Search Results (75)

This research explores the interplay between innovation, economic systems, governance structures, and law, and how they interact with one another in the context of China and Ethiopia’s investments in the Digital Silk Road. The way cutting-edge methods related to governance and economic systems might help lower the risks involved in major infrastructure projects, like the Digital Silk Road, particularly in light of law and 5G developments, is investigated. China–Africa connections are to be strengthened, sustainable development is to be encouraged, and healthy economic progress is the goal of the partnership between Ethiopia and the Hainan Free Trade Port. The impact of these transnational investments on fair growth and sustainable development is assessed, while exploring the evolving agendas and procedures governing investments. This research draws attention to how the law and legal cooperation between Ethiopia and China may promote mutually advantageous outcomes, promote transparency and governance mechanisms, and lessen the likelihood of disputes. This research on the factors influencing the future of the Digital Silk Road and its consequences for long-term, sustainable economic growth, and business in the area, aims to provide valuable insights for policymakers, development professionals, and academics, and for the copromotion of China and Ethiopia in terms of digital investment. This research relates to the promotion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), in terms of construction and economic development. It also examines how the DSR raises concerns about data security and privacy, cross-border transactions, technology transfer, and cyberterrorism, as well as encourages digital investment, such as through enhancing digital governance regulations, modernizing international investment agreements (IIAs), and bolstering global health, coordination, and cooperation; the article concludes by analyzing the implications for Africa. The findings show that such cooperation would support Africa’s digital transformation and sustainable development, while strengthening China–Africa cooperation. Full article

In recent years, trade protectionism and unilateralism have prevailed, and countries around the world have imposed restrictions on log exports. It has also become more difficult for China to import wood resources and export deep-processed wood forest products. Based on panel data from 2000 to 2019, this study uses social network analysis to measure the level of the Chinese wood forest product trade network, takes the Chinese free trade agreements (FTAs) as the natural experiment, and uses the multi-stage double-difference method to investigate the impact of the signed FTAs on China’s wood forest product trade. The study finds that the trade network of Chinese wood forest products is becoming increasingly complex, and the central position of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the network is increasing year by year. The signing of FTAs has had a significant positive impact on the trade of wood forest products in China and a significant trade creation effect. This finding remains true after conducting the placebo test and propensity score-matched regression control. At the same time, the import of wood forest products in China will have a significant trade transfer effect due to the signing of FTAs, and this will not affect exports. Although FTAs show significant trade creation and trade transfer effects in China’s wood forest product trade, they also increase, to a certain extent, the mismatch of forest resources worldwide. Full article

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the economic interventions that took place during the initial stages of the pandemic in 2020 in the US, Mexico, and Canada. These countries share a free trade agreement that indicates their willingness to cooperate in economic terms with each other and that they should adopt similar economic policies due to both their shared agreements and proximity. However, the economic interventions adopted by two of the three countries were not considered by the other, which makes for an interesting comparison. Interrupted time series analysis is a quasi-quantitative method that has recently been used in evaluating policy during a specific time. This study is interested in focusing on the economic interventions that were put into practice in neighboring countries that have formed a free trade alliance named USMCA. The method of a systematic analysis of interrupted time series will be used as a basis for organizing the article to provide further validity to the study. Full article

The European Union (EU) and the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) free trade agreement (FTA) aims to increase regional trade and major integration between the regions; after decades of negotiations, in 2019, finalization of the agreement was reached. However, there are several blockages from both parties in the ratification process: whilst few EU members the criticize environmental and sustainability issues within the agreement, the Mercosur partners oppose the imposition of sustainability standards onto the region without adequate financial support. On this topic, the literature is still too poor to build a systematic literature review; thus, the present analysis follows a quasi-historical approach considering the major steps of the EU–Mercosur FTA looking both at the scientific and gray literature. The study underlines how environmental and sustainability issues are at the core of the European policies; thus, themes such as deforestation and pesticides could be a dealbreaker in the ratification of the agreement. For the EU, the FTA with Mercosur could mark a new step in the race towards it being a new “global standard” for sustainability and production. Full article

This paper underlines the significance of free trade agreements in attracting foreign direct investment and their impact on the operational capacities of local firms in host countries. It argues that free trade agreements do not only eliminate barriers to trade, but they also increase the size of the regional market and improve the business environment, making it more attractive to foreign direct investment, along with all the attributes and spillover effects associated with it. While determining the type of spillover effects of foreign direct investment associated with Oman’s trade agreements, this paper uses the Kruskal–Wallis H-test and 438 samples from companies surveyed between 1 August and 31 October 2023 to assess the impact of spillovers on the performance of the surveyed companies. The results reveal that technology transfer, knowledge transfer, labour productivity, product efficiency, capital investments, and job creation have positive effects on the firms’ operational capacities, with technology transfer having the highest impact (27%), followed by labour productivity and job creation (18%). The spillover effects are almost the same for company size and percentage of ownership. They also identified manufacturing and tourism as priority sectors and the availability of a skilled workforce as a major challenge. These findings make original contribution to the field as this is probably the first study to produce a firm-level analysis of spillover effects of foreign direct investment and trade agreements in the context of Oman and the wider Gulf region. The paper concludes with practical implications for policy makers when negotiating trade agreements and designing investment policies to optimize spillover effects on the performance of their domestic firms. Full article

The Mexican food system has suffered deep transformations due to multiple technological advances and political and free trade agreements, transiting from a food system for self-consumption to a system based on exports and imports that has resulted in excessive agricultural activity intensification, leading to environmental deterioration. Our species’ survival will depend on our capacity to manage systems, considering all ecosystems, especially the climate and food systems. International organizations insist that sustainable food systems could be a useful strategy to address malnutrition and hunger while respecting the environment. However, the food system in Mexico needs to be connected to the environmental, social, health, and food security dimensions. Sustainability in Mexico synthesizes the contradictions of agriculture and the Mexican diet, not only in its economic and productive dimensions but also in the social and environmental ones. Public policies in all sectors of the country must be interconnected and organized to guarantee the sustainability of a system that benefits the environment and population health while respecting the related economic and social elements. This review aims to offer a comprehensive understanding of the Mexican food system’s history and current situation and analyze proposals for its sustainability. Full article

The primary objective of this study is to examine the extent of financial integration between Latin American and US financial markets, particularly in light of recent efforts to foster integration through trade agreements. Spanning from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 2019, the sample focuses on major market indices and key sectors. Financial integration is quantified using a DCC multivariate GARCH model, incorporating a smooth transition model, structural breaks, and regression-based approaches. Results indicate increased comovement with the US for main market indices in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru, while Brazil shows a decrease. Similar trends are observed in sectoral analyses. This study also reveals heightened correlation post-trade agreements. Structural break analysis highlights significant shifts in dynamic correlations for countries with US free trade agreements. These findings support the argument of increased financial integration, bearing significance for portfolio diversification and international policy formulation. Full article

Economic integration, which in today’s global trade is the fundamental component of linking economic ties between countries, is another important factor in the acceleration of economic growth. The provision of trade logistics services is essential to a nation’s economic success in international trade activities. It is essential for enterprises engaged in active international trade to achieve competitive advantages. The international trade and localised commercial activity, to a large extent, is dependent on the logistics and supply chain infrastructure and operational capacity. However, the area received little attention from the perspective of applied economics. The in-depth empirical studies on the impacts of logistics on trade efficiency are few and limited. The study aims to investigate the role of logistics and supply chains in international and national trade in a developing country. It uses secondary data for the analysis. The model and software used in the study are the gravity model and GTAP10a. The time horizon used spans 2014–2030. The results show that in order to enhance trading and commercial activities, a developing country should develop logistics and supply chain infrastructure, train people, and design a flexible logistics policy. Full article

The purpose of this work is to investigate the varied effects of China’s free trade zone (FTZ) strategy on agricultural trade and its underlying mechanisms. This work utilizes the propensity score matching–staggered difference-in-differences (PSM–Staggered DID) approach and synthetic control method (SCM) as its analysis methods. This study analyzes trade volume data between China and various countries alongside diverse economic indicators spanning from 1995 to 2020. The data sources include CEPII_BACI, the China Free Trade Zone Services website, the Penn World Tables, and the CEPII database. The novelty of this work lies in exploring the multidimensional heterogeneity of agricultural product trade effects in FTZs and their underlying mechanisms and extending the application of causal inference methods to the assessment of FTZs’ trade effects. Empirical analysis indicates that the establishment of FTZs with partner countries has contributed to the growth of China’s agricultural trade. The effects of agricultural trade resulting from China’s FTZ strategy exhibit multidimensional heterogeneity in the aspects of agreement terms, years, product categories, and network positions. Specifically, when it comes to the agreement terms, FTZs negotiated by China with broader scope, deeper terms, and stronger constraints have a more significant impact on agricultural trade due to the establishment of FTZs; in terms of years, the agricultural trade effects have gradually expanded over time; in terms of product categories, China has expanded its imports of primary agricultural products and semiprocessed agricultural products from partner countries, thus augmenting its exports of horticultural agricultural products and processed agricultural products. In terms of network positions, China, as a hub country, has greater agricultural trade effects than partner countries after the establishment of the FTZs. Finally, the paper proposes policy recommendations for optimizing the implementation strategy of FTZs. Full article

Background: With a rapidly growing young population, the African continent provides a high but barely exploited economic potential. Creating an African free trade zone is one of the African Union’s major initiatives to increase prosperity. Even though the AfCFTA has already come into force, its potential has not yet been fully exploited. This study investigates the logistics challenges associated with the AfCFTA and potential solutions and development paths for future value chains. Methods: The study builds upon a two-stage research process. First, applying the Nominal Group Technique with a group of 19 industry experts, current challenges and strategies to deal with them are conducted, and statements about potential development paths emerging from the AfCFTA are synthesized. Second, a questionnaire among additional industry experts is done to assess the results of the first stage. Results: The article sheds light on the barely untapped field of logistics challenges hindering the AfCFTA to leverage its potential. Strategy fields to address current challenges are explained, and the first indications of how the AfCFTA will shape supply chains in the mid-term are outlined. Conclusions: The article underlines the importance of logistics in the development of pan-African value chains and highlights potential development paths that may arise in the medium term. It also emphasizes the growing need for cooperation between politics, business, and research to overcome current logistics challenges and leverage the potential of the AfCFTA. Full article

This paper aims to present a project on the publication of the first edition of food composition tables (FCTs) in Albania. Different organizations in Albania and Kosovo were contacted to provide analytical data on foods. The data for the tables were collected mainly from food labels, with less being collected from scientific papers and laboratory reports, since relevant analytical data were missing. Fifteen products were analysed by the Agricultural University of Tirana. Seventy-five foods were chosen as those most often consumed, produced, and traded in Albania (a few of them being from Kosovo). They included primary foods, pre-prepared foods, processed foods, and five traditional Albanian dishes. The collected data were documented using the Slovak database management system, Daris, v. 1.1.8. Missing values for the final list of foods were borrowed from other food composition databases. The nutritional values of dishes were calculated by using the Slovak nutritional calculation software, Alimenta, v. 4.3e. A list of a total of 48 components was included, consisting of proximates (9), minerals (9), vitamins (11), and fatty acids (19). The FCT contains 2219 records in total. The information related to the analytical methods used for each analysed parameter was described in the FCT. The bilingual (English and Albanian) version of the Albanian FCT is available for free at https://rb.gy/jq8l0s. Printed FCTs were disseminated through an informative seminar to the Food Control Authority, the National Authority of Veterinary and Plant Protection, and to representatives of other governmental agencies, universities, and food business operators, the national library, public health centres, and to researchers, students, and consumers. In Albania, no food composition tables have been published so far. With this first edition of the Albanian FCT, we made an effort to start building a national food composition database. This initiative was conducted in the frame of the project Development Support Programme of the Slovak Republic in Food Composition Area for Central and Eastern Europe based on the agreement between the National Agricultural and Food Centre—Food Research Institute, Slovak Republic and the Agricultural University of Tirana, Albania, during the period of 2018–2022. Full article

This article examines bilateral trade relations between the two important countries of South Asia, India and Sri Lanka, in light of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and the India–Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA). The analysis period spans the years 1995 to 2020. The primary analysis found that bilateral trade has been sluggish and that the SAFTA and ISFTA agreements have had no discernible effect on these two countries’ bilateral trade performance. The causes of lackluster trade performance were investigated using the “revealed comparative advantage” and the “trade complementarity” indices. Clear evidence was found demonstrating that the reason for the bilateral trade’s consistent lackluster performance is due to both countries’ lack of revealed comparative advantage in the majority of product groups, followed by export similarity in the product groups where they do have a comparative advantage. The findings also confirm the suspicion of many observers that they are competitors rather than natural trading partners. Although any substantial future increase in their bilateral trade is improbable and fanciful, the paper reflects on methods of strengthening bilateral trade. Full article

Firm-based approaches to international trade have revolutionized the study of trade politics. Corporate participation in political processes is costly, limiting access to large, productive, well-resourced, and often internationally engaged firms. This implies a pro-trade bias in corporate lobbying demands over trade policy. I examine this relationship in the case of three free trade agreements passed by the United States Congress in 2011. I combine public statements from firms on the FTAs with corporate lobbying activities and find that both lobbying firms and those that lobbied and publicly disclosed their policy positions were more productive than the typical publicly traded firm. Likewise, firms with income from foreign affiliates were more likely to be politically active than others. These results contribute to a vibrant body of research into the complex relationships firms hold with policies governing access to international markets. Full article

Fruit and vegetable products, integral to human nutrition, play a vital role in dietary patterns. Moreover, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) region, a critical market for Chinese fruit and vegetable exports, has observed the growing presence of these Chinese produce groups. The ratification of the RCEP bolsters the liberalization of fruit and vegetable commerce in the region, consequently fostering opportunities for its development. Nonetheless, existing studies have insufficiently addressed fruit and vegetable commerce in the region and its consequent effect on trade expansion. In this context, it is crucial to analyze the trade pattern associated with the swift export growth of fruit and vegetables. This study employs binary marginal analysis and the stochastic frontier gravity model. This study’s findings reveal that, with respect to the growth effect, the expansion of China’s fruit and vegetable exports to RCEP countries in recent years primarily stems from the contribution of the extensive margin. Considering the factors influencing trade, metrics like free trade agreements (FTAs), the extent of trade liberalization, political expenditure levels, government transparency, and liner transport connectivity significantly impact China’s fruit and vegetable exports. Regarding trade efficiency, the current efficiency value of China’s fruit and vegetable exports to RCEP countries is relatively low, characterized by substantial country-specific variations and immense future trade potential. The insights gleaned from this research can offer decision-making support for the collaboration on fruit and vegetable trade between China and the RCEP region. Full article

This research delves into the impact of World Trade Organization (WTO) membership on trade dynamics in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region, focusing on the potential augmentation or diversion of trade resulting from CIS countries’ WTO accession. The study context is grounded in the interplay between regionalism, represented by regional trade agreements and historical connections, and global integration facilitated by WTO membership. The study also scrutinizes the potentially complicating role of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) regional bloc, referencing the ‘Spaghetti Bowl’ phenomenon of overlapping trade agreements. The gravity model of trade serves as a conceptual foundation to understand the effects of WTO membership and regional trade agreements on trade costs. Empirical results suggest that WTO membership has not enhanced trade for the CIS. Instances of trade within the CIS region where there is only one WTO member have resulted in a positive trend, even though there is no robust evidence that it is due to WTO membership. The EAEU enhances trade and serves as a trading bloc within the region. This study highlights that while the WTO strives to foster trade liberalization and growth, its effects can be region-specific and complex, as demonstrated by the CIS region’s experience. The research also hints at the importance of intra-regional trade and unique regional factors as critical determinants of trade patterns, which can enhance broader trade expansion and economic development. Full article