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This paper examines the effects of trade on growth among Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement countries. To accomplish this task, the authors collected a panel data set of 136 countries over 1960-2010, and estimated cross-country growth regressions using an econometric methodology that accounts for unobserved effects and the likely endogeneity of the growth determinants. Following recent empirical efforts, they tested whether the impact of trade openness on growth may be more effective after surpassing a "minimum threshold" in specific areas closely related to economic development. The analysis finds not only that there is a robust causal link from trade to growth, but also that the growth benefits from trade are larger in countries with higher levels of education and innovation, deeper financial markets, a stronger institutional framework, more developed infrastructure networks, a high level of integration with world capital markets, and less stringent economic regulations. On average, rising trade has benefited growth in Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement countries. However, the lack of progress in structural reforms has not allowed these countries to maximize the potential benefits from trade.

Achieving Shared Growth --- Benchmark --- Capital markets --- Comparative advantage --- Comparative advantages --- Economic growth --- Economic implications --- Economic integration --- Economic Theory & Research --- Economies of scale --- Emerging Markets --- Exports --- Free Trade --- GDP --- Human capital --- Increasing returns --- Increasing returns to scale --- International Economics and Trade --- International trade --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Poverty Reduction --- Private Sector Development --- Productivity --- Regression analysis --- Regulatory framework --- Statistical analysis --- Trade Policy

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The differences in financial systems between industrial and developing countries are pronounced. It has been observed, both theoretically and empirically, that the differences in countries' financial systems are a source of comparative advantage in trade. Do and Levchenko point out that to the extent a country's financial development is endogenous, it will in turn be influenced by trade. They build a model in which a country's financial development is an equilibrium outcome of the economy's productive structure: in countries with large financially intensive sectors, financial systems are more developed. When a wealthy and a poor country open to trade, the financially dependent sectors grow in the wealthy country, and so does the financial system. By contrast, as the financially intensive sectors shrink in the poor country, demand for external finance decreases and the domestic financial system deteriorates. The authors test their model using data on financial development for a sample of 77 countries. They find that the main predictions of the model are borne out in the data: trade openness is associated with faster financial development in wealthier countries, and with slower financial development in poorer ones. This paper-a product of the Development Research Group-is part of a larger effort in the group to investigate the relation between finance and trade.

Comparative Advantage --- Cred Development --- Debt Markets --- Economic Theory and Research --- Economy --- Emerging Markets --- Equilibrium --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Financial Sector --- GDP --- Goods --- Income --- Increasing Returns --- Increasing Returns To Scale --- International Trade --- Liquidity --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Markets --- Positive Externality --- Private Sector Development --- Production --- Property Rights --- Total Output --- Trade --- Wealth

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Production networks have been at the heart of the recent growth in trade among East Asian countries. Fragmentation trade, reflected mainly in the trade in parts and components, is expanding more rapidly than the conventional trade in final goods. This is mainly due to the relatively more favorable policy setting for international production, agglomeration benefits arising from the early entry into this new form of specialization, considerable intercountry wage differentials in the region, lower trade and transport costs, and specialization in products exhibiting increasing returns to scale. The economic integration of China has deepened production fragmentation in East Asia, countering fears of crowding out other countries for international specialization. International production fragmentation in East Asia has intensified intraregional trade but has depended heavily on extraregional trade in final goods. While production networks centered on China have contributed significantly to growth in East Asia, they also breed vulnerabilities. They have not automatically led to technology spillovers and have led to an extreme interdependence across East Asian countries.

Capital --- Costs --- Development --- Economic Growth --- Economic Integration --- Economic Theory and Research --- Emerging Markets --- Exports --- Free Trade --- Goods --- Income --- Increasing Returns --- Increasing Returns To Scale --- Industrialization --- Industry --- Inputs --- International Economics & Trade --- Law and Development --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Organizational Capital --- Patents --- Private Sector Development --- Production --- Production Costs --- Public Sector Development --- Technology Industry --- Trade --- Trade Barriers --- Trade Law --- Trade Liberalization --- Trade Policy --- Wage Differentials

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This paper is about micro foundations of productivity and growth. There are several studies on productivity for advanced economies but relatively few for developing countries. Using data from the investment climate surveys of the World Bank, estimation results from 45 developing countries, complemented by extended analysis at firm and industry levels for Brazil and India for the period 2002-05, indicate the following: (i) confirmation of the importance of total factor productivity at firm, industry and national levels, but total factor productivity progressively tapers off at each level of aggregation implying that there is a less than one-to-one relationship between micro-efficiency, sector growth, and macro growth; (ii) capital accumulation is more important at the macro level than the micro level; (iii) productivity at the micro level is driven by research and development, the capacity utilization rate, and adoption of foreign technology (all of which involve management decisions), and is negatively related to corruption and instability, tax, and financial regulations; and (iii) confirmation of the lower contribution of total factor productivity to output growth in developing countries than in developed economies. Management decisions are involved in a lot of day-to-day operations at the firm level and therefore management is an unmeasured input. In developing countries, at the firm level, there is a need to understand the contribution of quality of inputs (management quality, education and labor quality, training, experience of workers, use of computers at work) and also the role of external agglomeration (for example, location in a booming city, competitive pressures from new firms, trade competition, and regulations).

Achieving Shared Growth --- Agriculture --- Constant returns to scale --- E-Business --- Economic Growth --- Economic growth --- Economic Theory & Research --- Foreign competition --- Gross domestic product --- Growth rate --- Human capital --- Increasing returns --- Increasing returns to scale --- International trade --- Labor Policies --- Macroeconomic growth --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Natural monopolies --- Poverty Reduction --- Private Sector Development --- Production function --- Production functions --- Productivity --- Social Protections and Labor --- Total factor productivity --- Total factor productivity growth --- Trade liberalization --- Trade policies --- Value added