Book
Competition Policy for the New Era
Competition law has expanded to more than 100 jurisdictions worldwide with varying degrees of economic, social, and institutional development, raising important questions as to what is the appropriate design of competition law regimes and the interaction between competition law and economic development. This volume, comprising a selection of papers from the 4th BRICS International Competition Conference written by academic and practising economists and lawyers from both developed and developing countries, is distinctive in its focus on a broader view of competition policy in BRICS and developing countries. It examines the role competition, the application of broader public interest and national interest concerns in the analysis and influence on developing country competition authorities' policy-making. The contributors address topics such as: - a broad view of competition policy; - making markets work for the people as a post millennium development goal; - some key issues concerning the further development of China's antimonopoly law; - remedies in BRICS countries; - public interest issues in cross-border mergers; - crafting creative remedies in food markets in South Africa; - what are African competition authorities doing to fight cartels?; - successes and challenges in the fight against cartels; and the economics of antitrust sanctioning.
In Saint Petersburg on 19 May 2016, the BRICS competition authorities signed a memorandum of understanding promising to each other to strengthen cooperation in the field of competition law and policy based on the principles of mutual trust and respect for the sake of promoting long-term sustainable and accelerated development of the BRICS economies. The Memorandum announces that its main purpose is to set up an institutional partnership between the parties. In author's view this timely initiative provides new hope for the global competition law project that has apparently lost its momentum while struggling to find a way through the complicated geopolitical realms in recent times.
The analysis of competition policy during economic crisis is motivated by the fact that competition is a key factor in productivity levels. The latter, in turn, influences the scope and length of economic recession. In many Russian markets, buyers’ gains decline because of weak competition, since suppliers are reluctant to cut prices despite decreasing demand. Data on prices in Russia and abroad in the second half of 2008 show asymmetric price rigidity. At least two questions are important in an economic crisis: the “division of labor” between proactive and protective tools of competition policy and the impact of anticrisis policy on competition. Protective competition policy is insufficient in a transition economy, especially during a crisis, and it should be supplemented with well-designed industrial policy measures that do not contradict the goals of competition. The preferred tools of anticrisis policy are those that do not restrain competition.
Health is an indispensable public good. At the national level it has been manifested in the BRICS governments’ commitment to scale up health financing, though to a different degree. At the global level it is evidenced by the international community progress on the three health-related Millennium Development Goals. However despite successes in fighting infectious diseases, child and maternal mortality, old risks persist and new challenges emerge, resulting from the 2008 financial crisis, current slack economic growth and growing economic inequality. The BRICS face these challenges and have begun cooperation on health issues. It is important that they build their emerging health agenda recognizing these challenges, committing to develop sustainable policy solutions, and cooperating with other actors to promote effective health governance for change. To explore how the BRICS contribute towards global health governance the article first considers the BRICS cooperation (its institutionalization, discourse, and engagement with other international institutions) with a focus on health issues. The authors then look into the BRICS members’ national health systems, challenges and goals. The article concludes with expectations of the BRICS future health agenda and its implications for global governance.
The global economic and political landscape is undergoing profound changes as the world enters a period of rapid transformation development strategies or adjusting their existing ones with greater prominence given to the role of innovation in the leading and underpinning development to strengthen their strategic arrangements for innovation⁃driven development, in a bid to improve their international competitiveness and seize the initiative in global competition Science, technology and innovation (STI) are recognized as the golden key to the door to growth In this trend of the times, the BRICS countries are spearheading the development of developing countries and attracting international attention with their highly innovative and distinctive development strategies Meanwhile, the BRICS as a bloc has become an exemplar of STI cooperation of developing countries.
As the rotating chair of BRICS in 2017, China will host the 9th BRICS Summit in Xiamen in September In the lead⁃up to the summit, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (MOST) hosted the 5th BRICS Science, Technology and Innovation Ministerial Meeting in Hangzhou in July, where BRICS STI ministers had in⁃depth discussions and reached wide consensus on topics including STI policy, cooperation in priority areas, and co-funding for multilateral research projects The BRICS Action Plan for Innovation Cooperation and the Hangzhou Declaration
To support the work relating to BRICS STI cooperation under the Chinese presidency, China Science and Technology Exchange Center (CSTEC), as entrusted by MOST, established a High Level Expert Group of leading professionals The High⁃level Expert Group complied theBRICS Innovative Competitiveness Report 2017, in collaboration with the science and technology sections of Chinese embassies in other BRICS countries and STI think tanks in other BRICS countries Based on the latest available data, the Report of the BRICS STI cooperation, and presents country and thematic studies on the STI development of BRICS countries.
The Report consists of four parts, with a total of 12 sub⁃reports Part I two general sub⁃reports: an analysis report which evaluates and forecasts the national innovation competitiveness of BRICS countries and their STI cooperation and strategic priorities; and a research report on the priority areas BRICS STI cooperation for win⁃win results This part evaluates the comprehensive national innovative competitiveness of the BRICS countries since 2001 and forecast their innovative competitiveness in the next five years It also assesses the current status and progress of China's STI cooperation with other BRICS countries, and identifies priority areas of BRICS STI cooperation, support for BRICS countries to strengthen their national innovation competitiveness Part Ⅱ presents six country reports, which evaluate, analyze and forecast of the national innovation competitiveness of the BRICS countries and studies of their STI cooperation within the BRICS framework Part Ⅲ presents four thematic reports, which focus on the four thematic areas to STI, including digital economy, inclusive finance, energy, and agriculture, elaborate the STI development and potential of the individual BRICS countries in those areas, and provide valuable inputs for the BRICS countries' national innovation competitiveness Part IV contains appendixes, including an introduction to the related indicator system BRICS STI cooperation.
The article focuses on analysis of the main factors that influence the volume of commodities export and import in BRICS countries. As a key factor destabilizing the trade in commodities during the period of 2007 – 2011 the author identifies price volatility. The author analyses key measures, undertaken by BRICS governments at the national and international level. The author makes a forecast on the future role of BRICS in stabilizing the international trade in commodities and in contributing to food security.
The phenomenon of positive autocorrelation in daily stock index returns is often viewed as a consequence of stable behavioral patterns of certain investor groups (e.g., [Sentana, Wadhwani, 1992; Koutmos, 1997]). However, such patterns may change due to extreme events, i.e. currency and financial crises, and affect the autocorrelation of returns. Emerging markets have experienced severe crises in a recent decade and are therefore a suitable object to study.
Thus the focus of the current paper is to identify substantial changes in autocorrelation of BRICs’ stock markets index returns after experiencing these failures of financial system (the Asian crisis of 1997–1998, the crises in Russia, Brazil in 1998–1999 and the revaluation of the Chinese yen in 2005). Since all countries considered belong to the group of emerging markets and crises might have contagious effects we expect to reveal the influence of events in one country from the group on the markets in other countries. Studying stock market crises in BRICs and Thailand as possible causes of structural changes on stock markets is contribution of this paper to the existing literature. For this purpose we test for structural breaks in an ARMA-GARCH-model on the commonly known crisis dates.
This is the second volume in a series of five books bringing together the results of intensive research on the national systems of innovation (NSI) in the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. This book analyses the co-evolution of inequality and NSI across the BRICS economies. Inequality and Development Challenges argues that inequalities (assets, access to basic services, infrastructure, knowledge, race, gender, ethnicity, and geographic location) that go beyond the aspects of income, must be factored into development strategies since the benefits of innovation are not distributed equally. It combines original and detailed data, making this book an invaluable resource for researchers and scholars in economics, development studies and political science, as well as policymakers and development practitioners interested in the BRICS countries.
This special publication for the 2012 New Delhi Summit is a collection of articles by government officials from BRICS countries, representatives of international organizations, businessmen and leading researchers.
The list of Russian contributors includes Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia, Maxim Medvedkov, Director of the Trade Negotiations Department of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Vladimir Dmitriev, Vnesheconombank Chairman, Alexander Bedritsky, advisor to the Russian President, VadimLukov, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, and representatives of the academic community.
The publication also features articles by the President of Kazakhstan NursultanNazarbayev and internationally respected economist Jim O’Neil, who coined the term “BRIC”. In his article Jim O’Neil speculates about the future of the BRICS countries and the institution as a whole.
The publication addresses important issues of the global agenda, the priorities of BRICS and the Indian Presidency, the policies and competitive advantages of the participants, as well as BRICS institutionalization, enhancing efficiency and accountability of the forum.