Economic research and trade policy analysis
Agradecimientos
El Informe sobre el Comercio Mundial 2010 ha sido elaborado bajo la dirección general del Director General Adjunto Alejandro Jara y supervisado por Patrick Low, Director de la División de Estudios Económicos y Estadística. Los autores principales del Informe son Marc Bacchetta, Cosimo Beverelli, John Hancock, Alexander Keck, Gaurav Nayyar, Coleman Nee, Roberta Piermartini, Nadia Rocha, Michele Ruta, Robert Teh y Alan Yanovich. También han aportado contribuciones escritas Marc Auboin, Mireille Cossy y James Windon. Las estadísticas comerciales fueron facilitadas por el Grupo de Estadística de la División de Estudios Económicos y Estadística, bajo la coordinación de Hubert Escaith, Julia de Verteuil, Andreas Maurer y Jürgen Richtering.
Introduction
Imagine how different the world might look today if, in 1976, Apple Computers had not obtained the US$ 15,000 in financing they needed to buy the parts to fulfil their first order. How many entrepreneurial visions with the potential to change the world have fizzled out of existence due to a lack of funds?
Effet du commerce sur la situation du marché du travail
Cette section examine les données empiriques concernant l’effet du commerce sur les salaires et l’emploi, et pose principalement les questions suivantes : quels éléments attestent l’effet de la concurrence des importations et de la délocalisation sur le niveau des salaires et de l’emploi ? Quelle est l’incidence sur l’emploi de l’élargissement de l’accès aux marchés pour les exportations et de la disponibilité d’intrants importés moins chers ? Comment comparer des données empiriques variées entre les pays ? Comment le fonctionnement du marché du travail influe-t-il sur les résultats ? À combien s’élèvent les coûts d’ajustement induits par le commerce ? Cette section se concentre plus particulièrement sur les salaires et l’emploi parce que les recherches sur les autres aspects du marché du travail, comme la stabilité et la sécurité de l’emploi, sont beaucoup moins développées en raison du manque de données transnationales, et ne permettent donc pas de comparer la manière dont le commerce et la technologie influent sur ces autres variables.
Remerciements
Le Rapport sur le commerce mondial 2009 a été rédigé sous la direction générale d’Alejandro Jara, Directeur général adjoint, et sous la supervision de Patrick Low, Directeur de la Division de la recherche économique et des statistiques. Les principaux auteurs du rapport sont Marc Bacchetta, K. Michael Finger, Marion Jansen, Alexander Keck, Coleman Nee, Roberta Piermartini, Michele Ruta et Robert Teh. Les statistiques commerciales ont été fournies par les statisticiens de la Division de la recherche économique et des statistiques, dont les travaux ont été coordonnés par Hubert Escaith, Julia de Verteuil, Andreas Maurer et Jürgen Richtering. D’autres contributions écrites ont été fournies par Rudolf Adlung, Lee-Ann Jackson, Jesse Kreier et Hiromi Yano.
Varieties of informality
The distinction between formal and informal employment is somewhat fuzzy. Instead of a single, universally accepted concept there are many different and often competing views which are refl ected in a multiplicity of defi nitions. These, in turn, are linked to the plurality of methodologies that are used to quantify informal activities. This chapter presents existing views and defi nitions, as well as an integrated approach which is currently emerging based on the idea of multi-segmented labour markets.
Preface
This Dictionary of Trade Policy Terms is now in its sixth edition. It has again grown larger. It now contains well over 3,000 entries and cross-references. Many of these entries are new. In other cases the changes occurring since the preparation of the last edition have required a complete rewriting of the entry. A great many have needed updating to a greater or lesser extent. I have made an attempt at being reasonably comprehensive, but no doubt there is always more that could be included.
Agradecimientos
El Informe sobre el Comercio Mundial 2008 ha sido elaborado bajo la supervisión general del Director General Adjunto Alejandro Jara. Patrick Low, Director de la División de Estudios Económicos y Estadística, dirigió el equipo encargado de redactar el Informe. Los autores principales del Informe son Marc Bachetta, Chad Bown, K. Michael Finger, Marion Jansen, Alexander Keck, Roberta Piermartini, Michele Ruta y Robert Teh. Las estadísticas comerciales fueron facilitadas por el grupo de estadística de la División de Estudios Económicos y Estadística, bajo la coordinación de Hubert Escaith, Julia de Verteuil, Andreas Maurer y Jürgen Richtering.
Analyse économique des liens entre les normes et le commerce international
Dans le monde d’aujourd’hui, les normes de produit ont une énorme influence. Si l’on peut envoyer des télécopies dans n’importe quel pays, c’est parce que tous les télécopieurs fonctionnent selon le même protocole. Si l’on peut partager des fichiers informatiques, c’est parce que les ordinateurs sont construits avec des composants normalisés et exploités par des logiciels compatibles. La nécessité de normaliser les produits n’a rien de nouveau. À l’ère biblique, l’absence de langue commune (normalisée) a semé le chaos au moment de la construction de la tour de Babel (Shapiro, 2000). Plus récemment, lors du grand incendie de Baltimore (1904), les pompiers venus des villes voisines n’ont pas pu participer à la lutte contre les flammes parce que leurs tuyaux n’étaient pas adaptés aux bouches d’eau.
Global growth, trade and poverty: The macro links
The relationship between economic growth, poverty reduction, and trade is not a simple one. Although great progress has been made in reducing the number of people living in extreme poverty, due in large part to the rapidly growing participation of developing countries in the global economy, nearly one billion people still live on less than $1.25 per day.
The Poverty Impact of Modernising Dar es Salaam Port
This study assesses the likely impact of the modernization of the Port of Dar es Salaam on household welfare and poverty in Tanzania and neighboring countries. Trade volumes in Tanzania increased more than 10% per year in the last decade, and international trade has been one of the engines of growth in the country. However, the current state of Dar es Salaam port is a severe constraint on further growth. Increasing the efficiency of the port is a key challenge; container vessels have to wait an average of more than 10 days before berthing, and dwell times average another 10 days. The costs associated with the inefficiencies in the port are partially related to congestion. The situation is more critical for imports than for exports; the inefficiencies act as an implicit tax on imports and to a lesser extent as a tax on exports (Morisset, 2013).
Impact of technology on labour market outcomes
This section considers the effects of technology on the level and composition of employment and wages. Technological progress, by increasing the productivity of factors of production, expands an economy’s production possibility frontier, so that the same amount of output can be produced with fewer resources, or more output can be produced with the same amount of resources.
Accession of Liberia: An Agenda for Transformation
On 14 July 2016, Liberia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) as its 163rd member. Liberia’s accession negotiations were done in 804 days since the appointment of the Chief Negotiator after stalling for over 6 years and 10 months since Liberia first applied for Accession. This unprecedented efficiency was made possible by a combination of factors. First, Liberia’s determination at the highest political level allowed it to conduct accession negotiations with commitment and focus, while adhering to a time-bound roadmap. Speed and efficiency of accession-related reforms were essential, as the country had endured an almost simultaneous double shock – the Ebola epidemic and a sharp drop in commodity prices. Second, WTO members appreciated this determination and were ready to move faster than usual in the negotiating process to help put the country on track with trade-related reforms, in particular those aimed at overcoming the twin shocks. Third, the WTO wished to include Liberia’s accession among the deliverables for its Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, the first ministerial conference to be held in Africa. The outcome was an accession that is now commonly referred to as the Liberian Model. An accession is concluded based on rational individual choices constructed around a vision for modernizing a country and its economy. This chapter highlights Liberia’s transformation and its challenges, and discusses why WTO accession continues to be essential in facilitating Liberia’s economic diversification agenda.
Labour market outcomes: Trends and analytical framework
This section aims to put the discussion of the labour market effects of trade and technology into perspective. A narrow focus on these effects may give the misleading impression that trade and/or technology are the main determinants of employment or wages. As explained in this section, however, levels of employment or unemployment and of wages are largely determined by how the labour market works. In other words, the effects of technology or trade on labour market outcomes depend, to a large extent, on institutional conditions in the labour market, concomitant economic changes and the diversification of employment opportunities when shocks occur.
Services trade in numbers
This section presents the importance of trade in services in the global economy by using an experimental dataset, developed by the WTO, called Trade in Services by Modes of Supply (TISMOS). This dataset captures services supplied through the four modes of supply categorized in the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS); traditional services trade statistics cover only three of the GATS modes of supply. This section also discusses the participation of developing economies, including least-developed countries (LDCs), the importance of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and the role of women in services trade. Finally, the section explores the content of services value-added in international global value chains.
The Role of Global Services Value Chains for Services-Led Development
The emergence of global value chains (GVCs) has lowered the threshold for countries to participate in globalization. They offer a new path for development without having to establish complete production capabilities from upstream inputs to downstream final goods and after-sales services. Developing countries can plug into GVCs and specialize in specific economic activities in accordance with their comparative advantage to benefit from gains from trade and specialization.