The Business Environment in Southern Africa : Issues in Trade and Market Integration - Full report

[摘要] This report assesses some of the keybarriers to greater trade and factor market integration inthe Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). The SADChas been a free trade area since 2008, and has an ambitiousagenda for further trade integration. This report assessesthe roles that cross-country differences in businessenvironments have had in impeding cross-border trade flowsand the cross-border integration of credit markets and thelabor market based on the analysis of microeconomic data onfirms and households. The aim of the assessment is to helpinform the policy and business environment harmonizationagenda of the community. The full report discusses andillustrates the use of price data in monitoringintraregional trade integration. The report evaluates theextent of integration of labor markets among members thestatistical agencies of which regularly collect the minimumdata required for this purpose, which are South Africa,Mauritius, Tanzania, and Zambia. The results show that,although there is considerable integration of SouthAfrica's labor market with many others in the region,the degree of integration is rather low. This reflects thefact that both trade and capital flows are far morerestricted in the region than in places where there isgreater cross-border labor market integration.

[发布日期] 2010-12-31 [发布机构] World Bank

[学科分类] 社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

[关键词] ABSOLUTE VALUE;ALLOCATIVE EFFICIENCY;APARTHEID;ARBITRAGE;AVERAGE TARIFF