infonet-economy

This paper analyses the impact of GVC linkages on product upgrading using the Indian firm-level dataset Prowess, and methodologies of System-GMM and Propensity score matching. Defining product upgrading as a movement towards more sophisticated products, we use Haussmann's product sophistication index to calculate a sales-weighted average sophistication level of Indian manufacturing…

China's unique economic system poses increasing challenges to the world trading system and attracts growing academic and policy debates. WTO members have frequently resorted to antidumping measures in dealing with price distortions caused by Chinese government influence in the economy. The Appellate Body's decision in the recent EU – Biodiesel dispute starts to remove the flexibility…

This article investigates the impact of trade agreements on bilateral trade flows of manufactured goods. Compared to other studies, it enriches the analysis by decomposing gross trade flows into their value added components, and by considering the direction of trade flows and the content of trade agreements. The analysis reveals a clear pattern in the effects of economic integration…

Participation in global value chains (GVCs) is a key element in the industrialization strategies of many developing nations. Many studies look at the determinants of GVC participation but most focus on do- mestic regulatory environments, the cost of doing business, and trade policy. This paper investigates the possibility that services also mat- ter by empirically testing for a link…

Self-help groups (SHGs) are the most common form of microfinance in India. We provide evidence that SHGs, composed of women only, undertake collective actions for the provision of public goods. Using a theoretical model, we show that an elected official, whose aim is to maximise re-election chances, would exert higher effort in providing public goods when private citizens undertake…

The paper shows that international government borrowing from multilateral development banks is countercyclical while international government borrowing form private sector lenders is procyclical. The countercyclicality of official lending is mostly driven by the behavior of the World Bank (borrowing from regional development banks tends to be acyclical). The paper also shows that…

Over the past decade, the WTO dispute settlement system has continued to be used extensively, contrasting with the very few disputes taken to inter-state adjudication under FTAs. This paper discusses the causes of this discrepancy, arguing that, besides specific procedural difficulties, it may be explained by a more structural difference between adjudication in a multilateral and in…