Economic research and trade policy analysis
Quelques objectifs déclarés des subventions publiques
Dans cette section, il sera question des principaux objectifs que les pouvoirs publics prétendent poursuivre au moyen des subventions, tels que le développement industriel, l’innovation, le soutien de “champions“ nationaux, la protection de l’environnement et la redistribution. Sous la rubrique générale de la “redistribution“, nous examinerons trois objectifs plus spécifiques: l’utilisation de subventions à des fins de politique régionale, l’aide à l’ajustement pour les secteurs en déclin et les obligations de service universel. Ce choix ne prétend pas être exhaustif, mais il couvre certains des principaux objectifs poursuivis par les gouvernements des pays en développement et des pays développés.
Domestic regulations in Malaysia’s higher education sector
The growth of private higher education institutions (PHEIs) in Malaysia is politically and economically motivated. Excess demand and the use of ethnic quotas in a limited number of public universities with the implementation of the New Economic Policy in 1970 had raised the potential for inter-ethnic conflicts in multi-ethnic Malaysia. The government therefore utilized private provision to supplement public supply, thereby increasing access and reducing the possibility of inter-ethnic conflicts due to limited access. Over time, the perennial deficit in services trade since independence in 1957 contributed to the idea of using private higher education to reduce student outflows and its negative impact on services trade and, instead, to increase export revenues through inflows of international students. This led to the aspiration to be a regional hub for higher education based on Malaysia’s comparative advantage in terms of costs and language via the use of English in transnational programmes offered in PHEIs, with degrees awarded by parent institutions in developed countries such as Australia and the United Kingdom.
Trade and Poverty Reduction in the Asia-Pacific Region
This book explores the complex relationship between international trade and poverty reduction through a combination of research papers and contemporary case studies. Written mainly by developing country authors in consultation with local businesses and communities, the case studies contribute to our understanding of the ways in which low-income communities are dealing with trade as a practical challenge, especially in the Asia-Pacific region where approximately two thirds of the world’s poor live. While making it clear that there is no ‘one size fits all’ formula, the research and stories highlight a number of necessary preconditions – such as political commitment and cooperation at all levels – if trade is to successfully reduce poverty. Openness to trade, serious commitment to domestic reform, trade-related capacity building, a robust and responsible private sector and access to the markets of developed countries are all identified as powerful tools for building trade-related sustainable development.
Overview
The goal of this report is to improve the understanding of the impacts of trade and trade policy on gender equality, and to provide policy makers with evidence on the benefits of trade for women and with potential policy solutions. The report uses a conceptual framework that illustrates the diverse transmission channels through which trade and trade policy can affect women, according to three key economic roles they play: workers, consumers, and decision makers. The report also gathers and analyzes new data1 to show how trade and trade policy can affect women and men differentlyin wages, consumption, and welfare, and in the quality and quantity of jobs available to them. New empirical analysis based on these data suggests that expanding trade can act as an impetus for countries to improve womens rights and boost female participation in the economy.
Foreword
In 2015, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization published a flagship report on the role of trade in the effort to end poverty by 2030. Over the past three years, the two organizations have collaborated in various ways to advance that goal, from supporting implementation of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement; to assisting the poor, including women and small-scale traders, to take advantage of trade opportunities; to supporting trade reforms in the world’s poorest countries.
Conclusión
El presente informe ha puesto de manifiesto que es importante establecer una distinción entre las normas según su función. El marco teórico adoptado en el informe distingue las normas relativas a las externalidades de red, a la información imperfecta y a las externalidades negativas de la producción o del consumo.
Afghanistan’s Accession: Challenged by Conflict
WTO membership has long been an integral part of the overall strategic objectives of Afghanistan. For a post-conflict, landlocked and least-developed economy, joining the WTO was perceived as an opportunity to achieve economic stability, improve regional security and cooperation, alleviate poverty and achieve peace. Afghanistan has been on an eleven-year journey to integrate into the multilateral trading system. Its WTO accession process, described in this chapter, was a learning experience in which Afghanistan’s governmental and academic institutions, private sector and civil society all upgraded their capacity, using this accession as a catalyst to accelerate structural reforms and strengthen market instruments. The enormous reforms accomplished in this process have allowed Afghanistan to build a more favourable trade and investment regime, with effective laws and trade policies based on the WTO agreements. This chapter sheds light on the accession process and the accomplished domestic transformation and identifies ways forward to maximize the benefits of Afghanistan’s WTO membership as a tool for cementing its long-standing commitment to an open economy, rule of law, good governance and international cooperation.
Trade theory and natural resources
This section looks at key features of natural resources trade from a theoretical perspective. Does trade provide an efficient mechanism for ensuring access to natural resources? What is the impact of trade on finite or exhaustible resources, including under conditions of “open access” where there is a common ownership of – and access to – a natural resource? Is there a relationship between trade and its impact on the environment? Does trade reinforce or reduce problems associated with resource dominance in certain economies? And how does trade affect resource price volatility? These broad questions are addressed by surveying the relevant theoretical literature on the determinants and effects of trade in natural resources.
Accession Protocols and the Private Sector
Although the private sector is not, in most cases, directly involved in negotiations for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), its needs and positions are addressed through consultative mechanisms organized at the national level by WTO members. These mechanisms represent a two-way information channel: the relevant authorities can obtain the foundations to formulate and defend national negotiating positions, while the private sector has an avenue to present sectoral interests as well as any relevant trade concerns. In acknowledging the influence of the private sector, the objective of this chapter is to examine the existing public-private consultation mechanisms in selected WTO members, as well as the evidence of private sector interests in recent reports of accession working parties. The analysis suggests that the influence of the business sector is embedded in accession protocols. Accession agreements include results obtained through trade policy consultation mechanisms, which vary in the degree of formality and sophistication. Ideally, the consultation and outreach mechanisms established by acceding governments to promote support for WTO accession should be strengthened throughout the WTO membership. Such mechanisms should continue to function once accessions have been completed to support the implementation of commitments, set further negotiating priorities and participate in trade policy reviews and dispute settlement. The support and contributions of the private sector were instrumental to successfully achieve recent multilateral results, notably the Trade Facilitation Agreement and the expansion of the Information Technology Agreement.
Forward by the Director-General
In the last few months trade has contracted more than at any time since the 1930s, reflecting the dramatic global economic downturn provoked in the first instance by the collapse of major financial institutions. Trade growth will be strongly negative this year and we are unlikely to see sustained economic growth until 2010. This adversity is severely testing the policy ingenuity of governments across the globe, and in today’s interdependent world, their willingness to make common cause in addressing shared challenges. Effective international cooperation and open markets are as vital today as they have ever been.
Conclusion
Le monde tel que nous le connaissons aujourd’hui a été façonné par les innovations technologiques. Une nouvelle technologie, la chaîne de blocs – technologie de registres distribués –, a été accueillie par beaucoup avec enthousiasme et optimisme comme le prochain grand facteur de changement. La chaîne de blocs, qui permet de diffuser des données et des informations numériques de manière sûre, transparente et immuable sans avoir à recourir à un tiers de confiance unique, est une technologie particulièrement prometteuse. Elle pourrait permettre aux individus et aux entreprises du monde entier d’effectuer des transactions de manière plus efficace, plus économique et plus rapide, tout en conservant un haut niveau de sécurité. Elle pourrait avoir un impact considérable sur la façon de réaliser les opérations commerciales, qu’il s’agisse des transactions financières ou des transactions commerciales transfrontières physiques, en réduisant les coûts de traitement, de vérification, de suivi, de coordination et de transport grâce à la simplification et à la numérisation des processus qui impliquent de multiples parties prenantes et qui étaient, jusqu’à présent, fortement tributaires du papier. Elle pourrait réduire la fraude, permettre une meilleure administration des droits de propriété intellectuelle, renforcer la traçabilité et la confiance dans les chaînes de valeur et offrir de nouvelles possibilités aux petites entreprises.
Introducción
Los recursos naturales son fundamentales para la vida humana. Productos no renovables como el petróleo y el gas natural se transforman en energía, indispensable para la producción de prácticamente cualquier otro producto o servicio. Recursos renovables como los bosques, el pescado y los acuíferos, figuran entre los activos naturales más valiosos del mundo. Si se gestionan de forma adecuada, pueden proporcionar también un conjunto inacabable de productos que mejoran enormemente la calidad de la vida humana. Los recursos naturales representan una parte cada vez más importante del comercio mundial, y en 2008 supusieron alrededor del 24 por ciento del comercio total de mercancías. El volumen de este comercio se ha mantenido estable durante el último decenio, pero su valor ha crecido el 20 por ciento anual.