Determinants of labor-intensive exports by the developing countries: a cross country analysis

While it is widely recognized that industrial development is imperative in developing countries to reduce poverty and to attain sustainable economic growth, there is no consensus on how to develop industries and where to start. Generally, the literature argues that developing countries should concentrate on promoting labour intensive industries and exports first due to their low capital stock and relatively abundant labor force. Though many developing countries are attempting to follow this path, the interesting observation is that not all developing countries are reaping the benefits of promoting labor intensive industries in terms of employment generation and sustaining economic growth. This raises an important question as to how it is possible for some developing countries to enjoy more benefits from labor intensive industries, while others are not able to do so. Using cross-country panel data in explaining heterogeneous performance in exporting labor intensive products by the developing countries, an attempt has been made in this paper to identify the important factors over and above the conventional factors such as low labor wages that contribute to the sustained growth of labor intensive exports from developing countries. The empirical findings of this paper emphasizes that even to initiate and sustain the growth of the low value added industries, such as garments, the developing countries should develop basic infrastructure and maintain a friendly business environment. Authors: Mottaleb Khondoker, International Rice Research Institute, Manila and Kaliappa Kalirajan, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National Universit

The post-reform performance of the manufacturing sector in India

Manufacturing played an important part in sustaining India’s economic growth in the 1970s and 1980s. The economic reforms of the early 1990s did not lead to sustained growth of the manufacturing sector. After an acceleration in the mid-1990s, growth slowed in the decade’s second half. The analysis presented in this paper reveals that manufacturing-sector growth in the postreform period is “input driven” rather than “efficiency driven,” with significant levels of technical inefficiency. The paper advocates policies to improve production efficiency by encouraging investment in research and development, technical training for workers, and technology-aided managerial processes

The effect of a collective exchange rate adjustment on East Asian exports

This paper estimates long-run effects of a collective exchange rate adjustment on multilateral exports from China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. The findings show that a 1 percent generalized appreciation of all East Asian exchange rates would reduce East Asian exports by about 3 percent.Global imbalance; exchange rate appreciation; collective adjustment; production networks; East Asia

Corporate retail outlets are blessings in disguise for unorganized retail outlets: an empirical analysis in the Indian context

The objective of the present study is to answer the question whether the corporate organized retail outlets (ORO) have exerted any harmful effects on the small unorganized retail outlets (URO) in India. Answer to this question will facilitate us to gauge the impact of corporate FDI in retail on the survival of the small unorganized retail outlets, which is currently debated rigorously in India. Based on the primary survey data collected from the National Capital Region and Chennai between November 2008 and March 2010, the analysis in this study shows that the emergence of ORO did displace some URO, but increased employment in urban areas. The displaced URO, which opened businesses away from ORO have increased their profits. This indeed is a blessing in disguise for the small unorganized retail outlets. Thus, the total effects produced net social benefit in terms of income and employment generation in the concerned region.Kaliappa Kalirajan Crawford School of Public Policy The Australian National University, Canberra and Kanhaiya Singh National Council of Applied Economic Research New Delhi Authors: Kaliappa Kalirajan, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University, Canberra and Kanhaiya Singh, National Council of Applied Economic Research, New Delhi&nbsp

Special Edition on An Exploration of a Green Revolution in Sub-Saharan Africa

International Development,

India and the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture (A-o-A)

This paper examines issues related to the WTO's Agreement on Agriculture from India's point of view. Why India should work towards the success of the Doha Round is also discussed.International Relations/Trade,

Measuring the Environmental Impacts of Changing Trade Patterns on the Poor

It is an empirical fact that it is very difficult to balance economic growth, poverty reduction, and environment protection, particularly for developing and transitional economies. While the economic environment of a country is influenced by conditions within the country, it is also influenced by external shocks such as the recent global financial crisis depending on how integrated the country is with the rest of the world. Thus, it poses a continuing challenge for policy makers in developing and transitional countries to readjust the economic environment in a way that leads to better and more effective targeting of the chronic issue of poverty reduction without causing damage to the natural environment. It is in this context that this paper attempts to measure the environmental impact of changing trade patterns on the poor. The recent financial crisis has discouraged United States (US) private consumption, which in turn has significantly reduced exports from Asia. However, Asia’s private consumption is at a very low level even when compared with the current reduced US private consumption. Therefore, it is possible for Asian countries to focus more on improving regional trade and domestic consumption to compensate for the revenue losses that resulted from the reduction in global demand. This paper argues that energy-efficient production methods and service-led growth, particularly trade in environmental goods and services, provide good opportunities for Asian countries to enjoy “inclusive growth” without damaging the natural environment.asia economic growth; asia trade and environment; asia poverty reduction

Foreign direct investment, exports, and economic growth in selected emerging countries: Multivariate VAR analysis

The paper adopts a time series framework of the Vector Error Correction Models (VECM) to study the dynamic relationship between export, FDI and GDP for six emerging countries of Chile, India, Mexico, Malaysia, Pakistan and Thailand. Stationarity of the series with structural breaks is also examined in the model. Given that these countries are at different stages of growth, we will be able to identify the impact of FDI and export on economic growth at different stages of growth. The results suggest that in South Asia, there is evidence of an export led growth hypothesis. However, in the long run, we identify GDP growth as the common factor that drives growth in other variables such as exports in the case of Pakistan and FDI in the case of India. The Latin American countries of Mexico and Chile show a different relationship in the short run but in the long run, exports affect the growth of FDI and output. In the case of East Asian countries, we find bi-directional long run relationship among exports, FDI and GDP in Malaysia, while we find a long run uni-directional relationship from GDP to export in case of Thailand.FDI, Exports, Multivariate VAR, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Chile, Mexico.

Asian Trade Structures and Trade Potential : An Initial Analysis of South and East Asian Trade

A frontier of potential trade is constructed for trade flows from a world trade matrix of trade determinants to compare East Asian trade performance with that of South Asia. The results suggest that East Asian trade, led by ASEAN, is outperforming the world while South Asia lags behind significantly. Within East Asia, the transformation of Chianis trade performance is remarkable with its accession to the WTO. Australia is efficiently integrated with East Asia and performing close to its trade frontier. There is scope to lift intraregional trade among the East Asian economies but South Asia has even more unrealised potential, including within its own region.trade, East Asia, Trade Structures