Since approximately 1990, most countries in Latin America have embarked on a unilateral process of trade liberalization for agricultural and non-agricultural products, effectively putting an end to four decades of import-substitution policies. Most countries adopted tariffication, with bound...

Many developing countries enforce seed regulations and other policies that obstruct private companies from operating and delivering new technology. This volume presents recommendations and selected papers from an international workshop organized by the World Bank in 1995 to review seed policies...

This study investigates the economic impacts of accession to the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) by the new member countries of Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Vietnam. The trade policies of these countries are examined, and a series of quantitative analyses were undertaken to evaluate the...

The study explores important trends in consumption patterns in European Union(EU) markets and assesses the degree to which these patterns offer opportunities for African exporters.

OECD trade barriers did not play a significant role in Sub-Saharan Africa's declining position in world trade over the last three decades. The detrimental effects of the African countries' own policies, such as those that influence international transport costs, were considerably more important....

Alleviating poverty through direct assistance and economic growth is an important objective of the World Bank. For this strategy to succeed, all potential impediments to the competitiveness of export industries must be tackled and reduced. Informational trade performance and efficiency are...

A second-generation model of currency crises is combined with a standard model ofbanks as providers of insurance against liquidity risk. In a pegged exchange rateregime, after funds have been committed to the banks, news arrives about the qualityof the banks’ assets and about the exchange rate...

This document aims to succinctly summarize the climate risks faced by Azerbaijan. This includes rapid onset and long-term changes in key climate parameters, as well as impacts of these changes on communities, livelihoods, and economies, many of which are already underway. This is a high-level...

Georgia is located in the South Caucasus region, sharing land borders with Russia to the north, Turkey to the southwest, Armenia to the south, and Azerbaijan to the east. Over the past two decades, Georgia has experienced significant economic change, urbanization, and displaced populations (due...

Climate change is a major risk to good development outcomes, and the World Bank Group is committed to playing an important role in helping countries integrate climate action into their core development agendas. The World Bank Group (WBG) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are committed to...