Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy

This paper examines the supply side drivers of growth in emerging market and developing economics (EMDEs) during the past decades and discusses the role of productivity-enhancing reforms in bolstering future growth prospects. It examines aggregate and sectoral productivity trends including around reform episodes to draw broad policy lessons on what policies are needed to increase productivity. Findings suggest appropriate policies need to be tailored to the stage of economic development and to other pertinent features that give rise to the heterogeneous experiences of EMDEs.

Asia proved to be remarkably resilient in the face of the global financial crisis, but why was its output performance stronger than that of other regions? The paper shows that better initial conditions — in the form of lower external and financial vulnerabilities — contributed significantly to Asia's resilience. Key pre-crisis factors included moderate credit expansion, reliance on deposit funding, enhanced bank asset quality, reduced external financing, and improved current accounts. These improvements reflected the lessons from the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s, which helped to reshape both public policies and private sector behavior. Looking ahead, Asia is in the process of adjusting to more volatile external conditions and higher risk premiums. By drawing the right lessons from its pre-crisis experiences, Asia's economies will be better equipped to address new risks associated with increased cross-border capital flows and greater integration with the rest of the world.

Financial liberalization in China has begun to allow more flexibility in bank interest rate setting but may threaten bank profit margins. This paper documents the initial response to the June 2012 initiative that, for the first time, allowed Chinese banks to meaningfully depart from the benchmark rates laid down by the People's Bank. We use an event study to assess the initial effects on bank share prices and compare the response of the larger state-owned banks to the smaller commercial banks. We identify significant reactions in both the Shanghai and Hong Kong markets.

The global financial crisis and the response to it have contributed to a sharp increase in public indebtedness in a large number of countries. While there have been episodes of high debt in the past, there are a number of long-term challenges today that are likely to complicate the implementation of sustainable fiscal policies in the coming years. Population ageing and climate change are factors that are likely to contribute to rising fiscal pressures and the crisis has highlighted the risks and vulnerabilities stemming from reduced fiscal space. This paper argues that heightened fiscal challenges can only be dealt successfully by adopting a long-term fiscal planning horizon. The paper analyzes a range of available policy tools that countries have used in the past to improve fiscal management.

The paper first surveys the trade facilitation (TF) landscape at the regional level and analyzes the main forces shaping it. It identifies key factors driving regional facilitation approaches, examining their priorities, features and underlying philosophies. The paper also highlights significant trends in regional TF provisions and analyzes their implications. The paper then compares regional and multilateral initiatives, looking at areas of convergence and divergence, and highlighting where potential gaps exist. It analyzes negotiating positions in the respective frameworks and discusses both the benefits and limitations of the resulting TF provisions. Examining the impact of the recently concluded WTO Agreement, the study highlights its potential value added.

In recent years, several randomized controlled experiments as well as experiments that are not randomized have been conducted to assess the impacts of management training intervention on the productivity and other aspects of business performance of firms. Yet the role played by management improvement vis-à-vis that of technology transfer or borrowing in industrial development remains unclear. This paper attempts to narrow this gap by developing a heuristic model and reviewing experimental studies of management training and case studies of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in cluster-based industrial development. The paper argues among other things that the improvement of management provides the basis for successful technology transfer.