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    <title>EconStor Collection: WTO Staff Working Papers, Economic Research and Statistics Division, WTO</title>
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  <item rdf:about="http://hdl.handle.net/10419/72058">
    <title>Environmental quality provision and eco-labelling: Some issues</title>
    <link>http://hdl.handle.net/10419/72058</link>
    <description>Title: Environmental quality provision and eco-labelling: Some issues
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Authors: Valentini, Laura
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Abstract: This paper is a literature survey of some relevant issues arising from environmental quality provision and eco-labelling schemes. First of all it is shown how the two topics are strictly related. Firms adopting a production process (or producing a good) more environmentally friendly than others (environmental quality provision aspect) may want to make it public (eco-labelling aspect). The survey addresses the question of optimal environmental quality provision (also as a policy tool) and firms compliance. With regard to eco-labelling, its impacts on market structure are analysed. It hasn’t been possible to consider all issues, like for example that of moral hazard in providing non truthful information. Different issues related to trade are also analysed, even if the literature is not abundant on this yet. In the literature both aspects, of environmental quality provision and eco-labelling, are analysed using product differentiation models. The usual result is that multiple equilibria arise depending also on the parameters. Models are also not robust to different assumptions. Environmental quality provision and eco-labelling are also compared to more traditional policy instruments like taxes (or subsidies) and standards. From the empirical evidence it can be concluded that information plays a crucial role both for consumers’ and producers’ decisions. Consumers are willing to pay a higher price to be informed about the greenness of a good, and a label can really be a determinant in their choice of which brand to purchase. On the supply side, disclosing information about the environmental performance of a firm can affect investment decisions and its stock value.</description>
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  <item rdf:about="http://hdl.handle.net/10419/72051">
    <title>The economic impact of EPAs in SADC countries</title>
    <link>http://hdl.handle.net/10419/72051</link>
    <description>Title: The economic impact of EPAs in SADC countries
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Authors: Keck, Alexander; Piermartini, Roberta
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Abstract: The Cotonou Agreement introduces new fundamental principles with respect to trade between the European Union and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries relative to the Lomé Convention: in particular non-reciprocal preferential market access for ACP economies will only last until 1 January 2008. After that date, it will be replaced by a string of Economic Partnership Agreements meant to progressively liberalise trade in a reciprocal way. The progressive removal of barriers to trade is expected to result in the establishment of Free Trade Agreements between the EU and ACP regional groups in accordance with the relevant WTO rules and help further existing regional integration efforts among the ACP. In this paper, an applied general equilibrium model (15 regions, 9 sectors) is used to simulate the impact of EPAs for countries of the Southern African Development Community. The standard Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model has been extended to include the elimination of textile quotas, EU enlargement to 25 members as well as tax revenue sharing and a common external tariff among Southern African Customs Union countries. A number of comparisons between different scenarios are undertaken, in particular: (i) the EPA scenario is compared to the multilateral liberalization scenario; (ii) SADC liberalization with the EU only is compared to a scenario with simultaneous regional integration among African economies and to the case of the EU also signing an FTA with Mercosur; and (iii) a complete reduction of import barriers is contrasted with partial liberalization (i.e. only 50 per cent tariff reductions in agriculture) and with full trade liberalization that includes the elimination of subsidies. The issue of tariff revenue loss is also addressed and the required tax replacement is calculated. Selected experiments are re-run under an unemployment closure. Simulation results show that EPAs with the EU are welfare-enhancing for SADC overall, leading also to substantive increases in real GDP. For most countries further gains may arise from intra-SADC liberalization. The possibility of the EU entering an FTA with other countries, such as Mercosur, reduces estimated gains, but they still remain largely positive. Similarly, estimated gains need to be revised downwards if agriculture liberalization is not as far reaching as a reduction of import barriers for manufactures. At the sectoral level, the largest expansions in SADC economies take place in the animal agriculture and processed food sectors, while manufacturing becomes comparatively less attractive following EU-SADC liberalization. Interestingly, multilateral liberalization would instead foster some of the manufacturing sectors (textile and clothing and light manufacturing). Results also show the need for the SACU tariff pooling formula to be adjusted to reflect new import patterns as tariffs are removed.</description>
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  <item rdf:about="http://hdl.handle.net/10419/72061">
    <title>Non-reciprocal preference erosion arising from MFN liberalitzation in agriculture: What are the risks?</title>
    <link>http://hdl.handle.net/10419/72061</link>
    <description>Title: Non-reciprocal preference erosion arising from MFN liberalitzation in agriculture: What are the risks?
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Authors: Low, Patrick; Piermartini, Roberta; Richtering, Jurgen
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Abstract: This paper estimates the risk of preference erosion for non-reciprocal preference recipients in the agricultural sector as a consequence of MFN tariff cuts. It is based on a simulation of a single tariff-cutting scenario. The measure of preference erosion risk is the difference in preference margins enjoyed by individual suppliers to the QUAD (Canada, EU, Japan, United States) markets before and after a MFN tariff reduction, multiplied by the associated trade flow. The paper does not attempt to determine how losses in preference margins translate into trade outcomes, but it does highlight which products and which non-reciprocal preference beneficiaries are the most vulnerable to erosion effects in the major developed country markets. Overall, the paper finds that the risk of preference erosion is small, but some countries are strongly affected in particular product lines (notably sugar and bananas).</description>
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  <item rdf:about="http://hdl.handle.net/10419/72068">
    <title>A probabilistic approach to the use of econometric models in sunset reviews</title>
    <link>http://hdl.handle.net/10419/72068</link>
    <description>Title: A probabilistic approach to the use of econometric models in sunset reviews
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Authors: Keck, Alexander; Malashevich, Bruce; Gray, Ian
&lt;br/&gt;
&lt;br/&gt;Abstract: Economists have increasingly become involved in trade remedy and litigation matters that call for economic interpretation or quantification. The literature on the use of econometric methods in response to legal requirements of trade policy is rather limited. This article contributes to filling this gap by demonstrating the efficacy of using a simple ‘probabilistic’ model in analyzing the ‘likelihood’ of injury to the local industry concerned, following a finding of continuation or recurrence of dumping (or countervailable subsidies). The legal concept of ‘likelihood’ is not only particularly well-suited to illustrate the systemic need for trade lawyers and economists to cooperate. It is also of imminent practical relevance with a groundswell of ‘sunset’ reviews looming on the horizon. We discuss the significance of economic analysis for trade remedy investigations by reviewing the literature, the applicable WTO rules and, in particular, the pertinent case law. The potential value of probabilistic simulations for ‘likelihood’ determinations is exemplified using a real-world application. Using data from past United States International Trade Commission investigations, we find that a probabilistic model that takes account of the uncertainty surrounding economic parameters reduces the risk of misjudging the effect on the domestic industry of a termination of trade remedies.</description>
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