Publication: The Link Between International Trade and the Global Distribution of Invasive Alien Species
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Date
2008
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1387-3547
Published
2008
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Invasive alien species (IAS) exact large biodiversity and economic costs and are a significant component of human-induced, global environmental change. Previous studies looking at the variation in alien species across regions have been limited geographically or taxonomically or have not considered economics. We used a global invasive species database to regress IAS per-country on a suite of socioeconomic, ecological, and biogeographical variables. We varied the countries included in the regression tree analyses, in order to explore whether certain outliers were biasing the results, and in most of the cases, merchandise imports was the most important explanatory variable. The greater the degree of international trade, the higher the number of IAS. We also found a positive relationship between species richness and the number of invasives, in accord with other investigations at large spatial scales. Island status (overall), country area, latitude, continental position (New World versus Old World) or other measures of human disturbance (e.g., GDP per capita, population density) were not found to be important determinants of a country's degree of biological invasion, contrary to previous studies. Our findings also provide support to the idea that more resources for combating IAS should be directed at the introduction stage and that novel trade instruments need to be explored to account for this environmental externality.
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Publication The Aid Trade : International Assistance as Pathways for the Introduction of Invasive Alien Species(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-03)It is now recognized that invasive alien species (IAS) pose a major threat to agricultural and natural ecosystems, and to human health and livelihoods. These non-native species, which are accidentally or intentionally introduced into new areas, range from microbes to mammals. This report examines the precise origins of many existing IAS problems, particularly in the developing world, which remain poorly understood. This complicates assessments of the relative importance of different vectors and pathways for IAS introductions, and the prediction of future risks. International assistance programs can facilitate both deliberate, and unintentional IAS introductions. Such misjudgments and accidents are costly; indeed, their negative effects may be far greater, and more long-lasting than the positive impacts of the aid programs from which they arose. It is thus suggested that knowing how, and from where, IAS are being introduced are important first steps in the development of effective prevention and early detection schemes. An urgent, and fuller, assessment is needed on the nature and severity of IAS threats associated with international assistance programs. Particular attention needs to be paid to vectors and pathways of movement. Part of the focus should be on case studies, in order to elucidate more fully constraints in relation to existing prevention schemes. Nonetheless, some actions should be considered in advance, including awareness raising to aid agencies, and promoting the development of voluntary codes of conduct, and risk assessments.Publication The Global Invasive Species Program(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2009-09-03)The Global Invasive Species Program (GISP) is an independent, not-for-profit association whose mission is to conserve biodiversity and sustain human livelihoods by minimizing the spread and impact of invasive alien species (IAS) and which is presently located in the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) in Nairobi, Kenya. Its current membership is limited to the four founding members of GISP. GISP was supported for three years (FY04-FY06) by the World Bank through funds made available through the Development Grant Facility (DGF) and continues to receive Bank support through the Bank-Netherlands Partnership Program (BNPP). Although GISP is a relatively small program, the World Bank's DGF contribution of US$1.7 million accounted for 72 percent of the program's financing during this three-year period. GISP is governed by an Executive Board which at the time of the Global Program Review (GPR) was composed of seven persons, including in some cases the most senior ranked members of the represented member organizations.Publication National and Regional Legislation for Promotion and Support to the Prevention, Control, and Eradication of Invasive Species(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2006-02)One of the most difficult issues to be addressed in enabling, and conducting invasive control measures, is simply the need to apply practical legislative reasoning to the process. It is difficult because of the fact that introduction of new species cannot simply be prohibited; and, due to lack of current scientific ability to know in advance which species will become invasive. The report addresses these issues, and stipulates legislation of invasive species issues must always involve a balancing of interests-the interests mandating introduction, balanced against the interests involved in protecting natural, and agricultural ecosystems from destruction by such species. This paper is designed to consider questions of "motivation, capability, and reality," and to consider possible legislative approaches for developing countries. It comprises five parts as follows. Part I provides a conceptual and scientific summary and introduction, and Part II provides a very brief overview of some of the key global developments in the field, while Part III examines in greater detail the legislative tools available for use in the control of specie introduction, and invasive species. Part IV discusses some of the special concerns relating to the process of building one, or more legislative frameworks utilizing the legislative tools described in Part III, and, provides, in some cases, a brief identification of how the selection and use of those tools might differ within the developing country context from their use in other places.Publication Further Evidence on the Link between Finance and Growth : An International Analysis of Community Banking and Economic Performance(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-08)The authors contribute to both the finance-growth literature and the community banking literature by testing the effects of the relative health of community banks on economic growth, and investigating potential transmission mechanisms for these effects using data from 1993-2000 on 49 nations. Data from both industrial and developing nations suggest that greater market shares and efficiency ranks of small, private, domestically-owned banks are associated with better economic performance, and that the marginal benefits of higher shares are greater when the banks are more efficient. Only mixed support is found for hypothesized transmission mechanisms through improved financing for small and medium enterprises or greater overall bank credit flows. Data from developing nations are also consistent with favorable economic effects of foreign-owned banks, but unfavorable effects from state-owned banks.Publication Financial Development and International Trade : Is There a Link?(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2001-05)The author explores a possible link between financial development and trade in manufactures. His theoretical model focuses on the role of financial intermediaries in facilitating large-scale, high-return projects. Results show that economies with better developed financial sectors have a comparative advantage in manufacturing industries. He provides evidence for this hypothesis, first proposed by Kletzer and Bardhan (1987), using a 30-year panel of data for 65 countries. Controlling for country-specific effects and possible reverse causality, he shows that financial development exerts a large causal impact on the level of both exports and the trade balance of manufactured goods.
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