This review of Brazil's trade policy focuses on the manufacturing industry and its impact on industrial efficiency and manufactured export growth. It includes discussion of the Brazilian experience with policies to promote and regulate the development and acquisition of industrial technology and their impact on output and exports. The report is organized in three separate parts: (i) background on industrial development; (ii) a review of trade policies, concentrating on a quantification of the relative incentives for production oriented toward the domestic market and for exports; and (iii) a review of technology policy, including development of human resources, basic research and development, industrial technology, and technology transfer. Three case studies exemplify the main types of technological transfer. The report does not attempt to elaborate all possible policy implications but to present the main information and analytical tools to be considered in the preparation and evaluation of policy alternatives.

Companies succeed in international markets because of their competitive competence which, in large measure, is based on the level of knowledge and skill they bring to their international marketing activities. Public organizations in the export development and promotion field play a facilitating role in this process. Their mandate is to enhance the know-how of exporters and thereby assist foreign market entry, development and expansion. The interaction between these public organizations and the companies they exist to serve is the subject of this book. The book is wide-ranging and up-to-date. The work ofresearchers from 11 countries (in both the developed and developing world) is represented which means that a variety of perspectives are contained in the book. These contributions present the latest thinking on this important matter. The authors of each chapter are objective in their approach. Consequently, considerable attention is paid to the performance of the public organization support programs and activities. Each researcher comes to his/her own conclusions based on the individual work undertaken, but readers will fmd that certain common themes run through many ofthe chapters. The key objectives of the book are: 1. To provide academic researchers with a current and comprehensive treatment of the role played by public organizations in export development and promotion. 2. To expose professional readers (officials in relevant public organizations, consultants in the private sector or in international agencies) to a view of their field of interest that might be broader and more critical than normal.

Global trade is of vital interest to citizens as well as policymakers, yet it is widely misunderstood. This compact exposition of the market forces underlying international commerce addresses both of these concerned groups, as well as the needs of students and scholars. Although it contains no equations, it is almost mathematical in its elegance, precision, and power of expression. Understanding Global Trade provides a thorough explanation of what shapes the international organization of production and distribution and the resulting trade flows. It reviews the evolution of knowledge in this field from Adam Smith to today as a process of theoretical modeling, accumulation of new empirical data, and then revision of analytical frameworks in response to evidence and changing circumstances. It explains the sources of comparative advantage and how they lead countries to specialize in making products which they then sell to other countries. While foreign trade contributes to the overall welfare of a nation, it also creates winners and losers, and Helpman describes mechanisms through which trade affects a country's income distribution. The book provides a clear and original account of the revolutions in trade theory of the 1980s and the most recent decade. It shows how scholars shifted the analysis of trade flows from the sectoral level to the business-firm level, to elucidate the growing roles of multinational corporations, offshoring, and outsourcing in the international division of labor. Helpman’s explanation of the latest research findings is essential for an understanding of world affairs.

Does what economies export matter for development? If so, can industrial policies improve on the export basket generated by the market? This book approaches these questions from a variety of conceptual and policy viewpoints. Reviewing the theoretical arguments in favor of industrial policies, the authors first ask whether existing indicators allow policy makers to identify growth-promoting sectors with confidence. To this end, they assess, and ultimately cast doubt upon, the reliability of many popular indicators advocated by proponents of industrial policy. Second, and central to their critique, the authors document extraordinary differences in the performance of countries exporting seemingly identical products, be they natural resources or 'high-tech' goods. Further, they argue that globalization has so fragmented the production process that even talking about exported goods as opposed to tasks may be misleading. Reviewing evidence from history and from around the world, the authors conclude that policy makers should focus less on what is produced, and more on how it is produced. They analyze alternative approaches to picking winners but conclude by favoring 'horizontal-ish' policies--for instance, those that build human capital or foment innovation in existing and future products—that only incidentally favor some sectors over others.