This paper examines the impact of Federal Funds rate (FFR) surprises on stock returns in the United States over the period 1989-2009, focusing on the impact of the recent financial crisis. We find that prior to the crisis, stock prices increased as a response to unexpected FFR cuts. State...

This study introduces a new dataset of bilateral value added trade costs for the goods and services sectors, based on a measure derived from the micro-founded gravity model and using data from the OECD-WTO TiVA database. This is the first study to calculate value added trade costs for a set of...

China has grown to become an economic powerhouse and engine of global demand. However, China's projected GDP growth rates are now anticipated to remain below 7% per annum over the next five years. This issue of Trade Insights examines how the ‘new normal' of lower economic growth in China will...

The recent collapse in international commodity prices has both positive and negative implications for Asia-Pacific economies, depending upon net commodity-trade positions. This paper focuses the impacts to net commodity-importing economies of Asia and the Pacific. It highlights that in addition...

This note identifies Asia-Pacific LDCs and LLDCs with export-portfolios and economies which are at greatest risk from the recent collapse in commodity prices (June 2014 to January 2015). The primary objective is to identify countries whose exports have been highly vulnerable to the recent...

Trade facilitation (the simplification and harmonization of import, export, and transit procedures) including paperless trade (the use and exchange of electronic data and documents to support the trade transaction process), has taken increasing importance as evidenced by the WTO Trade...