International barter transactions are becoming increasingly important in world trade. The following article examines the reasons for this as well as its implications for competition and the international division of labour, and presents an assessment of future developments.

Since 1975 the Lomé Conventions have granted trade preferences to African exports to the European Union, Africa's main trading partner. The liberalisation of trade foreseen by the Uruguay Round means that these preferences will disappear, leading to net reductions in African exports. What...

There have been increasing warnings lately that the world economy is in danger of disintegrating. How realistic are such fears? Could the world's trading partners have a serious interest in such a development and be prepared to accept the risks involved? The following three articles seek to...

Development institutions are currently revising their traditional positions on the question of adequate trade policies for developing countries. Against this background the following article takes stock of the degree to which developing countries have become integrated into the world economy and...

The actual effects of integration among developing countries often diverge considerably from the gains which the participants had expected. Thomas Straubhaar examines the reasons for this and outlines the conditions which must be fulfilled for integration to be successful.

The Uruguay Round of the GATT represents a test of the adaptability and reformability of the multilateral trading system. This is particularly true with regard to trade in services, the treatment of which within GATT has been resisted (to varying degrees) by many developing countries. The...

The growing importance of Japan on the world market has brought with it changes in the international division of labour and a shift in the focus of the expansion in world trade away from the EC and the USA. What factors determine the shares of the EC, the USA and Japan in international trade?...