The number of preferential trade agreements has increased sharply over the past decade as a response to stagnant multilateral trade negotiations. Political economy features centrally in these negotiations, for instance in the context of the Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA), which resulted...

In this paper we develop a methodology which is based on two important criteria - sensitivity in delivery time and value-to-weight ratio - to classify products relevant for air transport. Detailed trade data by mode of transport are used to check the loading of an average airplane between South...

These days, plenty of cognoscenti in academia and politics share the common concern that the build-up of global macroeconomic imbalances threatens the international economy. While there is broad disagreement on the essence of what an imbalance exactly is, the term is generally associated with...

The current financial and economic crisis has again raised fears in emerging market economies of capital flight or a sudden stop of capital inflows. Especially the latter is intensively discussed in South Africa. We try to evaluate the danger by focusing on the sustainability of current account...

Since 1994, the pivotal year in which South Africa held its first democratic elections, its companies have engaged in a sustained outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) thrust with substantial impact on Southern Africa, in the process generating some controversy. The paper revisits those...

The evidence demonstrating that nations gain from trade is overwhelming. However, trade liberalization can cause disruption to firms and workers, and its gains and losses are spread unevenly. While many gain from trade, import surges have sometimes undermined the economic viability of whole...