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Consolidated foreign wealth of nations: Nationality-based measures of international exposure
This study presents novel estimates of foreign holdings using a consolidated-by- nationality approach for a sample of 14 developed countries over multiple years. This approach provides an alternative for policymakers and researchers to analyse international exposure that complements the existing approach based on residence-based data. Two main advantages of the nationality-based approach are that it looks through corporate structures of multinational enterprises and considers local positions. The resulting novel data show that aggregate international financial integration is larger than residence-based data indicate for the sample. These data are used to analyse (i) profit-shifting activities and (ii) spillovers from United States monetary policy shocks. This study presents evidence suggesting that nationals of relatively high-tax countries may shift assets to low-tax countries in ways not fully captured in residence-based statistics. It also shows that a tightening in United States monetary policy is associated with a decline in foreign asset holdings by non-financial multinational enterprises using the consolidated-by-nationality approach. These findings underscore the relevance of using the consolidated-by-nationality approach to evaluate policy-relevant questions.
Editorial statement
Transnational Corporations is a longstanding policy-oriented refereed research journal on issues related to investment multinational enterprises and development. It is an official journal of the United Nations managed by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). As such it has global reach a strong development policy imprint and high potential for impact beyond the scholarly community. There are no fees or article processing charges associated with submitting to or publishing in Transnational Corporations. All articles of the online version of the journal are open access and free to read and download for everyone.
Arguments for implementing formulary apportionment in the European Union
Using recently published country-by-country reporting data released by the United States Internal Revenue Service we assess United States multinationals’ activity in the single market aiming to contribute with databased evidence to the ongoing political debate about the potential changes in the European corporate tax system. Our findings show evidence of artificial profit shifting across member States under the current method to allocate profits of multinational enterprises with the Netherlands Luxembourg and Ireland appearing to be the countries showing a higher degree of complicity with these activities. Such actions challenge fair international taxation in the European Union distorting European internal competition and hampering tax revenue collection. Although it may not be (yet) the time for a worldwide unitary taxation approach the analysis highlights the urgency for the European Union to adopt a formulary apportionment approach overhauling a century-old set of global tax rules based on the separate entity approach.
Do minority shareholder protection laws benefit investors? Evidence from a natural experiment on cross-listed firms
Good corporate governance practices are not universal. Unlike practices in institutional settings in developed countries which have attracted most scholarly attention corporate governance practices in emerging economies lean towards addressing principal-principal conflicts that stem from concentrated ownership. The study employs a difference-in-differences panel data design with matched samples of Chinese firms cross-listed in mainland China and Hong Kong (China) and of those listed only in Hong Kong (China) based on propensity score matching. It thus adopts a natural experimental setting – the promulgation of China’s Revised Securities Law in March 2020 – to pinpoint whether and how legal revisions of investor protection laws can really benefit investors. The findings show that independent directors in cross-listed firms turn over significantly more than those in firms listed only in Hong Kong (China). Also it suggests that firms mainly replace departed directors with new directors from similar demographics. Furthermore the study observes no evidence of significant changes in board independence in the short run. The findings suggest that policymakers should mind unintended consequences beyond the intended outcomes of the legal reforms on corporate governance particularly the potential disproportionate impacts on smaller firms.
Bridging the productivity gap: A comparative analysis of foreign-owned and domestic firms in Viet Nam
This study investigates the productivity gap between foreign-owned and domestic firms in Viet Nam. Using quantile regression estimation for the period of 2011–2020 the study first examines the impact of firms’ specifics and of provincial governance quality on firms’ total factor productivity at different points of the productivity distribution. The results show that labour productivity market share and return on assets appear to significantly affect firm productivity regardless of firm groups or quantiles. To understand the productivity gap between foreign and domestic firms the study uses the quantile decomposition approach to differentiate the factors that contribute to the gap at different quantiles. Our findings reveal that across quantiles most of the productivity gap is explained by firms’ specifics especially labour productivity. To address the productivity gap between foreign-owned and domestic firms in Viet Nam policymakers should focus on enhancing domestic firms’ access to technology firms’ experience and human capital development as firm-specific factors appear to be major contributors to the productivity differential. In addition improving provincial governance quality and creating an enabling environment for both foreign-owned and domestic firms can further stimulate productivity growth and foster healthy competition in the manufacturing sector.
Special economic zones and entrepreneurship: A new path forward for SEZs in Africa?
In recent years interest has been growing among policymakers in how to leverage special economic zone (SEZ) policies to support local entrepreneurship. With a few recent exceptions the academic literature to date has been silent on the matter. This article aims to contribute to addressing this gap. First it develops a conceptual framework linking SEZ policies and entrepreneurship development. Second it explores the state of play of entrepreneurship promotion in SEZs in Africa using a survey of African SEZs and two case studies. We find significant appetite among African SEZs to promote local entrepreneurship; however it is less clear how best to accomplish the task. Many of the policies facilities and services offered are open to local entrepreneurs rather than being tailored specifically to their needs. The support required in some policy areas also seems to be more straightforward than in others. Adapting the SEZ offering to the needs of local entrepreneurs is one of the key challenges to increasing the effectiveness of the support.
Introducción y finalidad
Durante los últimos decenios las negociaciones comerciales multilaterales y regionales y la liberalización unilateral han reducido sustancialmente los tipos arancelarios. Las medidas no arancelarias (MNA) sin embargo representan un creciente desafío para los exportadores y los encargados de la formulación de políticas. La capacidad de obtener acceso a los mercados y beneficiarse de ese acceso depende cada vez más de que se cumplan medidas de regulación del comercio como las prescripciones sanitarias y las normas sobre productos. La Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Comercio y Desarrollo (UNCTAD) ha estado participando activamente en estudios y actividades sobre cuestiones relacionadas con las medidas no arancelarias. En 1994 la UNCTAD empezó a recopilar y clasificar las medidas. El Sistema de Análisis e Información Comercial (TRAINS) de la UNCTAD sigue siendo la base de datos más completa sobre las medidas aunque ha necesitado mejoras sustantivas para adecuarse a la creciente complejidad y necesidad de los datos. A fin de formular una estrategia para reducir la falta de transparencia en 2006 la UNCTAD creo el Grupo de Personalidades Eminentes sobre las Barreras no Arancelarias integrado por economistas destacados de organizaciones internacionales. El Equipo de Apoyo Multiinstitucional (EAMI) prestó un apoyo considerable. Como resultado la UNCTAD el Banco Africano de Desarrollo el Centro de Comercio Internacional y el Banco Mundial pusieron en marcha la Iniciativa Transparencia en el Comercio. La UNCTAD lidera las iniciativas internacionales dirigidas a recopilar datos sobre las medidas.
Distinción entre las medidas sanitarias y fitosanitarias y los obstáculos técnicos al comercio
La diferencia entre los capítulos sobre las medidas sanitarias y fitosanitarias y los obstáculos técnicos al comercio puede ser difícil de apreciar en algunos casos. Por regla general se respetan los principios establecidos en los acuerdos pertinentes de la OMC.
Pasos para la recopilación de la información
La información sobre las medidas no arancelarias se recopila y consigna en la herramienta de introducción de datos del TRAINS. La herramienta regula el acceso de los diferentes tipos de usuarios según el rol que se les haya asignado. Ello permite controlar estrictamente los permisos y las responsabilidades de los usuarios internos y externos. Únicamente los usuarios de la herramienta registrados y autorizados tienen acceso al sitio web.
Directrices para la Recopilación de Datos sobre Medidas No Arancelarias: Edición de 2023
Durante los últimos decenios las negociaciones comerciales multilaterales y regionales y la liberalización unilateral han reducido sustancialmente los tipos arancelarios. Las medidas no arancelarias (MNA) sin embargo representan un creciente desafío para los exportadores y los encargados de la formulación de políticas. La capacidad de obtener acceso a los mercados y beneficiarse de ese acceso depende cada vez más de que se cumplan medidas de regulación del comercio como las prescripciones sanitarias y las normas sobre productos. La Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sobre Comercio y Desarrollo (UNCTAD) ha estado participando activamente en estudios y actividades sobre cuestiones relacionadas con las medidas no arancelarias. La finalidad de este manual es proporcionar directrices para que las personas encargadas de la recopilación de los datos puedan armonizar ese proceso de recopilación y reducir al mínimo la incertidumbre durante la categorización y clasificación.
Manual para la codificación de las medidas
A continuación se proporcionan directrices para asignar un código a una medida no arancelaria encontrada en el texto de un reglamento. El primer paso es conocer la clasificación de las medidas y comprender la estructura básica de la clasificación así como los diferentes capítulos.
Agradecimientos
La edición 2023 de las Directrices para la Recopilación de Datos sobre Medidas No Arancelarias ha sido elaborada por un equipo de la UNCTAD integrado por Christian Knebel Chi Le Ngo y Denise Penello Rial de la División del Comercio Internacional y de los Productos Básicos. Fabien Dumesnil Mingcong Li Samuel Munyaneza Narmin Khalilova Seul Lee y Ralf Peters también realizaron contribuciones.
Consignación de los objetivos de las medidas sanitarias y fitosanitarias y los obstáculos técnicos al comercio
El objetivo de una medida debe consignarse solo cuando se trate de medidas sanitarias y fitosanitarias y obstáculos técnicos (capítulos A y B y categoría P1). En el caso de las demás medidas no es necesario indicar el objetivo.