infonet-economy

This paper provides an empirical assessment of race-to-the-bottom unilateralism. It suggests that decades of unilateral tariff cutting in Asia‟s emerging economies have been driven by a competition to attract FDI from Japan. Using spatial econometrics, I show that tariffs on parts and components, a crucial locational determinant for Japanese firms, converged across countries…

Geographical Indications (GIs) for products (Basmati rice, Champagne sparkling wine, Antigua coffee, etc.) were regulated at the international level in 1995 (WTO TRIPS Agreement, Part II, Section 3). This paper sets a general framework of analysis for GI-labeled goods, based on the modeling of a GI as a club asset (partial excludability and no rivalry in benefits to the firms that…

We provide a comparison of salient organizational features of primary markets for foreign government debt over the very long run. We focus on output, quality control, information provision, competition, pricing, charging and signaling. We find that the market set up experienced a radical transformation in the recent period and interpret this as resulting from the rise of liability…

This paper analyzes the spatial interdependence of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in a cross-section framework using the Contagion Index proposed by Baldwin and Jaimovich (2010). A Bayesian heteroskedastic probit model is estimated, where a spatial lag is built based on the Contagion Index, finding evidence of interdependence related with a domino-like effect. I compare the results…

This paper investigates whether the India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISLFTA) has had trade creation or trade diversion effects on the rest of the World. The method used resembles the one used by Romalis (2005) to study NAFTA. In order to use the variations in tariff at the product level, we use six digit HS classification of products. We construct seven panel data sets for the…

that they insulate output better from real shocks, because the exchange rate can adjust and stabilize demand for domestic goods through expenditure switching. This argument is weakened in a model with high foreign currency debt and low exchange rate pass through to import prices. We analyze the transmission of real external shocks to the domestic economy under fixed and flexible…

The aim of this paper is to explore the patterns of trade duration across regions and to identify its determinants. Using an extended Cox model, we evaluate the effects of country and product characteristics, as well as of trade cost variables on the duration of trade relationships from 96 countries from 1995 to 2004. Our results suggest first that the duration of trade relationships…

How do asymmetric labor market institutions affect volatility of inflation and unemployment differentials in a currency union? What are the implications for monetary policy? To answer these questions, this paper sets up a DSGE currency union model with unemployment, hiring frictions and real wage rigidities. The model provides a rigorous but tractable framework for the analysis of…

This paper creates a new index (“index of bilateral trade relation”) to quantitatively evaluate the degree of regional economic integration based on countries’ de facto bilateral trade relations. It concludes that a fundamental arrangement of East Asian regionalism should involve at least one of the two “hub” candidates – Japan and China. It also suggests that the China- ASEAN FTA (…