Summary statistics on the labor share of income show that between-country variation is much greater than within-country variation: functional income distribution is determined by factors which change substantially across countries but are persistent over time. This article attempts to shed some...

The Internet greatly increases firms' potential to produce new goods and service for new markets. The Internet is also having a dramatic impact on services, especially in the retail, trade and finance sectors, by enabling firms to digitize their products and deliver them over long distances....

Several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) suggest that improving well-being is achievable through trade. The free flow of goods and services internationally, which encourages efficient production and expansion of consumption, may support SDGs concerning inclusive and sustainable...

Several developing countries impose high tariffs, directly or indirectly, on imports of manufactured goods such as vehicles and machinery. In many cases governments argue that they need such policies to protect domestic manufacturing industries from foreign competition while simultaneously...

The objective of this paper is twofold. First, it examines the effects of the implementation of trade facilitation (TF) measures on international trade flows and on participation in global value chains (GVCs). Second, it provides policy recommendations for developing Asia and the Pacific derived...

This study examines the recently revived credit guarantee fund (KGF) mechanism in Turkey from a comparative historical perspective and identifies the structural features of the Turkish economy that complicate access to finance for SMEs. The banking-based financial system in Turkey, state banks...

Free trade agreements (FTAs) have proliferated in East Asia in recent years. As of December 2008, eight bilateral FTAs and one plurilateral FTA involving Japan have entered into force; additional negotiations are ongoing with several more countries. The proliferation of FTAs in Japan and other...

The Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) continues to promote an open-trade system via the conclusion of free trade agreements (FTAs), arguing that Korean enterprises will obtain considerable business opportunities under the FTAs the government has implemented. However, the FTAs that are...

The global economic crisis refocused attention on the governance of international economic institutions (IEIs). This study uses the analytical framework of club theory to highlight structural obstacles to reform in international macroeconomic management, development finance, trade, and financial...

First Japan, and more recently the People's Republic of China, have pursued exportoriented growth strategies. While other Asian countries have done likewise, the cases of Japan and the People's Republic of China are of particular interest because their economies are so large and the size of the...