Ianchovichina and Martin present estimates of the impact of accession by China and Chinese Taipei to the World Trade Organization. China is estimated to be the biggest beneficiary, followed by Chinese Taipei and their major trading partners. Accession will boost the labor-intensive manufacturing...

Traditional export processing zones are fenced-in industrial estates specializing in manufacturing for exports. Modern ones have more flexible rules, such as permitting more liberal domestic sales. They provide a free-trade and liberal regulatory environment for the firms involved. Their primary...

Trade policies in many developing countries discriminate--through import bans, licensing requirements, or higher tariff rates. Even Australia adds a $12,000 tariff on used cars. Such discrimination is often motivated by the desire to protect domestic industries from competition from low-priced...

Most Central American economies experienced slower growth in the 1980s than in the 1960s and 1970s, trailing far behind the Asian Tigers. Contributing to slow growth were severe external shocks, sizable macroeconomic disturbances, and widespread political instability. The challenges Central...

The authors use the common agency approach to analyze the joint determination of product and labor market distortions in a small (developing) open economy. Capital owners and union members lobby the government on tariffs and minimum wages, while factors of production in agriculture (the informal...

There are increasing fears that trade reform - and globalization generally - will increase the uncertainty the average (especially less skilled) worker faces. If product markets become more competitive and the access to foreign inputs is increased, will demand for workers among existing firms...

The authors develop a numerical endogenous growth model approximating an infinite horizon, which allows them to investigate the relationship between trade liberalization and economic growth. Economic theory generally implies that trade liberalization will improve economic growth, and the two...

In 1985, after decades of an import-substitution industrial strategy, Mexico initiated a radical liberalization of its external sector. Between 1985 and 1988, import licensing requirements were scaled back to a quarter of earlier levels, reference prices were removed, and tariff rates on most...

The combination of distance, poor infrastructure, and being landlocked by neighbors with poor infrastructure, can make transport costs many times higher for some developing countries than for most others. Drawing on two traditions of economic modeling --Heckscher-Ohlin trade theory and von...

The Poverty Analysis Macroeconomic Simulator (PAMS) is a model that links standard household surveys with macro frameworks. It allows users to assess the effect of macroeconomic policies-in particular, those associated with Poverty Reduction Strategies papers-on sectoral employment and income,...