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IMPLICATIONS FOR JAPAN OF THE JULY 2008 DRAFT AGRICULTURAL MODALITIES. By Kazuhito Yamashita. Published by ICTSD, October 2008. To what extent would a successful conclusion of this Round along the lines of the Revised Draft Modalities paper issued by the chair of the agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Falconer, require changes in Japanese agricultural policies? How much increased market access is likely to be generated as a result of tariff cuts and tariff rate quota expansion? Could Japan play a more aggressive role in the world market, taking advantage of the expansion of market access generated in other countries? This study examines how Japan would be impacted by the Doha draft agricultural modalities of July 2008. To download the paper, please visit http://ictsd.net/i/publications/32340/.
SUSTAINABLE BIOENERGY DEVELOPMENT IN UEMOA MEMBER COUNTRIES. By The West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and The Hub for Rural Development in West and Central Africa. October 2008. Energy is essential to development. Countries with access to abundant and affordable modern energy have significantly larger gross domestic product (GDP), higher per capita income levels, longer life expectancies, increased literacy rates, and greater educational attainment. Without energy, we cannot improve the productivity of the rural poor - nor achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In September 2007, the UEMOA joined with the Rural Hub of Western and Central Africa in commissioning a report from the United Nations Foundation (UNF), the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), and the Energy and Security Group (ESG) to explore opportunities for bioenergy in the region. The goal of this report was to assess the agriculture sector’s potential for bioenergy production and identify constraints in UEMOA member countries, recognizing the equally vital need for food security in the region. For further information, please see: http://www.globalproblems-globalsolutions-files.org/gpgs_files/pdf/UNF_Bioenergy/UNF_Bioenergy_exec_summary.pdf
USING NON-RENEWABLE REVENUES FOR SUSTAINABLE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT. By UNDESA. October 2008. The past several years have witnessed a sustained increase in oil, gas and mineral prices. For many countries that produce and export such products, this upward trend in prices has generated substantial windfall revenues. Given the importance of such resources in many developing countries and their non-renewable character, it is crucial to improve the understanding of how such revenues are used at the local level and to what extent they contribute to sustainable development. This Brief aims to shed light on these issues. For further information, please refer to: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/publications/innovationbriefs/no6.pdf
THE USE OF BLANKET GUARANTEES IN BANKING CRISES. By Luc Laeven and Fabian Valencia. October 1, 2008. In episodes of significant banking distress or perceived systemic risk to the financial system, policymakers have often opted for issuing blanket guarantees on bank liabilities to stop or avoid widespread bank runs. In theory, blanket guarantees can prevent bank runs if they are credible. However, guarantee could add substantial fiscal costs to bank restructuring programs and may increase moral hazard going forward. Using a sample of 42 episodes of banking crises, this paper finds that blanket guarantees are successful in reducing liquidity pressures on banks arising from deposit withdrawals. However, banks’ foreign liabilities appear virtually irresponsive to blanket guarantees. Furthermore, guarantees tend to be fiscally costly, though this positive association arises in large part because guarantees tend to be employed in conjunction with extensive liquidity support and when crises are severe. For further information, please refer to: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=22411.0
DOES OPENNESS TO INTERNATIONAL FLOWS RAISE PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH? By Ayhan M. Kose, Eswar Prasad, and Marco Terrones. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between financial openness and total factor productivity (TFP) growth using an extensive dataset that includes various measures of productivity and financial openness for a large sample of countries. We find that de jure capital account openness has a robust positive effect on TFP growth. The effect of de facto financial integration on TFP growth is less clear, but this masks an important and novel result. We find strong evidence that FDI and portfolio equity liabilities boost TFP growth while external debt is actually negatively correlated with TFP growth. The negative relationship between external debt liabilities and TFP growth is attenuated in economies with higher levels of financial development and better institutions. For further information, please refer to: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.cfm?sk=22387.0
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