Assessing Competitiveness After Conflict: The Case of the Central African Republic

Author/Editor:

Mark W Lewis ; Jean-Claude Nachega ; Said A Bakhache ; Kadima D. Kalonji

Publication Date:

December 1, 2006

Electronic Access:

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Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary:

This paper assesses competitiveness in the case of the Central African Republic, a postconflict country. The paper presents several conventional techniques for assessing competitiveness, namely the real exchange rate and recent trade performance. Several other measures are considered, in particular transport costs and governance measures, which may be more effective in capturing the obstacles to competitiveness posed by the poor security environment and weak institutions common to many post-conflict situations. The real exchange measure and trade measures suggest some mild erosion of competitiveness in recent years, while the other measures indicate that the competitiveness challenges faced by the Central African Republic are much deeper.

Series:

Working Paper No. 2006/303

Subject:

English

Publication Date:

December 1, 2006

ISBN/ISSN:

9781451865639/1018-5941

Stock No:

WPIEA2006303

Pages:

23

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