Trade liberalisation and technical efficiency: Evidence from Bangladesh manufacturing industries

The paper investigates the effects of trade liberalisation on the technical efficiency of the Bangladesh manufacturing sector by estimating a combined stochastic frontier-inefficiency model using panel data for the period 197894 for 25 three-digit level industries. The results show that the overall technical efficiency of the manufacturing sector as well as the technical efficiencies of the majority of the individual industries has increased over time. The findings also clearly suggest that trade liberalisation, proxied by export orientation and capital deepening, has had significant impact on the reduction of the overall technical inefficiency. Similarly, the scale of operation and the proportion of non-production labour in total employment appear as important determinants of technical inefficiency. The evidence also indicates that both export-promoting and import-substituting industries have experienced rises in technical efficiencies over time. Besides, the results are suggestive of neutral technical change, although (at the 5 per cent level of significance) the empirical results indicate that there was no technical change in the manufacturing industries. Finally, the joint test based on the likelihood ratio (LR) test rejects the Cobb-Douglas production technology as description of the database given the specification of the translog production technology.

Ethical perspectives of the Australian live export trade

Objective To examine the ethical perspectives of the Australian live export trade. Design and method The perspectives of farmers and other industry personnel, overseas consumers, the Australian public, veterinarians and the assumed interests of transported animals are compared in relation to the ethical consequences. Animal welfare, societal, personal and professional ethics are identified and the ratification of different perspectives considered. Results and conclusions There are positive and negative aspects of the trade for each stakeholder group, and the overall position adopted by any individual reflects their perspective of the balance of these components. The debate as to whether Australia should continue with the trade will be best served by consideration of the interests of all parties in the trade, including the consumers and animals, which are among the most affected by the trade. There is a need for further research to address the major welfare problems for the animals, an openness to inspection on the part of the trade and balance in media reporting.

Measuring globalisation: An evolutionary economic approach to tracking the evolution of international trade

Operationalising and measuring the concept of globalisation is important, as the extent to which the international economy is integrated has a direct impact on industrial dynamics, national trade policies and firm strategies. Using complex systems network analysis with longitudinal trade data from 1938 to 2003, this paper presents a new way to measure globalisation. It demonstrates that some important aspects of the international trade network have been remarkably stable over this period. However, several network measures have changed substantially over the same time frame. Taken together, these analyses provide a novel measure of globalisation.