Researcher
Arne Melchior
Contactinfo and files
Summary
Arne Melchior’s research areas include international trade and global development; trade policy and international economic institutions; international inequality; geographical economics and regional development; Asia, India and China. Ph.D. (Dr. Polit., 1997) in economics from the University of Oslo, on international economic integration.
He has been head of the international economics group at NUPI for extended periods, and Assistant Director (3 years). Before research career: Experience from international trade negotiations as government official; including multilateral trade negotiations, and bilateral negotiations with several Asian countries. Experience from managing a large number of research projects.
Expertise
Education
1997 Dr. polit., University of Oslo, Dept. of Economics. Dissertation: On the Economics of Market Access and International Economic Integration.
1990 Cand. polit, economics, University of Bergen, Norway, specialisation in economics, thesis: On the impact of quotas on low-cost imports of clothing
1981 Certificate of Advanced European Studies, Bruges, Belgium. Specialisation: International economics.
Work Experience
1989- Research Fellow/Senior Research Fellow/Head of Department/Assistant Director at NUPI
1981-1987 Senior Executive Officer/Head of Division, Ministry of Trade and Shipping, Norway
Aktivitet
Filter
Clear all filtersFood Price Differences Across Indian States. Patterns and Determinants.
The paper examines food price differences across Indian states during 2004-2014 using food consumer prices from household surveys and wholesale/retail prices for selected goods. At the individual product level there are large price differences across states, with prices doubling or trebling across India for a typical case, but with considerable variation across products. Price dispersion is much lower for food on average; measured at this level price dispersion between Indian states is considerably lower than between countries within the same income range, and Indian states are slightly more integrated than countries in Western Europe. At the product level, the most important determinants of price differences across states are limited access to supply from other states, and the extent of own production in the state. Richer states have higher consumer prices, but this income-price link is weaker for wholesale prices. Food price dispersion within India has decreased during the period studied. For policy, the results suggest that India should eliminate obstacles to inter-state trade in order to promote food security and the real income of its citizens. The magnitude and importance of price level differences also suggest that better price level data should be provided in the future, to facilitate further study of India’s regional development.
Russia in global trade and trade policy
The seminar presents output from the research project Trade Integration, Geopolitics and the Economy of Russia, coordinated by NUPI and funded by the Research Council of Norway during 2013-2016. Other project partners have been CEFIR (Center for Economic and Financial Research) and Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy in Moscow, and BOFIT (Bank of Finland Institute for Economics in Transition) in Helsinki. Other contributions from the project are presented at NUPIs Russia Conference on 10th November.
TTIP: Consequences and implications for Norway
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) is pleased to invite you to an open seminar where the results from the project "TTIP: Consequences and implications for Norway" will be presented.
Brexit – a Norwegian Rhapsody?
At the seminar, Dr. Campos will present the results from his report “Norwegian Rhapsody? The Political Economy Benefits of European Integration” and also provide wider perspectives on post-Brexit UK.
Trade barriers or trade facilitators? On the heterogeneous impact of food standards in international trade
Interessekonflikter i norsk handelspolitikk
(This book in Norwegian): I handelspolitikken er det ofte et dilemma mellom offensive næringer som ønsker frihandel og best mulig tilgang til eksportmarkedene, og defensive næringer som ønsker beskyttelser mot import. For eksempel ønsker fiskerinæringen i dag fri handel for å øke eksporten, mens Norge for landbruksnæringen har tollsatser som er blant de høyeste i verden. Tidligere hadde Norge omfattende importvern for tekstilvarer. Hvordan kan de offensive og defensive interessene ivaretas på samme tid i Norges handelsforhandlinger med andre land? Hva er kostnadene ved å stenge importen ute, og hva taper eksportnæringene på barrierer i andre land? Hvem bestemmer når næringen har ulike interesser? I denne nye boken blir dette analysert prinsipielt, økonomisk, institusjonelt og historisk, med bidrag fra åtte ulike forfattere fra NUPI og fire norske universiteter. Boken er et akademisk bidrag i en aktuell debatt, og et innspill til utformingen av Norges framtidige handelspolitikk, samtidig som den inneholder et omfattende materiale om Norges handelsforhandlinger fra 1800-tallet og fram til 2015.