Trade Liberalization Process Research Articles

A sectoral analysis of a developing country's exports in the context of trade integration: Evidence from Colombia

The research delves into the effectiveness of Colombia's trade liberalisation process in boosting its exports at the industrial level. Based on an empirical workhorse approach to international trade, the gravity model, we evaluate the effect of trade openness on Colombian exports at the industrial level following the SITC4 categorisation. For this purpose, panel data on Colombian exports to all its trading partners between 2007 and 2020 were used. The results establish that Colombia's trade openness has boosted the exports of most of its industries, except for exports of the mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials group, which is a group of goods that represents the country's largest exports. Furthermore, the research also confirms the prominent impact of labour productivity in boosting Colombian exports of most product groups. Consequently, Colombian policymakers should support a re-composition of the Colombian export basket in order to take proper advantage of trade integration formulas, within a global energy transition framework.

The Legal Root and Breakthrough of China's Green Trade Barrier in the Post-epidemic Era

The process of trade liberalization has been advancing in the context of economic globalization, and the technological field has also continued to develop. As a result, the development of trade will inevitably have a certain adverse impact on the environment. At the same time, people's demand for green consumption is increasing, which has led to the deepening of the impact of trade liberalization and environmental protection. In addition, the ravages of the COVID-19 epidemic in the past three years have made the contradictions more acute, green trade barriers have developed, and some countries have successively and continuously adopted different degrees of restrictive green trade measures for China's personnel and goods. Therefore, this paper aims to use legal normative analysis to study how to break through China's green trade barriers in the post-epidemic era. this paper also aims to use this to improve the relevant legal system in China and look for commonalities from the "Belt and Road". Meanwhileactively explore solutions and solutions are also important. In this way, the implementation of trade barriers and special trade freedom and environmental protection measures during the epidemic will be balanced. Finally, it provides suggestions for breaking through green trade barriers and improving relevant domestic legal systems in China's post-epidemic era.

What is neoliberalism really? A global analysis of its real-world consequences for development, inequality, and democracy

The notion that the world has been witnessing a profound neoliberal transformation since around the 1980s onward is widely accepted in many parts of social science and the humanities. Moreover, the overarching impression is that this transformation has mostly been regrettable in economic, political, and other social terms. At the same time, careful interdisciplinary research recently uncovered that neoliberalism has been notoriously hard to define. Based on that research, this article first clarifies the conceptual confusion surrounding neoliberalism and presents a broad, synthetic institutions-based working definition of it that captures its typical contemporary usages. The article then asks if a systematic empirical assessment of neoliberalism’s social impact over the past decades across the world is even possible. It suggests it is by empirically operationalizing neoliberalism in three distinct, yet potentially overlapping, ways that appear in the literature: first, as a broad set of economic institutions measured by economic freedom indexes; second, as the process of international trade liberalization (itself proxied by import shocks); and third, as shock-therapy type institutional reforms in (parts of) post-communist Europe. Synthesizing the findings of the existing vast research literature, the main conclusion of the article is that neoliberalism’s social impact has been more nuanced than suggested by prevailing discourse.

The Impact of Trade Openness on Economic Stability in Asian Countries

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nexus between trade openness and three aspects of macroeconomic stability, including growth stability, inflation stability, and exchange rate stability, in 20 Asian countries from 2011 to 2019. The empirical analysis was carried out with the help of the autoregressive distributed lag (ADRL) model to examine the impact of trade openness on economic stability. Our results revealed that trade openness was negatively associated with the growth stability of the countries located in the Asian region, while the opposite was true for exchange rate stability in the short run. There was, however, no relation between trade openness and inflation stability, which requires further investigation. In addition to contributing new empirical evidence to academic literature, our study expects to have important implications for policymakers. In particular, Asian countries are recommended to speed up the process of trade liberalisation to accelerate long-run economic growth and exchange rate stability.

Forest Transition and Fuzzy Environments in Neoliberal Mexico

Although deforestation remains a continuing threat to both the natural world and its resident human populations, a countervailing land cover dynamic has been observed in many nations. This process of landscape turnaround, the so-called forest transition, holds the potential of regenerating ecosystem services by sparing land from agricultural activities and abandoning it to forest succession. Here, we present a case study of a long-term process of forest transition that is ongoing in the Patzcuaro watershed of the state of Michoacán, Mexico. The research to be discussed comprises a remote sensing analysis designed to (1) capture the land cover impacts of a multidecadal process of trade liberalization (1996–2018); (2) ascertain the role that land tenure plays in land use dynamics affecting forest cover, and (3) resolve forest cover types into native forest, secondary vegetation, and “commodity” covers of fruit trees, in this case, avocado. Mexico presents a useful case for addressing these three design elements. Our analysis, undertaken for both private property and collective modes of resource management in five communities, reveals a forest transition annualized at 20 ha-yr−1, or a gain of eight percent for the period. This translates into a relative rate of forest transition of 0.39%-yr−1 which is three times faster than what is occurring in the temperate biome on a national scale (0.07%-yr−1). Most of the forest transition is occurring on private holdings and stems from field abandonment as farming systems intensify production with avocado plantations and cow–calf operations. As this study demonstrates, forest transitions are not occurring ubiquitously across nations but instead are highly localized occurrences driven by a myriad of distal and proximate factors involving disparate sets of stakeholders. Consequently, policy makers who are keen to expand forest transitions to fulfill their national climate action commitments under the Paris Agreement must first promote research into the complexity of landscapes and drivers of land change at regional and local scales.

The process of trade liberalization based on the Trans-Pacific Partnership: concept and implementation

The process of trade liberalization based on the Trans-Pacific Partnership: concept and implementation

All‐around trade liberalization and firm‐level employment: Theory and evidence from China

AbstractChinese firms faced an all‐around trade liberalization process during the early 2000s: lower barriers from other countries on Chinese goods, and lower Chinese barriers on other countries' goods and inputs. This paper disentangles the effects of each type of trade liberalization on Chinese firm‐level employment. We find that reductions in Chinese and foreign final‐good tariffs are associated with job destruction in low and mid‐low productivity firms and job creation in high‐productivity firms. Chinese final‐good trade liberalization produces the largest firm‐level employment responses, whereas the employment effects of Chinese input‐trade liberalization are limited to job destruction in the least productive firms.

Melting pot or salad bowl: Cultural effects on industrial similarity during trade liberalization

This paper examines the impact of culture on the industrial similarity between two adjacent counties during the process of trade liberalization between 1998 and 2007. The findings show that trade accelerates the industrial similarities between counties. The evolution of similarity is unequal between regions and over time, as industries in neighboring counties that belong to different dialect regions become more similar than industries within the same dialect region. The rise in industrial similarity is being fueled by the emergence of high-skill-intensive businesses as a result of trade-related technology spillovers. Adjacent counties of different dialects have greater skill endowments, which facilitate information transfer.

Empirical Analysis of the Relationship Between Trade Openness and Economic Growth: The Case of Eastern European Countries

Geçtiğimiz yüzyılın en çarpıcı ekonomik ve siyasal olaylarından biri olan SSCB’nin dağılmasıyla, birlikten ayrılan ve merkezi planlamacı ekonomi anlayışına sahip olan Doğu Avrupa ülkeleri daha önce tecrübe etmedikleri serbest piyasa ekonomisine geçmiştirler. Bu siyasi ve iktisadi değişimle birlikte Doğu Avrupa ülkeleri, aynı dönemde küreselleşme akımlarının etkisi altında kalarak ticari liberalizasyon süreçleri ile karşılaşarak ticari dışa açık bir yapıya sahip olmuşturlar. Bu çalışmanın amacı seçili 10 Doğu Avrupa ülkesinde ticari dışa açıklık ile ekonomik büyüme arasındaki ilişkiyi 1995-2020 dönemi boyunca analiz etmektedir. Yapılan zaman serisi analizi sonucuna göre, 3 ülkede (Letonya, Litvanya, Slovakya) ticari dışa açıklık ve ekonomik büyüme arasında uzun dönem ilişkisi tespit edilmiştir. Panel veri analizi sonuçlarına göre, ticari açıklık ve ekonomik büyüme arasında herhangi bir ilişki tespit edilememiştir.

Arresting the Opposition: Labor Repression and Trade Liberalization in Developing Countries

AbstractAt the turn of the twenty-first century, why did country after country in the developing world open their economies to the global market? This paper argues that increases in democracy were more likely to lead to trade liberalization when governments violated workers’ basic rights to act collectively. Democracy empowered pro-trade domestic groups and therefore had the potential to lead to trade liberalization, but respect for labor rights empowered protectionist labor unions to launch protests and strikes that hampered such reforms. This paper supports these arguments with a multimethod approach that combines quantitative analysis of data from 126 developing countries from 1985 to 2010 with qualitative case studies of Argentina and Mexico. In general, the empirical evidence suggests that democracy and labor repression often worked together to facilitate the process of trade liberalization in developing countries.

SAARC: An Evaluation of liberal economic Order in South Asia

SAARC was established in 1985 in the aim to cooperation and economic growth among South Asian countries. The term economic liberal order is greatly proficient in regional trading partnerships than the global level. In South Asia, it was introduced through SAARC, because it is one of the main goals to promote trade among south Asian countries especially between India and Pakistan. This study will evaluate the efficiency of SAARC and Pakistan-India trade relations under the SAFTA regime. It will also highlight the trade liberalization procedure in the South Asia. Without trade liberalization, Regional integration is impossible where SAARC is working on the program of financial combination. This study shows that power asymmetries in SAARC have slowed down the trade liberalization process. India needs to rethink its role in SAARC as it has often complicated the trade process on the SAARC platform by creating hard and soft power. Though, this study deals to understanding the relationship among regional mixing and the liberal economic order under SAARC in South Asia.

Trade Liberalization Process and Its Impact on Agriculture Sector in Nepal

This study examines the process of Nepal's trade liberalization and its impact on Nepalese agriculture sector. It explains and analyzes the various economic policy reforms undertaken in Nepal including trade, fiscal, industrial, and financial reforms; and explains how these reforms supplemented one another to promote trade liberalization. It is descriptive and analytical study. Simple descriptive statistical tools were used to analyze the impact of trade liberalization on agriculture sector in Nepal. The study finds that trade liberalization has not caused any significant changes in the position of Nepalese agriculture sector. It means a condition of Nepalese agriculture has not been improved and it is being deteriorated. Similarly, export/import ratio has been further decreased continuously after trade liberalization implying that power of export of agro product to purchase import of agro product is continuously diminishing. Similarly, there is continuous trade deficit in food item and live animal after trade liberalization. Role of agriculture in the economy has been decreased. It has increased the dependency on foreign agricultural products.

An empirical analysis of Colombia's trade liberalization process and its effect on the equilibrium of its structural trade deficit

AbstractThis article examines the extent to which Colombia's trade liberalization, as a government strategy to boost its exports, has helped to balance its structural trade deficit. Based on the trade gravity model theory, we derive two‐way specifications (Colombian exports and imports) in order to analyze bilateral trade flows (fuels and non‐fuels) between Colombia and 136 countries from 2005 to 2018. Additionally, we compare the real export performance of Colombia with its main partners through the trade potential index (TPI), to assess the effect of Colombia's openness on bilateral trade. The econometric approach indicates that the free trade agreement (FTA) factor has a negative net effect on Colombia's exports and a positive net impact on Colombia's imports. Finally, the TPI analysis allows us to infer that although there is an evolution towards the intensification of Colombian trade, this trend is greater in imports than in exports, which suggests a deepening of the Colombian trade deficit.

Book Review: Hideyuki Miura, The Political Economy of Agricultural Trade Negotiation: The Policy-Making Process of Trade Liberalization (in Japanese)

Book Review: Hideyuki Miura, <i>The Political Economy of Agricultural Trade Negotiation: The Policy-Making Process of Trade Liberalization</i> (in Japanese)

Перспективы и место ВРЭП в системе мегарегиональных торговых блоков

The article analyzes the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in terms of agreements reached and effects on the international trade system. Having involved the issues of tariff protection, rules of origin, TBT and SPS barriers in trade, investments, dispute settlement mechanism, and other regulation RCEP has an impact on both megaregionalism and international political economy system. In addition to the system level, the article examines the influence that this FTA will have on Russia and comparative market access conditions for Russian exporters in the RCEP countries. In comparison with other mega-regional trade arrangements such as TTP, RCEP provides for a more flexible approach to the commitments of the RCEP countries. Alongside the fact that each participating state has individual tariff elimination schedules with prolonged transition period for some products, such countries as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, China, Philippines, and Korea set differentiated tariff elimination schedules for certain participating states. Overall, the significance of RCEP is based upon two levels. First, this allowed to form a FTA that is of key importance for Southeast and East Asia, especially China, Japan, and Korea, which may be the basis for deeper integration. Second, RCEP is a case for megaregionalism revival against economic nationalism that seemed to be on the rise. Importantly, RCEP has non-western countries at its core, which puts the entire Asia to the fore of trade liberalization process. As for Russia, it is essential to secure the potential export niches, products, and services so to go up the value chain as well as to be cautious about potential surge in imports that may happen.

Relations between Brazil and Spain under the Bolsonaro’s government

In this article the author examines in detail the bilateral relations between Spain and Brazil during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. In addition, the subject of this article is the opposition of EU governments to the environmental policies of the South American country and the disastrous policies of the Brazilian authorities in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. President Bolsonaro’s negligence of climate change and Amazon deforestation has prompted European governments to openly oppose the ratification of the Mercosur – EU Free Trade Agreement, which was signed in 2019 after 20 years of negotiations. In May 2016, the parties agreed on reciprocal terms, resulting in signing of the agreement. It also included the exchange of goods and services, essential investments and public procurements. All this was done in the context of a global policy of protectionism amid a weakening role of the WTO as a supporter of the trade liberalization process. Despite its success, countries such as France, Austria and the Netherlands stand against the Mercosur – EU trade deal, which can halt its ratification. The Spanish government, on the contrary, is lobbying for ratification of the agreement. Madrid, interested in benefiting from the Bolsonaro government’s liberal economic policies, maintains strong ties with its South American partner. The author analyzes the transformation of Spain from a relatively irrelevant partner of Brazil in the 20th century to one of the main investors directing significant resources to the Brazilian economy. We also assess the results and challenges of the Brazil – Spain strategic partnership in a broader context of the Brazil – EU relations.

Is Trade Openness Relevant in Reducing Food Deficit? Evidence from African Countries

Food deficit is one of the main problems of the developing countries which could be attributed to different factors. This study highlights the role of trade openness in eradicating food deficit in Sub Saharan African countries. The estimation techniques employed are capable to control the unobserved heterogeneity and endogeneity problems. The findings show that increased trade openness, agricultural production and population growth have negatively influenced the food deficit problem. Similarly, inflation and domestic investment also appeared to be helpful in curbing the problem of food deficit. Furthermore, per person income and political stability have worsened the food deficit problem, while government consumption has not had any significant impact on food deficit.It is suggested that the African economies shall speed up the process of trade liberalization, pay favorable attention to the agricultural sector and domestic investment in the presence of moderate inflation to eradicate food deficit.

The Economics of China’s Opening Up: Developing an Economic Theory That Explains China’s Achievement

Research on the construction of a theory for China’s open economy should break through the limitations of mainstream Western international economics. Firstly, we need to reveal the laws revolving around “three relationships and six threads” that governed China’s incremental process of trade liberalization. Secondly, we need to summarize China’s experience of the way new technologies, including the Internet, digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) have fostered and reshaped the position of small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) as micro-actors, providing us with new advantages in international competition. Thirdly, we need to analyze the new win-win mode of the international division of labor over land and sea established under the guidelines of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as well as a new concept of pluralist balance in the international economy marked by a close connection between trade surplus and foreign investment. Fourthly, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s important discourses, we should offer a rationale for the Chinese scheme of global economy governance within the community of shared future for mankind.

The Call for Bilateral/Regional Trade Agreements and the Salient Features of the Anti-Dumping &amp;amp; Countervailing Duties Act, No. 2 of 2018 of Sri Lanka

The Call for Bilateral/Regional Trade Agreements and the Salient Features of the Anti-Dumping &amp;amp; Countervailing Duties Act, No. 2 of 2018 of Sri Lanka

MIURA Hideyuki, The Political Economy of Agricultural Trade Negotiation: The Policy-Making Process of Trade Liberalization

MIURA Hideyuki, <i>The Political Economy of Agricultural Trade Negotiation: The Policy-Making Process of Trade Liberalization</i>