The origins, evolution and impact of the Australia New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement are examined in this book. ANZCERTA is often referred to as a benchmark for trade agreements. Not only does the book examine the agreement and how it evolved, but it also provides lessons for...

Using manufacturing industry firm-level census data from the period of 2000-2003 in China, this paper examines the impact of foreign direct investment on domestic firms' exports. After dealing with econometric problems of endogeneity and sample selection, we find that foreign direct investment...

Financial sector innovation and development has been an integral part of the rise of capitalism over the last half millennium. The innovations of the last three decades of the twentieth century were a continuation of the trend; they contributed to an era of global prosperity, but also increased...

Recent literature has focussed on institutional degradation and revenue volatility as major sources of a resource curse. Formerly centrally planned countries may be especially vulnerable due to their mutating institutions and macropolicy inexperience. This paper examines these issues through...

Sport mega-events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup, or on a smaller scale the Commonwealth Games or regional events, attract competing bids from nations or cities. These bids are mostly made at tax-payers? expense and spending is often large and non-transparent. Our paper addresses...

The Asia Pacific region was characterized in the second half of the twentieth century by an absence of regional trading arrangements. The situations changed after 2000, raising questions of sequencing and of the boundaries of the region. This paper argues that the proliferation of regional and...

After becoming independent in 1991, the five Central Asian countries pursued differing transition paths from the defunct central planning. This paper analyses the connection between economic policies and performance during the 1990s and 2000s. Performance over the two decades has been determined...