The institutional reforms towards trade liberalizations in Latin America during the 1980s and the 1990s have introduced a good measure of import competition, but trade policies alone are not sufficient to create a competitive environment in an economy. The countries in Latin America have not had...

This paper presents an empirical study of GDP per worker (and per capita) convergence across German labour market regions during 1992 to 2002 using nonparametric techniques. There is evidence for a tendency towards convergence during the observed period, i.e. regions that were less productive in...

This paper investigates the determinants of TFP for Italian regions. We find strong evidence in favour of the factors commonly suggested by the theoretical literature. In particular, R&D expenditures and the number of researchers are positively related to regional TFP. Moreover, human capital is...

This paper examines whether New Zealand residents move from low-growth to high-growth regions, using New Zealand census data from the past three inter-censal periods (covering 1986-2001). We focus on the relationship between employment growth and migration flows to gauge the strength of the...

El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico jointly form one of the largest border economies in the world. They have grown substantially in recent years and face a number of policy challenges. Topics reviewed include population, employment, incomes, retail trade, international commuting...

Productivity at Australian container terminals has improved significantly in absolute terms since 1997 according to this international benchmarking study. For the sample of ship calls and terminals studied, productivity improved also in relative terms. The productivity improvement at Australian...

This study examines selected work arrangements and assesses their implications for the performance of container stevedoring workplaces. The effects on employees and users of stevedoring services are also considered, and impediments to achieving improved work arrangements are analysed. This is...