This paper examines whether the Sub-Saharan African economies could gain from multilateral trade reform in the presence of trade preferences. The World Bank's LINKAGE model of the global economy is employed to examine the impact first of current trade barriers and agricultural subsidies, and...

This paper examines the extent to which various regions, and the world as a whole, could gain from multilateral trade reform over the next decade. The World Bank's LINKAGE model of the global economy is employed to examine the impact first of current trade barriers and agricultural subsidies,...

An important issue in multilateral trade negotiations is the approach taken to reduce tariffs. Francois, Martin, and Manole believe that there are important advantages in formula approaches and survey a range of options between the sharply top-down Swiss formula and proportional cuts in tariffs....

Many policymakers are concerned about dependence on resource exports. Martin examines four changes that reduce this dependence: (1) accumulation of capital and skills; (2) changes in protection policy, particularly reductions in the burden of protection on exporters;(3) differential rates of...

Most of the large tariff reductions achieved in multilateral trade negotiations have involved tariff-cutting formulas such as the 'Swiss' formula. However, wide variations in initial tariff rates between active participants call for new approaches under the Doha Development Agenda. This paper...

Rapid industrialization in East Asia, particularly China, is raising questions about who will feed the region in the next century and how Asia will pay for its food imports. The paper addresses this question by first reviewing existing food sector projections and then taking an economy-wide...

The agreement to abolish the quotas on textiles and clothing introduced under the Multi-fiber Arrangement (MFA) will create a new and much more competitive world market for India's exports of textiles and clothing. India's inefficient and costly policies, such as cotton export quotas, the hank...

The static economic benefits of Vietnam's accession to the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) are likely to be relatively small. The gains from increased access to ASEAN markets would be small, and they would be offset by the costs of trade diversion on the import side. But binding commitments on...

Since Amartya Sen’s famous work on Poverty and Famines, economists have understood that policy responses to food market shocks should be guided by changes in households’ incomes and access to food, rather than by overall food availability. Perhaps because the household-level impacts are not...

Border Carbon Adjustment (BCAs) may play an important role in lowering the economic costs of greenhouse gas mitigation and in overcoming political-economy constraints on use of carbon taxes or equivalent measures. A carbon tax plus a full BCA (CTBA) could deal with the competitiveness challenges...