This paper uses new data from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and its partners, including the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), to track the importance of trade within global value chains in East Asia and Latin America. The analysis shows that while value chain...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify major challenges that Asia-Pacific policy makers face in drawing up international logistics policies, and to seek possible solutions to the problems. Design/methodology/approach – Case study method: the paper includes seven case studies that...

This paper develops new measures of multimodal transport connectivity, and uses a gravity model to show that improving performance could lead to major trade gains for the Asia-Pacific region. By improving multimodal connectivity by 5%, APEC would increase exports by around 4%, or between 2% and...

This paper shows that longer trade times are associated with higher levels of trade-related corruption, consistent with a theoretical framework in which “fast” producers earn higher profits than “slow” ones, but may have to pay “speed money” to possibly corrupt customs officials....

Purpose This paper aims to provide new evidence that the US phytosanitary regime is associated with a restrictive market access environment for fruit and vegetable products. One chief reason seems to be that the US regime uses a positive list approach, under which only authorized countries can...

• Available evidence strongly suggests that cotton producers in West Africa are relatively unresponsive to changes in world prices. This means they are poorly placed to take advantage of improved market conditions that might result from the reduction or abolition of cotton subsidies in rich...

This paper shows that export costs, tariffs, and international transport costs are all important determinants of geographical export diversification in a sample of 123 developing countries. A 10% reduction in any one of these factors produces a 5%-6% increase in the number of foreign markets...