Private Sector Trade Research Articles

Regional Trade and Food Price Stabilisation in South Asia: Policy Responses to the 2007-08 World Price Shocks

World price shocks and disruptions in international cereal trade in 2007 and 2008 caused considerable anxiety and hardship for food importing countries throughout the world. In many countries, high international food prices raised import costs, reduced total supplies for consumers and ultimately led to lower real incomes and food consumption for poor households. In South Asia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and India were all affected by these movements in international prices, though the effects on domestic prices in each case was mitigated or exacerbated by each country’s own trade policies, as well as the trade policies of its neighbours. Prior to 2007, the general consensus among most economists and food policy analysts was that openness to international trade, particularly private sector trade, was the most efficient mechanism for stabilising domestic food prices and supplies. In light of the 2007-08 experience, however, many observers have concluded that international markets cannot be trusted and that countries should rely on their own domestic production to ensure national and household food security. This paper argues that liberalised international trade still provides the best mechanism for stabilising prices and food supplies in most years, but that appropriate contingency policies are needed for years in which international prices are extraordinarily high.1 More explicit commitments to cereal trade liberalisation within South Asia would also promote region-wide food security and help avoid a repetition of supply disruptions that raised food prices sharply in Afghanistan and Bangladesh. Section II of this paper briefly

Private Sector Employee Engagement Strategies in Botswana: Case of Choppies Retail Store

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate employee engagement strategies applied by the Botswana Private Sector with reference to Choppies Retail Store in Botswana. The focus of the paper, Choppies Botswana, is one of the fastest growing retail companies. The Chain store’s growth notwithstanding, it is currently experiencing challenges related to lack of employee commitment due to non-engagement on the part of management. Additionally, the retail chain is beset with problems related to unsatisfactory customer service and a low level of minimum wage. According to the available body of literature, employee engagement exists when employees are committed to organizational goals and success. Employee engagement strategies usually used by management are employee rewards and communication. Employee rewards is the recognition and rewarding of outstanding performance employees. Communication is entails deliberate efforts by management in imparting or exchanging information about the organization through different means of communication. Engagement strategies are therefore, critical in employee engagement in an organisation such as Choppies Retail Stores. The chain can implement this strategy in its organisational system by rewarding outstanding employee performance. Rewards are an incentive for more employee input and effort. The findings of this paper proved that the application of these strategies has the potential to increase organisational profitability. The researcher recommends that Choppies Retail Stores designs and implements a detailed written plan for employee engagement strategy. This is a paper of relevance to both policy makers in the Botswana Private Sector, Private Sector Trade Unions, and employees of Choppies Retail Stores.

Exporting stimulus and “shared prosperity”: Reinventing foreign aid for a retroliberal era

AbstractThe global aid world has changed, partly in response to the reconfigurations of geopolitical power and to the global financial crisis (GFC). Paradoxically, in the face of recession in most northern economies, collectively foreign aid contributions have not fallen. However there has been a qualitative shift in its narrative and nature. This new regime—which we term retroliberalism—projects the concept of “shared prosperity,” but constitutes a return to explicit self‐interest designed to bolster private sector trade and investment. Drawing evidence from New Zealand and the United Kingdom, we argue that aid programmes are increasingly functioning as “exported stimulus” packages.

Maternal mortality: a cross-sectional study in global health.

BackgroundAlthough most of maternal deaths are preventable, maternal mortality reduction programs have not been completely successful. As targeting individuals alone does not seem to be an effective strategy to reduce maternal mortality (Millennium Development Goal 5), the present study sought to reveal the role of many distant macrostructural factors affecting maternal mortality at the global level.MethodsAfter preparing a global dataset, 439 indicators were selected from nearly 1800 indicators based on their relevance and the application of proper inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then Pearson correlation coefficients were computed to assess the relationship between these indicators and maternal mortality. Only indicators with statistically significant correlation more than 0.2, and missing values less than 20% were maintained. Due to the high multicollinearity among the remaining indicators, after missing values analysis and imputation, factor analysis was performed with principal component analysis as the method of extraction. Ten factors were finally extracted and entered into a multiple regression analysis.ResultsThe findings of this study not only consolidated the results of earlier studies about maternal mortality, but also added new evidence. Education (std. B = −0.442), private sector and trade (std. B = −0.316), and governance (std. B = −0.280) were found to be the most important macrostructural factors associated with maternal mortality. Employment and labor structure, economic policy and debt, agriculture and food production, private sector infrastructure investment, and health finance were also some other critical factors. These distal factors explained about 65% of the variability in maternal mortality between different countries.ConclusionDecreasing maternal mortality requires dealing with various factors other than individual determinants including political will, reallocation of national resources (especially health resources) in the governmental sector, education, attention to the expansion of the private sector trade and improving spectrums of governance. In other words, sustainable reduction in maternal mortality (as a development indicator) will depend on long-term planning for multi-faceted development. Moreover, trade, debt, political stability, and strength of legal rights can be affected by elements outside the borders of countries and global determinants. These findings are believed to be beneficial for sustainable development in Post-2015 Development Agenda.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12992-015-0087-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Has Aid for Trade Increased Recipient Exports? The Impact of US AfT Allocations 1999-2008

After a decade of Aid for Trade (AfT) allocations, we can now begin to assess whether this new development strategy has been effective. Focusing on the short-term goal of export growth, we examine whether AfT from the US government promoted exports within recipient national economies over the period 1999-2008. Our results suggest that a $1 dollar increase in total US AfT has been associated with about a $65 increase in recipient exports two years later. We also show that the export effect of US AfT has not been confined to the US market and is driven primarily by exports to the rest of the world. In addition, we show that US AfT has been effective in reaching more needy countries as the substantive effect of US aid for trade has been larger in lesser developed, landlocked, and more distant recipient countries. Finally, our results also suggest that US AfT has produced this positive export effect by developing private sector trade practices and by improving public sector trade policies, but not by upgrading trade infrastructure within recipient national economies.

Regional trade, government policy and food security: Recent evidence from Zambia

Given heavy dependence on rainfed maize production, countries in East and Southern Africa must routinely cope with pronounced production and consumption volatility in their primary food staple. Typical policy responses include increased food aid flows, government commercial imports and stock releases, and tight controls on private sector trade. This paper examines recent evidence from Zambia, using a simple economic model to assess the likely impact of maize production shocks on the domestic maize price and on staple food consumption under alternative policy regimes. In addition to an array of public policy instruments, the analysis evaluates the impact of two key private sector responses in moderating food consumption volatility – private cross-border maize trade and consumer substitution of an alternate food staple (cassava) for maize. The analysis suggests that, given a favorable policy environment, private imports and increased cassava consumption together could fill roughly two-thirds of the maize consumption shortfall facing vulnerable households during drought years.

Survey of Private Sector Trade Credit Developments

In response to the dearth of information on trade finance, the Fund has undertaken a survey of major advanced country and emerging market banks. The results suggest that the cost of trade finance is rising globally, but that provision is falling in emerging markets while staying stable in advanced countries, possibly reflecting structural differences in markets.

Explaining Local Unions’ Responses to Globalization

Twenty-two private sector trade union locals in the manufacturing, service and technology sectors in Canada were surveyed by telephone in 2002/2003. The objective was to determine union locals’ understanding of the impact globalization was having on their operations, and to identify the contextual factors affecting their responses. The data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The locals associated globalization with plant closures, reduced production, and the elimination of or transfer of jobs and equipment out of the country. Seventeen of the locals reported being affected to a moderate to high degree. Their main responses were lobbying, educating members and the public, and organizing. The important contextual factors identified included local size, industry sector, levels of support available to and accessed by the locals, and the perceived need for and ability to adapt successfully to change.

Recent Satire and Criticism in Cuban Film

Artistic expression often provides a narrow window of criticism to which some governments of the left and the right may object. Cuba's film institute (ICAIC) has been at the vanguard of creating films that overtly herald the accomplishments of the socialist revolution as well as satirize some of its failings. The release of Fresasj Chocolate in 1993 by the late Tomas Guiterrez Alea (known as the Titan') set the stage in recent years for some humorous yet salient criticisms of the Cuban government during the so-called Special Period in a Time of Peace. That work was followed by the comedy, Guantanamera, a spoof that mocks the bloated bureaucracy and inability to make decisions a the local level (while transporting the cadaver of a Cuban-American woman who returns to her beloved Guantanamo Province, only to die in the eady moments of the movie, and whose body must be transported across provincial lines to be sent back home). In recent years, two new releases have been added to this period of self-reflection: one is of a more serious nature {Suite Habana, with official ICAIC approval) while the other is a roaring comedy that has circulated clandestinely throughout the island, North America, and Europe (Monte Rouge). Unfortunately, neither one is yet available with English subtitles. Not to worry: Suite Habana has no dialogue and Monte Rouge is short enough (15 minutes) to allow for brief, simultaneous translation. Suite Habana is shot in a day-in-the-life genre of about twelve individuals and households in the Cuban capital. The camera moves easily among these individuals and captures only incidental or ambient dialogue; there is no script in the movie. An array of seemingly benign and 'average' citizens are the focus of the film: a rail yard mechanic who plays his saxophone in his church in the evening; an elderiy pensioner who sells peanuts while her husband ? seemingly suffering from dementia?sits aimlessly in front of the TV watching state news and broadcasts; a hospital worker who toils in the laundry by day and performs as a drag queen by night; a young male carpenter who also dances brilliandy with the national ballet company; a family consisting of a young boy with Down's syndrome who is being raised by his widowed father and grandmother; and others. The simplicity of this film is its dominant allure. The producer underscores the common bonds of individuals, both in Cuba and abroad, who in similar fashion move through the daily drudgery of work only to cherish those few precious moments at home with family and friends. The political messages are subde but evident. A physician who spends his daytime inspecting the food quality at an air-catering enterprise near the international airport moonlights as a clown at private parties (a private-sector trade since outlawed). One man awakes on his last day on the island as he prepares to head into exile: he savors his last moments in his home, garden, and farewell with his family. The banal and daily become extraordinary and exotic. At the movie's end, the camera freezes on the individuals we have watched living in Havana and subtexts appear below their images. Each caption identifies their profes sion (which we gather during the previous hours) and states their 'dreams.' This is a simple yet powerful technique even though the audience does not know whether the producer invented these dreams or whether they are truly the protagonists' aspirations (as a docu

Partnership and the Future of Trade Unions in the UK

An innovatory approach to the reform of workplace industrial relations in the UK, often labelled `partnership', has been advocated by many as the most likely means of reversing private sector trade union decline. The article analyses the implications and meanings of the approach for UK trade unions and assesses the arguments of supporters and critics. Pointing to the central importance of legislative intervention, the article suggests that while an opportunity for radical change may be available, there is no guarantee that it will be seized.

Private Sector Trade Politics in Mexico

Business plays a critical yet poorly understood role in trade policymaking. This paper develops an analytical framework that focuses on the distribution of business trade preferences, the forces that cause those preferences to change, and the ability of different groups to exert political influence over policy. It then applies this framework to Mexico in the 1980s and 1990s. Large, exporting firms increased their weight due to shifts in the international context, the condition of the domestic economy, and previous government policies. Policymakers granted political access to actors whose economic and political leverage had risen, typically those who controlled numerous investment resources and sought out a direct role in policymaking. Many of these actors also favored free trade. Business participation in trade policy reflects these patterns. Large, outward-oriented firms played an increasingly important role in Mexico's adoption of free trade policies over the 1980s and early 1990s.

Japan's Different Trade Regime: An Analysis with Particular Reference to Keiretsu

Many claim that although formal trade barriers have been removed at the border, Japanese markets remain unusually closed because of non-tariff barriers. After describing Japan's development strategy and the debate over the sources of Japanese growth, we consider current trade barriers. Recent research has made some headway investigating the impact of one of the alleged “invisible” barriers. In particular, efforts have been made to test if the behavior of Japanese corporate groups, known as keiretsu, creates a barrier to trade. Finally we consider whether private sector trade restrictions warrant a public response; what, if anything, should be done about keiretsu?