International Trade and Finance
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Series on International Investment Policies for Development
Etudes de la CNUCED sur les politiques d'investissement international au service du développement
ESCAP Studies in Trade and Investment
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Investment Policy Reviews
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Series on Issues in International Investment Agreements II
Commodities at a Glance
Commodities are products stemming from agricultural production or mining production that have not yet been transformed: agricultural products tropical beverages energy minerals ores and metals. The series Commodities at a Glance aims to collect present and disseminate accurate and relevant statistical information linked to international primary commodity markets in a clear concise and reader-friendly format.
ESCAP Financing for Development Series
Published every two years ESCAPs book series on financing for development publishes monographs on selected issues on financing for development from a regional Asia-Pacific perspective. The series aims at providing substantive analyses and policy discussions to contribute to regional and national dialogues on strategies for the implementation of selected aspects of financing for development included in both the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
International Trade Statistics Yearbook (Ser. G)
Coup d'œil sur les produits de base
Transnational Corporations
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Trade and Environment Review
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Information Economy Report (IER)
Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean
Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Technology and Innovation Report (TIR)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Report (WIR)
United Nations Trade and Development Report
International Accounting and Reporting Issues
Report of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development
The Report of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Financing for Development assesses progress in the seven action areas of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda: (i) domestic public resources; (ii) domestic and international private business and finance; (iii) international development cooperation; (iv) international trade as an engine for development; (v) debt sustainability; (vi) addressing systemic issues; and (vii) science technology innovation and capacity building. The series primarily targets Member States particularly policymakers from ministries of finance trade foreign affairs and development cooperation as well as central banks local authorities regulators and parliaments.
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Yearbook
External Trade Bulletin of the Arab Region
Reports of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
UNIDO Africa Investor Report
Compendium of Intra-African and Related Foreign Trade Statistics
SME Competitiveness Outlook
SME Competitiveness Outlook highlights needs to recognize the impact of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on inclusive economic growth to close global productivity gaps. SMEs are the missing link to sustainable economic growth and are fundamental to addressing inequality and ensuring greater inclusiveness. SME Competitiveness Outlook highlights country-specific constraints most relevant to business success by breaking them down into three key pillars: the ability of SMEs to connect compete and change. The publication analyses these determinants of SME competitiveness at the level of companies their business environment and national policy.
The State of Sustainable Markets
These global reports outline data on area production volume and producers for 14 major sustainability standard across bananas cocoa coffee cotton palm oil soybeans cane sugar tea and forestry products. Based on a partnership with the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture and the International Institute of Sustainable Development the data can help shape decisions of policymakers producers and businesses working to address systemic labour and environmental challenges through certified sustainable production.
Key Statistics and Trends in International Trade
This yearly publication is a product of the Trade Analysis Branch Division on International Trade and Commodities (DITC) UNCTAD secretariat. It informs on recent trends in international trade and provides illustrative statistics on international trade and their evolutions in the medium term. It covers various aspects of international trade including trade in goods and services; south-south trade; intra and inter regional trade; trade in primary intermediates and final products; and trade at the sectoral level. It also provides country specific indicators on export performance such as export diversification commodity dependence export propensity export competitiveness and export sophistication.
Taqrīr maǧlis al-tiǧāraẗ wa-al-tanmiyaẗ. Muʼtamar al-Umam al-Muttaḥidaẗ li-l-tiǧārẗa wa-al-tanmiyaẗ
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Handbook of Statistics
Rapport sur le commerce et le développement
Informe sobre el comercio y el desarrollo
Industrial Commodity Statistics Pocketbook
The State of Commodity Dependence
Rapport sur l'économie numérique
Digital Economy Report
Informe sobre la Economía Digital
International Trade Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean
This series continues Latin America and the Caribbean in the World Economy | United Nations iLibrary (un-ilibrary.org)
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Research Papers
UNCTAD Research Papers provide authoritative data and analysis on trade investment finance and technology offering solutions to the major challenges facing developing countries particularly the poorest and most vulnerable nations. Beyond tailored analysis and policy recommendations our research has also generated global standards that govern responsible sovereign lending and borrowing investment entrepreneurship competition and consumer protection and trade rules towards achievement of the 2030 Agenda.
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Policy Briefs
UNCTAD Policy Briefs provide authoritative data and analysis on trade investment finance and technology offering solutions to the major challenges facing developing countries particularly the poorest and most vulnerable nations. Beyond tailored analysis and policy recommendations our research has also generated global standards that govern responsible sovereign lending and borrowing investment entrepreneurship competition and consumer protection and trade rules towards achievement of the 2030 Agenda.
Challenges in implementing decentralization of foreign direct investment management in Viet Nam — case study of the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel project in Ha Tinh province
Over the past decades an increasing number of developing countries in Asia have experimented with decentralization in varying degrees to achieve good governance and promote democracy. In Viet Nam even though decentralization has been limited to de-concentration (or administrative decentralization) foreign direct investment (FDI) management is vigorously decentralized at the provincial level and has proven to be problematic. In one instance it led to an environmental disaster in 2016. The objective of the present paper is to explore the factors resulting in ineffective decentralization of FDI management in Viet Nam focusing on the challenges that the local government has been dealing with under the decentralization set-up in particular with respect to environmental protection. Drawing on the case study of the Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel project in Ha Tinh province it is argued that Viet Nam continues to lack the essential prerequisites for effective decentralization. It is the time for Viet Nam to reconsider the policy of decentralization in the area of FDI management. Bearing in mind that economic development is vital it should go hand in hand with environment protection in order to ensure the country’s sustainable development.
Women’s empowerment among married women aged 15 to 49 in Myanmar
The present study entails an investigation of the empowerment of married women aged 15 to 49 in Myanmar from socioeconomic and demographic perspectives based on data from the Myanmar Demographic and Health Survey 2015-16. The dimensions of women’s empowerment are categorized into two parts: women’s control over their earnings and women’s participation in household decision-making (decisions on major household purchases visits to family or relatives their health care; and the well-being of their children). These two dimensions are combined to create an index of women’s empowerment. A binary logistic regression is used by means of odds ratios to assess the relationship between women’s level of empowerment and their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Overall the findings of the study show that a higher empowerment level is associated with women’s employment increased age urban residence a higher educational attainment a higher wealth quintile and a lower level of husband’s education. In addition women that have one child or up to four children are more likely to have a higher level of empowerment than women with no children. About three fourths of the women in the sample live in rural areas. Among those women the ones with a higher level of empowerment are more educated employed and have higher household income. Generating employment opportunities for women and educating women are important factors that can lead to an increase in women’s income and accordingly help raise the levels of women’s empowerment.
Contributory factors towards sustainability of bank-linked self-help groups in India
The present study focuses on the Indian flagship financial inclusion scheme – the Self Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme which successfully leverages the social collateral concept and the vast network of bank branches in India to deliver financial services to small cohesive and participatory women’s self-help groups. To develop a deeper understanding of the topic of sustainability of self-help groups we propose a framework that conceptualizes sustainability by integrating the financial and organizational aspects of functioning of self-help groups. Sustainability is assessed in the light of the group’s performance (on set of indicators) with respect to the primary objective of the Self Help Group-Bank Linkage Programme which is financial intermediation. Subsequently we ascertain the effect of plausible contributory factors related to group management practices on the sustainability of self-help groups. The results of regression analysis on primary data captured from a survey of 170 self-help groups show that such factors as equitable access to credit group savings growth in savings loan utilization in income generation activities members depositing a savings contribution or loan installment on each other’s behalf and distance from bank contribute significantly to group sustainability. Accordingly designing suitable measures to monitor and improve group governance and management practices would be a critical policy intervention.
Deaths at sea in the Pacific Islands: Challenges and opportunities for civil registration and vital statistics systems
Accurate and reliable death statistics produced by civil registration and vital statistics systems are essential for health planning and programme evaluation. The quality of death registration data in Pacific island countries and territories remains suboptimal. Data on deaths occurring at sea are especially limited. While coastal and oceanic activities are the norm and essential to the livelihoods of Pacific island populations such activities pose risks for accidents at sea especially those involving small-scale vessels. In this paper the scale of deaths at sea associated with small vessels in three Pacific island countries or territories over the period 2008-2017 is investigated using data from the health civil registry and police and fisheries departments and reports produced by national statistics offices ministries of health the Pacific Community the World Health Organization and media sources. Data on deaths at sea were found to be fragmented among multiple sources and missing key information on age sex and cause. Standardized procedures for reporting deaths and accidents at sea and harmonized data sharing between local communities and government agencies are urgently needed to improve civil registration and vital statistics systems and sea safety in the Pacific island subregion.
Cheating the government: Does taxpayer perception matter?
Do people cheat because they can get away with it or because they feel that the rules are unfair? This paper addresses this question in the context of tax evasion. Specifically taxpayer perception is incorporated into a widely used consumption-based method for estimating income tax evasion. Compared to the standard method which distinguishes taxpayers only by their occupational or income type as a way of measuring their “ability” to misreport income the refined method introduces taxpayers who may be “able but unwilling” to cheat because they feel fairly treated with respect to public services and as compared to other taxpayers. Applied to a longitudinal data for the Republic of Korea (2007–2015) the standard method yields a uniform tax evasion rate of 13 per cent but the refined method provides a range of 7 to 25 per cent based on taxpayer perception. This implies that strategies for improving tax compliance must be tailored to different motivations for tax evasion.