In this paper we determine the main driving forces underlying the structural transformation and urbanization process in rapidly industrializing countries. We use a dynamic, small open economy model with an abundant supply of surplus labor in rural areas, two types of traded goods manufactured in urban areas, and barriers to both trade and migration. The model is supplemented with quantitative a...

We extend the trade model with firm heterogeneity developed by Melitz and Ottaviano (2008), incorporating domestic and imported intermediate goods, in order to investigate the impact of import barriers on final and intermediate goods on firms’ decisions to produce and to export. Our main contribution is to disentangle the channels through which these trade policies work. When variable trade cos...

The process of internationalisation or ‘globalisation’ involves a thorough transformation of the Australian economy from being inward looking and protectionist, to being externally oriented in both trade and investment. The process has been helped along by the liberalisation of capital markets and the removal of barriers to trade, but other factors such as technological advances and innovations...

The term “Globalization” has been widely used in the last fifteen years. It is a controversial term and has been defined in several different ways. Globalization indicates that the world today is more interconnected than before. Globalization in its basic economic sense refers to the adoption of open and unfettered trading markets (through lowering of trade barriers, removal of capital controls...

This paper surveys recent developments in the literature on trade facilitation, defined broadly as reform of non-tariff barriers. The paper looks at what trade facilitation is, why it matters, how to measure it, the gains from reform, and ways to implement it at the global, regional and unilateral level. JEL Classification: F13, F15.

In popular discussion much has been made recently of the susceptibility of government policies to lobbying by foreigners. The general presumption has also been that such interactions have a deleterious effect on the home economy. However, it can be argued that, in a trade policy context, bending policy in a direction that would suit foreigners may not in fact be harmful: If the policy outcome a...

Aims: This study explores the prime motives and barriers that drive or inhibit the Portuguese exporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to exhibit at an international trade fair. Study design: Survey, based on a questionnaire sent by email. Place and Duration of Study: 68 Portuguese exporting SMEs, between January and July 2012. Methodology: The present study was conducted in Portugal and s...