C. Veeramani

Bio: C. Veeramani is an academic researcher from Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research. The author has contributed to research in topics: Productivity & Trade barrier. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 34 publications receiving 327 citations.

Intra-industry trade of India: Trends and country-specific factors

Abstract: Intra-industry Trade of India: Trends and Country-Specific Factors. — The analysis in this paper confirms that trade liberalization biases trade expansion towards intra-industry trade (IIT) in India. The increased level of IIT is largely exportled, that is, caused by a faster growth of exports than of imports. India’s IIT is more intense with high-income countries and is characterized by a greater extent of complementarity. Further, certain country-specific factors which are found to be crucial in the models of vertical IIT are pertinent in influencing the pattern of India’s bilateral IIT.

Investment climate and total factor productivity in manufacturing: Analysis of Indian states

Abstract: Liberalisation initiatives have been taken by India with a view to improve the efficiency of manufacturing industries and achieving faster GDP growth. The present paper investigates the influence of Investment Climate (IC) on the levels of total factor productivity (TFP) in the organised manufacturing sector across the major Indian states. Data from Annual Survey of Induatries (ASI) is used and multilateral TFP indices for the total registered manufacturing sector in all the major states for the period 1980-2000 calculated [WP 127].

Impact of ASEAN-India Preferential Trade Agreement on Plantation Commodities: A Simulation Analysis

Abstract: This study analyses the impact of the asean-India Preferential Trade Agreement on plantation commodities – coffee, tea and pepper – using the smart and gravity models. This reveals that the agreement may cause a significant increase in India’s imports of plantation commodities from the asean countries, which is mostly driven by trade creation rather than trade diversion. The proposed tariff reduction may lead to some loss of tariff revenue to the government. However, the gains in consumer surplus outweigh the loss in tariff revenue resulting in a net welfare gain. Simulations based on both the models yield broadly similar results regarding the magnitude of total increase in imports. During the years to come, the plantation sector will have to realign the production structure according to the changing price signals. It is thus important to devise appropriate adjustment assistance schemes for plantation workers who might face displacement.

China’s Growing Role in World Trade

Abstract: The article reviews the book "China's Growing Role in World Trade," by Robert C. Feenstra and Shang-Jin Wei.

Assessing the Impact of Infrastructure Quality on Firm Productivity in Africa : Cross-Country Comparisons Based on Investment Climate Surveys from 1999 to 2005

Abstract: This paper provides a systematic, empirical assessment of the impact of infrastructure quality on the total factor productivity (TFP) of African manufacturing firms. This measure is understood to include quality in the provision of customs clearance, energy, water, sanitation, transportation, telecommunications, and information and communications technology (ICT). Microeconometric techniques to investment climate surveys (ICSs) of 26 African countries are carried out in different years during the period 2002–6, making country-specific evaluations of the impact of investment climate (IC) quality on aggregate TFP, average TFP, and allocative efficiency. For each country the impact is evaluated based on 10 different productivity measures. Results are robust once controlled for observable fixed effects (red tape, corruption and crime, finance, innovation and labor skills, etc.) obtained from the ICSs. African countries are ranked according to several indices: per capita income, ease of doing business, firm perceptions of growth bottlenecks, and the concept of demeaned productivity (Olley and Pakes 1996). The countries are divided into two blocks: high-income-growth and low-income-growth. Infrastructure quality has a low impact on TFP in countries of the first block and a high (negative) impact in countries of the second. There is significant heterogeneity in the individual infrastructure elements affecting countries from both blocks. Poor-quality electricity provision affects mainly poor countries, whereas problems dealing with customs while importing or exporting affects mainly faster-growing countries. Losses from transport interruptions affect mainly slower-growing countries. Water outages affect mainly slower-growing countries. There is also some heterogeneity among countries in the infrastructure determinants of the allocative efficiency of African firms.