The paper uses firm level panel data for Indian industries in the post-reform period to study the direct and indirect productivity effects generated by foreign investment. It finds no evidence that foreign investment directly increased firm-level productivity, nor that R&D spending was more...

This paper empirically investigates how information cost, as part of trade costs, affects the decision of an individual firm to export. We use cross section firm-level data to examine how the difficulty of obtaining information on technical regulations in the European Union (EU) and the United...

State trading is a common feature in the management of imports and exports of agricultural products and it has been a long-standing feature of China’s agricultural trade regime. While the use of state trading was modified by China’s accession to the WTO, it remains a dominant feature for...

Today most flowers physically pass through the auction houses on their fixed routes from (inter)national growers to (inter)national customers. Physical presence is necessary to allow for physical inspection, quality control and break-bulk activities. Several developments, such as new markets in...

Contract farming is a key element for the Brazilian Biodiesel Program, which aim to promote social inclusion of small scale farmers. The relationship between the industry and the farmers is regulated by a certification called Social Fuel Seal. The seal allows to the biodiesel producers favorable...

This paper arises from a series of economic reports into the South Australian citrus industry undertaken by the Department of Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA). The citrus industry faces a number of significant challenges. Future prosperity depends on the response....

Iran is the major producer of pistachio nuts in the world. Iran dominated the international pistachio export markets until 1982, when a new competitor, the United States, emerged in the international markets. Currently, both Iran and the U.S. are major pistachio exporters to Japan. The empirical...

In the October – December quarter of 2012, the business climate index declined to 4.5 points having recorded a score of 8 points in the previous (July – September) quarter. The deterioration of business environment perceptions emanated from elevated risks arising from the budget support...