In this paper I show that corruption can attenuate the adverse effects of customs-related red tape on firm exports. I first develop a model where exporters use bribes to encourage customs officials to process their documents in an expedited manner. This lowers the delay that they face at customs. The model shows that if the value of the reduced delays is greater than the bribe payment itself, t...

Because of the disconnection between the Logistics services trading platform and the EDI customs clearance system, the logistics clearance data needed to be gathered manually, and the efficiency of customs clearance was rather low. In view of this problem, a logistics data exchange method based on the XML technology was proposed, which firstly achieved the batch extraction and conversion of the...

We study how countries choose intra-bloc tariffs and preferential margins in Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs). Our model indicates that should set systematically lower when the bloc takes form of a free trade area, relative to customs union. Moreover, unions (but not necessarily areas) increase with supply partner decrease level imports. These relationships reflect, respectively, internaliz...

Customs reform in the 21st century for developing countries will principally be the redefinition of public and private sector roles. As customs moves from physical control to documentary compliance, the private sector can and will play a larger role in customs administration. The widespread use of Pre-Shipment Inspection (PSI) and Mexico’s innovative privatized second inspection illustrate thes...

For several years, international organisations including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the World Customs Organization (WCO), the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the European Union, have considered and provided recommendations on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance trade facilitation and to improve the proce...

Does International Outsourcing Really Lower Workers’ Income? We analyze the impact of international outsourcing on income, if the domestic labor market is imperfect. We distinguish in our analysis between the case where the parties negotiate over the wage only and where they negotiate over both wage and profit share. We find that in the first case outsourcing will reduce (increase) workers’ inc...

This paper utilizes unique survey data on labor union coverage at the firm level to examine union effects on the profitability of 705 U.S. companies during the 1970s. Market value and earnings are estimated to be about 10%-15% lower in an average unionized company than in a nonunion company, following extensive control for firm and industry characteristics. Deleterious union effects on firm pro...

There are sharp and persistent differences in the level of hostile takeover activity across countries. Building on institutional theory and the concept of social legitimacy, we predict that common-law (English) corporate legal traditions, policymaking stability, the extent to which stock trading is formalized, and individualism as a cultural trait increase the level of hostile takeover activity...