[Assam] Free Trade Areas benefit all: World Bank Research E-Newsletter [Nov-Dec 2008]

Wed Dec 24 19:04:19 PST 2008

http://econ.worldbank.org/external/default/main?pagePK=64165259&theSitePK=469372&piPK=64165421&menuPK=64166093&entityID=000158349_20081014133207&cid=decresearch

Membership in a Free Trade Area (FTA) promotes external liberalization
***********************************************************************
Concerns
have been raised about whether regionalism is reducing the trade
opportunities of non-members. In theory, the incentives created by an
FTA could either increase or decrease tariffs against non-members.
Researchers Estevadeordal, Freund, and Ornelas examine the effect of
regionalism on unilateral trade liberalization using industry-level
data on applied tariffs and bilateral preferences for 10 Latin American
countries from 1990 to 2001. They find that that preferential tariff
reduction in a given sector leads to a reduction in external tariffs in
that sector. External liberalization is greater if preferential access
is granted to important suppliers. However, these effects are not seen
in customs unions. Overall, the results suggest that concerns about
FTAs having a negative impact on external trade liberalization are
unfounded.
Paper 

Can Assam join free trade area on its own - at Chief Minister level ? I think not since national taxes have to be applied then how can Assamese lobby govt in Delhi about anything which benfits their region more?

Umesh Sharma

Washington D.C. 

1-202-215-4328 [Cell]

Ed.M. - International Education Policy

Harvard Graduate School of Education,

Harvard University,

Class of 2005

http://www.uknow.gse.harvard.edu/index.html (Edu info)

http://hbswk.hbs.edu/ (Management Info)

www.gse.harvard.edu/iep  (where the above 2 are used )

http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/

http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/

--- On Mon, 22/12/08, Research <wbresearch at worldbank.org> wrote:
From: Research <wbresearch at worldbank.org>
Subject: World Bank Research E-Newsletter [Nov-Dec 2008]
To: jaipurschool at yahoo.com
Date: Monday, 22 December, 2008, 3:22 PM

World Bank Research E-Newsletter [Nov-Dec 2008]
***********************************************************************Lessons from past World Bank research on financial crisesSummary: Conference on risk analysis and managementNew forecasting report: Global Economic Prospects 2009Who uses international capital markets? And what happens afterwards?LSMS ISA: Improving household-level agricultural data in AfricaA broader approach to multilateral cooperationMembership in a Free Trade Area (FTA) promotes external liberalizationLow-cost rural land registration program has benefits in Ethiopia30 years of World Development Reports [Book + searchable DVD]
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Lessons from past World Bank research on financial crises
***********************************************************************
What lessons can be derived from World Bank research to better understand the current crisis and better inform policy responses? In a new paper reviewing past work, staff of the Bank’s Development Research Group note that the benefits of financial development and globalization have come with continuing fragility in financial sectors. Periodic crises have had real but varied welfare impacts—and not just for poor people. In fact, some of the conditions that foster deep and persistent poverty, such as lack of connectivity to markets, have protected poor people to some degree. Past crises have also had longer-term impacts for some, notably through the nutrition and schooling of children in poor families. The paper highlights the importance of spending composition in designing a fiscal stimulus or adjustment program. Sound information on what is happening on the ground as the crisis unfolds is also crucial. A key lesson from past experience is that
 short-term responses—macroeconomic stabilization, trade policies, financial sector policies, and social protection—cannot ignore longer-term implications for both economic development and vulnerability to future crises.
Paper***********************************************************************
Summary: Conference on risk analysis and management
***********************************************************************
In a new research brief, Asli Demirguc-Kunt reports on an October conference in Washington D.C. on “Risk Analysis and Management”, sponsored by the research departments of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Staff, academics, policymakers and others discussed a range of topics—securitization, contagion, and implications for bank regulation—within the context of the current financial crisis. A summary of recessions, credit crunches, and asset price busts for a sample of 21 OECD countries from 1960 to 2007 showed how rare it is for all three challenges to emerge at the same time. Other papers discussed the causes of the crisis—rooted in incentive problems—and potential reforms that would improve incentives by increasing transparency and accountability in government and industry.
Brief***********************************************************************
New forecasting report: Global Economic Prospects 2009
***********************************************************************
According to the World Bank’s latest Global Economic Prospects report, the world financial crisis has dimmed short-term prospects for developing countries and the volume of world trade is likely to contract for the first time since 1982. The sharp slowdown has caused commodity prices to plummet, ending a historic five-year boom. The report finds the global economy transitioning from a long period of strong developing-country led growth to one of great uncertainty. It projects that world GDP growth will be 2.5 percent in 2008 and 0.9 percent in 2009. Developing countries will likely grow by 4.5 percent next year, down from 7.9 percent in 2007, while growth in high-income countries will turn negative. Subtitled “Commodities at the Crossroads,” the report finds that, while real food and fuel prices in developing countries have dropped, they remain higher than in the 1990s. It projects that oil prices will average about $75 a barrel next year and food
 prices worldwide will decline by 23 percent compared with their 2008 average. It also finds that oil and food supplies should meet demand over the next 20 years, given the right policies.
www.worldbank.org/gep2009***********************************************************************
Who uses international capital markets? And what happens afterwards?
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Financial globalization has increased sharply in recent years, as countries and firms around the world have relied on international markets for financing investment and growth. This has raised questions about the distribution of benefits from globalization during boom years, as well as about the spillovers of crises as international conditions worsen. In a new paper, “Patterns of International Capital Raisings,” Gozzi, Levine, and Schmukler document several new trends associated with firms issuing securities in foreign markets, noting that international capital raisings almost quadrupled from 1991 to 2005. Three main findings arise: First, a large and growing fraction of capital raisings, especially debt issuances, occurs in international markets, but only a handful of firms account for the bulk of international capital raisings. Second, changes in firm performance following equity and debt issuances in international markets are qualitatively similar
 to those following domestic issuances, suggesting that capital raisings abroad do not intrinsically differ from domestic ones. Third, after firms start accessing international markets, they significantly increase the amount raised at home, suggesting that international and domestic markets are complementary.
Paper***********************************************************************
LSMS ISA: Improving household-level agricultural data in Sub-Saharan Africa
***********************************************************************
The Living Standards Measurement Study Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-
ISA) is a new initiative funded through a $19 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve household-level data on agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Under the LSMS-ISA initiative, the World Bank will support governments in six African countries to generate household panel data with a strong focus on agriculture. The exercise will be modeled on the integrated household survey design of the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study program. Besides aiming to produce policy-relevant agricultural data, the project emphasizes the design and validation of innovative survey methods, the use of technology for improving survey data quality, and the development of analytical tools to facilitate the use and analysis of the data collected.
www.worldbank.org/lsms***********************************************************************
A broader approach to multilateral cooperation
***********************************************************************
In a new paper, “Multilateralism beyond Doha,” researchers Mattoo and Subramanian present several propositions regarding the global trading system, which they believe has failed to adapt to a fundamental shift in the global economy. They note that the traditional negotiating dynamic, driven by private sector interests largely in rich countries, is running out of steam; and that economic security has become a paramount concern for consumers, workers, and ordinary citizens everywhere. They propose that tackling new concerns—relating to food, energy, and economic security—requires a wider agenda of multilateral cooperation, involving not just the World Trade Organization but other multilateral institutions. Despite shifts in economic power across countries, common interests and scope for give-and-take on these new issues make multilateral cooperation worth attempting, the authors conclude.
Paper ***********************************************************************
Membership in a Free Trade Area (FTA) promotes external liberalization
***********************************************************************
Concerns have been raised about whether regionalism is reducing the trade opportunities of non-members. In theory, the incentives created by an FTA could either increase or decrease tariffs against non-members. Researchers Estevadeordal, Freund, and Ornelas examine the effect of regionalism on unilateral trade liberalization using industry-level data on applied tariffs and bilateral preferences for 10 Latin American countries from 1990 to 2001. They find that that preferential tariff reduction in a given sector leads to a reduction in external tariffs in that sector. External liberalization is greater if preferential access is granted to important suppliers. However, these effects are not seen in customs unions. Overall, the results suggest that concerns about FTAs having a negative impact on external trade liberalization are unfounded.
Paper ***********************************************************************
Low-cost rural land registration program has benefits in Ethiopia
***********************************************************************
Although early attempts at land titling in Africa were often unsuccessful, the need to secure rights in view of increased demand for land, options for registration under new laws, and new scope for reducing costs have led to renewed interest. A new paper, “Impacts of land certification on tenure security, investment, and land markets: Evidence from Ethiopia,” by Deininger, Ali, and Alemu assesses the economic impacts of a land registration program in Ethiopia that, over five years, covered about 20 million plots at a tenth of the cost of the most cost-effective programs elsewhere. In addition to case study evidence suggesting impacts on transparency, conflict reduction, and women's empowerment (by allowing them to defend land rights in cases of inheritance or divorce), and despite a policy environment that was far from ideal, they find that the program increased tenure security, land-related investment, and rental market participation.
Paper***********************************************************************
Thirty years of World Development Reports
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Since 1978, the World Development Report has served as one of the principal and most widely read vehicles for summarizing the World Bank’s knowledge of—and policy recommendations on—key global development issues such as agriculture, the environment, economic growth, the investment climate, poverty, infrastructure and international trade. All past reports have been brought together in a single searchable DVD, “The Complete World Development Report,” that allows readers to search both within and across all the reports, as well as browse all reports by title or topic. The DVD includes a development database derived from the Bank’s “World Development Indicators,” providing up to 30 years of statistical data for 50 indicators for 210 countries.
Order DVDIn addition, a new book, “Development Economics Through the Decades: A Critical Look at Thirty Years of the World Development Report” brings together an essay by Shahid Yusuf of the World Bank as well as commentaries by Angus Deaton, Kemal Dervis, William Easterly, Takatoshi Ito, and Joseph E. Stiglitz, each of whom approach the subject from a different perspective. Yusuf’s essay provides both a sweeping analysis of the coverage of the series, as well as a summary of some of the major challenges that the Bank could explore through future reports.
Order book***********************************************************************
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New Policy Research Working Papers
***********************************************************************These papers, and all older papers, are also available using the  Document Search on the Bank's Development Economics Research website and on the  Social Sciences Research Network.

4756. (updated) The 2007 meltdown in structured securitization : searching for lessons, not scapegoats by Gerard Caprio Jr., Asli Demirguc-Kunt, and Edward J. Kane4763. (updated) Bailing out the world's poorest by Martin Ravallion4764. Impacts of land certification on tenure security, investment, and land markets : evidence from Ethiopia by Klaus Deininger, Daniel Ayalew Ali, and Tekie Alemu4765. Catastrophe risk pricing : an empirical analysis by Morton Lane and Olivier Mahul4766. In search of the missing resource curse by Daniel Lederman and William F. Maloney4767. Strengthening local government budgeting and accountability by Michael Schaeffer and Serdar Yilmaz4768. Macro-micro feedback links of water management in South Africa : CGE analyses of selected policy regimes by R. Hassan, J. Thurlow, T. Roe, X. Diao, S. Chumi, and Y. Tsur4769. Endowments, location or luck ? evaluating the determinants of sub-national growth in decentralized
 Indonesia by Neil McCulloch and Bambang Suharnoko Sjahrir4770. Crises, capital controls, and financial integration by Eduardo Levy Yeyati, Sergio L. Schmukler, and Neeltje Van Horen4771. The typology of partial credit guarantee funds around the world by Thorsten Beck, Leora F. Klapper, and Juan Carlos Mendoza4772. How does geographic distance affect credit market access in Niger ? by Jose Pedrosa and Quy-Toan Do4773. Sovereign rents and the quality of tax policy and administration by Stephen Knack4774. Centralization, decentralization, and conflict in the Middle East and North Africa by Mehmet Serkan Tosun and Serdar Yilmaz4775. Migration and education decisions in a dynamic general equilibrium framework by Sebastien Dessus and Charbel Nahas4776. Community participation in public Schools : the impact of information campaigns in three indian states by Priyanka Pandey, Sangeeta Goyal, and Venkatesh Sundararaman4777. Public participation, teacher
 accountability, and school outcomes : findings from baseline surveys in three Indian states by Priyanka Pandey, Sangeeta Goyal, and Venkatesh Sundararaman4778. The impacts of cash and in-kind transfers on consumption and labor supply : experimental evidence from rural Mexico by Emmanuel Skoufias, Mishel Unar, and Teresa Gonzalez-Cossio4779. Lessons from World Bank research on financial crises by Development Research Group4780. Reform and inequality during the transition : an analysis using panel household survey data, 1990-2005 by Branko Milanovic and Lire Ersado4781. Macro-micro feedback links of irrigation water management in Turkey by Erol H. Cakmak, Hasan Dudu, Sirin Saracoglu, Xinshen Diao, Terry Roe, and Yacov Tsur4782. Foreign professionals and domestic regulation by Aaditya Mattoo and Deepak Mishra4783. Social transfers, labor supply and poverty reduction : the case of Albania by Andrew Dabalen, Talip Kilic, and Waly Wane4784. Almost
 random : evaluating a large-scale randomized nutrition program in the presence of crossover by Sebastian Linnemayr and Harold Alderman4785. Bank financing for smes around the world : drivers, obstacles, business models, and lending practices by Thorsten Beck, Asli Demirguc-Kunt, and Maria Soledad Martinez Peria4786. Factors affecting levels of international cooperation in carbon abatement projects by Ariel Dinar, Shaikh Mahfuzur, Donald Larson, and Philippe Ambrosi4787. Pension funds and capital market development by Claudio Raddatz and Sergio L. Schmukler4788. Drivers and obstacles to banking SMEs : the role of competition and the institutional rramework by Augusto de la Torre, Maria Soledad Martinez Peria, and Sergio L. Schmukler4789. Can maquila booms reduce poverty ? evidence from Honduras by Rafael E. de Hoyos, Maurizio Bussolo, and Oscar Nunez4790. Expanding trade within Africa : the impact of trade facilitation by Dominique Njinkeu, John
 S. Wilson, and Bruno Powo Fosso4791. Does inflation targeting matter for output growth ? evidence from industrial and emerging economies by Andre Varella Mollick, Rene Cabral Torres, and Francisco G. Carneiro4792. Explaining enterprise performance in developing countries with business climate survey data by Jean-Jacques Dethier, Maximilian Hirn, and Stephane Straub4793. Progress in participation in tertiary education in India from 1983 to 2004 by Mehtabul Azam and Andreas Blom4794. Endogenous institution formation under a catching-up strategy in developing countries by Justin Yifu Lin and Zhiyun Li4795. Can the introduction of a minimum wage in FYR Macedonia decrease the gender wage gap ? by Diego F. Angel-Urdinola4796. Global food price inflation : implications for South Asia, policy reactions, and future challenges by Sadiq  Ahmed4767. Trade policy, trade costs, and developing country trade by Bernard Hoekman and Alessandro Nicita4798.
 Migration and economic mobility in Tanzania : evidence from a tracking survey by Kathleen Beegle, Joachim De Weerdt, and Stefan Dercon 

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