International Trade

Although global flows of foreign direct investment (FDI) have not recovered since the 2008 financial crisis, flows to developing countries have continued to register a very modest growth. But what is the impact of these FDI inflows on the recipient developing economies?

There is a widespread belief that China plays a fundamental role in African economies, but few rigorous empirical studies to back up this view.

Many reports have described Chinese engagement in Africa as “neo-imperialism” and “authoritarian capitalism”, exploiting resources and local labour while undermining democracy.

Chacha and Edwards (2018) evaluate the effectiveness of trade policy incentive that promotes the use of imported intermediate inputs.

Industrial policy is back on the African policy agenda, with a number of countries following new strategies for rapid industrialization. None have done so more eagerly than Ethiopia.

Chacha and Edwards (2017) use firm-level transaction dataset from Kenya to examine the entry and growth dynamics of new exporters in international markets and the factors associated with survival in foreign markets.

By exploring the patterns and trends of Kenya’s exports overtime, this project shows the important role of multi-product and multi-destination exporters in the expansion of exports for low income countries.