http://repub.eur.nl/res/aut/1124/ List of Publications en http://repub.eur.nl/static-eur/img/logo.png http://repub.eur.nl http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/24539/ 2009-08-01T00:00:00Z Background: Phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas are neuro-endocrine tumours that occur sporadically and in several hereditary tumour syndromes, including the phaeochromocytoma-paraganglioma syndrome. This syndrome is caused by germline mutations in succinate dehydrogenase B (SDHB), C (SDHC), or D (SDHD) genes. Clinically, the phaeochromocytoma-paraganglioma syndrome is often unrecognised, although 10-30% of apparently sporadic phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas harbour germline SDH-gene mutations. Despite these figures, the screening of phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas for mutations in the SDH genes to detect phaeochromocytoma-paraganglioma syndrome is rarely done because of time and financial constraints. We investigated whether SDHB immunohistochemistry could effectively discriminate between SDH-related and non-SDH-related phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas in large retrospective and prospective tumour series. Methods: Immunohistochemistry for SDHB was done on 220 tumours. Two retrospective series of 175 phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas with known germline mutation status for phaeochromocytoma-susceptibility or paraganglioma-susceptibility genes were investigated. Additionally, a prospective series of 45 phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas was investigated for SDHB immunostaining followed by SDHB, SDHC, and SDHD mutation testing. Findings: SDHB protein expression was absent in all 102 phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas with an SDHB, SDHC, or SDHD mutation, but was present in all 65 paraganglionic tumours related to multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2, von Hippel-Lindau disease, and neurofibromatosis type 1. 47 (89%) of the 53 phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas with no syndromic germline mutation showed SDHB expression. The sensitivity and specificity of the SDHB immunohistochemistry to detect the presence of an SDH mutation in the prospective series were 100% (95% CI 87-100) and 84% (60-97), respectively. Interpretation: Phaeochromocytoma-paraganglioma syndrome can be diagnosed reliably by an immunohistochemical procedure. SDHB, SDHC, and SDHD germline mutation testing is indicated only in patients with SDHB-negative tumours. SDHB immunohistochemistry on phaeochromocytomas and paragangliomas could improve the diagnosis of phaeochromocytoma-paraganglioma syndrome. Funding: The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, Dutch Cancer Society, Vanderes Foundation, Association pour la Recherche contre le Cancer, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, and a PHRC grant COMETE 3 for the COMETE network. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/10425/ 2007-06-11T00:00:00Z Working with a mix of panel data on goods and services trade for the OECD for 1994-2004, combined with social accounts data (i.e. data on intermediate linkages) for 78 countries benchmarked to the panel midpoint, we examine the role of services as inputs in manufacturing, with a particular focus on indirect exports of services through merchandise exports, and also on the related interaction between service sector openness and the overall pattern of manufacturing exports. From the cross-section, we also develop a set of stylized facts linking services to level of development and the density of intermediate linkages. We find significant and strong positive effects from increased business service openness (i.e. greater levels of imports) on industries like machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals and electric equipment, supporting the notion that off-shoring of business services may promote the competitiveness of the most skill and technology intensive industries in the OECD. Conversely, we find evidence of negative general equilibrium effects for sectors that are less service intensive. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7421/ 2006-01-06T00:00:00Z We develop a mixed complementarity programming (MCP) based estimating framework for non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to examine the evolution of market access conditions in the textile and clothing sectors, working with a panel of bilateral trade data on textile and clothing trade, underlying bilateral tariffs, and the country-pair coverage of quotas under the WTO's Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). Our estimating framework takes advantage of the panel nature of trade data when calculating export tax equivalents while allowing for inequality constraints on the quota premium estimates. We also introduce Gaussian quadrature for estimating goodness of fit for regression-based NTB measures based on residual fitting. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7422/ 2006-01-06T00:00:00Z We examine antitrust rules in a two county general equilibrium trade model, contrasting national and multilateral (cooperative) determination of competition policy, exploring the properties of the policy equilibrium. It is not imperfect competition, but variation in competitive stance between sectors that matters for trading partners. Beggar-thy-neighbor competition policies relate to countries' comparative advantages, and hurt the factor intensively used, or specific to, the imperfectly competitive sector. They also create a competitive advantage for export firms. FDI can be pro-competitive in this context, reducing the scope for beggar-thy-neighbor policies and reducing the gains from a multilateral competition agreement. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6856/ 2005-08-01T00:00:00Z The inequality dataset compiled in the 1990s by the World Bank and extended by the UN has been both widely used and strongly criticized. The criticisms raise questions about conclusions drawn from secondary inequality datasets in general. We develop techniques to deal with national and international comparability problems intrinsic to such datasets. The result is a new dataset of consistent inequality series, allowing us to explore problems of measurement error. In addition, the new data allow us to perform parametric non-1inear estimation of Lorenz curves from grouped data. This in turn al1ows us to estimate the entire income distribution; computing alternative inequality indexes and poverty estimates. Finally, we have used our broad1y comparable dataset to examine international patterns of inequality and poverty. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6780/ 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z Because of concern that OECD tariff reductions will translate into worsening export performance for the least developed countries, trade preferences have proven a stumbling block to developing country support for multilateral liberalization. We examine the actual scope for preference erosion, including an econometric assessment of the actual utilization, and also the scope for erosion estimated by modeling full elimination of OECD tariffs and hence full MFN liberalization-based preference erosion. Preferences are underutilized due to administrative burden -estimated to be at least 4 percent on average- reducing the magnitude of erosion costs significantly. For those products where preferences are used (are of value), the primary negative impact follows from erosion of EU preferences. This suggests the erosion problem is primarily bilateral rather than a WTO-based concern. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6781/ 2005-07-01T00:00:00Z This paper is concerned with rules of origin when intermediate goods are differentiated. An analytical model emphasizes trade patterns and the relative importance of trade in intermediates given trade preferences. Econometric evidence based on intra-OECD trade in motor vehicles and motor vehicle parts points to a systematic impact of trade costs and FTA membership, following from rules of origin and reduction in border measures, on the role of intermediates and their relative importance in production and trade. These results are consistent with a conceptual framework involving rules-base trade costs and two-way trade in differentiated intermediate goods and final goods. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6617/ 2004-08-01T00:00:00Z We examine linkages between aggregate household income, distribution of that income, and aggregate cross-country expenditure patterns. We are able to decompose income effects into international income dispersion effects (from variations in average income) and national income dispersion (income distribution) effects. This yields insights for relevant aggregate household specifications in computational policy models emphasizing household distribution of income. This also yields a consumption-pattern based inequality index that summarizes the projection of inequality through expenditure patterns. Estimation of flexible demand systems with representative expenditures (which reflects income distribution within countries) yields a significant relationship between representative consumption and cross-country demand patterns. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6620/ 2004-08-01T00:00:00Z We analyze general equilibrium relationships between trade policy and the household distribution of income, decomposing social welfare into real income level and variance components through Gini and Atkinson indexes. We embed these inequality-adjusted social welfare functions in a general equilibrium structure mapping from tariff protection to household inequality. This yields predictions regarding the linkages between trade protection, country characteristics and inequality in Heckscher-Ohlin and Ricardo-Viner frameworks. In addition, we can separate the efficiency and equity effects of tariffs on welfare. We then examine endogenous tariff formation when policy makers care about both equity and special interests. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6646/ 2004-06-01T00:00:00Z We explore the relationship between import protection and the household distribution of income. We first develop a general-equilibrium mapping from tariffs to household inequality measures. This also yields predictions for linkages between tariffs, development level, and observed household inequality. Working with a new dataset, we then examine crosscountry variation in inequality with respect to import protection. Results are consistent with predictions of the factor-intensity model of trade. Regression results suggest that import protection makes income distribution worse for countries in labor-intensive diversification cones. This relationship shifts to one of falling inequality as incomes rise and we move to capital-intensive diversification cones. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6647/ 2004-05-04T00:00:00Z We examine interaction between trade in goods and market power in domestic trade and distribution, developing a model that highlights this interaction. Theory points to an expected linkage between service sector competition and goods trade, one supported by econometrics involving import patterns of 21 OECD countries vis-à-vis 86 trading partners. This points to significant linkages between effective market access conditions for goods and the structure of the service sector. Because of the implied interaction, ignoring the structure of the domestic service sector may lead to a substantial underestimation of the direct impact of tariffs on trade flows. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6648/ 2004-05-04T00:00:00Z This paper is concerned with the interaction of regulated efficiency and World Trade Organization (WTO) accession and its impact on China’s motor vehicle sector. The analysis is conducted using a 23 sector–25 region computable general equilibrium model. Regulatory reform and internal restructuring are found to be critical. Restructuring is represented by a cost reduction following from consolidation and rationalization that moves costs toward global norms. Without restructuring, WTO accession means a surge of final imports, though imports of parts could well fall as production moves offshore. However, with restructuring, the final assembly industry can be made competitive by world standards, with a strengthened position for the industry. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6644/ 2004-05-01T00:00:00Z This paper discusses the measurement of production and employment effects of trade policy, and more broadly the effects of economic integration and globalization. First, it provides a broad-brush overview of the ex-post literature linking trade to performance, such as measures of worker displacement, adjustment costs, and econometric evidence on trade and wages. It then defines structural impact indexes, illustrating their use with a stylized CGE model-based assessment of the impact of EU enlargement on the transition economies. Finally, the last section discusses the gap between our ex-post experience with adjustment costs, and what ex-ante methods actually tell us. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6661/ 2004-02-23T00:00:00Z We depart from the trade and wages literature and its emphasis on North-South trade, examining North-North by developing the basic linkages between trade-based integration and relative wages in an Ethier-type division of labor model. Using this model we identify a formal relationship between international trade, productivity, and wages. We then examine the trivariate relationship between trade, growth in total factor productivity (TFP), and the skill premium in a vector autoregression framework. We find evidence of a long-run relationship between growth in intermediate goods and changes in TFP. Controlling for this relationship we also find a positive relationship between trade and the skill-premium. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6694/ 2004-01-22T00:00:00Z We examine the role of political factors in Mexico’s antidumping regime, considering both the characteristics of target countries subject to antidumping duties and industry-specific factors for sectors receiving protection. Our results are broadly consistent with the recent theoretical literature on endogenous protection, in terms of both the political costs and the political benefits of providing protection. They are also in line with the existing empirical literature on antidumping, which is focused primarily on the experience of the U.S. and the EU. Our results also suggest that WTO Membership of trading partners increases the political costs of supplying administered protection. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6703/ 2003-08-30T00:00:00Z We explore the impact of multilateral liberalization, with emphasis on distributional effects across countries. We first develop a realistic "base1ine" that takes into account events such as the entry of China into the WTO and the enlargement of the EU, allowing us to focus on those effects that are specifically attributable to further trade liberalization in the Doha Round. We then employ a global applied general equilibrium model, featuring capital accumulation and imperfect competition. Our Doha scenarios include agriculture, manufactures, and services liberalization, and trade facilitation. With agglomeration, OECD agricultural liberalization is not uniform1y positive for developing countries. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6705/ 2003-06-18T00:00:00Z Antidumping actions in the United States and EU are known to be linked to macroeconomic conditions. In part, this is because positive injury findings may be easier to make in a downturn. We explore the evidence for Mexico, one of the main "new" antidumping using countries. Injury determination is also critica! in Mexico's antidumping policy, as a majority of unsuccessful complaints have been rejected because of negative injury findings rather than negative findings of dumping. Working with data from 1987 through 2000, we provide evidence for a relationship between macro-economic factors and antidumping complaints, including current account and exchange rate movements, and both local and global general macroeconomic conditions. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6790/ 2002-11-18T00:00:00Z Most of the large tariff reductions achieved in multilateral trade negotiations have involved tariff-cutting formulas such as the "Swiss" formula. However, wide variations in initial tariff rates between active participants call for new approaches under the Doha Development Agenda. This paper surveys a range of formula options and examines both targeted and flexible applications of the Swiss formula that target tariff escalation and peaks, and would allow policy makers to directly target how far they will move towards free trade, while providing some flexibility for trading off reductions in peak tariffs against reductions in lower-tariff sectors. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6796/ 2002-09-17T00:00:00Z We explore dynamic linkages between financial/banking sector openness, financial sector competition, and growth. We first develop an analytical model, highlighting links between long-run economic performance and services trade, through scale economies and market and cost structures in the financial services sector. This is folIowed by an econometric exercise based on data for 130 countries for the 1990s. Our resu1ts point to a strong positive relationship between financia1 sector competition/performance and financia1 sector openness (meaning foreign bank access to domestic markets), and between growth and financial sector competition/performance. They also point to the presence of sca1e economies in the sector. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6947/ 2000-07-31T00:00:00Z In this paper we demonstrate that intra-industry trade (or FDI) between identical countries could produce the observed deterioration in the relative wages of unskilled workers. This involves a model of North-North integration through either increased trade flows or increased MNE- based production. Our motivation in this regard is arguments to the effect that trade cannot be responsible for the observed labour market trends because trade with developing countries is quantitatively too small to have significant labour market effects. We also introduce a relatively unexploited class of model that possesses attractive properties with respect to the explicit incorporation of firm-theoretic considerations in trade models. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6949/ 2000-07-31T00:00:00Z We develop a Heckscher-Ohlin-Ramsey model, combining dual techniques with classic geometric techniques from trade theory. This framework is used to explore the long-run general equilibrium effects of regional integration (preferential trade agreements). Emphasis is placed on positive mechanics related to adjustment in the capital stock, long-run changes in the pattern in trade, and the implications for changes in long-run (steady-state) national income. The importance of relative country size and the dynamic implications for third countries are also addressed. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6950/ 2000-07-31T00:00:00Z In this paper we examine the interaction between the different modes of market access commitments in services (cross-border and establishment) market structure, and regulation. In this context, we focus on the impact of improved domestic market access for a foreign service provider on a domestic service market. We work with a model where the domestic industry is assumed to be imperfectly competitive and, as a result of domestic regulation, able to act as a cartel. We also examine the incentives for the domestic firms to accommodate the entry of the foreign firm by inviting it to join the cartel. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/6951/ 2000-07-31T00:00:00Z We are concerned with trade in transport services (not cabotage but rather international shipping, transport, and related logistical services) and the importance of competition and market structure in the sector. We examine implications of liberalization for profits, trade, and national gains from trade. Though past GATS maritime negotiations involved the maritime nations, we also flag interests of consuming nations (particularly poorer developing countries). We further illustrate issues raised in the analytical section through a computational example, to provide a rough sense of orders of magnitude and the importance of the issues raised for basic gains from improved market access. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7725/ 1999-04-14T00:00:00Z In this paper we explore linkages between financial services trade and growth. We offer a formalization of the argument that trade, through the fostering of financial market integration, may yield important long-run effects related to increased competition. The relationships formalized here link long-run economic performance to scale economies and cost structures in the financial services sector, and to market concentration in the sector. We first develop an analytical model. This motivates an econometric exercise. Cross- country growth regressions point to a strong positive relationship between financial sector competition and financial sector openness, and between growth and financial sector competition. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7747/ 1998-08-07T00:00:00Z We examine the setting of national competition policy in a two-country setting, emphasizing the relationship of trade to the goals of competition policy (such as the degree and nature of competition). The issues we address involve the general equilibrium distributional effects of competition policy, the relationship of national competition policy to terms-of-trade gains and losses, the implications of "distinct national markets" linked through trade (the starting point for all trade theorists) for the analysis of national competition policy, and the characteristics of the Nash equilibrium policy sets. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7752/ 1998-06-04T00:00:00Z Protection unconstrained by rules often varies substantially over time. Rules-based disciplines like OECD industrial tariff bindings negotiated under GATT since 1947 and new Uruguay Round bindings on agricultural and services trade and on developing country industrial tariffs, constrain this variability. We examine the theoretical effects of such constraints on the expected cost of protection and offer a formalization of the concept of "market access," emphasizing both the first and second moments of the distribution of protection. As an illustration, we provide a stylized examination of Uruguay Round agricultural bindings. http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7782/ 1998-01-16T00:00:00Z Division of labor models have become a standard analytical tool, along with competitive general equilibrium models (Ricardian, HOS, Ricardo-Viner), in public finance, trade, growth, development, and macroeconomics. Yet unlike the earlier models, specialization models lack a canonical representation. This is because they are both new and complex, characterized by multiple equilibria, instability, and emergent structural properties under parameter transformation. We develop a general framework for such models, illustrating results from current research on specialization models, and explaining why one sub-class of these models is particularly difficult to illustrate easily.