{
  "title": "Assessing Competitiveness After Conflict: The Case of the Central African Republic",
  "publication": "IMF Working Papers, December 1, 2006",
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  "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.",
  "sections": [
    {
      "heading": "Scope and Methods",
      "content": "- Assesses competitiveness in the Central African Republic, a postconflict country.\n- Presents several conventional techniques for assessing competitiveness:\n  - Real exchange rate analysis.\n  - Recent trade performance analysis.\n- Considers several other measures that may better capture post-conflict obstacles:\n  - Transport costs.\n  - Governance measures.\n- Emphasis on measures that reflect the effects of poor security environment and weak institutions common to many post-conflict situations."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Key Findings",
      "content": "- Real exchange rate measure and trade measures:\n  - Suggest some mild erosion of competitiveness in recent years.\n- Transport cost and governance measures:\n  - Indicate that the competitiveness challenges faced by the Central African Republic are much deeper than implied by conventional measures."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Thematic Implications",
      "content": "- Conventional indicators (real exchange rate; trade performance) may understate competitiveness problems in post-conflict settings.\n- High transport costs and weak governance are central barriers to restoring and improving competitiveness in the Central African Republic.\n- The interaction of poor security, weak institutions, transport infrastructure, and governance exacerbates competitiveness constraints beyond currency and trade metrics."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Policy-Relevant Conclusions",
      "content": "- Assessments of competitiveness in post-conflict countries should supplement conventional indicators with measures of transport costs and governance to capture deeper obstacles.\n- Policy responses aiming to restore competitiveness should address:\n  - Reductions in transport costs (infrastructure, logistics, connectivity).\n  - Improvements in governance and security to mitigate institutional barriers to trade and investment.\n\nSource: IMF Working Paper No. 2006/303 (2006) by Mark W Lewis, Jean-Claude Nachega, Said A Bakhache, Kadima D. Kalonji.\n\n---\n\n Content in this bundle\n\n- Wp06303\n  - Wp06303 (Markdown version){rel=\"alternate\" type=\"text/markdown\"}\n  - Wp06303 (PDF){rel=\"external\" type=\"application/pdf\"}\n\n---\n\nSource: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2016/12/31/assessing-competitiveness-after-conflict-the-case-of-the-central-african-republic-20117"
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    "Authors: Mark W Lewis, Jean-Claude Nachega, Said A Bakhache, Kadima D. Kalonji",
    "Published: December 1, 2006",
    "Series: IMF Working Papers",
    "DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451865639.001",
    "Assesses competitiveness in the Central African Republic, a postconflict country.",
    "Presents several conventional techniques for assessing competitiveness:",
    "Considers several other measures that may better capture post-conflict obstacles:",
    "Emphasis on measures that reflect the effects of poor security environment and weak institutions common to many post-conflict situations.",
    "Real exchange rate measure and trade measures:",
    "Transport cost and governance measures:",
    "Conventional indicators (real exchange rate; trade performance) may understate competitiveness problems in post-conflict settings.",
    "High transport costs and weak governance are central barriers to restoring and improving competitiveness in the Central African Republic.",
    "The interaction of poor security, weak institutions, transport infrastructure, and governance exacerbates competitiveness constraints beyond currency and trade metrics.",
    "Assessments of competitiveness in post-conflict countries should supplement conventional indicators with measures of transport costs and governance to capture deeper obstacles.",
    "Policy responses aiming to restore competitiveness should address:",
    "**Wp06303**"
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