The paper estimates the effect of product standards on firms’ export decisions using two novel datasets. The first covers all exporting firms in 42 developing countries. The second covers pesticide standards...
The authors create a standards restrictiveness index using newly available data on maximum residue levels of pesticides for 61 importing countries. The paper analyzes the impact that food safety standards...
Using a new database on Chinese food standards, this paper estimates the impact of volunta-ry and mandatory standards on its agricultural and food exports. The dataset covers seven Chinese products from...
This book examines the state and the fate of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). The volume has three key objectives: to provide qualitative and quantitative information about the implications of what is...
This paper evaluates the impact of foreign aid to five service sectors (transportation, information and communications technologies, energy, banking/financial services, and business services) on exports...
This paper proposes a new framework to analyze aid effectiveness. Using World Bank firm survey data and OECD aid flow data, the authors analyze whether aid targets areas that firms in developing countries...
Private inspection of international shipments has been used over the last half-century for a variety of purposes. These include prevention of capital flight and improvement of import duty collection, among...
The current post-crisis environment and fragile economic recovery increases the importance of aid for trade. Global rebalancing and tightened fiscal budgets in the short to medium term also place renewed...
Since 2005, donors and development agencies have increased the overall value of aid for trade and put in place several mechanisms to channel such aid and to ensure that it targets national priorities...
The authors estimate the impact of aggregate indicators of "soft" and "hard" infrastructure on the export performance of developing countries. They build four new indicators for 101 countries over the...
It is assumed that added time to export adds cost to and lowers the volume of trade. Time delays may also affect the composition of trade and can disproportionately reduce trade in time-sensitive goods...
Does foreign aid spent on trade facilitation increase trade flows of developing countries? There is an on-going and high profile discussion of aid-for-trade associated with the Doha negotiations of the...
The world economic crisis of 2008 presents clear challenges to prospects for economic growth in developing countries. This is particularly true for emerging economies in East Asia that have relied to a...
Product standards can have a dual impact on production and trade costs. Standards may impose additional costs on exporters as it may be necessary to adapt products for specific markets (cost-effect). In...
This paper examines the impact of trade facilitation on intra-African trade. The authors examine the role of trade facilitation reforms, such as increased port efficiency, improved customs, and regulatory...
This paper examines the impact of reducing corruption and improving transparency to lower trade costs in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation region. The authors find, based on a computable general equilibrium...
This paper reviews data and research on trade costs for Sub-Saharan African countries. It focuses on: border-related costs, transport costs, costs related to behind-the border issues, and the costs of...
New initiatives to close the development gap and expand trade among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are at the forefront of the policy discussion. Countries in Southeast Asia...
The members of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) are rapidly approaching the Bogor Declaration's deadline for free trade and investment for industrialized members by the year 2010. As the Group's...
The establishment of a mechanism to coordinate and monitor the progress of trade facilitation efforts complements the success of a new agreement on trade facilitation in the Doha Development Agenda. Better...