Includes bibliographical references. / The central question and motivation behind this paper is to determine whether trade preference agreements facilitate permanent economic development, or if they merely temporarily increase the volume of exports over the period of preferential market access. The paper will evaluate this, by using the case study of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) enacted by the United States (US) in 2000. The literature and empirical data show that exports do increase in certain cases under trade preference agreements, however what is missing to a large extent is the impact that these increased exports have on facilitating competitive industrial development through learning-by-doing spill over effects. The objective of this paper is to identity evidence which supports the notion that trade preferences have the potential to advance competitive industrial development, by specifically looking at the impact that AGOA has had on eligible Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries exports to third countries since its enactment in 2000 as the indicator of trade induced permanent economic development. This is one indicator of many, such as labour productivity, manufacturing output, foreign direct investment, and GDP per capita which could also be used as indicators of development. The remainder of this paper is organised as follows. In the second section, a review of the theoretical and empirical literature with respect to trade preferences and specifically AGOA preferences is discussed. Section three presents an empirical analysis, firstly in terms of a graphical analysis which is then followed by an econometric analysis. The aim of the empirical analysis is to firstly understand the aggregate story of apparel exports under AGOA preferences, and secondly to test the relationship that trade preferences facilitate economic development through enhanced trade. The fourth section concludes the paper by emphasising the key findings, issues and policy recommendations of the paper.

Note:

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the use of anti-dumping measures in order to make economic sense of what seems to amount to cheating on an international agreement. There are numerous loopholes in the Anti-dumping Agreement which allow anti-dumping measures to be used as a form of protection by import-competing industries against fair trade. Some of these loopholes are of a purely legal nature, while others are more practical. During an anti-dumping investigation, a dumping margin is calculated in order to establish whether or not an accused exporter is dumping. This calculation is known as the determination of dumping. In this thesis, the various ways in which the dumping margin can be manipulated or ”captured” are investigated. It is shown that there are numerous ways in which the determination of dumping result can be manipulated in order to ensure a positive dumping result. And economists are concerned about this abuse of anti-dumping as it could have a chilling effect on international trade. However, it is shown in this thesis that anti-dumping investigations are concentrated in certain sectors. In other words, anti-dumping measures (and other non-tariff remedies) are being used as a strategy to protect certain industries. Adam Smith, the ”father” of economics, pointed out that certain sensitive or strategic industries may need to be protected, even if such protection is at the cost of economic welfare. So, it seems that the economic issue is not really about dumping, but about whether or not certain strategic industries should be protected. And it is the protection of these strategic industries, for example the iron and steel industry, that needs further research. / Economics / D. Comm. (Economics)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (March 1, 2006) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Dept. of Agricultural Economics, 2006. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Nov. 20, 2008) Includes bibliographical references (p. 80-84). Also issued in print.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the use of anti-dumping measures in order to make economic sense of what seems to amount to cheating on an international agreement. There are numerous loopholes in the Anti-dumping Agreement which allow anti-dumping measures to be used as a form of protection by import-competing industries against fair trade. Some of these loopholes are of a purely legal nature, while others are more practical. During an anti-dumping investigation, a dumping margin is calculated in order to establish whether or not an accused exporter is dumping. This calculation is known as the determination of dumping. In this thesis, the various ways in which the dumping margin can be manipulated or ”captured” are investigated. It is shown that there are numerous ways in which the determination of dumping result can be manipulated in order to ensure a positive dumping result. And economists are concerned about this abuse of anti-dumping as it could have a chilling effect on international trade. However, it is shown in this thesis that anti-dumping investigations are concentrated in certain sectors. In other words, anti-dumping measures (and other non-tariff remedies) are being used as a strategy to protect certain industries. Adam Smith, the ”father” of economics, pointed out that certain sensitive or strategic industries may need to be protected, even if such protection is at the cost of economic welfare. So, it seems that the economic issue is not really about dumping, but about whether or not certain strategic industries should be protected. And it is the protection of these strategic industries, for example the iron and steel industry, that needs further research. / Economics / D. Comm. (Economics)

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Le marché du travail est une institution centrale dans toute économie moderne. En même temps, le marché du travail est caractérisé par une réglementation omniprésente. Une littérature récente et croissante étudie les conséquences d'une telle hétérogénéité dans les institutions du marché du travail. Jusqu'à présent, cependant, peu de travaux ont abordé les implications des rigidités du marché du travail pour la dynamique du travail induite par le commerce en se concentrant sur le secteur informel, ou les chocs de second moment dans un contexte d'économie ouverte. Le but de cette thèse est de répondre à ces questions.Le premier chapitre étudie l'impact des chocs d'incertitude dans une petite économie ouverte avec des frictions de recherche et d'appariement et l'entrée d'entreprises. Nous développons d'abord notre analyse empirique dans le contexte de l'économie coréenne, car toutes les dimensions du modèle sont pertinentes dans ce pays. Une augmentation de l'incertitude réduit la production, la consommation, l'investissement et le taux de recherche d'emploi, tout en augmentant le chômage et les séparations d'emploi. Nous complétons également les données empiriques existantes en examinant la dynamique des entreprises, le taux de change réel et le comportement du compte courant. Dans notre cadre théorique, nous illustrons de nouveaux mécanismes de transmission qui sont ignorés dans la littérature. Les mécanismes économiques vont au-delà de la simple addition de chaque caractéristique. Les frictions de recherche, l'entrée des entreprises et la dimension de l'économie ouverte interagissent fortement pour amplifier les effets des chocs d'incertitude et rendre le modèle cohérent avec les données empiriques.Le deuxième chapitre étudie comment les réformes fiscales contribuent à assurer une mondialisation équitable. Dans cet article, nous développons un modèle à deux zones: un pays développé et un pays émergent. Les deux domaines diffèrent selon la taille du secteur informel, caractérisé par un marché du travail plus flexible et une productivité plus faible. Notre analyse suggère que la libéralisation du commerce stimule l'activité économique et l'emploi dans les secteurs formel et informel. Cependant, cette expansion de l'emploi est biaisée vers le secteur informel, qui n'est pas soumis à la réglementation du travail et donc plus flexible. Par conséquent, la libéralisation du commerce entraîne une baisse de la qualité de l'emploi, car les travailleurs informels ne sont pas couverts par la législation du travail, la sécurité sociale et reçoivent des salaires moins élevés. Une réforme fiscale neutre en termes de budget, qui ferait passer le fardeau fiscal des taxes sur les salaires versées par les entreprises opérant dans le secteur formel à une taxe à la consommation, pourrait représenter une stratégie pour soutenir le secteur formel. Cependant, la formalisation se fait au prix d'une inégalité croissante des revenus entre travailleurs formels et informels.Le troisième chapitre évalue l'importance des institutions du marché du travail dans la transmission des chocs d'incertitude aux marchés du travail. En utilisant des VAR spécifiques aux pays dans les pays de l'OCDE, je constate qu'il y a une hétérogénéité considérable entre les réponses des taux de chômage aux chocs d'incertitude. Je fournis également des preuves que cette hétérogénéité peut être attribuée à la législation différentielle sur la protection de l'emploi (EPL). Les pays à faible niveau d'EPL subissent des augmentations de chômage plus graves que les pays à EPL élevé à la suite de chocs d'incertitude. EPL plus stricte neutralise la réaction du chômage, rendant plus coûteux le licenciement des travailleurs. De plus, le choc du second moment renforce ce mécanisme à travers le canal des options réelles. Sous l'irréversibilité et l'incertitude, les coûts de tir viennent avec un coût plus élevé. / The labor market is a central institution in any modern economy. At the same time, the labor market is characterized by pervasive regulation. Across nations, the labor market is subject to minimum wages, hiring and firing restrictions, compulsory collective bargaining, etc. A recent and growing literature investigates the consequences of such heterogeneity in labor market institutions, studying how labor market rigidities affect the causes and consequences of policy changes. Thus far, however, few works have addressed the implications of labor market rigidities for trade-induced labor dynamics focusing on the informal sector, or the second moment shocks in an open economy setting. Important questions remain open for researchers and policymakers. The purpose of this thesis is to address these questions, studying the role of labor market frictions and its interaction with international trade and uncertainty.The first chapter investigates the impact of uncertainty shocks in a small open economy with search and matching frictions and firm entry. We first develop our empirical analysis in the context of the Korean economy, as all dimensions of the model are relevant in this country. An increase in uncertainty lowers output, consumption, investment and job finding rate, while raising unemployment and job separations. We also supplement the existing empirical evidence by looking at firm dynamics, real exchange rate and current account behavior. In our theoretical framework, we illustrate new transmissions mechanism that are ignored in the literature. Economic mechanisms go beyond the simple addition of each feature. Search frictions, firm entry and the open economy dimension actually strongly interact to amplify the effects of uncertainty shocks and make the model consistent with the empirical evidence.The second chapter studies how tax reforms help ensure a fair globalization. In this paper we develop a two-area model: a developed and an emerging country. The two areas differ according to the size of the informal sector, which is characterized by a more flexible labor market and lower productivity. Our analysis suggests that trade liberalization boosts economic activity and employment in both the formal and informal sector. However, this employment expansion is biased toward the informal sector, which is not subject to labor regulation and hence more flexible. Hence, trade liberalization leads to lower employment quality, as informal workers are not covered by the labor legislation, social security and receive lower paid. A budget-neutral tax reform switching the tax burden from payroll taxes paid by firms operating in the formal sector to a consumption tax may represent a strategy to support the formal sector. However, formalization comes at the cost of widening income inequality between formal and informal workers.The third chapter assesses the importance of labor market institutions in the transmission of uncertainty shocks to labor markets. Using country-specific VARs across OECD countries, I find that there is substantial cross-country heterogeneity in the responses of unemployment rates to uncertainty shocks. I also provide evidence that this heterogeneity can be attributed to differential employment protection legislation (EPL). Low EPL countries suffer more severe rises in unemployment compared to high EPL countries following uncertainty shocks. Stricter EPL mutes the reaction of unemployment, making it more costly to lay workers off. Moreover, the second moment shock reinforces this mechanism through the real options channel. Under irreversibility and uncertainty, firing costs come with a bigger cost. On the other hand, the role of other labor market characteristics is ambiguous.