Design and implementation of a method forthe synthesis of travel diary data

Transport has been called the maker and breaker of cities. A maker of cities because of its vital role in the bringing together of people, goods and services. A breaker of cities because of its e®ects on the quality of the living environment. In balancing both aspects, a detailed cost-bene¯t analysis of transport policy is imperative. However, compared to the analysis of (external) costs, the analysis of (external) bene¯ts is hampered by the low availability of travel diary data

The external trade of the BRICs during 1997-2008. Perspectives

At the beginning of 2001, the experts of the Goldman Sachs Research Group launched a new acronym in the field of world economy: BRIC. This abbreviation represents the group of four countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China and has generated a long list of quantitative, as well as qualitative researches. Among these BRIC researches, only few examine both trade in goods and services, in relation with developed countries. As a result, in order to deepen the analysis in this direction, the present paper focuses on the BRIC’s increasing role in the world trade in goods and services during 1997-2008, in comparison with the G-7, starting from a quantitative analysis. At the level of trade in goods, taking into consideration the export structure, the BRIC countries can be divided into two complementary groups: on the one side, there are China and India, whose exports are dominated by manufactures, on the other side there are Brazil and Russia, with commodities’ share in exports surpassing that of manufactures. From the viewpoint of export propensity, Brazil and India are less inclined to export their goods, while China and Russia are prone to export. These features, among other factors, reflect the evolution of trade balance of the analysed countries: India records trade deficits, while China and Russia, and to a lesser extent Brazil, have trade surpluses. Among the BRIC countries, China recorded the biggest “leap” of its share in world trade: from circa 3% in 1997, to approximately 8% in 2008. BRIC’s share in global trade in goods grew from 6% in 1997, to about 13% in 2008, bringing down the difference between its share and G-7’s share from circa 41 percentage points in 1997 to 24 percentage points in 2008. In the field of services, China is the main exporter and importer among the BRIC countries. Nevertheless, it records large trade deficits, and services continue to have a small share in its trade. This characteristic is valid for Russia and Brazil as well. By contrast, in India’s case, services have a share of about 37% in its total exports (goods plus services) and 24% in its total imports, these shares being even above those recorded by the USA. BRIC’s share in global trade in services grew from 5% in 1997, to about 10% in 2008, bringing down the difference between its share and G-7’s share from circa 45 percentage points in 1997 to 31 percentage points in 2008. Putting face to face the results recorded by the BRIC countries in trade in goods and those recorded in trade in services, it is obvious that China, Brazil and Russia are more competitive in trade in goods than in trade in services, while India is the most competitive emergent country in trade in services. The FDI structure in these countries, determined by their investment attractiveness, has played a major role in this evolution. Concerning the actual economic and financial crisis, its impact on the BRIC countries in terms of trade is not dramatic. Nevertheless, the aid packages adopted by these countries underline a change of strategy and orientation with accent on the internal market. The value-added of this empirical analysis to the existent ones is the comparative approach of trade in goods and trade in services of Brazil, Russia, India and China, at the aggregate level. At the same time, it underlines the BRIC’s increasing role in the world trade in goods and services during 1997-2008, in comparison with the G-7, starting from a quantitative analysis.BRIC; trade in goods; trade in services; normalized trade balance; foreign direct investment (FDI)

Tariff Escalation in the Doha Talks--Bringing the Issue to Resolution

Development objectives dictate that the Doha negotiations address tariff escalation. This could increase the production and export of processed goods in developing countries, expand investment and employment, and reduce dependence on primary product exports. Despite its importance, little progress has been made, notwithstanding that a final resolution to the negotiations will not be possible without bringing this issue to resolution. This paper quantifies tariff escalation within WTO members' tariff schedules and the degree to which a tiered formula could address this problem. Utilizing a detailed partial equilibrium global agricultural trade model we estimate the possible gains to developing countries from reducing tariff escalation.tariff escalation, agriculture, trade, tariffs, WTO, International Relations/Trade, F13, Q17,

Uncertain delivery in markets for lemons

The notion of uncertain delivery is extended to study exchange economies in which agents have different abilities to distinguish between goods (for example a car in good condition versus a car in bad condition). In this setting, it is useful to distinguish goods not only by their physical characteristics,but also by the agent that is bringing them to the market. Equilibrium is shown to exist, and characterized by the fact that agents always receive the cheapest bundle among those that they cannot distinguish from truthful delivery. Several examples are presented as an illustration.General equilibrium, Asymmetric information, Adverse selection, Uncertain delivery, Pool, Delivery rates

Trade and Migration to New Zealand

This paper examines the hypothesis that a greater stock of migrants in New Zealand from a particular country leads to more trade between that country and New Zealand. The literature suggests that migrants can stimulate trade by lowering transaction costs, and by bringing with them preferences for goods produced in their home country. We use panel data techniques within the framework of a standard gravity model of trade. Our sample includes an average of over 170 countries for the years 1981 to 2001. Previous studies of trade and migration have not dealt satisfactorily with problems of unobserved heterogeneity and selection bias. We address these problems using correlated random effects and selection models. Results suggest that larger migrant stocks are associated with higher trade flows.

Trade and Migration to New Zealand

This paper examines the hypothesis that a greater stock of migrants in New Zealand from a particular country leads to more trade between that country and New Zealand. The literature suggests that migrants can stimulate trade by lowering transaction costs, and by bringing with them preferences for goods produced in their home country. We use panel data techniques within the framework of a standard gravity model of trade. Our sample includes an average of over 170 countries for the years 1981 to 2001. Previous studies of trade and migration have not dealt satisfactorily with problems of unobserved heterogeneity and selection bias. We address these problems using correlated random effects and selection models. Results suggest that larger migrant stocks are associated with higher trade flows.Migration; International Trade; Panel Data; New Zealand

Cash and the Counter: Capabilities and Preferences in the Demand for Banking Technologies

The main argument of this paper is that consumption and demand, like production, are discovery processes guided by trial-and-error and learning by consuming. The key question that is addressed is: how do consumers deal with innovation? By bringing together a number of threads within the innovation literature my claim is that consumers, akin to firms, follow routines that shape their consumption bundle, conceived here as an ensemble of activities rather than a bunch of goods. The analysis developed in the paper takes a very specific angle by elaborating on empirical evidence on the patterns of use of retail payment services in the United Kingdom to appreciate how consumption and demand can be shaped by the intertwined evolution of capabilities and preferences.Retail Banking; Innovation; Demand; Consumer Capabilities

Daily Collectors, Public Good Provision and Private Consumption: Theory and Evidence from Urban Benin

Daily collectors operate worldwide; they charge a fee in exchange for the collection of their client's deposits. The clients recover their savings after one month. With a negative nominal return of -3.3% per month, the service is quite expensive but nonetheless prevalent among the very poor. The economic literature so far emphasizes two motives for making deposits: (i) it is safer than bringing the money home, (ii) people want to commit to save. I argue that in addition to these two motives, people make deposits in order to reduce their contribution to the household's expenses and increase their private consumption. This intra-household motive is first modelled and then tested using a unique panel data set collected in Benin. The panel structure of the data allows me to isolate the effect of the third motive. Additionally, I show that daily collectors enable women to make more gifts to their children and acquaintances, and allow men to reduce those gifts and their participation to household's public goods. There is large positive effect of the deposits on people's purchase of new clothes, and making deposits increases women's expenditures on frivolous goods by 200% to 300%. Finally, the commitment motive appears to be an important determinant of men's deposits.Intra-household, deposit collectors, micro-savings, non-cooperative household's members, public good provision, commitment

Non-Scale Effects of North-South Trade on Economic Growth

In this model of North and South economies, growth is driven by Schumpeterian R&D and by accumulation of two types of human capital, versatile and specialized. The former is school intensive while the latter is on-the-job-training intensive. Growth is endogenous and independent of scale effects. South's imitation of existing technology is conditional to the distance to the technological frontier. Growth depends on technological advances in the quality of available intermediate goods, regardless of the origin - innovation or imitation -, and not on comparative advantage in the production of final goods. By allowing immediate international access of the state-of-the-art intermediate goods, trade affects the productive structure in the South, bringing about partial convergence to the Northern structure and prices. Nevertheless, even when the countries have access to the same technology - either through imitation or trade of intermediate goods -, differences in domestic institutions and human capital imply differences in productivity. In addition, trade induces steady-state effects through the price channel, by which the specific types of human capital influence the direction of technological progress. The consideration of two types of human capital also allows the study of wage inequality effects of trade, as well as the derivation of a Schumpeterian dynamic equivalent to the static Stolper-Samuelson factor price equalization result.North-South; International trade; R&D; Human capital; Scale effects; Economic growth

ASEAN Rules of Origin: Lessons and Recommendations for Best Practice

Rules of Origin (ROO) set the criteria in determining the nationality of a product and where a product was made. The importance of ROO has increased in the past years as more countries engage in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and begun treating goods differently according to where the product was made, along with trade-specific preferences or restrictions to the imported good once its origin is determined. This study is done to cull the lessons from ASEAN's experience in determining and implementing the Rules of Origin. It draws the important lessons and makes recommendations for best practice that would contribute to the cooperation and integration efforts in the region. The paper examines the various design and implementation practice in ROO regimes, focusing on RTAs where the ASEAN is involved. The paper presents findings from recent studies on the cost of ROO compliance and the FTA utilization rates. It concludes with recommendations on simplification of ROO and some reforms on administrative procedures, bringing in the development country dimension, and some general guidelines to follow to improve ROOs.Rules of Origin, Free Trade Agreements, ASEAN.