Liberalization has been, for the past three decades, one of the most prominent strategies used in the developing world to promote growth and foster development. Haiti, as many other least developed countries, has implemented the liberalization policies over the past two decades. The poor socioeconomic conditions of the Haitians, today, have pushed to question the effectiveness of the neoliberal plan. Agriculture being a pivotal sector of the Haitian economy, the study goal is the evaluation of liberalization on the agricultural production. The findings are that trade liberalization is detrimental to agriculture in Haiti. The food crops production, a major component of the agricultural production, in terms of providing income to the rural poor and ensuring food security, suffered the most from trade liberalization. Also, cash crops production has not increased with liberalization.

This dissertation investigates the role of public support for R&D in product innovation. In particular, I consider the role of matching grant programs and develop a theoretical model to analyze optimal private and public choices in a game-theoretic framework. This research develops-theoretical models to examine welfare implications of various policies that promote R&D. The first chapter of my dissertation develops a theoretical model of product innovation where R&D effort is endogenous and its outcome uncertain. The government attempts to aid such efforts with a matching grant. I consider different scenarios depending on whether two parties act simultaneously, act sequentially, or take part in a dynamic cooperative game with a trigger strategy. I also consider the case when the products are exported and when they are not. I analyze situations when government intervention increases the chances of product innovation and when it does not. The second chapter introduces foreign competition in a goods market, and analyzes the effects of foreign competition on domestic private and public incentives to product innovate. Government uses matching grant programs to aid private attempts to develop new goods. The government also tries to protect the domestic firm by imposing import tariff. Two policies are then considered simultaneously to investigate the effect of trade liberalization on product innovation. The third chapter considers technological partnerships between private and public sectors as R&D promoting policy. I assume increasing returns in R&D, and study whether government should support product innovation by helping with fixed costs or variable costs associated with product R&D.

Access to adequate and nutritionally balanced food to achieve a productive and healthy life for all individuals, on a daily basis, has been an elusive challenge in several parts of the world. In many developing countries such as Botswana, increasing per capita food consumption has been hampered by poverty as well as poor access to marketable skills and employment opportunities. Experience and studies elsewhere indicate that international trade liberalization based on comparative cost advantage in the goods sectors, can greatly improve per capita food consumption through improved export market access and reduction in tariffs. The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of international trade liberalization on food security/household welfare and the competitiveness of the agricultural sector in Botswana. In undertaking this study basically two hypotheses were made. Firstly, it is hypothesized that trade liberalization within SACU through the reduction of agricultural tariffs on food commodities can improve per capita consumption by reducing domestic food prices. Currently, products like maize grain, beef, dairy and wheat grain attract an import duty which partly increases their domestic prices within SACU. Poor households in Botswana, in particular, spend a disproportionate share of their disposable income on food most of which is imported. Secondly, this study also hypothesizes that improved market access of agricultural exports for Botswana based on WTO rules could generate additional foreign earnings that could be used to import more food. Globally, agricultural trade is characterized by distortions that restrict free commerce based on comparative advantage. Direct producer price and input subsidies together with export subsidies to farmers especially in major trade players like the EU, USA and Japan constitute barriers to trade and disadvantage developing countries like Botswana which have comparative advantage in several farm commodities. Subsidies by major industrialized countries create an artificial comparative advantage for their farmers as without direct farmer assistance, it is doubtful if some of them could invest in agriculture! Secondary data on international trade and social accounting matrix (SAM) were used in this study. Trade data were used to conduct policy simulations in order to determine the effects of trade liberalization on food security and competitiveness of the agricultural sector in Botswana. SAM data for 1993/94 were modified and used to generate income and price multipliers to undertake policy simulations. Data from SAM captures the income and demand linkages in the economy. Using partial equilibrium and economy-wide approach (SAM multiplier analysis), this study shows that Botswana can improve its household welfare or per capita food consumption through an increase in export earnings which in turn could be used to import more food at competitive prices. Except for meat products especially beef, Botswana is a net-importer of most food items. Based on a partial equilibrium agricultural trade policy model, this study found that the country’s agricultural sector enjoys global comparative advantage in beef exports if there was global trade liberalization. The model advocates for the reduction of direct producer price, input and export subsidies in the agricultural sector by WTO members. Beef earnings including those from other goods like textiles and minerals are used to purchase imported food to increase domestic supply. Through a SAM income multiplier analysis, policy simulations on improved export market access for beef and textiles indicated that households, factors and activities gained from global trade liberalization. However, poor households without assets or factors such as capital and skills marginally benefited from improved export market access. This finding also indicates the potential negative income distributional effects which require policy support to benefit poor households during trade liberalization. Beef and textiles exports were chosen when undertaking policy simulations based on improved market access. With a SAM price multiplier analysis, policy simulations based on SACU tariff reduction on maize grain, beef, powdered milk and wheat grain was made. Applied tariffs were used for policy simulations. A reduction in tariffs not only improves household welfare, factors and activities also benefit through lower domestic food costs/prices. This study found that SACU tariff reduction indeed contributed to welfare improvements among households in Botswana as their cost of living declined. Poor households, in particular, benefited most from tariff reduction in imported food commodities. Factors including low-wage workers also gained from a reduction of import duties on selected food commodities. However, government loses tariff revenue when import duties are cut while producers of exports enjoying preferential markets such as the beef producers in Botswana lose when trade-distorting agricultural subsides are removed/reduced. Like government, consumers of imported food items are, in short term, adversely affected by an increase in food prices following the reduction of trade-distorting agricultural subsidies (producer price, input and export subsidies). The results of the SAM price multiplier analysis also indicated limited price/cost transmission in the economy following tariff reduction. Limited price transmission or circular flow of cost reduction in the economy imply weak competition in the market, poor information dissemination, institutional rigidities, etc hence the need for an effective competition policy and law. An effective competition policy and authority minimizes unfair trading practices and provides consumers and the economy with choice and possibly maximum net-value for money. In addition to improving welfare and reducing cost of living, etc, this study also found that when policy simulations/shocks were made, income and demand linkages in the economy were identified. In some simulations the linkages demonstrated a strong circular flow of income/price transmission while in others the multiplier effects were weak indicating limited economic integration/competition, a policy challenge that requires efforts for sustained diversification. Based on the results from SAM multiplier analysis, this study has provided Botswana with useful information to design policies that enhance economic integration and diversification. To maximize her benefits from international trade liberalization, Botswana also needs to implement complementary policies to address supply-side constraints and improve infrastructure, competition, information technology, etc. Safeguard mechanisms are still necessary to protect the agricultural sector and the economy in Botswana from unfair trade practices including market failure. / Thesis (PhD (Agricultural Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development / PhD / unrestricted

The North American Free Trade Agreement continues to be a controversial topic, and with the impending implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, NAFTA has been a heavily discussed issue during the 2016 presidential campaign. Past research has critically assessed the extent to which NAFTA delivered on promises made by its lobbyists to improve economic welfare and stimulate growth in the North American markets, via trade and investment. These studies explain that NAFTA has helped to boost intra-regional trade and investment flows in North America, but has fallen short on any substantial improvements in welfare and deeper regional economic integration. However, researchers have found evidence for convergence among North American equity markets, and argue that this is generated by NAFTA. Using time series data from 1990 to 2007, this study builds on these conclusions to examine how NAFTA impacted equity markets in the North American region. I look at returns to each major stock index for Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, and find evidence that returns on these indexes improve in the post-NAFTA period for Mexico and the U.S., but not for Canada. Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that exports and FDI are the primary drivers for this improvement in stock returns.

The concomitance of prosperity and poverty come as an enigma in today's world.As some people in this world benefit greatly from advanced technologies andglobalization, others are still suffering heavily from poverty. One noticeable fact is thatalmost all developing countries have their own distinguished "poor area". Such poorareas seem to persist regardless of robust economic growth enjoyed by the overalleconomy.By decomposing the developing country into two regions, one rich coastal regionand one poor inland region, this research establishes a new classical general equilibrium3X2 Ricardian model to investigate how trade liberalization will affect the participationin the division of labor by poor individuals in the inland region in a developing countryand their associated welfare change under different trading conditions.Our model of division of labor on poverty delineates the interdependentrelationship between individuals in the poor inland region, the rich coastal region and thedeveloped country. Market integration plays a very important role in suchinterdependency. Low transaction efficiency is the bottle-neck constraint on the poorinland region's integration into international division of labor through international trade.Thus, it is critical for the poor inland region to improve the market transaction efficiencyin order to enjoy gains from trade.Our marginal and inframarginal analysis show that as an important part of tradeliberalization policy, tariff reduction may not always be a good policy choice for thedeveloping country to alleviate the poverty. Whether tariff reduction makes the inlandregion better off depends on the initial general equilibrium market structure and thedeveloping country's power of influencing its terms of trade. If the developing country islarge enough to determine the terms of trade in international trade with the developedcountry, the developing country may increase the welfare level of the poor inland regionby increasing its tariff rate. But the developed country will oppose it because the tariffrate increase in the developing country will hurt its welfare. Trade negotiation is thennecessary to determine the final tariff rate and the share of gains of trade to each countryand region.

The importance of international trade cannot be neglected as it represents an important channel of wealth creation in the actual globalised world. Thus, the present writer aims to identify how the commercial flows have changed after the adoption of Euro and once the financial crisis has burst. Furthermore the main factors that influence trade are researched by using the gravitational econometric model and employing panel data for 14 EU member countries. The results show that the intensity of commercial exchanges are highly influenced by the level of development (GDP) of the country and the amount of FDI that are attracted, while the use of a common currency appears to be not too significant. At the same time, indicators are more sensible during the crisis period than the stable one, hence even small changes in independent variables can lead to higher decrease in trade. Key words: European trade, liberalization, competitiveness, financial crisis, contagion, Euro, gravitational model.

Agriculture in the Law of World Trade Organization Regulation on international agricultural trade is one of the most sensitive fields of international trade regulation by the agreements of the WTO. The current law is contained in the Agreement on Agriculture and it is the first regulation of the foreign trade in agricultural products in the WTO scheme. The purpose of this thesis is to clarify the important aspects of the current law. The thesis also addresses the context in which the Agreement on Agriculture takes effect, especially from the viewpoint of its influence on developing countries. Various chapters also briefly deal with the possible content of the future Agreement on Agriculture according to the most recent results of the Doha development round negotiations. The thesis is divided into seven chapters. The introductory chapter is dedicated to the beginnings of international agricultural trade regulation and to the negotiations of the Uruguay round that resulted in the establishment of the World Trade Organization and in the conclusion of the Agreement on Agriculture. The second chapter analyzes general provisions of the Agreement on Agriculture and the relations of the Agreement with other agreements that form the basis of the World Trade Organization. The third chapter deals with the...

In connection with the process of globalization, the importance of international trade increases not only as means of gaining welfare but as a way to solve problems. The World Trade Organization (WTO) claimed this approach in 2001 through a new trade negotiation round, the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). Within DDA the WTO pledged to improve the conditions of participation of the developing countries in the multilateral trading system. Not after nine years of negotiation the round is heading to its conclusion and questions concerning the fulfilment of the development aspect are emerging. The presented thesis aims to evaluate the success of the integration of developing countries into the multilateral trading system and how the WTO contributes to it.

O objetivo desta dissertação é retomar a controvérsia em torno dos efeitos da liberalização comercial sobre o mercado de trabalho brasileiro, em especial os diferenciais de salários entre trabalhadores qualificados e não qualificados na indústria de transformação em 1995 e 1999. Após uma adaptação da decomposição de Oaxaca-Blinder (OB), encontramos evidências, para o Brasil como um todo e para a região metropolitana de São Paulo, de que o diferencial de salário aumentou, em benefício dos trabalhadores qualificados. Considerando a hipótese de que o Brasil é um país com abundância de trabalho não qualificado e intensivo neste fator, este resultado é oposto à premissa teórica do modelo Heckscher-Ohlin e Stolper-Samuelson (HOS) e suas variantes, de que a abertura de um país em desenvolvimento, ou intensivo em trabalho não qualificado, tende a diminuir a desigualdade. Do outro lado, encontramos evidências para a região metropolitana de Recife, de que o diferencial salarial entre trabalhadores qualificados e não qualificados diminuiu após a liberalização comercial, corroborando com a premissa teórica do modelo HOS e suas variantes. Entretanto, este resultado não deve, evidentemente, ser estendido para o Brasil, ilustrando assim diferenças regionais e estruturais não negligenciáveis do mercado de trabalho por região da Federação. / The objective of this MA Dissertation was to take up again the controversy of the effects of trade liberalization in Brazilian labor market, specially the wage differentials between skilled and unskilled workers in the industry in 1995 and 1999. After an adaptation of Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition (OB), it was found evidence in Brazil as a whole and in Sao Paulo metropolitan area, that wage differential increased for the benefit of skilled workers. On one hand, supposing that Brazil is an economy characterized by unskilled workers abundance which are intensively used, this result is contrary to the premise theory of Heckscher-Ohlin and Stolper-Samuelson (HOS) model and their variants that defends that trade liberalization in developing country, or unskilled worker intensive countries, has a tendency to reduce inequality. On the other hand, it was found evidence in Recife metropolitan area that wage differential between skilled and unskilled workers has reduced after trade liberalization, corroborating with the theory premise of HOS model and their variants. However, this result cannot be extended to Brazil, illustrating, therefore, its labor markets regional and structural differences.

<p>This research shows the relationship between trade liberalization and food security for the Bolivian case. As a result of the severe economic crisis of the early-1980s, Bolivia adopted a series of market-oriented reforms in 1985. The reforms included the liberalization of the trade regime and the promotion of non-traditional exports. The trade liberalization had an important effect on the performance of cash crops, especially in the development of the soybeans industry. However, foodcrops did not have such a great dynamics. Vegetables and starchy roots declined in per capita terms and the increase in imports were not enough to compensate the decline. Trade reforms mostly favor a small group of large-scale farmers in the lowlands, who had historically been granted land in the region. In this sense, Bolivia’s involvement in a trade liberalization process was not reflected in an overall improvement of the country’s food security.</p>