The paper examines the labour migration trends in ASEAN and in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), in particular, and analyses the ASEAN regional labour-related initiatives that seek to improve the protection of migrant workers. It discusses social protection and the access status of GMS migrant workers, as well as the legislative and legal barriers in accessing social security in host countries. Existing national social security schemes in ASEAN countries and how losses from lack of portability can be addressed, especially through social security agreements, are also discussed.

The authors use newly collected data on trade and production in 178 countries to infer estimates of trade costs in agriculture and manufactured goods for the 1995-2010 periods. The data show that trade costs are strongly declining in per capita income. Moreover, the rate of change of trade costs is largely unfavorable to the developing world: trade costs are falling noticeably faster in developed countries than in developing ones, which serves to increase the relative isolation of the latter.

cessfully navigate this difficult period. This research paper is a preliminary attempt to inquire, through a small sample survey, the response and adaptation of the Vietnamese woman-led, mostly export-oriented, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the new challenges arising from the economic crisis, and especially the ways these enterprises have sustained their export orientation. (However, it is not a comparative study with their male counterpart SMEs).

This paper develops a simple small-country model to explain why the World Trade Organization (WTO) prohibits export subsidies but allows import tariffs. Governments choose protection rates (import tariffs/export subsidies) to maximize a weighted sum of social welfare and lobbying contributions. While transportation costs decrease due to the progress of trade liberalization and lower transportation costs, import-competing sectors decline but export industries grow. In the growing export industries, the surplus generated by protection is eroded by new entrants.

The paper reviews critically the arguments concerning greater voice for developing countries in global governance. It supports the arguments for greater voice but argues that greater voice brings with it greater responsibilities in terms of the actions and commitments from developing countries. The two main illustrations are the multilateral trade negotiations in the WTO and the negotiations concerning climate change in the UN. In both case, it is argued, developing countries must assume greater responsibilities if these negotiations are to be concluded.

This paper analyses the current state of participation of India in the international production networks (IPNs) of manufacturing industries in Asia, and identifies the constraints and challenges for India’s deeper participation in the near future. Using the disaggregated 5 digit SITC (Rev 3) level data, the estimates of intra-industry trade and export revealed comparative advantage in Parts and Components (P&C) in India’s manufacturing sector are analysed separately from that of total trade flows over the period from 1994 and 2008.

Even as the Doha Round seeks to address tariff liberalization issues in a comprehensive manner, the imbalance in the outcome of market access for developing country exporters will be particularly glaring in the case of fresh agricultural and processed food products. There is growing evidence that protectionism from the usage of non-tariff barriers such as SPS measures has increased tremendously in the recent past.

There is a crisis in multilateralism. This paper examines multilateralism by looking at the two most important current efforts to devise new multilateral rules binding all nations; the negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) of trade rules and the negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to devise rules restricting the annual emissions of greenhouse gases. Both negotiations have failed after several years of intensive effort. There are remarkable parallels in these negotiations.

Globalization has transformed business environments worldwide, including in the AsiaPacific region. The fast expansion of global supply chains (typically comprised of firms, suppliers, distribution links and labour), which are cross-border business and production networks, allows firms to allocate scarce resources more efficiently than ever before. The advancement of information and communication technology (ICT), the development of international logistics systems and the reduction of trade barriers have all facilitated the integration of economies through the web of global supply chains.

While developing Asia has used fragmentation and industrial agglomeration as leverage to create impetus for sustaining its competitiveness, the downside risks of just-in-time procurement and production have not been sufficiently emphasized. Based on the experience of Thailand’s flooding in 2011, this study examines the extent to which the supply chain disruptions are translated into plunges in production and export performance, and explores how companies can effectively manage the risks and cope with supply chain breakdowns.