With the boons of technological progress spreading every nook and corner of the globe, Globalisation has been a dominant force for several decades. Globalisation has winners and losers. International trade, foreign direct investment, and trans-boundary flow of goods, services, and capital are few of the many facets that characterise the process of globalisation. Thus, a volume addressing such issues is quite essential for readers. This volume is a collection of thirteen contributed chapters on the current international trade scenario, its evolution over the years, and its global impact on developed and developing economies. Most importantly, it deals with a range of issues related to global financial crisis and its aftermath affecting global trade and the players in the international market. As the crisis unfolded, trade has suffered a setback and we saw a shift in global trade. In particular, we saw the emergence of developing nations and gradual erosion of dominance of developed countries. This book covers these aspects. The valuable contributions by the authors look at these problems in global macro economy from different angles -- theoretical and empirical -- to offer a cogent view of the current situation facing us. The chapters offer theoretical viewpoint as well as applied perspectives on many facets of crisis and trade in the global economy.

Trade growth between the United States and China has increased U.S. interest in how the Chinese transportation system handles exports. The Federal Highway Administration, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and National Cooperative Highway Research Program sponsored a scanning study to identify how China provides intermodal access to its ports and uses investment strategies to foster freight mobility and intermodal connectivity. The scan team learned that China's national, provincial, and metropolitan transportation policy is closely coordinated with the country's economic policy and social harmony goals. The transportation system is expanding rapidly to meet global intermodal freight demands and promote expansion into underdeveloped regions of the country. This book discusses the freight mobility and intermodal connectivity in China as well as provides an overview of U.S.-China commercial relations, including major trade disputes.

There is more sugar in the world's diet than ever before, but life is far from sweet for the exploited producers making nature's 'white gold' and the unhealthy consumers eating it. Why has the billion-dollar sugar trade created such inequities? In this insightful analysis, Ben Richardson argues that the most compelling answers to this question can be found in the dynamics of global capitalism. Led by multinational companies, the mass consumption of sweetened snacks has taken hold in the Global South and underpinned a new wave of foreign investment in sugar production. The expansion of large-scale and highly-industrialised farms across Latin America, Asia and Africa has kept the price of sugar down whilst pushing workers out of jobs and rural dwellers off the land. However, challenges to these practices are gathering momentum. Health advocates warning against costly diseases like diabetes, trade unions fighting for better pay, and local residents campaigning for a cleaner environment are all re-shaping the way sugar is consumed and produced. But to truly transform sugar, Richardson contends, these political activities must also address the profit-driven nature of food and farming itself.

This unique volume provides a comprehensive survey of the major economic issues that have helped shape the modern world. It includes discussions of the latest research findings in macroeconomics and scrutinises some of the most important debates in economic history. The author examines the many controversies relating to the role of government in a modern economy, long-run growth and development, the spread of the Industrial Revolution, the causes and consequences of the 'Great Depression', the 'Great Peacetime Inflation', the conduct of stabilisation policy, international economic integration and globalisation. To shed light on these major issues the volume contains interviews with ten leading economists who have each contributed extensively to the literature on macroeconomics, economic growth and development, international economics and economic history. A major theme which runs throughout the book is the conviction that economists can gain valuable insights concerning important contemporary policy issues from a knowledge of history, especially economic history. The distinguished economists featured in this book are: Ben Bernanke, Jagdish Bhagwati, Alan Blinder, Nick Crafts, Bradford DeLong, Barry Eichengreen, Kevin Hoover, Charles Jones, Christina Romer and Joseph Stiglitz. Containing an extensive and up-to-date list of references, the book provides a comprehensive guide to the modern literature on macroeconomics and related fields. It will be an essential reference for all scholars and students of economics, especially those with an interest in economic growth, business cycles, inflation, unemployment, trade and globalisation. It will also be of considerable value to students of economic history and the history of economic thought.

The process of European integration is at a crossroads. As the Union becomes larger in terms of members, the institutional structures and decision making procedures will have to change in order for it to make policy initiatives. To meet these challenges, the Union will need an effective institutional and constitutional structure which must be both democratic and acceptable to its citizens. This major book evaluates recent developments, considers the present situation and assesses the prospects for the future of the European Union. A wide variety of institutional and constitutional issues are addressed, with special attention being paid to three main topics; decision making and including a critique of attempts to analyse European decision making using traditional power indices and a discussion of the different procedures laid down in the comitology decision; federal structures, with an analysis of the politics of European federalism among other issues; institutional change which compares the relative merits of enlarging or deepening the Union, suggesting a fifth freedom by a single European market for governments and discussing non-technical aspects of legislation in the European Union. Constitutional Law and Economics of the European Union will of interest to policymakers, academics and students of European economic and political affairs and institutional and constitutional structures.

How can the notion of competitiveness be reasonably applied to an economy? What relation does high or low competitiveness have to the current account? Do huge and persistent imbalances really reflect competitive positions of local firms or are they merely due to a misalignment of exchange rates or even outright protectionism, as the US-Japan trade conflict suggests? All these questions are rigorously addressed in International Competitiveness and the Balance of Payments. In examining the determinants of current account balances the conventional competitiveness approach - in which deficits are assumed to indicate low competitiveness - is contrasted with an intertemporal view of the balance of payments. By emphasizing locational quality as the decisive factor in international competitiveness, the authors are able to offer fundamentally different conclusions about the determinants of current account debates. As well as theoretical evidence advocating the intertemporal view, the authors present four case studies in support of this approach: Germany before and after unification, Spain before joining the EMS, the United States since the early 1980s, and Japan's persistent current account surpluses.

This book focuses on the nature and role of entrepreneurship in modern developed and emerging economies and societies, its relation to governments and universities, and its role in the often-forgotten informal economy. The aim is to position entrepreneurship in the post-crisis context and explore how its relation to universities and governments contributes to explain the countries' and territories' growth performance and resilience or vulnerability to the crisis. The accent is particularly on processes and patterns at local level and in small and medium-sized enterprises in local economic systems and districts, local systems of innovation, and the types and configurations of innovation these give origin to. With globalization, entrepreneurship has become fundamental for the competitiveness of territories and countries, for policy management and for development. The local dimension is fundamental because of agglomeration economies and effects, the advantages of proximity and the nature of knowledge and information. Furthermore, territories carry to the centre-stage tacit knowledge, localized social capital, embeddedness and interpersonal relations as fundamental components of their endogenous socio-economic development and competitiveness. When local systems are connected in a horizontal network, they contribute to the strength of national and international systems. To play a constructive role from this perspective, entrepreneurship must avoid local entrenchment and support the local economy to upgrade and be competitive. To do this, the entrepreneurs' interaction and alliance with universities and governments is a must for those countries and localities wanting to emerge. This requires that enterprises, universities and governments create synergies and spill-overs to their mutual advantage.

This book examines the impact of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on local economies, and presents selected case studies of MNEs operating in low income countries. By balancing external social and environmental costs against its corresponding benefits, the book demonstrates that MNEs can have a positive net-impact on local development if they build up social capital by embedding themselves in local economies and engaging responsibly with local stakeholders. By doing so MNEs contribute to inclusive growth, a central pillar of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, the book challenges popular narratives in civil society and academia that frame foreign direct investment (FDI) merely as a threat to human rights and sustainable development. Moreover, it offers practical guidance for globally operating businesses seeking to establish progressive Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategies of their own.

Economic Integration between Unequal Partners deals with the emergence of the major trading blocs, including the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the European Union. The rise of these blocs has profound implications for the socio-economic and geo-political systems as we know them. The author's question whether the irreversible trend towards mega trading blocs will lead to a reduction of economic disparities and convergence between unequal partners, or whether the process is a 'zero sum game' where one player's gains must come at the expense of another. The first two sections deal with the experience in North America and the EU respectively. The following sections concentrate on the political economy of integration, the monetary and financial aspects of the process, and the unique experience of German unification after 1990. Featuring essays by leading experts in the field, this volume will be welcomed by scholars and students concerned with economic integration, international economics and international relations, as well as by practitioners in international institutions, finance ministries and central banks.

The economics of international investment is an area in which many important theoretical and empirical contributions have been made over recent years. This volume draws together a series of original new essays which reflect and refine developments in the concepts, theories and tools of analysis of international investment and uses them to analyse recent issues posed by the growth and altered structure of international investment. Featuring contributions by many of the leading figures in the field, the volume commences with discussion of the market for foreign investment since the debt crisis, the export and foreign investment decision process of the firm, the welfare implications of R&D activities by multinational enterprises in host countries and the relationship between foreign direct investment and regionalism with particular reference to the EC. Later papers focus on foreign direct investment in Eastern Europe, the influence of exchange rate regimes on international capital flows, the use of privatization schemes to reduce external debt overhang and Malaysia's inverse saving-investment correlation. No other book offers as extensive a coverage of important recent issues, both theoretical and empirical, in the economics of international investment. In addition to providing students, teachers and researchers with an overview of current views and theories in the area of international investment, this volume will also serve as a useful platform from which future research can be launched.

This book - written by leading academics and practitioners in the field - brings together cutting edge research on exchange rate regime and monetary union issues. There is a particular focus on the implications for member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) which is itself working towards forming a monetary union for the Gulf States. The relatively dramatic movements in the US dollar in the recent past, and also in the early 1990s, have called the practice of pegging to the US dollar into question for a group of countries that predominantly rely on hydrocarbons as their primary export. The book considers the key issues which must be addressed by the GCC in trying to form a monetary union for the Gulf countries and also the rigid pegging of member states' currencies to the US dollar. The proposed monetary union raises clear issues in terms of the appropriateness of such a regime for these countries and whether, for example, the necessary institutional mechanisms are in place ahead of the proposed union. Currency Union and Exchange Rate Issues brings together the perspectives of a group of experts who focus on these important issues, and provide analysis of the policy options. Academics, policymakers and postgraduates in international finance will find much to consider and learn from in this informative book.

What major long-term factors will shape the European Community post-1992? Who are the central actors, how will they exert influence on Europe's future, and what are their expectations and intentions? In seeking to answer these questions, The European Challenges Post-1992 offers a multidisciplinary, qualitative approach, throwing new light on the aspirations and preoccupations aroused by the promise of the Community. Centring on socio-political and cultural concerns and their interplay with economic phenomena, this important book combines expert opinion from 12 large European research institutes - each of which provides an analysis of the major factors shaping the future of their own country - with the views of leading industrialists and business leaders. The editors bring together these different views and interpretations to offer a comprehensive assessment of the Community's future. The European Challenge Post-1992 includes contributions by the former Commissaire du Plan (Brussels), the Institute of International Economics and Management (Copenhagen), Commissariat General du Plan (Paris), Kiel Institute of World Economics (Kiel), Foundation of Economic and Industrial Research (Athens), Economic and Social Research Institute (Dublin), Centro Studi Investimenti Sociali (Rome), Institut Universitaire International (Luxembourg), Scientific Council for Government Policy (The Hague), Instituto de Prospectiva (Lisbon), Fundacion Empresa Publica (Madrid), McKinsey & Co. and the Policy Studies Institute (London). The product of a major research project, this distinguished book is an invaluable reference point for all those concerned with the future of the European Community.

China's rise exerts a powerful pull on ASEAN economies and constitutes an impetus for a resinicization of Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia. China has become a skilled practitioner of "commercial diplomacy", and as long as it continues to lead the way in regional integration, China's state-led capitalism will seek to integrate itself into the ASEAN Economic Community. This in effect becomes China's essential strategy of desecuritization for the region. With increasing trade and investment between China and ASEAN countries, the ethnic Chinese economic elites have managed to serve as "connectors and bridges" between the two sides, and benefited in the process from joint ventures and business investments. The impact of new Chinese Capitalism on SMEs, however, has not been equally positive. As China rises, Southeast Asia has witnessed increased complexity and variations of "hybrid capitalism", including alliances between state-led capitalism, transnational entrepreneurs emanating from China's "going out" policy and ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia. Three main forms of Chinese Capitalism in Southeast Asia are neoliberal capitalism, flexible capitalism and Confucian capitalism. These intermingle into a range of local varieties under different socio-economic conditions.

A handful of developing countries are becoming major players in the global economy due, in part, to their large populations, rising trade flows, and rapidly growing economics. These evolving economies are likely to be of increasing interest to the 113th Congress. Led by China, these rising economic powers (REPs), include Brazil, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey. With large economies and rising shares of world trade flows, the REPs have greater involvement in World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations and dispute settlement cases, have protested with greater frequency U.S. economic and trade policies, and are more able and willing to deflect or reject U.S. trade and market access demands. This book examines the economic strides these REPs have made and the potential stumbling blocks they could encounter if they do not take steps to improve their business climates by undertaking a range of trade, regulatory, and structural reforms.

At a time when globalization is taking a step backward, what's the best way to organize a global enterprise? The key, explains political economist Steven Weber, is to prepare for a world increasingly made up of competing regions defined by their own rules and standards. Globalization has taken a hit as trade wars and resistance to mass migrations dominate headlines. Are we returning to the old world of stand-alone nations? Political economist Steven Weber argues that we are heading toward something new. Global connectedness will not dissolve but will be defined by "regional" blocs, demarcated more by the rules and standards they follow than by territory. For leaders of firms and NGOs with global ambitions, navigating this transformation is the strategic challenge of the decade. Not long ago, we thought the world was flattening out, offering a level playing field to organizations striving for worldwide reach. As global economic governance expanded, firms shifted operations to wherever was most efficient-designing in one country and buying, manufacturing, and selling in others. Today, the world looks bumpier, with rising protectionism, national struggles over data control, and tensions over who should set worldwide standards. Expect emerging regional blocs to be dominated by the major rule-makers: the US, China, and possibly the EU. Firms and NGOs will need to remake themselves by building complete, semi-independent organizations in each region. Every nation will choose which rule-maker it wants to align with, and it may not be the one next door. This new world has the potential to be more prosperous, Weber argues, but friction between the dynamics of geography and technology will make it more risky. Pioneering research, creative thinking, and colorful storytelling from the frontlines of the global economy combine to make this a must-read for leaders and analysts facing tomorrow's world.

The only comprehensive database on international exchange operations and the global trade system 2016 Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions This is the 67th issue of the AREAER, which provides comprehensive descriptions of the foreign exchange arrangements, exchange and trade systems, and capital controls of all IMF member countries. It describes each country's market operations, international trade policies, controls on capital transactions, and financial sector measures. AREAERs from 1988 on are available on IMF eLibrary, and cumulative data from each annual report dating back to 1999 are available in a single online database, AREAER Online. The 2016 AREAER includes an overview and key summary tables with 192 individual country chapters.

International agricultural trade regulation remains problematic despite the creation of the WTO and a specific Agreement on Agriculture in 1995. Fiona Smith challenges this orthodoxy and presents a new conceptual method by which the problem of international agricultural trade in the WTO can be understood. Attempts to revise the rules in the Doha Development Round of multilateral trade talks have repeatedly stalled as negotiators grapple with what is perceived to be the problem of international agricultural trade. Issues such as how best to address the contemporary challenges to market liberalisation whilst preserving the environment, difficulties of biofuels, development, human rights and the demands of the changing nature of global governance are all examined in this timely book. Challenging convention and introducing new concepts, Agriculture and the WTO will strongly appeal to academics working in the fields of international agricultural trade, international relations, international economic law, agriculture law and policy. It will also be warmly welcomed by policymakers and graduate students with a special interest in international agricultural trade.

Volume 1: Industrial Dynamics and Cultural Adaptation illustrates the distinctive industrial dynamics of India's media economy, tracking the deeply embedded cultural, political, and economic forces that determine its everyday operation. The selection of essays serves to demonstrate the unique patterns of development and the complex field of exchanges that have constituted India's media economy. Volume 2: Market Dynamics and Social Transactions provides a comprehensive analysis of the interlocking markets that constitute the media economy, focusing upon its particular commodity forms, labour conditions, and spaces of consumption. Taking account of a rich set of case studies, this volume argues for the necessary consideration of multiple and interdependent markets in explicating our everyday encounters with media.

Special Economic Zones (SEZs) have become a popular development policy throughout the world over the last half a century. These zones form designated areas where governments offer businesses lower taxes, tariffs, and often lighter regulations. Generally, SEZs aim to attract investments and raise a country's export and employment rates, but although success stories are often cited, there are numerous failed projects that have instead become burdens for their host countries. This book examines SEZs from a political economy perspective, both to dissect the incentives of governments, zone developers, and exporters, and to uncover both the hidden costs and untapped potential of zone policies. Costs include misallocated resources, the encouragement of rent-seeking, and distraction of policy-makers from more effective reforms. However, the zones also have several unappreciated benefits. They can change the politics of a country, by generating a transition from a system of rent-seeking to one of liberalized open markets. In revealing the hidden promise of SEZs, this book shows how the SEZ model of development can succeed in the future. Applying frameworks from various schools of political economy, this volume places SEZs in the context of their mixed past and promising future. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in international economics, development economics, and political economy, including practitioners and consultants of SEZ policies.

This major Handbook offers a comprehensive analysis of the key issues surrounding the rapid expansion of Latin America's manufacturing sector. It systematically examines the most important factors influencing the comparative advantages and the globalization of manufacturing industries in the region. The Handbook of Latin American Trade in Manufactures provides a detailed account of trade and investment policies, international technology transfers, macroeconomic stabilization and structural adjustment policies and industry-specific initiatives affecting the export competitiveness of Latin America's manufactures. The four major parts of the Handbook contain detailed assessments of regional and country-specific developments in manufacturing trade, and the statistical appendix provides essential information on the countries of the region. This Handbook will be welcomed by a wide range of economists in the fields of international trade and investment, industrial organization, development economics and Latin American Trade. It will also be of interest to business analysts and policymakers concerned with the formation of trade strategies.

Small-scale handicraft producers often lack adequate marketing experience or support structures, particularly for exporting. Written in jargon-free language, this book provides information to help producers export more effectively. It includes how to reach and maintain contact with customers, design and production for overseas markets, presentation and packaging, quality control, supplying to specification and the various formalities and documentation involved in exporting.

In 2008, the global economy experienced the most severe crash since World War II. A sharp collapse in international trade followed, leaving no country on the globe immune to a sequence of economic shocks. This timely book explores many of the key issues raised in the wake of the global economic crisis and provides an in-depth analysis of crisis transmission to emerging markets. The expert contributors compare the recent crisis with earlier crises, explore international aspects of the crisis from the perspectives of financial markets and trade, and examine macroeconomic policy responses. In so doing, they address important questions including: How did this crisis differ from those suffered previously? How and why did flaws in financial markets contribute to the crisis? How important were global imbalances and global overheating in explaining the global meltdown? Did different pre-crisis fundamentals generate different post-crisis performances? And, how severe were the economic shocks to countries such as Korea and other emerging economies? Academics, students and policymakers in the fields of economics, international economics, finance, money and banking and Asian studies will find this book to be a thought-provoking and stimulating read.

This highly topical book addresses the challenge of economic convergence within Europe, beginning with a thorough review of the theory of growth and related empirical research. Historical and more recent economic developments within the present EU and current accession countries are discussed, along with the design for the process of further integration of accession countries into the EU and the Euro area. Moreover, the potential to achieve a sustainable catch-up process in Western Balkan countries, the Ukraine and Russia is explored, focusing on the task facing the EU in designing proper policies vis-a-vis these countries. The contributors' varied perspectives ensure that the theories and policies postulated are linked closely with the actual situation in accession countries and offer up-to-date insights. Economic Convergence and Divergence in Europe will be of interest to economists and researchers of regional and European studies, particularly those with a focus on integration. Its accessible and non-technical approach assures its appeal to experts from the banking and governmental sectors.