To analyze the main determinants of secondary market prices of Bulgarian Brady Bonds, the authors investigate to what extent fluctuations in domestic fundamentals affect the bonds'secondary market price. They also assess the extent to which external shocks affect the bonds'prices. They estimate...

This paper explores the extent to which discrimination against foreign applicants in the trademark registration process can be used as a"behind-the-border"barrier to imports. Prima-facie evidence shows that in some developing countries the ratio of trademark registration to applications is much...

The authors investigate the activities of the Bulgarian competition office, the Commission for the Protection of Competition, for the years 1991-95. They provide descriptive statistics on the industry incidence of investigations, the types of behavior investigated, and the frequency with which...

The authors analyze the U.S. demandfor Bangladeshi imports for products restricted under the Multifiber Arrangement. Because Bangladesh is only a small supplier of these products and Latin American and Asian countries can supply close substitutes, the authors expected a high elasticity of demand...

The authors test two alternative models of learning to export: productivity learning, whereby firms learn to reduce production cost, and, market learning, whereby firms learn to design products that appeal to foreign consumers. Using panel, and cross-section data on Moroccan manufacturers, the...

This paper reviews the most important changes, both in the economy and in the legal and institutional framework, to deal with unfair trade practices that Costa Rica has experienced during its trade liberalization process. It also evaluates whether the sectors that as a result of such a process...

This paper develops a theory of the precautionary demand for commodity stocks. It suggests that commodity stocks are held for precautionary purposes by producers, consumers, and intermediate processors, while speculators hold stocks on the expectation of capital gains from a subsequent price...

The effect on the poor of changes in the price of staple foods is a central issue in debates on development policy. In the short run the rural rich are likely to gain, and the rural poor to lose, from an increase in the relative price of food staples in a food producing economy. However, in the...

Structural adjustment programs in sub-Saharan African countries in the 1980s removed trade restrictions, price controls, and export taxes and abolished state-owned commodity marketing bodies. The authors studied the effects of these policy changes on the coca sector, using a global econometric...

This paper investigates the incentive system facing importers under a linking arrangement and their likely behavior. It analyzes the impact on imports, consumption, and domestic production and the social costs under the assumption that all the relevant"industries"(production of the product in...