This paper examines the effects of intensified international competition on industry profits in six European Union (EU) countries. The paper uses two methods to estimate industry profits. The traditional method uses accounting data to obtain a measure of gross price-average cost margins. The...

This paper provides an empirical assessment of the degree of competition in Hong Kong SAR using industry-level data. Although due to data limitations only approximate measures of competitiveness can be estimated, the results do suggest that Hong Kong SAR is as competitive as a typical OECD...

We show empirical evidence that there may not be a tradeoff between market income inequality and high sustained growth, which is key for poverty alleviation. We argue that the economies that achieved high sustained growth and low market income inequality are characterized by dynamism-a drive...

Thailand stands out in international comparison as a country with a high dispersion of productivity across sectors. It has especially low labor productivity in agriculture-a sector that employs a much larger share of the population than is typical for a country at Thailand's level of income....

Industrial policy is tainted with bad reputation among policymakers and academics and is often viewed as the road to perdition for developing economies. Yet the success of the Asian Miracles with industrial policy stands as an uncomfortable story that many ignore or claim it cannot be...

Capital adequacy regulations or quantity restrictions on bank portfolios put forward by the Basle Committee on Banking Supervision have virtually become an international standard of prudential regulation. Recent proposals aim at extending this approach to market risks, in particular to foreign...

This paper examines the objectives and instruments of trade policy in the European Community (EC) from 1987 until mid-1992. It reviews the Community’s institutional setting and policy environment as background to recent trends in EC trade policies and trading arrangements. A discussion of key...