Towards a theory of the small firm: theoretical aspects and some policy implications

Includes bibliography

Macroeconomic policies, sector performance and firm response: the case of Chile's textile goods market

Includes bibliography

Globalization and liberalization: the impact on developing countries

Includes bibliography

Effects of training on competitiveness in the manufacturing sector

Includes bibliography

Technical Notes on Trade Facilitation Measures

Towards the end of 2004, the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) formally launched negotiations on trade facilitation on the basis of the modalities set out in Annex D of the July Package adopted in 2004. This mandate instructed members to clarify and improve three articles of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), namely, article V on freedom of transit, article VIII on fees and formalities connected with importation and exportation, and article X on the publication and administration of trade regulations. To support these negotiations, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) created a trust fund, with contributions from the Governments of Sweden and Spain . This fund has been used to develop a series of seminars and meetings and to produce a total of 20 technical notes on specific trade facilitation measures. These notes cover in particular facilitation measures that are topics of specific proposals that were made during WTO negotiations. This edition of the FAL Bulletin summarizes several of these technical notes, focusing mainly on customs-related issues.

What kind of microfoundations? Notes on the evolutionary approach

The microfoundations of economic models are a hotly debated topic in the literature. The debate is important because microfoundations —the ways in which agents decide and behave— have implications that go beyond a specific firm, market or activity; they strongly condition macroeconomic outcomes. This document addresses the classical problems of rationality, uncertainty and institutions: when there is Keynes-Knight uncertainty and rationality is bounded, decision making adopts the form of conventional rules or heuristics. The hyper-rational representative agent of the rational expectations world could generate highly misleading outcomes in macro models. Section 2 applies this discussion to the study of technical change and to innovation and diffusion of technology in the international system, which transform the patterns of specialization. Section 3 discusses the forces that may trap a country in a low-growth trap and the crucial role of institutions in escaping from this trap.