Food security and trade policies: evidence from the milk sector case study

PurposeMilk is one of the most produced, consumed and protected agricultural commodities worldwide. The purpose of this paper is to assess how trade-opening policies can foster food security in the Chinese milk sector.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical evidence proposed in our paper is based on time series data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (2019) and FAOSTAT (2020). Differences in income elasticity between urban and rural areas are estimated by OLS regressions. The data also provide empirical evidence to assess to what extent and to which countries China is resorting to meet its growing demand.FindingsPer-capita milk consumption of Chinese is rising. The authors’ estimates show that milk income elasticity is higher in rural areas. China is also progressively increasing its dependence on imports. Producers who benefit the most are those from countries implementing trade-opening policies.Research limitations/implicationsOther methods could be applied, by way of example, the gravitational model.Practical implicationsTrade agreements and the removal of barriers could be effective responses to protectionist pressures and to food security concerns.Social implicationsThe case examined is of particular interest as it intervenes on food security and safety.Originality/valueThe paper adds value and evidence to the effects of trade on food security in a country with limited and exploited natural resources addressing a health emergency and environmental concerns.

Impact Of The Instability Of Trade Flows On Economic Growth In Benin

This article has discussed the impact of volatile trade flows on economic growth in Benin. The analysis is conducted by a VAR model inspired by the neoclassical production function. The study data are time series covering the period from 1980 to 2016. At the end of the study, it can be deduced that a shock on the degree of openness is negatively and significantly reflected on economic growth over two years. The variance of errors in the GDP growth rate explained by the degree of openness is 3.17%. The correlation coefficient between growth rate and openness errors is -0.56. There is a positive and significant contribution of the capital factor to growth from the 4th year. As for the labor factor, its positive effects on growth are statistically zero. In order to mitigate the effect of trade opening shocks on the level of growth, Benin should process its agricultural products locally, on the one hand, and diversify its export products, on the other.

Trade and Frictional Unemployment in the Global Economy

We develop a multicountry, multisector trade model featuring risk-averse workers, labor market frictions, unemployment benefits, and equilibrium unemployment. Trade opening leads to a reduction in unemployment when it simultaneously raises welfare and reallocates labor toward sectors with lower-than-average labor market frictions. We then estimate and calibrate the model using employment data from 31 OECD countries and worldwide trade data. Finally, we quantify the potential unemployment, real wage, and welfare effects of repealing NAFTA and raising bilateral tariffs between the United States and Mexico to 20%. This policy would increase unemployment by 2.4% in the United States and 48% in Mexico.

Trade Openness and Carbon Leakage: Empirical Evidence from China’s Industrial Sector

China is a large import and export economy in global terms, and the carbon dioxide emissions and carbon leakage arising from trade have great significance for China’s foreign trade and its economy. On the basis of trade data for China’s 20 industrial sectors, we first built a panel data model to test the effect of trade on carbon dioxide emissions and the presence of carbon leakage for all industrial sectors. Second, we derived a single-region input–output model for open economies based on the industrial sectors’ diversity and carbon dioxide emissions, and performed an empirical test. We estimated the net carbon intensity embodied in export, which is 0.237tCO2/ten thousand RMB, to divide all sectors (ACSs) into high-carbon sectors (HCSs) and low-carbon sectors (LCSs). The results show that higher trade openness leads to a reduction in the intensity of CO2 emissions and gross emissions and that there are obvious structural differences in different sectors with different carbon emission intensity. The coefficient of trade openness for LCSs is −0.073 and is statistically significant at the 1% level, so higher trade openness for LCSs leads to a reduction in the CO2 emissions intensity. However, the coefficient for HCSs is 0.117 and is statistically significant at the 10% level, indicating that higher trade openness increases the CO2 emissions’ intensity for HCSs. The difference is that higher trade openness in LCSs can help reduce the CO2 emissions’ intensity without the problem of carbon leakage and with the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), whereas there is no EKC for HCSs and carbon leakage may happen. We introduced dummy variables and found that a “pollution haven” effect exists in HCSs. The test results in HCSs and LCSs are exactly the opposite of each other, which shows that the carbon leakage of ACSs cannot be determined. The message that can be drawn for policy makers is that China does not need to worry about the adverse impact on the environment of trade opening up and should, in fact, increase the opening up of trade, while becoming acclimatized to environmental regulation of a new trade mode and new standards. This will help amplify the favorable impact of trade opening up on the environment and improve China’s international reputation. The policies related to trade should encourage structural adjustment between the sectors via the formulation of differential policies and impose a restraint on sectors that have high levels of CO2 emissions embodied in export.

Handelspolitik mit Afrika und Bekämpfung von Fluchtursachen

There is renewed interest in Europe to deepen trade with Africa in the hope that this will reduce migrant flows. While improved trade with Africa will not reduce but likely stimulate migrant flows, it could promote African development and further European long-term economic interests. To deepen trade, this article argues for further trade integration with North Africa with a long-term EU membership perspective. To further trade with Sub Saharan Africa, it suggests greater use of unilateral trade opening on the part of the EU, including more flexible application of rules of origin.

The evolution of carbon dioxide emissions embodied in international trade in Poland: An input-output approach

International agreements that aim to reduce carbon dioxide emissions have raised concerns due to the risk of carbon leakage caused by trade liberalization. This study aims to analyse the carbon dioxide emissions related to trade flows for the case of Poland, in order to further investigate the interrelationship between emissions and the quick economic growth the country has faced since 2000. The communist past, the quick liberalization of the economy, the trade opening, entrance to the EU and the intense carbon economy, are some of the characteristics that make Poland an interesting case. The data available data from 1996 to 2008 were collected using the World Input-Output Database and were analyzed using the Input-Output method, and more concretely by constructing a multi-regional input-output model for the years studied. The findings indicate that there were substantial effects on the emissions of Poland that resulted from the opening of the economy and joining the European Union. Poland is a net importer of carbon emissions from other European countries; however, this phenomenon seems to be regulated by EU legislation. Additionally, it was shown that Polish imports from countries with less strict environmental policies significantly embody higher levels of emissions than its exports. This observation calls for stricter environmental regulations to avoid carbon leakage.

Impact of Morocco-ECOWAS Economic Relations on Economic Growth in Morocco: An Analysis Using the ARDL Model

Over the last decade, Morocco has undertaken numerous reforms in order to successfully integrate itself into the global economy in general, and Africa in particular, with the aim of diversifying and strengthening its competitive export potential.In fact, the analysis of trade relations between Morocco and ECOWAS reveals an increasing volume of trade, reflecting a continuous dynamization of their commercial relations. A similar trend is observed in foreign direct investment, which has been growing steadily over the last few years, reflecting Morocco’s desire to become a major player in the development of the African continent.The analysis of Morocco’s trade opening and foreign direct investment (FDI) in ECOWAS on Morocco’s economic growth, using ARDL (Autorégressive distribution Lag) modelling, shows that Moroccan foreign direct investment to ECOWAS has a significant impact on its GDP per capita in the short and long term. With regard to bilateral trade between the two partners, no long-term equilibrium relationship could be established due to the still low weight of trade volumes.