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...

India's heavy duties on capital goods blur the incentive signals from the tariff structure. In practice, that structure favors import substitution of intermediate products from heavy industry and discourages exports. The complex protection structure should be simplified, with priority to...

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...

The authors examine the impact of Poland's trade liberalization in 1994-2001 on the industry wage structure. The liberalization was undertaken in preparation for Poland's accession to the European Union and was more pronounced in industries with larger shares of unskilled labor. Their analysis...

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...

Interdependence of trade and public finance policy are important considerations in designing macroeconomic policy, public revenue policy, and public expenditure policy. A competitive real exchange rate, improved trade performance, and trade liberalization are all built on the base of sound...

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...

Policymakers typically assume that trade liberalization and foreign aid ultimately reduce international migration - that is, that trade and aid are substitutes for migration. In the Heckscher-Ohlin framework, too, trade liberalization (by reducing international price differentials between...

Rsearch on the sources of growth shows several factors to be relevant to all countries, rich or poor. Whether developing countries can substantially raise per capita incomes depends on policies that address these variables: labor, human capital, capital investment in research and development,...

The economic literature now accepts theoretical arguments that liberal, outward-oriented trade policy is better than restrictive, inward-oriented policies. Traditionally such arguments for the gains from trade have rested on the concept of allocative efficiency. But a new argument for liberal...