Special Edition of the Central European Economic Journal to Mark the 70th Birthday of Prof. Jan Jakub Michałek
This special edition of the Central European Economic Journal honors Professor Jan Jakub Michałek’s remarkable contributions to international trade and economic policy on the occasion of his 70th birthday. A pioneering figure in modern international economics, Professor Michałek has significantly shaped academic research and policy advice in Poland and beyond. His expertise spans trade liberalization, European integration, and the global trading system, making him a vital figure during Poland’s transition and EU accession.
The edition brings together research papers by Professor Michałek’s former students and collaborators, reflecting the thematic diversity of his work. From theoretical models of international trade to empirical studies on non-tariff barriers, the issue addresses current challenges in trade policy, European integration, and global economic shifts. Highlights include opinion papers on rising protectionism, the political economy of trade, and the complexities of food safety standards in developing countries.
An editorial accompanies the collection, offering personal insights into Professor Michałek’s career, leadership at the University of Warsaw, and lasting influence on future generations of economists.
Beyond the Initial Export Boost: The Erosion of Trade Agreement Benefits
Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) are widely acclaimed for their potential to mitigate market imperfections and expand export opportunities. However, in changing economic circumstances, these beneficial effects may only endure for a while and often gradually fade, affecting industries unevenly. This study delves into this overlooked phenomenon by exploring Poland‘s export performance in the Western Balkan (WB) region, where the implementation of Stabilization and Association Agreements (SAAs) has evidently generated export growth, primarily driven by tariff reductions, though these gains were manifested disproportionally across sectors. Employing survival analysis, the study validates the positive influence of SAAs on Polish export competitiveness within the WBs while uncovering its temporal erosion and sectoral discrepancies. On average, a 51% and 84% decline in Polish export competitiveness to WBs is observed after 5 and 10 years, respectively. Moreover, a unique dataset on non-tariff measures (NTMs) is employed to identify specific sectors encountering significant NTMs contributing to the reported diverse export patterns. These insights highlight the need for policies that acknowledge the diminishing benefits of trade agreements and mitigate the trade imbalances caused by NTMs.
Impact of TBTs on Trade in ICT Goods: Differentiating by Regulatory Objectives
This paper analyses how different types of technical barriers to trade (TBTs) imposed on imports of information and communications technology (ICT) goods globally affected the value and volume of imported goods during the period of 1996–2018. Key words cited in the TBTs give an indication of the aims behind the imposition of TBTs. The results indicate that TBTs have a strong positive impact on the value of imports. While many key words cited in TBTs notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO) affect the value and volume of imports in a positive way, certain other TBTs function as trade barriers.
Single Market Enlargement and Technical Barriers to Trade: Revisiting the Evidence
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Data publikacji: 28 mar 2024
Zakres stron: 79 – 96
© 2024 Jan Hagemejer et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
EU enlargements have given new EU member states access to the European Single Market. While tariff liberalisation was already completed at the time of enlargement, technical regulations were subject to different sectoral approaches, including harmonisation and mutual recognition. We employ a structural gravity model estimated using sectoral trade data from 1987 to 2020 to assess the trade effects of these measures. We find that trade expansion, particularly exports of the NMS to the incumbent EU members, has been stronger in the sectors covered either by the Old Approach (full harmonisation) or the New Approach (essential requirements) than in sectors covered by mutual recognition. The New Approach has been more effective when coupled with mutual recognition at the sector level than with either approach alone. Our results imply that the TBT harmonisation has had a heterogenous impact on different sectors (the most important for low-tech industries was the Old Approach, while for high-tech, it was the New Approach).
Firm Heterogeneity and International Trade Liberalisation: A Generalized Cournot Oligopoly Approach
The main goal of this article is to contribute to the theoretical analysis of international trade under imperfect competition using the Cournot oligopoly model with heterogeneous firms. In particular, our objective is to provide some insights into the role of cost asymmetry in studying the effects of trade liberalisation in the Cournot oligopoly framework. In order to introduce firm heterogeneity into the oligopoly model we use the generalised Cournot framework with asymmetric firms that differ in terms of their productivity, levels of output and market shares. We show that trade liberalisation leads to the elimination of less productive firms and results in lower equilibrium prices, higher sales per firm and lower markups in the industry.
Food Safety: A Developing Country Perspective
Developing countries, trying to achieve an acceptable level of food safety at the least possible cost (efficiency objective) and facilitation of market access to the large and lucrative developed country food markets (market access objective), could follow the multilateral, regional, unilateral or the independent approach. The paper studying the pros and cons of these approaches aims to determine the most appropriate food safety reform package. It shows that the best approach is the unilateral. Under this approach the achievement of efficiency objective requires the adoption and implementation of the multilateral approach. The achievement of market access objective requires the adoption and implementation of the regulatory regime of the developed country whose markets the developing country is intending to penetrate. Instead, the paper proposes that the developing country adopts and implements the developed countries‘ regulatory regime only in agricultural sub-sectors with highest comparative advantage scores, and that in all other agricultural sub-sectors the country should adopt and implement the regulatory regime as developed by multilateral approach. Since the tasks associated with designing and implementing the food safety policy reform are challenging, the paper advocates that this task should be left to a new institution, the ‘Food Safety Council‘, which needs to be formed as an autonomous public institution with sufficient financial and technical resources.
Will the EU‘s Fourth Freedom Be Further Challenged by Present Members of the Single Market?
The creation of a single market in Europe, conceived as the application of the so-called four freedoms (goods, services, capital and manpower) of movement was in vogue in the 1990s. What has happened to this dream? At the time not only business communities but also consumer associations, and even labour unions were all in favour of opening their national economies to the winds of continental competition. Three decades after, some national communities seem to have turned their backs on the free movement of people. The case of Eastern European immigrants settling for work in the UK after 2004 comes to mind, something which arguably was one of the main reasons for the Brexit vote in 2016. The issue could again become the focus of populist governments or parties (e.g., in Italy, France, Sweden, Austria, Hungary or The Netherlands), should the danger of an EU-wide recession or an idiosyncratic crisis in one of the poorest member states (MSs) materialize. Actually, a new intensification of intra-EU migration flows could be one of the outcomes of the unravelling of supply chains as a result of the COVID epidemic and geopolitical considerations, such as the EU’s wish to diminish trade dependence from China and Russia. The ground is slowly eroding under the feet of those adamant to cling to the free movement of people as part of the acquis. The EU Commission should give thought, before it is too late, about the fourth freedom particularly in view of future EU enlargements.
Thoughts on the Political Economy of International Trade
International trade appears to be strongly dependent on the political environment and institutional arrangements. In this context, the commented strand of economics is expected to follow the relationships that can be turbulent. The paper reviews the available literature on international trade, with a particular focus on aspects of the political economy. These threads are described in the context of the past and present literature, as well as prospects for future research. Over the decades, the focus of the debate has shifted strongly. The analysed issues reflect not only current events affecting the shape of international trade, but also the availability of data or the growing range of quantitative tools. The observed progress and evolution of the political economy of international trade has brought numerous conclusions of scientific and practical importance.
How Much Neoprotectionism is There in Contemporary World Trade?
Negative effects of globalisation and liberalisation of trade are countered using protectionist measures. Contemporary protectionism, typically termed neoprotectionism, is put into practice using a wide variety of non-tariff instruments, with a considerably lesser degree of transparency compared to tariffs, which are more difficult to identify and measure. The aim of this paper is to determine the dynamics of protection, as well as the category and geographical structure for the use of trade policy instruments in the world goods trade in the years 2010–2022. The study was based on source materials from the Global Trade Alert (GTA) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The conducted analyses showed that interventions taken in the world goods trade in the years 2010–2022 were primarily trade restrictions executed using non-tariff measures. In terms of its geographical distribution the relatively greatest scope of protectionism observed was for the trade policy of China and the USA. In terms of the product category, the sale of agricultural produce was protected the most. The realised model of protectionism differed depending on the group of products being traded, the standard of economic development of the country implementing trade policy measures, its export specialisation and the degree of self-sufficiency. The protectionist character of the trade policy was also enhanced during economic crises.
Editorial: Special Edition of the Central European Economic Journal to Mark the 70th Birthday of Prof. Jan Jakub Michałek
This special edition of the Central European Economic Journal celebrates the 70th birthday of Professor Jan Michałek, Poland’s leading expert in international trade and trade policy. His career spans decades of pioneering contributions to international economics, including research on trade liberalization, European integration, and non-tariff barriers. The issue features opinion pieces and empirical studies from his collaborators and former students, covering current issues like protectionism, food safety standards, and the political economy of trade. These papers reflect the breadth and impact of Michałek’s work.
