Suchergebnisse

Concurrence Fiscale, Ville et Commerce Cet article présente un modèle de la Nouvelle Economie Géographique qui intègre coût de navette et rente foncière. L'introduction de ces éléments dispersifs, importés de l'économie urbaine, permet d'observer qu'un accroissement de l'intégration commerciale entraîne une dispersion des activités. Deux résultats majeurs sont mis en avant, premièrement nous observons que l'équilibre de dispersion est Pareto dominant par rapport à l'équilibre aggloméré, ce résultat contraste avec les résultats obtenus par ailleurs, deuxièmement la rente d'agglomération qui prend la forme d'une courbe en cloche dans tous les modèles d'économie géographique est ici strictement décroissante. Cette propriété est lourde de conséquence en matière fiscale, nous démontrons tout d'abord que seule une course vers le bas des taux d'imposition est alors envisageable (lorsque le commerce est libéralisé où lorsque les coûts urbains augmentent) puis qu'une politique d'harmonisation fiscale allant dans le sens d'une taxe plancher pour les pays périphériques tend à ne plus être Pareto optimale. Enfin deux extensions sont réalisées en vue de montrer que le comportement de moins disant fiscal observé dans le cas d'une agglomeration totale est vérifié i) lorsque l'agglomeration est partielle ii) lorsque l'on utilise un modèle à plusieurs régions.

This paper reviews the theory of foreign direct investment (FDI), focusing on an apparent con‡ict between theory and recent trends in the globalized world. The bulk of FDI is horizontal rather than vertical, but horizontal FDI is discouraged when trade costs fall. This seems to conflict with the experience of the 1990s, when trade liberalisation and technological change led to dramatic reductions in trade costs yet FDI grew much faster than trade. Two possible resolutions to this paradox are explored. First, horizontal FDI in trading blocs is encouraged by intra-bloc trade liberalisation, because foreign …rms establish plants in one country as export platforms to serve the bloc as a whole. Second, cross-border mergers, which are quantitatively more important than green…eld FDI, are encouraged rather than discouraged by falling trade costs.

"This paper briefly reviews new indices of trade restrictiveness and trade facilitation that have been developed at the World Bank. The paper also compares the trade impact of different types of trade restrictions applied at the border with the effects of domestic policies that affect trade costs. Based on a gravity regression framework, the analysis suggests that tariffs and non-tariff measures continue to be a significant source of trade restrictiveness for low-income countries despite preferential access programs. This is because the value of trade preferences is quite limited: a new measure of the relative preference margin developed in the paper reveals that this is very low for most country-pairs. Most countries with very good (duty-free) access to a market generally have competitors that have the same degree of access. The empirical analysis suggests that measures to improve logistics performance and facilitate trade are likely to have the greatest positive effects in expanding developing country trade, increasing the trade impacts of lowering remaining border barriers by a factor of two or more. "--World Bank web site

Abstract
How do trade costs affect international trade? This paper offers a new approach. We rely on a flexible gravity equation that predicts variable trade cost elasticities, both across and within country pairs. We apply this framework to popular trade cost variables such as currency unions, trade agreements and World Trade Organization membership. While we estimate that these variables are associated with increased bilateral trade on average, we find substantial heterogeneity. Consistent with the predictions of our framework, trade cost effects are strong for 'thin' bilateral relationships characterised by small import shares, and weak or even zero for 'thick' relationships.

AbstractWe examine the effects of immigrants and cross‐societal cultural differences on bilateral trade costs using two alternative measures of cultural differences (i.e. cultural distance and genetic distance). We find that bilateral trade costs generally increase with a rise in the cultural distance between trading partners but fall with a rise in the stock of immigrants. This implies that immigrants counter bilateral trade costs that are associated with greater cultural differences. Our observation is relevant from both migration and trade policy perspectives as it provides further evidence that immigrants serve as conduits for bridging cultural differences, facilitate international transactions, and enhance global economic integration.