This paper estimates the trade, revenue and welfare effects of the proposed Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-Canada FTA on CARICOM countries using a partial equilibrium model. The welfare analysis also takes into account the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which was signed in 2008 between the...

The central notion of the natural trading partner hypothesis is that a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will be welfare enhancing for members if there is a strong level of bilateral trade complementarity among their trade structures. This paper presents an empirical examination of this issue with...

We investigate the effect of climate change on crop productivity in Africa using satellite derived data on land use and net primary productivity (NPP) at a small river basin scale, distinguishing between the impact of local and upper-catchment weather. Regression results show that both of these...

We estimate and compare the effects of small and large irrigation dams on cropland productivity in South Africa (SA). To this end we construct a panel data set of SA river basins. The econometric analysis reveals that while large dams increase cropland productivity downstream, they have a...

In recent years, natural disasters from Hurricane Katrina to the Fukushima earthquake have grabbed the attention of the public, policymakers and academics. In this paper we contribute to this relatively new literature and examine the impact of the 1995 Kobe earthquake on the survival of...

Hurricanes act as large external shocks potentially causing considerable damage to agricultural production in the Caribbean. While a number of existing studies have estimated their historic economic impact, arguably the wider community and policy makers are more concerned about their future risk...

We investigate the determinants of innovation and the benefits from it in making firms more productive in the Caribbean. To this end we use a rich firm level dataset covering 14 different countries and various non-parametric, semi- parametric and parametric statistical tools. Our results show...

This paper investigates the determinants of crop yield and profit of small family farms in Senegal using both a production and a profit function. The econometric analysis is based on information on agricultural inputs and outputs from 505 agricultural household members of a farmer organization...

History has shown that hurricanes can cause catastrophic destruction and impede economic growth in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, there is essentially as of date no comprehensive quantitative risk and anticipated loss assessment for the region. In this paper we use synthetic hurricane tracks and...

We use a unique exogenous corporate tax policy change in the Republic of Ireland to investigate how corporate taxation affects foreign direct investment at the extensive and intensive margin. To this end we construct exhaustive sectoral and plant level panel data and use...