Trade Promotion Research Articles

Gender Equality and Trade Policy

International trade interacts with gender equality in different ways. Its impact is not neutral. The different impacts of international trade upon them are conditioned by the distinct roles of women and men in economic activity. Recognizing the socio-economic gaps between both sexes, the most recent trade policies include gender provisions as a means to promote the economic empowerment of women. In some cases, gender-specific provisions are included in agreements to promote equality, and there are also initiatives to mainstream a gender perspective into general trade rules, and into support instruments for the export sector. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) has been a pioneer in including gender issues into its agenda. A stand-alone chapter on gender and trade in a bilateral trade agreement was included first in the 2016 free-trade agreement between Chile and Uruguay. Another milestone was the Joint Declaration on Gender and Trade, endorsed by 118 countries in the context of the 11th Ministerial Conference of the WTO in December 2017. At the firm level, trade policy in Latin America and the Caribbean has been developing gender initiatives to further women's export entrepreneurship. Future actions on gender and trade can be implemented in three different areas: generation of data disaggregated by sex; development of gender-specific trade policies at the national, bilateral and multilateral levels; and promotion of women's export entrepreneurship, where trade promotion agencies (TPOs) play a key role.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ МЕДІАЦІЇ В КИТАЇ

The article examines the institute of mediation in the People's Republic of China. The reasons for the widespread mediation procedure in China are outlined. The influence of Confucian ethics and Taoist practice on the mediation procedure in China is analyzed, its constituent elements are determined. The organizational and legal bases of functioning of mediation in the given country are investigated, the legal status of mediators in labor disputes, national conciliation commissions, national mediators is outlined. The main normative legal acts of the People's Republic of China regulating the mediation procedure are analyzed. Types of mediation in China are identified: mediation in labor disputes, public mediation, judicial mediation, administrative mediation, legal mediation, commercial mediation. The peculiarities of the mediation procedure, the defining principles of mediation, the rights and obligations of the parties, the role of the mediator in the dispute resolution procedure are described. The types of judicial mediation and the main ways of interaction of courts with mediation organizations are indicated. The main mediation organizations in China (Mediation Center of the China Council for International Trade Promotion, Hong Kong Mediation and Mediation Center) are considered. The peculiarities of concluding and executing agreements based on the results of mediation, the possibility of approving the agreement by the people's court are studied. The role of the Singapore Convention in the development of the institution of mediation in China is determined. The main online mediation platforms are analyzed, the current number of mediation organizations and mediators in China is determined. Prospective directions of improving the institution of mediation in China are proposed, in particular, reorientation of emphasis during the mediation procedure on the rights and interests of the parties, professionalization of mediation, facilitation of cooperation between courts and mediation organizations, improvement of mediation legislation, further active introduction of modern technologies.

The Politics and Outcomes of Preferential Trade Strategies: Evidence from TRIPS-Plus Provisions in US-Latin America Relations

This article investigates the circumstances under which the agenda of intellectual property rights (IPRs) influences the decision of states to pursue preferential trade agreements (PTAs). Governments are often prone to negotiate PTAs due to distinctive pressures from IPR-intensive industries to disseminate TRIPS-Plus standards, which are particularly willing to capitalize on the advantages of preferential arrangements. To illustrate this argument, we examine the processes around the expansion of IPR provisions in the PTAs signed by the United States with Latin American countries, as enabled by the Trade Promotion Authority Act of 2002. We find that, while broad variations of TRIPS-Plus standards emerged across these PTAs, both governments and private sector tend to perceive gains from this setup, since PTAs are unlikely to undermine the IPR standards achieved by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter ‘TRIPS Agreement’), but still provide opportunity for the promotion of higher IPR standards in each individual market.

Trade promotion policies in manufacturer-retailer supply chains

This study considers a manufacturer-retailer supply chain in which the manufacturer provides trade promotions the retailer. We compare with four trade promotions (off-invoice, scan-back, unsold-discount and target rebate). Consider the linear price sensitive and uncertain demand, the results indicate that both manufacturer and retailer benefit from the unsold-discount policy; only manufacturer benefits from the target rebate policy. However, target rebate can benefit both manufacturer and retailer when the wholesale price is determined within the appropriate range of an agreement. Consider the price-elasticity and uncertain demand, both manufacturer and retailer can only benefit from the target rebate policy.

Pricing and Ordering under Trade Promotion, Brand Competition and Demand Uncertainty

In practice,many manufacturers offer trade promotion to retailers to induce demand. It is also common for a retailer to sell products from competing manufacturers. This paper considers a two-echelon supply chain where two manufacturers provide a trade promotion to a retailer and the retailer faces uncertain and price-dependent demand.In the model, the manufacturers determine wholesale prices and the retailer determines retail price and order quantity to maximize their own profits. An algorithm based on nonlinear optimization is provided to solve the problem. We compare three trade promotions under brand competition: off-invoice, scan-back and buy-back policies, and discuss the effects of trade promotions on decisions and profits.The results indicate that the manufacturers and retailer prefer the buy-back policy over the off-invoice and scan-back policies. The retailer’s profit will increase and the manufacturers’ profits will decrease as the brand substitution effect increases. Also, the manufacturers will raise their wholesale prices but the retailer will reduce the retail price and order quantity when the brand substitution rate increases.

The Importance of Trade Promotion Versus Advertising in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry*

This study investigates the effects of marketing expenditures on firm performance in the very active and competitive consumer packaged goods industry. Even though the marketing expenditures run into billions of dollars annually, the practices themselves are very debatable. Currently, empirical literature in this field is limited because direct data is not available to the public. This research advances the literature in important ways. Not only has it used the actual dollar value of marketing expenditures, but also it has divided the marketing spending into two categories, trade promotions as push strategy and advertising as pull strategy. This study also employs the quantile regression method, which is suitable in analyzing the heterogeneity in the consumer packaged goods industry. The results show that marketing expenditures, such as trade promotions and advertising, are positively related to net sales in the consumer packaged goods industry.

Bridging Iranian Exporters with Foreign Markets: Does Diaspora Matter?

After matching a rich micro-level Iranian customs dataset with a macro-level cross-country database on Iranian diaspora stocks, we establish that diaspora matters for dynamics of Iranian exporters. We document the extent to which Iranian emigrants foster exports through both intensive and extensive margins at the micro-level. We show that destinations with more emigrants from Iran attract more Iranian exporters and allow them to survive longer and grow faster. One plausible explanation is that the diaspora channel reduces the fixed cost of exporting that Iranian exporters incur to enter a destination, those related to creating distribution channels, and those associated with learning about market demand. Our results add firm-level insight to the burgeoning literature on the channels through which emigration could impact economic integration. As Iran is now trying to integrate more with the global economy, these results suggest that Iranian embassies across the world have a role to play in bridging the gap between Iranian diaspora and exporters through trade promotion exhibitions and workshops to encourage greater trade between Iran and the rest of the world.

THE UNITED NATIONS CONVENTION ON THE USE OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS IN INTERNATIONAL CONTRACTS AT TEN: PRACTICAL RELEVANCE AND LESSONS LEARNED

The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law prepared the first global treaty specifically devoted to electronic commerce law, the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts. That treaty builds on the highly successful UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce and the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Signatures. This article describes the main goals of the Electronic Communications Convention and its scope of application. In particular, it illustrates how that Convention may fully enable the use of electronic means under other widely adopted treaties such as the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The article also describes the main substantive provisions of the Electronic Communications Convention, in particular clarifying how that Convention updates and completes the provisions of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Commerce. This Model Law is the backbone of electronic commerce law in numerous countries and a de facto legislative standard insouthern Africa. Finally, the article describes the manner (or patterns) in which the adoption of the Electronic Communications Convention takes place. It stresses that, while the Convention is often used as a source of inspiration for domestic law reform, in order for it to achieve all its intended goals, its formal adoption as a treaty is necessary. The final message is therefore a call upon all states to consider the adoption of that Convention in order to support the broader use of electronic means, especially in the light of the implications for economic development and the promotion of paperless trade.

Mit Delegationsreisen Neuland betreten: Befunde und Reflexionen zu einer etablierten Praxis der Außenwirtschaftsförderung aus Bayern und China

Zusammenfassung: Standortagenturen wie Bayern International und Invest in Bavaria organisieren regelmäßig Delegationsreisen, um mittelständischen Unternehmen den Zugang zu Marktwissen und neuen Geschäftskontakten im Ausland zu ermöglichen. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt vor dem Hintergrund umfassender qualitativer Erhebungen, u. a. im Rahmen neun solcher state visits des Bayerischen Wirtschaftsministeriums in China, vertiefte Einblicke in diese etablierte, jedoch wissenschaftlich wenig beforschte Praxis der Außenwirtschaftsförderung. Die gewonnen Erkenntnisse legen eine Reihe von feingliedrigen und machtvollen Prozessen vor und hinter den Kulissen von Delegationsreisen offen. In konzeptioneller Hinsicht knüpft der Beitrag an jüngere Arbeiten der wirtschaftsgeographischen Wissensforschung an und ordnet Delegationsreisen in bestehende Systematisierungen von temporären Clustern als Plattformen des inter-organisationalen Wissenstransfers ein.

Development Traps and Escaping Development Traps: What Can We Learn from Freedom of Information Laws?

ABSTRACTIn this talk, I discuss my previous research on the relationship between political competition and the passage of Freedom of Information (FOI) laws. In this previous work, using data on Mexican states, I find that political competition is an important determinant of the speed of passage of FOI laws. I then discuss a larger research project that examines all FOI requests made to the Mexican national government and investigate descriptive statistics related to ProMéxico, Mexico’s trade promotion agency. I conclude by arguing that FOI laws should be employed more frequently in the study of international trade.

Diffusion Through Issue Linkage: Environmental Norms in US Trade Agreements

How do environmental norms and policies diffuse across borders? In this article, we argue that preferential trade agreements (PTAs) can play an important role in this process. Specifically, we argue that the US has long used PTAs as mechanisms to diffuse such norms, and show this through an empirical examination of three US PTAs, each from a distinct phase of US trade policy. We demonstrate how the US used the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement as vehicles to diffuse norms of (1) public participation in environmental policy-making, and (2) effective enforcement of environmental laws to trading partner nations. In doing so, we both illuminate a new mechanism of environmental norm diffusion and demonstrate the importance of this mechanism in changing environmental policy and practice across borders.

Intensity and Pattern of Border Trade in India’s Northeast

Besides Look East policy, various regional and subregional initiatives by Indian government are expected to help the promotion of trade for strategically located northeastern states. However, the pattern of formal trade with the bordering nations has not been observed to be favourable for all the states of India’s northeast. An attempt has been made in this study to examine the land custom station-wise and northeastern state-wise pattern and volume of trade with the bordering nations.

Increasing the Host State's Regulatory Flexibility Under FTA Investment Chapters: US Approaches Under NAFTA, the AUSFTA and the TPP

Building on the negotiation of U.S. bilateral investment treaties beginning in the early 1980s, U.S. free trade agreements incorporating specific host-state obligations to foreign investors and binding investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) have been a feature of U.S. trade and investment policy since 1992 (when the NAFTA negotiations were concluded). Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama have all endorsed ISDS, despite opposition by many Democratic legislators, organized labor and environmental groups. Yet the content of these investment chapters shows a significant evolution from NAFTA to the Australia — United States FTA (AUSFTA) (with investor protection but without ISDS), the United States — Chile FTA and the Singapore — United States FTA (2003) to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) (2015). The changes have been driven largely by the concerns of civil society and government officials over the dozens of NAFTA investment claims filed against the NAFTA Parties. They also reflect the perceived need for the United States and other host governments to maintain a higher level of regulatory flexibility and discretion, particularly in such areas as protecting the environment and maintaining public health. The United States’ Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) legislation enacted in 2002 and 2015 also mirrors these post-NAFTA changes. The newest iteration of the mechanism (Chapter 9 of the TPP) thus affords host governments far more regulatory discretion than earlier agreements such as NAFTA, along with increased transparency, making it more difficult for foreign investors to prevail against host governments with claims of denial of “fair and equitable treatment” and “regulatory takings.” The evolution of U.S. sponsored investment protection provisions into a significantly more host government friendly, regulatory friendly, process, is the principal theme of this paper.

Export programs and SME market choice: evidence from North West England

Exporting, despite its potential for fostering increased overall sales, presents substantial obstacles for firms when compared to serving domestic or spatially proximate markets. Some of these problems center on accessing market information and selecting export destinations. Such challenges become even more demanding for small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), given their resource constraints and in many cases, relative inexperience with global markets. Export promotion programs are a way by which firms can potentially explore new markets. If firms take part in such programs, how do they access global markets and with which countries do they choose to engage? This research note examines the results of a recent export promotion program for SMEs located in North West England. It explores how firms utilized this program and more importantly, it explores market choice for firms participating in two types of direct buyer interaction: onsite visits and trade fair attendance. The results suggest that firms, even in light of trade promotion assistance, often choose to explore proximate or similar markets.

Public Opinion Distribution and Party Competition in US Trade Policy

AbstractMass public opinion has generally been presumed to have little or no impact on American trade policy. I argue against this presumption. I assert that mass public opinion significantly affects US trade policy by shaping the way the two parties compete over that trade policy. When public opinion is unbalanced, the competition between the parties is likely to resemble a bidding war. When public opinion is balanced but split in a partisan manner the competition is likely to descend into Manichean conflict. When public opinion is balanced but split in a non‐partisan manner, the competition is likely to be characterised by political actors seeking to maintain the support of their core constituencies. To examine this relationship, I investigate three cases: the push to punish China over Tiananmen Square in 1989–90, the ratification of NAFTA in 1992–93 and the process through which President Bush was granted trade promotion authority in 2001–02.

Problems in Japan’s governance system related to end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment trade

Recyclable materials can potentially be either resources or pollutants, and this is especially the case with end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EoL EEE). We often experience difficulties in assessing whether EoL EEE trade should be promoted or regulated. This study looks to determine the level of consistency among the components of Japan’s governance system related to EoL EEE trade.As a result, we found that the conceptual direction is to accept or promote trade on the condition that such trade does not in turn promote environmental pollution. However, we also found that at the present time, the governance system within Japan that defines various procedures in support of this direction is not keeping pace with this concept. The prevention of illegal exportation without disturbing the promotion of recyclable-resource trade predicated by the prevention of environmental pollution should be addressed as the most crucial issue here. Especially, the decision-making criteria for the relevance of the legal “waste” definition pose an institutional problem, when the material that may have a positive market value when recycled abroad, while not when recycled domestically.We estimated the value of EoL EEE, both for the case of domestic recycling and for that exported to and recycled in China and found that only PHS terminals and cellular phones could be economically recycled in Japan. One effective solution for prevention of improper exports is to make recyclable resources legal “waste,” when they bear a net negative value fall under the condition of being processed domestically based on the estimated value.

U.S. Trade Preferences Extension Act (TPEA) of 2015 Could Lead to Increased Use of “Particular Market Situation” in Calculating Normal Value in Anti-Dumping Cases

At the end of 2016, China’s Protocol of Accession (POA) to the World Trade Organization (WTO) will require a change in the way WTO members calculate normal value in anti-dumping (AD) proceedings involving China.1 Although no organ of the U.S. government has officially acknowledged that Paragraph 15 of China’s POA will require the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC) to abandon its current non-market economy (NME) surrogate value method for calculating normal value for Chinese respondents post-2016, there is no question that some change in practice must take place in order to comply with the expiration of a key provision of that Paragraph that occurs effective December 12, 2016. Ultimately, it is quite possible that the WTO Dispute Settlement Body (DSB) will interpret the provision as requiring that members subject China to the “default” rules set forth in Article 2 of the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement (ADA). What remains a mystery, however, is just what those default rules permit in terms of the flexibility afforded to investigating authorities in dealing with economies like China, where the state’s role in the economy remains pervasive, even if to a lesser degree than it was in the past. It will also be interesting to watch how these new rules might be applied to traditionally market economies (MEs) whose governments, although not formerly communist, may be sufficiently involved in a particular market to also justify application of Article 2 in a manner that, to date, has not been widely adopted by USDOC or any other investigating authorities. These inquiries are not merely the idle musings of the authors, but draw on action already taken by the U.S. Congress and the European Commission. In amendments to its AD laws, known as the Trade Preferences Extension Act (TPEA), passed during the summer of 2015 as part of granting the Obama Administration Trade Promotion Authority,2 the U.S. Congress added language that expands USDOC’s discretion to treat certain transactions as outside the ordinary course of trade (OCOT). Although no legislative history accompanied these amendments, they appear, at least in part, tailored to a post-NME normal value calculation paradigm, in which a respondent’s costs can be disregarded and replaced with an alternative that may well approximate the NME methodology that China hoped would be eliminated as a result Article 15 of its POA. Meanwhile, the European Commission has adopted a practice that uses similar tools—so far only for MEs—where a respondent’s transactions are deemed outside the OCOT. Together, the new U.S. law and recent European action both suggest a movement toward more flexible rejection of AD respondents’ own data and replacement with data that look eerily similar to NME surrogate methodologies—for respondents in any country. But, stay tuned, as these efforts are currently under WTO review, and one dispute settlement panel has indicated that Europe’s practice may have gone too far.

Increasing Financial Health Stability Of Logistics Companies: A Thailand Case

The purposes of this paper are 1) to develop model of long term financial health for logistics companies in Thailand 2) to identify factors that determine long term financial stability. Many researchers currently provide factors affecting financial health. Most factors refer to financial ratios, not many non-financial ratios such as age and size have been mentioned. This paper considers both financial and non-financial ratios that affect financial performance of Logistics companies in Thailand. The study has covered some interesting non-financial ratios such as Nationality of Shareholders, type of network in Logistics Company, growth rate (consisted of sales growth rate/profit growth rate/asset growth rate / Liability growth rate) and variable of growth rates. The target group is 110 logistics companies in Thailand enlisted from Department of International Trade Promotion Ministry of Commerce, Royal Thai Government. The group is divided into three categories according to financial health of company; Healthy financial, Unhealthy (Distress) and normal situation. The Multidiscriminant Analysis (MDA) is applied to analyze the differentiations among the three categories. Significant variables from MDA will be used as the independent variables for Multimonial Logistic Regression Analysis (MLRA) to identify factors that determine long terms financial stability. This paper find CF/D, RE/TA, BE/TL, Size, Age, Type of network, Nationality of Shareholders and Number of Shareholders are significant factors determine long term financial stability of Logistics company in Thailand.

Role of WTO in promoting merchandise trade of BRICS

World Trade Organisation (WTO) was established on 1 January 1995 after the collapse of GATT and countries joined with the aim of better international trade. An important economic union of the present time is BRICS, all countries of the union being members of WTO. This study is based on identifying the role of WTO in promotion of merchandise trade of BRICS. The time period of the study is post WTO era from 1995 to 2014 and the estimation relies on the usage of econometric model developed on Baseline Gravity Model.

Effectiveness and Role of Trade Promotions in the CPG Industry*

This paper investigates how marketing push strategies such as trade promotions, selling general administration (SGA), and research and development (R&D) in consumer-packaged goods affect net sales. Expenditure costs for such strategies run into billions of dollars annually, and the practices themselves are controversial. However, the empirical literature is limited because direct measures of trade promotions and R&D have not been available. This study contributes to the existing literature in the following ways. First, it uses actual dollar value measures of trade promotions, SGA, and R&D payments. Secondly, it employs quantile regression, a new class of regression methodology that permits the analysis of heterogeneity in firm behaviors. Further, the findings shows that trade promotions are positively related to manufacturer net sales in the consumer packaged goods.