In the course of the last quarter century increased attention has been drawn towards measures aimed at promoting economic growth by allowing economic activities to be set up in special delimited areas and freeing them therein from many distortions otherwise shackling the economy. This idea,...

More than thirty years after Ludwig Erhard suggested a breathing spell for European textile/clothing (T+C) industries to adjust to new market conditions, the Final Act in Marrakech foresees yet another transitional period before liberalization is achieved. During the breathing spell factors...

In Germany since early 1981 a consensus has emerged predicting that an economic recovery is due for the second half of the year. This forecast of an upturn was put-forth for 1981 and for 1982. Despite these consensus, the forecasts proved to be wrong. Nonetheless in autumn 1982 the consensus...

This paper is based on a report commissioned by UNCTAD to serve as an input for the 1986 Trade and Development Report. The views expressed here within are solely those of the authors. Furthermore, the publication of this report should in no way be interpreted as official sanctioning or approval...

The starting point of this overview is the contention that unemployment problems in industrial countries can be attributed to a significant extent to distortions in the labour market. These interventions have caused the level and structure of real wages to not adequately reflect the productivity...

The above quotes exemplify quite well the strange world in which we live: on the one hand governments over the last 30 years have generally attempted to enact measures to liberalize international trade (and as a matter of fact the movement of factors of production) so as to be able to profit -...

In the first part of this project the Labor Code (LC) in Panama was analyzed with respect to its impact on the demand for labor. This entailed firms (i.e., employers) being surveyed in connection with their views about the implications of the LC. Specifically they were requested to respond to...