This study explores the determinants of economic growth in 17 East Asia-Pacific countries from 2004 to 2023, analyzing the effects of capital, labor, digitalization, financial development, natural resources, and trade openness. Utilizing a suite of statistical and econometric...

This paper studies the evolution of the foreign trade specialization in manufacturing sectors of South Africa, Algeria, Nigeria and Egypt. These four countries, the so-called SANE, are recently viewed as Africa’s best chance of producing an economic bloc comparable to the BRIC economies of...

The scope and complexity of international trading arrangements in the Middle East, as well as their spotty historical record of success, underscores the urgent need for an adequate understanding of the relative costs and benefits of participation in preferential trading arrangements and, more...

While diversification of exports is often a desirable trade objective, it is far from clear how best to tap into new opportunities. This paper discusses the range of avenues of diversification, including (i) expanding the range of markets into which existing products are sold (geographic...

Morocco’s trade policy is at a cross-roads. Historically, the country has had a very restrictive import regime that generated substantial transfers to domestic producers. In terms of the simple average of most-favored nation tariffs, Morocco is one of the ten most highly protected markets in...

Over the past two decades, Tanzania has embarked on a marked liberalization of its trade regime. The Government wants this reform process to continue and sees international integration at the global and regional level as a means to achieve higher economic efficiency, productivity and...

As a landlocked country in East Africa, Uganda faces two major disadvantages concerning access to foreign markets. It does not have an immediate gateway to low-cost ocean transport, but first has to pass its imports and exports through neighboring countries by road or rail. Nor does it share a...

We develop a structural econometric model of import demand for Pakistan, with binding foreign exchange constraint. ARDL and DOLS techniques are used to estimate the log-run coefficients of price and income elasticities. The empirical results from ARDL bound testing approach and Johansen’s...

Nigeria’s trade policy is at a crucial turning point. Historically, the country has had a very restrictive import regime that generated substantial transfers to domestic producers and strong anti-export bias. Yet, in its current poverty reduction strategy, Nigeria identified deeper trade...

This paper reviews the trade policy situation in the Central African Republic (CAR) and identifies a number of key issues and challenges for the country. The focus of the study is thereby on how trade taxes and quantitative restrictions affect the goods sector. The analysis falls into three...