This paper aims to provide understanding of the relative trade performances and technological competitiveness, with particular emphasis on product quality, innovation and skills. The firm-level case studies support the conclusions arising from the aggregate analysis. Germany spends more on...

Applicant countries in transition wishing to revitalise or establish new ties with the GATT/WTO system will be able to achieve this neither in a rash nor uniform fashion. Undisputedly the necessary economic reforms in Central and Eastern Europe will take time. With respect to foreign trade, the...

During the 1980s foreign direct investment (FDI) expanded remarkably. Simultaneously, the regional structure of foreign direct investment changed. This relationship is discernible among industrial countries, as well as between industrial and developing countries. Of particular importance is the...

Thailand’s third Development Plan sketches the framework within which it is intended to press forward with the country’s economic and social development during 1972–76. The present article surveys and critically discusses the main traits of the new Plan.

At UNCTAD V not only the Western industrialised countries but also the socialist states were heavily criticised for not appropriating sufficient funds for development aid. The following article presents a survey of volume, conditions, and regional distribution of the CMEA countries’ and the PR...

The “Third Development Decade” of the United Nations, which runs to the end of the present decade, opened with a promising outlook for the developing countries. The economic situation of the OECD countries had improved during 1979 and the North-South dialogue seemed to be making progress....

When the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was concluded in the late 1940s, there was hardly any mention of international transactions in services. At that time, the issue of international trade in services was of minor importance. In addition, attention was initially focused on...

The Third Development Decade of the United Nations opened with a promising outlook for the developing countries. The economic situation of the OECD countries had improved during 1979 and the “North-South dialogue” seemed to be making progress. But the further course of 1980 and the...