes in climate per se appears to be mounting (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 2001). Since changes in climate typically will include greater variability in temperatures, more extreme weather events and changes in precipitation patterns as well as a general warming trend, there are significant risks for agriculture.(2) If human activity does turn out to have a significant causal effect on climate change, the Kyoto Protocol and other related multilateral environmental agreements appear to have the potential to reduce these risks. The Kyoto Protocol, however, leaves possible channels for increases in emissions or so-called carbon leakage.Environmental Economics and Policy,

Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in Transition Economies

Recent studies of developing countries have suggested that the effectiveness of foreign direct investment (FDI) as spur to econo mic growth depends on the availability of "human capital" or skilled labour in a host country. In other words, it is primarily the synergy between FDI and human capital — rather than FDI itself — that acts as a strong stimulant to growth. Since many transition economies such as Ukraine have abundant human capital, this implies that policies that encourage FDI may be very beneficial in facilitating economic restructuring and stimulating growth. This paper provides a thorough empirical investigation of this issue by examining the experience of Ukraine and other transitional economies. The paper provides an overview of Ukraine’s experience with FDI and growth before systematically analyzing the connection between these variables for a panel of transition economies. While the paper finds deficiencies in earlier work examining the synergy between FDI and human capital, it finds interesting evidence that is consistent with the synergy hypothesis for transition economies. Further, the analysis also suggests that there is a complementary — rather than substitute — relationship between FDI and domestic investment. Thus, the presence of FDI may provide new learning opportunities for those making domestic investments and visa versa. The possibility that it is not large flows of FDI that cause high economic growth rates, but strong growth that acts as a magnet for FDI is also investigated. While the paper shows that there is little empirical evidence of such reverse causation in transition economies, it also reveals that there is little evidence that FDI stimulates economic growth beyond the current year. This lack of persistence in the benefits of FDI in transition economies suggests that there may be room for policy initiatives to increase the efficacy of FDI.foreign direct investment, spillovers from FDI, human capital complementarities, transition economies, growth

Are Antidumping Duties an Antidote for Predation?

Since price discrimination and selling below cost arise in the normal course of business and are usually legal for home firms, countering these practices by foreign firms provides a very weak rationale for antidumping duties. If antidumping duties were to provide a systematic defense against predation by foreign firms, however, a strong ''fair-trade'' justification would remain. This paper adapts the classic entry-deterrence analysis of Dixit (1979) and Brander and Spencer (1981) to provide a simple treatment of predation, which is applicable with price leadership as well as quantity leadership. Although situations of cross-border predation appear to be quite rare, foreign firms may sometimes find themselves in leadership positions if they have to make shipments and/or set prices before their home rivals. This paper shows that, in the context of such an international leadership game, predation ma y occur without dumping and vice versa. Further, when dumping and predation do coexist, a sophisticated form of antidumping duty would prevent predation, but the simple antidumping duties that are generally observed in practice will often be insufficient. Consequently, the paper challenges the ''fair-trade'' view of antidumping policy as an antidote for predation and strengthens the foundation of the counter-argument that antidumping constitutes a new insidious form of protectionism and trade harassment, which is of particularly serious concerns for small countries.trade, duopoly, Stackelberg, Cournot, antidumping, predation

Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in Transition Economies

Recent studies of developing countries have suggested that the effectiveness of foreign direct investment (FDI) as spur to econo mic growth depends on the availability of "human capital" or skilled labour in a host country. In other words, it is primarily the synergy between FDI and human capital — rather than FDI itself — that acts as a strong stimulant to growth. Since many transition economies such as Ukraine have abundant human capital, this implies that policies that encourage FDI may be very beneficial in facilitating economic restructuring and stimulating growth. This paper provides a thorough empirical investigation of this issue by examining the experience of Ukraine and other transitional economies. The paper provides an overview of Ukraine’s experience with FDI and growth before systematically analyzing the connection between these variables for a panel of transition economies. While the paper finds deficiencies in earlier work examining the synergy between FDI and human capital, it finds interesting evidence that is consistent with the synergy hypothesis for transition economies. Further, the analysis also suggests that there is a complementary — rather than substitute — relationship between FDI and domestic investment. Thus, the presence of FDI may provide new learning opportunities for those making domestic investments and visa versa. The possibility that it is not large flows of FDI that cause high economic growth rates, but strong growth that acts as a magnet for FDI is also investigated. While the paper shows that there is little empirical evidence of such reverse causation in transition economies, it also reveals that there is little evidence that FDI stimulates economic growth beyond the current year. This lack of persistence in the benefits of FDI in transition economies suggests that there may be room for policy initiatives to increase the efficacy of FDI

Foreign Direct Investment and Growth in Transition Economies

Recent studies of developing countries have suggested that the effectiveness of foreign direct investment (FDI) as spur to econo mic growth depends on the availability of "human capital" or skilled labour in a host country. In other words, it is primarily the synergy between FDI and human capital — rather than FDI itself — that acts as a strong stimulant to growth. Since many transition economies such as Ukraine have abundant human capital, this implies that policies that encourage FDI may be very beneficial in facilitating economic restructuring and stimulating growth. This paper provides a thorough empirical investigation of this issue by examining the experience of Ukraine and other transitional economies. The paper provides an overview of Ukraine’s experience with FDI and growth before systematically analyzing the connection between these variables for a panel of transition economies. While the paper finds deficiencies in earlier work examining the synergy between FDI and human capital, it finds interesting evidence that is consistent with the synergy hypothesis for transition economies. Further, the analysis also suggests that there is a complementary — rather than substitute — relationship between FDI and domestic investment. Thus, the presence of FDI may provide new learning opportunities for those making domestic investments and visa versa. The possibility that it is not large flows of FDI that cause high economic growth rates, but strong growth that acts as a magnet for FDI is also investigated. While the paper shows that there is little empirical evidence of such reverse causation in transition economies, it also reveals that there is little evidence that FDI stimulates economic growth beyond the current year. This lack of persistence in the benefits of FDI in transition economies suggests that there may be room for policy initiatives to increase the efficacy of FDI

From Kyoto to Copenhagen: Meeting the Climate Change Challenge

In spite of some superficial success in achieving its overall global target, there has been much disillusionment with the progress on climate change since the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated in 1997. The key problems in addressing GHG emissions under the Kyoto Protocol have been the incomplete coverage across countries and lack of credibility. While significantly more onerous reduction commitments should be expected and required of developed countries in the name of economic fairness, GHG emissions must also be capped effectively in developing countries

Agricultural Biotechnology and the FTAA: Issues and Opportunities

This article examines trade and intellectual property rights questions associated with agricultural biotechnology in the Western Hemisphere and goes on to chart a potential course through which they could be addressed by an agreement on a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Issues pertaining to import approvals, labelling, exports to sensitive markets, intellectual property piracy and regulatory cooperation are considered