Spatio-Temporal Dynamic of Land Use in the Dja-Odzala-MinkébéLandscape between Cameroon, Congo and Gabon: Influence on the Evolution of Forest Cover in a Context of Cross-Border Cooperation

This study is being carried out in the cross-border area of the tri-national Dja-Odzala-Minkébé (TRIDOM), subject of a cooperation agreement between Cameroon, Congo and Gabon in 2005. The purpose of this study is to analyze the dynamics of changes in land use in the context of cross-border cooperation. Geographic information systems and remote sensing were used to produce the various land use maps. For this purpose, the MERIS satellite images for the periods 1992, 2005 and 2018 were used. The exploration of the different images and the field visits made it possible to identify the following six land use classes: dense forests, degraded/deforested forests, savannas, swamp forests, buildings and bare soils, water surfaces. It emerges that the TRIDOM landscape is mainly occupied by dense forests which represent 97.02%, 96.72% and 96.52% respectively in 1992, 2005 and 2018. Then, degraded/deforested forests and savannas which would correspond to cultivation areas and fallow land only represent respectively 1.06% and 0.68% of the landscape in 1992. This proportion in 2005 is respectively 1.22% and 0.77%, whereas in 2018, it is respectively 1.36% and 0.81% of the massif. The landscape of TRIDOM has not experienced any significant land use change during the period after the signing of the cooperation agreement. Historical rates of deforestation are low during the period under study. They are estimated at 0.042% and 0.030% respectively for the period 1992-2005 and the period 2005-2018. These low rates of deforestation seem to be due to the measures taken to secure and sustainably manage the massif taken by the three countries, the low population density in this area and the still difficult level of accessibility of a large part of the massif.

Bilateral swap agreement and renminbi settlement in cross-border trade

This research empirically examines the impact of China’s renminbi(RMB)Bilateral Swap Agreements(BSAs)on the usage of the currency in cross-border trade transactions.By using a unique dataset from SWIFT including cross-border settlement messages of 91 countries/regions between October 2010 and November 2015,we confirm that the signing of an RMB BSA helps increase the number,value and proportion of the RMB settlement in cross-border trade.Our results are robust with respect to the choice of different models,including multi-level mixed model,two-stage regression model,and difference-in-difference model.In addition to justifying the effectiveness of China’s BSA-signing strategy to promote the RMB usage in trade settlement,our results clarify that the signing of those RMB BSAs is not purely for China’s political ends as some scholars claim.

Tax distortions in cross-border flows of intangible assets

The phenomenon of global fragmented production and associated trade in intermediate products,including intangible assets,has changed how economists study globalization and how new public policies are shaped.Understanding cross-border flows of disembodied knowledge,often associated with intellectual property(IP),is essential for analyzing how modern economies operate.Available data to document these international IP-related knowledge flowsdnamely cross-border payments for IPdare distorted by various factors.Tax planning by multinational enterprises has seriously distorted the measurement of cross-border IP flows,affecting national measurements of imports,exports,GDP,and productivity.The tax-induced mismeasurement could be more than 35% of global charges for use of intellectual property,and greater for individual countries,particularly high-taxrate countries.International initiatives to address the effects of tax base erosion,profit shifting,and other statistical initiatives on global value chains will improve future measurements of cross-border IP flows,improving the understanding of both the creation and uses of IP.

A decade of RMB internationalisation

This article recounts China’s renminbi(RMB)internationalisation experiences since the 2009 RMB cross-border trade settlement ini-tiative.In the first few years,the RMB made inroads into global financial markets and had a few remarkable accomplishments,including the Special Drawing Right currency status.Since the 2015 market turmoil,RMB internationalisation has levelled off–possibly due to changes in both domestic and geopolitical condi-tions.The RMB is currently under-represented in the global mar-ket.China’s deliberate and schematic policies will elevate the RMB’s global stature in a gradual manner but there will not be a leapfrogging in the near term.

Renminbi Going Global

The present paper evaluates the international status of the Chinese currency, the renminbi （RMB）, by examining its use in the global market. Specifically, the discussion focuses on the recent developments of RMB trading in the global foreign exchange market, cross-border trade settlement in RMB, the Hong Kong offshore market and China＇s policies relating to the RMB. The evidence suggests that the use of the RMB overseas, especially in trade financing and in the off-shore market, has increased rapidly in recent years. However, compared with the size of the Chinese economy, the current scale of the use of the RMB is quite small. Although the RMB has great potential to become an international currency, its acceptance in the global economy is affected by both economic andpolitical factors. Attaining a fully fledged international RMB is still a distant goal.