The international garment trade was liberalized in 2005 following the termination of the Multifibre Arrangement (MFA) and ever since then, price competition has intensified. Employing a unique firm dataset collected by the authors, this paper examines the changes in the performance of Cambodian garment firms between 2002/03 and 2008/09. During the period concerned, frequent firm turnover led to a growth of the industry's productivity, and the study found that the average total-factor productivity (TFP) of new entrants was substantially higher than that of exiting firms. Furthermore, we observed that, thanks to productivity growth, an improvement in workers' welfare, including a rise in the relative wages of the low-skilled, was taking place. These industrial dynamics differ considerably from those indicated by the 'race to the bottom' argument as applied to labor-intensive industrialization in low-income countries.

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This paper assesses the profitability and productivity of the knitwear industry in Bangladesh taking into account the sector's role in poverty reduction. Using firmlevel data collected in 2001, rate of return and total factor productivity were used to gauge the extent and determinants of the profitability of the industry. In addition, stochastic frontier analysis was used to assess variability in productivity. The estimation results indicate high profitability of the knitwear firms on average. In Bangladesh, the dynamic development of the industry has entailed great diversity in efficiency in comparison with the garment industries of other developing countries. Although there is a significant scale effect in profitability and productivity, no supporting evidence was found for the positive impact on competitiveness of industrial upgrading in terms of usage of expensive machinery, vertical integration, and industrial agglomeration.d eve_089 340..366

This paper analyzes patent data of medicines and vaccines for diseases spreading in low-income countries. The data were retrieved from a database of the Japan Patent Office. Who invents medicines for the poor of the world? This is the main question that the paper addresses. Results indicate that not only public institutions but also private firms have played an important role in developing innovations for fighting both global diseases such as HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and so-called neglected diseases including malaria, which seem to spread almost exclusively in low-income countries. Moreover, the basic mechanism of innovation is similar between the development of medicines for HIV/AIDS and those for neglected diseases. Finally, among firms, infectious disease fighting innovations are quite diverse. R&D stock and economies of scope are used to explain frequent patent applications by a high-performing pharmaceutical firm.

The Development Cooperation Charter of Japan, which replaced the Official Development Assistance (ODA) Charter in February 2015, drives the country's cooperation towards non-poor countries and non-poverty issues. The Sustainable Development Goals put Japan forward in these directions. As a result, the country's focus on global poverty reduction is overshadowed by its national interests and sustainability under the concept of universality, which is a core principle of the Goals and differentiates them from the Millennium Development Goals.JEL classification: F35, F55, O20, O53.

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