Real effective exchange rate (REER) imbalances may affect economic growth by altering the allocation of labour and capital across sectors. This study assesses whether the component of inter-sectoral production factor misallocation induced by REER misalignments significantly hinders economic...

Economists have long debated whether the real exchange rate (RER) has a significant impact on export performance and output growth. Some claim that export performance depends only on nonprice competition and the RER is irrelevant to long-run growth, whereas others argue that the RER is a key...

This paper examines the contribution of 3G and 4G cellular technologies to the smartphone revolution. It relies on quasi-natural experiments in which these technologies were launched at different times and deployed at different rates across countries while the availability of handsets, operating...

During 1985–2015, globalization intensified the factor-endowment-related pattern of sectoral specialization. In skill-abundant developed countries, manufacturing became more skill-intensive. In land-scarce developing East Asia, labour-intensive manufacturing expanded, especially in China. In...

For effective mitigation of the current severe economic crisis, developing countries can seize real opportunities for cleaner growth, including low-carbon growth. While complex and long, the process of greening economies can and should be gradually piloted towards selected “poles of clean...

The global economic slowdown has again highlighted the vulnerability of export-led development models and economies to downturns in export markets. Economic deepening or “rebalancing” with an emphasis on service-sector development should be - and is becoming - one long-term response to the...

This paper investigates the impact of trade protectionism between the two largest economies on the structural transformation of a bystander developing country. Leveraging the US-China trade war episode, we uncover Vietnam’s structural transformation amid a harbinger of the end of...

International investment agreements (“IIAs”) provide enforceable protections to foreign investors based on the premise that enforceable investor protections will stimulate greater foreign investment flows, which, in turn, are assumed to promote development. However, as understandings of both...

The global economic slowdown has again highlighted the vulnerability of export-led development models and economies to downturns in export markets. Economic deepening or "rebalancing" with an emphasis on service-sector development should be - and is becoming - one long-term response to the...

During 1985-2015, globalization intensified the factor-endowment-related pattern of sectoral specialization. In skill-abundant developed countries, manufacturing became more skill-intensive. In land-scarce developing East Asia, labour-intensive manufacturing expanded, especially in China. In...