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Madagascar plans to start phasing out its customs tariffs on imports from the Southern African Development Community in 2007. This paper uses a CGE model to evaluate the impact of the SADC FTA on Madagascar economy. The results suggest that the SADC FTA would only have a limited impact on Madagascar's real GDP because the liberalization affects only a small share of its total imports. However, Madagascar's trade and production pattern would change and benefit the textile and clothing sector. Removing rigidities in the labor and capital market would increase the gains but they would remain limited. Gains from the SADC FTA become substantial only when the regional liberalization is accompanied by a multilateral liberalization.

Free trade -- Madagascar -- Econometric models. --- Free trade -- Madagascar. --- Trade blocs -- Africa, Southern -- Econometric models. --- Trade blocs -- Africa, Southern. --- Exports and Imports --- Labor --- Taxation --- Trade: General --- Trade Policy --- International Trade Organizations --- Empirical Studies of Trade --- Employment --- Unemployment --- Wages --- Intergenerational Income Distribution --- Aggregate Human Capital --- Aggregate Labor Productivity --- International economics --- Public finance & taxation --- Labour --- income economics --- Imports --- Exports --- Tariffs --- Trade liberalization --- Trade balance --- Tariff --- Commercial policy --- Balance of trade --- Economic theory --- Madagascar, Republic of

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In order to reach its objectives, Aid for Trade should not only focus on helping developing countries to turn trade opportunities into trade but also tackle the binding constraints that choke the impact of trade on economic growth. This report shows that although most trade reforms had a positive impact on economic growth, some reforms proved unsustainable and others did not have a meaningful impact on growth. It discusses the various reasons for these outcomes in order to draw the lessons for the design of aid-for-trade projects and programmes and increase their impact on trade performance and on growth. It argues that the scope of activity of aid-for-trade is broad enough to support both the compatible policies that will make a trade reform sustainable and many of the complementary policies that will increase the growth impact of trade expansion. Supporting compatible and complementary policies is about policy coherence and adequate sequencing. As much as possible, proper sequencing and policy coherence should be reflected in the design of aid-for-trade projects and programmes. This cannot be achieved without adequate donor coordination and alignment on country priorities.

Trade

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In order to reach its objectives, Aid for Trade should not only focus on helping developing countries to turn trade opportunities into trade but also tackle the binding constraints that choke the impact of trade on economic growth. This report shows that although most trade reforms had a positive impact on economic growth, some reforms proved unsustainable and others did not have a meaningful impact on growth. It discusses the various reasons for these outcomes in order to draw the lessons for the design of aid-for-trade projects and programmes and increase their impact on trade performance and on growth. It argues that the scope of activity of aid-for-trade is broad enough to support both the compatible policies that will make a trade reform sustainable and many of the complementary policies that will increase the growth impact of trade expansion. Supporting compatible and complementary policies is about policy coherence and adequate sequencing. As much as possible, proper sequencing and policy coherence should be reflected in the design of aid-for-trade projects and programmes. This cannot be achieved without adequate donor coordination and alignment on country priorities.

Trade

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Achieving France’s medium-term fiscal targets will require significant expenditure efforts. This paper identifies areas where there is scope for increasing expenditure efficiency, with a view to achieving higher quality and more sustainable fiscal consolidation. The methodology is based on a triple benchmarking. First, the level of public expenditure in different categories is compared to other European countries. Second, the impact of spending is assessed against other European countries. Third, the input mix is analyzed to understand what components are responsible for the level of spending and for the quality of outcomes This is done for various categories of spending and policies. Based on these results, the paper then provides policy options for expenditure reform in each of these areas, drawing on successful reform episodes in other countries.

Fiscal policy --- Labor --- Public Finance --- Fiscal Policy --- State and Local Budget and Expenditures --- State and Local Government: Health, Education, and Welfare --- State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories --- National Government Expenditures and Related Policies: General --- National Government Expenditures and Health --- Health: General --- Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: General --- Public finance & taxation --- Health economics --- Labour --- income economics --- Expenditure --- Health care spending --- Health --- Total expenditures --- Wages --- Expenditures, Public --- France

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Trade can be a powerful engine for economic growth, poverty reduction, and development. However, harnessing the power of trade is often difficult for developing countries, particularly the least developed countries, because of supply-side domestic constraints (lack of trade-related infrastructure and capacity). The Aid for Trade Initiative was launched to address these constraints. This paper sets forth strategies to identify the most binding constraints to trade expansion so countries and donors can channel resources toward reforms and projects that have the largest effect. It shows that the four most common objectives of aid-for-trade projects (increasing trade, diversifying exports, maximizing the linkages with the domestic economy, and increasing adjustment capacity) have the potential to boost growth and reduce poverty in developing countries. However, the potential of trade may not be realized as developing countries often face binding constraints that prevent them from turning trade opportunities into trade, and trade into growth. First, they face difficulties turning trade opportunities into trade flows because of capacity constraints and lack of adequate trade-related infrastructure. Second, some domestic constraints choke the impact of trade expansion on economic growth. The paper focuses on the first set of constraints and presents various diagnostic tools available to identify them. These tools often pinpoint a long list of constraints. As all constraints cannot be addressed simultaneously, there is a need to identify the most binding ones in order to prioritize reforms. The paper suggests combining the different diagnostic tools in an appropriate framework to achieve this prioritization. An adaptation of the growth diagnostics— originally developed by Hausmann et al. (2005) for guiding growth strategies—can be such a framework. By shifting the focus from growth to trade, this framework can be readily adapted by local authorities and development practitioners.

Trade