For many years now, lack of progress in multilateral trade negotiations has been a major cause of concern among WTO members. With diversity in the economic situation of members and differences in their stages of development, delay in concluding trade agreements is inevitable. However, the...

Timely and equitable access to vaccines and other health technologies is vital in effectively responding to pandemics and treating other communicable diseases. This paper shows how countries might overcome real or purported intellectual property (IP) barriers to regional COVID-19 vaccine...

The relationship between India and ASEAN has emerged as a crucial basis of their foreign policy. Both the regions signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2009, which came into effect in 2010. They are now reviewing the FTA to further enhance their economic cooperation. At this critical juncture, this...

Starting with Tinbergen (1962), quantifying the effects of regional trade agreements (RTAs) on international trade flows has always been among the most popular topics in the trade literature. Also not surprisingly, to estimate the effects of RTAs, most researchers and policy analysts have relied...

Using global Multi-Region Input-Output (MRIO) data from 2005-2015, this paper empirically investigates the extent and patterns by which East African Community (EAC) countries have integrated into Global Value Chains (GVCs) and Regional Value Chains (RVCs). Results imply that the foreign content...

This article assesses the opportunities and challenges for different categories of FinTechs in the SAARC and ASEAN regions. We consider the global financial inclusion data released by the World Bank and map the responses to gain insights into the opportunities and challenges for FinTechs in the...

This paper analyzes and characterizes the nature of the interactions between countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) over the period 1995–2015. The analysis uses sigma-convergence on the one hand and the Dendrinos-Sonis spatial competition model estimated by the SUR...

This paper explores the economic impacts of preferential trade agreements, conditional on their level of ambition. We cluster 278 agreements, encompassing 910 provisions over 18 policy areas and estimate the trade elasticity for the different clusters. We then use these elasticities in a series...

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a forward-looking trade agreement between member economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its free trade agreement (FTA) partners (AFPs) namely Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand (i.e., non-ASEAN...

This ex-ante study analyzes the impacts of e-commerce adoption on the performance of women-led MSMEs in Metro Manila, their awareness and perceptions of government efforts towards internationalization, and their readiness to engage in cross-border e-commerce through the Regional Comprehensive...

This paper shows that advanced analytics and traditional statistical techniques on available unstructured and structured data can be utilized to understand the themes put forward in APEC's yearly meetings and how member economies have supported these topics through the conduct of APEC projects....

In order to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Asian countries are trying to realize the potential of energy innovation. However, several structural issues might deter the expected impact of energy innovation on GHG emissions. Given the...

In this article, we study corporate behavior and develop a model for trends and factors in Japanese Multinational Corporations (MNCs) in the electrical and electronic industry that have played an important role in the economic development of East and Southeast Asia. We focus on Thailand, where...

Although economic linkages between South Asia and Southeast Asia have been strengthened over the past decade, integration between these two regions remains limited. Can new approaches to regional integration help revitalize trade and economic links between South Asia and Southeast Asia This...

The creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) provides a unique opportunity to boost growth, cut poverty, and reduce Africa's dependence on the boom and-bust commodity cycle. A World Bank (2020) report estimates that the AfCFTA has the potential to raise income in the...

Global economic growth has picked up in 2021 and has now surpassed its pre-pandemic level. The National Bank of Rwanda (NBR) has maintained an accommodative monetary stance and other measures to support the recovery, taking advantage of low inflation. The government's continued fiscal expansion...

We use data from online job postings listed on a job board to study how the demand for jobs linked to new technologies during the COVID-19 crisis responded to pandemic mitigation policies. We classify job postings into a standard occupation classification, using text analytics, and we group...

The political dynamic in the Bavarian-Czech border area is still characterised and challenged by its location along the former Iron Curtain as well as its history of war and displacement. This particular situation has led to a unique pattern of cooperation. In comparison to other border areas it...

In this note, we review recent data concerning Russia's economic integration with other countries. We first analyze the general picture of Russia's economic integration with the rest of the world and the importance of foreign economic relations for the country. We then turn to China, an...