Trade statistics portray the People's Republic of China (PRC) as the largest exporter of high-tech products. In this paper I will argue that the PRC's leading position in high-tech exports is a myth created by outdated trade statistics which are inconsistent with trade based on global supply...

Using a cross-section of more than 38,000 manufacturing and 24,000 services firms in 105 low- and middle-income countries from the World Bank's Enterprise Surveys, this chapter assesses whether there are productivity spillovers from services to manufacturing firms located in the same subnational...

Asia is fast becoming the largest recipient of Japan's foreign direct investment (FDI). Within the Asian region, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been the major investment destination of Japan. In the manufacturing sectors, however, the investment flows from Japan to ASEAN...

This study examines a range of crossborder infrastructure development issues related to the Asian countries. Despite active pursuit of private investment in infrastructure by most developing countries in Asia and a growing number of success stories, the pace of such investment remains slow....

The audiovisual sector is a significant component of the economy in terms of wealth creation and employment and audiovisual industries also play an important cultural role. This study reviews the main forces driving patterns of trade in audiovisual (mainly television and film) and identifies key...

European economic integration fascinates and inspires for the way it brought peace to a continent torn by violent and long-standing rivalries. The lessons from Europe, however, cannot be applied directly as the degree of the European Union's supranationality is unthinkable elsewhere. This paper...

A growing share of emerging markets (EMs) uses hybrid versions of inflation targeting that differ from the IT regimes of the OECD countries. Real exchange rate and international reserve changes affect the policy interest rates in commodity countries, aiming to stabilize their real exchange rate...

A growing literature is investigating the nature and size of the disparities in the performance of firms led by men and women. The extant literature in this regard is inconclusive and provides support for both the women's under-performance hypothesis and the superior performance of women-led...

Although a latecomer, economically important Asia has emerged at the forefront of global free trade agreement (FTA) activity. This has sparked concerns about the negative effects of Asian FTAs, including the "noodle bowl" problem. Amid slow progress in the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Doha...

In this paper, we use the iPhone as a case to show that even high-tech products invented by United States (US) companies will not increase US exports, but on the contrary exacerbate the US trade deficit. The iPhone contributed US$1.9 billion to the US trade deficit with the People's Republic of...