This paper analyses the trends in trade flows and trade policies in environmental goods (EGs) and related services, with a focus on the Asia-Pacific Economies. The paper finds that the region is a dominant player in both exports and imports of EGs in the world, contributing to 42% and 44%, respectively. Renewable energy related goods dominate both the export and import basket of EGs in the region. The paper warns that even though specific environmental goods in general face very low tariffs, many other goods that are however required for environmental projects still face high tariffs, especially in least developed countries. Hence, the paper calls for a ‘holistic approach’ for tariff liberalization. The paper highlights the role of services in environmental sectors. The paper estimates an augmented gravity model of trade flows that integrates non-tariff measures (NTMs) and services trade restrictions. The estimations find that while tariffs have had an insignificant impact on environmental goods trade, NTMs have a strong negative impact. The impact of NTMs is more strongly felt by exports from low income countries when compared with middle income and high income ones. The services trade restrictions also have a significant negative impact on the EG trade. The results point to the need for integrating NTMs and service sector policies within the framework of environmental goods negotiations to expedite the process of liberalizing global trade in EG.

For the full paper please visit here. 

The ESCAP and ARTNeT secretariat will organize the ARTNeT dialogue on “Analyzing non-tariff measures: collating evidence and setting research agenda”, 26-27 April 2017, at UNCC, Bangkok, Thailand. This ARTNeT event has a dual objective:

1) to present research findings of the studies undertaken by ARTNeT researchers related to non-tariff measures (NTMs) principally in CLMV counries, and

2) to provide a platform for a conversation on framing a research agenda on NTMs which will better inform policymakers on presence and impacts of NTMs.

The target participants for the dialogue are researchers and analysts in think-tanks, reserach institutes and government departments dealing with international trade and development issues. The dialogue will provide a platform for researchers to interact with experts and fellow researchers in the region.This event is organized as part of the project on "Supporting Equitable Economic Development in ASEAN: Impact of Regional Integration (AEC) on Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam (CLMV countries)" under phase four of ARTNeT and supported by Agence Française de Développement (AFD).

If you would like to participate in the event, please contact artnetontrade@un.org.

This survey aims to collect opinion among ARTNeT researchers on the current gaps in NTM research and identify avenues of future research on non-tariff measures.

The results of the survey will feed into the ARTNeT dialogue on “Analyzing non-tariff measures: Collating evidence and setting research agenda”, scheduled for April 26-27, 2017. You can find more information on the ARTNeT dialogue here.

Please answer the survey here.

The Global Perception Survey on “Leveraging trade as a means of implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development in the new global environment", was open for three weeks during January-February 2017. The survey drew 290 responses (273 complete and 17 partial responses) from 59 countries worldwide. The 90% of the respondents stated to have a post-graduate or Ph.D. level education and 92% of the respondents rated moderate to high awareness of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Among others, the survey was also circulated among members of the ESCAP Advisory Committee of Permanent Representatives and Other Representatives Designated by Members of the Commission (ACPR), subregional offices of ESCAP and the ARTNeT.

The detailed results of the survey are available here.

You can also find an information note titled "Leveraging trade as a means of implementation in the new global environment", which integrates the results of the survey, prepared for the Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development (APFSD) here. 

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the associated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) form the new global development framework. The 2030 Agenda recognizes international trade as an important means of implementation and as an engine for promoting inclusive growth. The ARTNeT Expert Group on Trade and SDGs is expected to play a bridging role between research communities that are currently operating (often) separately on themes of international trade and SDGs. The expert group will use the established channels of work of ARTNeT, including the establishment of an advisory board, organization of research capacity building workshops and regular knowledge dissemination and multi-stakeholder consultation.

ARTNeT researchers and partners are welcome to contribute relevant resources to this initiative by contacting the ARTNeT secretariat at artnetontrade@un.org.

To visit the page please click here. 

The ESCAP in collaboration with the ARTNeT member, Foreign Trade University, Viet Nam organized the capacity building workshop on preferential trade agreements, from 15 to 17 March 2017, Hanoi, Viet Nam. With more than 20 participates from governmental sectors, academic institutes and civil society, the workshop has increased the awareness of government officials and trade negotiators of the potential social and economic impacts of preferential trade agreements. 

For the workshop presentations please visit here. 

The ESCAP in collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, Government of Bangladesh and the ARTNeT member, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organized the capacity building workshop on preferential trade agreements, from 28 to 29 March 2017, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 

Throughout the workshop, over 30 participates from Bangladesh government and research institutes have been nurished from the discussions and the experience sharing, enhancing the understanding of how liberalization through preferential trade agreements can lead to more inclusive and equitable trade.

For the workshop presentations please visit here.

The ESCAP in collaboration with the Department of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Mongolia is organizing the capacity building workshop on preferential trade agreements, from 19-21 April 2017, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The purpose of the workshop is to increase the awareness of government officials and trade negotiators of the potential social and economic impacts of preferential trade agreements and how they can be managed through ex-ante and ex-post adjustments, thereby enhancing the understanding of participants of how liberalization through preferential trade agreements can lead to more inclusive and equitable trade.

For more information please visit here. 

The ASCC Conference 2017 is an annual forum for academicians, experts and practitioners from across Asia-Pacific to exchange ideas on regional economic issues, as well as to discuss prospective collaboration among APEC Study Centers. This year, the ASCC Conference is jointly organized by the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam in association with Vietnam’s National APEC Secretariat. Besides researchers of APEC Study Centers, the conference is also joined by representatives of Vietnamese related ministries and think-tanks, the APEC Secretariat, ABAC, PECC, ERIA and APEC Policy Support Unit. Findings and outcomes of the conference would be considered to be incorporated with other APEC working agendas and APEC documents.

For more information about the conference please visit here. 

The National University of Malaysia (UKM), the University of Oxford and World Trade Institute (WTI) are convening the ASEAN economic integration forum 2017 (AEIF2017) at UNESCAP, Bangkok on the 14th to 15th September 2017. The theme of the forum is “50 Years and Beyond: Forging an Inclusive ASEAN”. The conveners are organizing the forum in collaboration with the UNESCAP, the ARTNeT member International Institute for Trade and Development (ITD), ASEAN University Network (AUN) and ARTNeT. 

The objectives of this forum are; to provide policy recommendations to ASEAN and members states on inclusive and bottom-up development approach for the region; and to promote meaningful discourse on AEC that goes beyond economic imperatives. The committee would like to invite you to participate as paper contributors and participants to the forum. The deadline for paper submission is 30 April.

For the submission details and more information about the forum please visit here.

The Singapore Economic Review (SER) is a leading journal in economics in Asia since it was founded in 1956. It is a general economics journal devoted to publishing papers of high academic standard. It covers a wide range of economic issues, especially those impinging on Southeast Asia and the broader Asia-Pacific region. SER is also indexed in major economics indices such as the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI); Google Scholar; EconLit; and RePec.

The Journal will host the 7th Singapore Economic Review Conference (SERC) from 2 to 4 August 2017 in Singapore and would like to invite you to participate and present a paper at this upcoming Conference. Please submit your paper or abstract online using the Conference Maker. The submission deadline is 20 April.

For submission details and more information about the conference please visit here.

In today’s world, Economies have witnessed growth in its own dimensions with the introduction and advancement of modern technology that has led to the expansion of opportunities for reach whilst the creation of the awareness for an inclusive growth meaning an equitable distribution of resources for a better standard of living is of great importance. The Inaugural International Conference on Economics and Development (ICED 2017) is believed to serve as a platform to address such vital component for a sustainable future. 

The organizing committee of ICED 2017 has opened up the registrations for potential participants. You are warmly welcomed to take part in this conference and present your research findings, innovative ideas, knowledge and different research methodologies in the discipline of Economics. The extended abstract submission deadline is 20 April.

For the submission details and more information about the conference please visit here.

ARTNeT partner, the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI) together with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) - also the ARTNeT partner, invite submissions of unpublished original research papers looking at the topic of trade adjustment. We are looking for solid empirical research papers with a policy orientation. We welcome manuscripts that focus on Asian and Latin America and the Caribbean economies.

The selected papers will be presented along invited contributions at a conference that will be hosted by ADBI in Tokyo, on 16-17 November, 2017. The conference is part of a series of activities and events organized and taking place in the framework of an ADBI-IDB-WTO research initiative on trade and economic integration adjustment. This conference will be preceded by the XV Annual ELSNIT Conference focused on similar issues, but with a different scope and regional focus, that will be organized by IDB and hosted by the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) in London, United Kingdom, on 20-21 October, 2017.

ADBI and IDB will cover participation costs for one presenter of every accepted paper, who must be a citizen of a ADB or IDB member country.

The submission deadline is 15 July. For the submission details please visit here. 

The East Asian Economic Review is an economic journal for the promotion of interdisciplinary research on international economics. Published as a quarterly by the ARTNeT member, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP), a Korean government-funded economic think-tank, the Journal is global in perspective and covers both theory and empirical research.

In an effort to make greater contributions to the academic field, the East Asian Economic Review is expanding its reach to secure broader distribution channels. The Journal is also indexed and abstracted in EconLit, e-JEL, JEL on CD, OCLC WorldCat, ProQuest, Google Scholar, EBSCO, British Library, SSRN, Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resource (ROAD) and registered to Ulrichsweb, ITS.MARC, CrossRef, ORCiD, SHERPA/RoMEO and the Korea Citation Index.

The Journal is now encouraging submissions from across the field of Economics in order to facilitate greater understanding of all issues pertinent to the diverse economies of East Asia, through publication of rigorous analyses by renowned experts in the field.

For the submission details please visit here. 

The ASEAN CSR Vision 2020 Small Grants Fund is offered by the ASEAN CSR Network​ with the support of the Government of Sweden through its Embassy in Bangkok. It is designed to provide access to supplementary funding to local and regional organizations who are engaged in work to promote Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and with an interest to link their work to regional objectives. Successful recipients will receive project funding up to SGD10,000. All projects shall be for a 6-month period ending no later than 30 June 2017. The application deadline is 15 May.

For the application details please visit here. 

ARTNeT collaborator, Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) is offering two online courses. Please find the application details at the links below. 

 

"Introduction to Computable General Equilibrium Modeling"

Application deadline: 2 July 2017

Course date: 18 September - 5 November 2017

"Applied Policy Analysis: Mini-course on Preferential Trade Agreements"

Application deadline: 13 August 2017

Course date: 23 October - 26 November 2017

The 20th Annual Conference on Global Economic Analysis is being organized by the Center for Global Trade Analysis (GTAP) on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, USA. The goal of the annual conference is to promote the exchange of ideas among economists conducting quantitative analysis of global economic issues. Particular emphasis will be placed on applied general equilibrium methods, data, and application. Related theoretical and applied work is also welcome. The overall theme of the conference is "Global Economic Analysis in the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities" with sub-themes on:

·         Sustainable Development

·         Climate change policies and adaptation

·         Whither regionalism in the absence of a global trade agreement?

·         Agricultural innovation, growth and transformation

·         Capital and inequality in the 21st century

For more information and registration details please visit here. 

ICEM – International Centre for Environmental Management is an award-winning independent technical service centre that assists government, private sector and communities to define and implement policies for sustainable development. Established in 1999, ICEM has its regional headquarters in Hanoi and is staffed by full-time international and national technical and administrative personnel.

ICEM is seeking to employ two international staff members on two-year renewable contracts. Applicants should have post-graduate academic qualifications and experience in any of the following fields:

1. Climate change
2. Water resources management
3. Environmental assessment
4. Environmental and ecological economics
5. Integrated natural resource management
6. Biodiversity conservation
7. Energy efficiency
8. GIS, modeling and spatial analysis

Interested professionals should have a Masters degree or doctorate, at least five years of relevant working experience, be fluent in English (preferably native speakers) with excellent writing and presentation skills and advanced skills with Microsoft Office. While not essential, an engineering degree would be an advantage. Both positions would be based in Hanoi.

The application deadline is 31 May. For application details please visit here. 

ARTNeT member, the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) is seeking innovative, timely and essential topics for research. The KIEP sincerely hope to receive any suggestions civil society might have for research topics, which people believe KIEP should pursue. The KIEP would like to listen to opinion of experts from various areas and make significant contributions to the governments’ decision-making process.

All the insightful ideas and suggestions will be carefully reflected in KIEP's planning of new research projects and contribute ultimately to formulating policies for a more open international economic order.

More call for topics details please find here.

This book from our member South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), is a compilation of the articles and interviews published in SANEM’s monthly digest Thinking Aloud. The inception of Thinking Aloud coined with the intention to address contemporary economic problems of Bangladesh and other developing countries that need persistent attention from several angles and perspectives. Over the years, it has presented articles backed by rigorous theoretical and empirical researches, reviews of publications, and interviews of eminent personalities from home and abroad.

For the full book please visit here.

This book, edited by Nisha Taneja from our member ICRIER, explores the unfinished India–Pakistan Trade normalisation agenda (building upon the themes covered in the book “India-Pakistan Trade: Strengthening Economic Relations” published by Springer in 2014) and discusses the steps that must be undertaken in order to move the bilateral engagement forward. Given the commencement of bilateral state-level talks and the Indian government’s emphasis on South Asian integration, it adds impetus to the trade liberalisation process, while also providing essential recommendations for policymakers in both countries.

For more information about this book please visit here.

International Journal of Small and Medium Enterprises and Business Sustainability is a new internaional journal from our member Center for Industry, SME and Business Competition Studies, University of Trisakti. The lastest issue includes Development of Small and Medium Enterprises in Vietnam; Setting an Effective Policy Framework for SME Development in Asia and the Pacfic; Start Up in Vietnam: Reality and Recommendations and Country focus: Current Development of MSMEs in Iran.  

You can assess the journal here.

India has the highest number of people defecating in the open, and the Indian Government is trying to eradicate by constructing toilets for its citizens. This paper is about whether the government is likely to succeed in its cleanliness drive mission by a supply-side policy. We examine the household preference and other the factors leading to open defecation in India. The authors examine preference for having a toilet in the household over the preference of other household durable goods. The results suggest toilets get a lower preference—ranked 12, out of 21 different types of consumer durables investigated. The results also indicate a strong case for imparting education and public awareness, especially, among the female cohort. The authors find the odds of having toilets in a household with an educated woman (18 years of schooling) is 3.1 times more than a household with illiterate or preschool educated women. Among other factors households living in urban areas are 19 times more likely to have toilets in comparison with their rural counterparts.

Before published in Empirical Economics, this paper was first published as ARTNeT Working Paper No. 154, January 2016. 

Dr Fahmida Khatun was appointed as the new Executive Director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). Dr Khatun’s areas of interest include macroeconomic policy and management, international development finance, aid effectiveness, international trade and WTO issues, social inclusion and poverty eradication, climate change, green economy, interests of Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dr Khatun takes over the helm of CPD from Professor Mustafizur Rahman who had steered the CPD as the Executive Director since 2007, prior to which he was CPD’s Research Director (1998 - 2007). Professor Rahman will continue contributing to both CPD and ARTNeT community as the Distinguished Fellow.

ARTNeT secretariat expresses sincere gratitude to Professor Rahman’s contributions to ARTNeT community. Under his leadership, the CPD contributions as an institutional member of ARTNeT has strengthened both the quality and quantity of research and capacity building on trade related topics in Asia and Pacific region and in Bangladesh. ARTNeT Secretariat and ARTNeT members look forward to continued growth of successful collaboration and partnership under Dr Khatun’s stewardship.

ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute (ISEAS)

Labour Provisions in Trade Agreements with Developing Economies: The Case of TPPA and ASEAN Member Countries

Korea Institute for Internaional Economic Policy (KIEP)

Korea's Multilateral Trade Policies in the Changing Global Trade Landscape

The Heterogeneous Effects of Outward FDI on Domestic Employment

The Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore (ISAS-NUS)

Demonetization – Evaluating the Costs and Benefits

Policy Research Institute (PRI)

The 2021 magic deadline: To be or not to be an LDC

Adequacy of fiscal policy - a critical challenge

Centre of WTO Studies (website)

Working Paper: EC's SPS and TBT Notifications on Endocrine Disruptors and Market Access Implications:Case of India's Exports

Working Paper: India’s Trade with BRICS and the World: Implications on Skill and Technology Content

Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)

Destruction or Polarization: Estimating the Impact of Technology on Jobs in Indian Manufacturing

India-Pakistan Trade: Opportunities for Medical Value Travel

Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE)

Opening the Black Box: Managing the Aid Policy Process in Pakistan

Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS)

Value Chain Analysis of the Wood Processing Industry in the Philippines

Why Differences in Household Expenditure Estimates Matter

Who Benefits from the Government Health Insurance Subsidy for the Poor?

Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA)

FDI, Services Liberalisation, and Logistics Development in Cambodia

Determinants of Demand for Technology in Relationships with Complementary Assets among Japanese Firms

The Internationalisation of Firms and Management Practices: A Survey of Firms in Viet Nam

The Automotive Value Chain in Thailand

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Economic Policy Reforms 2017: Going for Growth

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The ARTNeT Secretariat welcomes submissions of policy briefs, working papers, book reports, research reports, and book reviews by ARTNeT members, partners and collaborators. For any submission to be considered, the editorial 'Guidelines for Submissions to the ARTNeT Working Papers Series' must be adhered to.

If you are an ARTNeT member, partner or collaborator and would like to publicise your publications, research or events in the next newsletter, please e-mail us at artnetontrade@un.org.