Multilateralising Regionalism

Multilateralising Regionalism PDF Author: Richard E. Baldwin
Publisher: Centre for Economic Policy Research
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
"This book is based on a 10-13 September 2007 conference in Geneva that was jointly organized by the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, and the WTO Secretariat with the help of CEPR."--Acknowledgements.

Multilateralising Regionalism

Multilateralising Regionalism PDF Author: Richard E. Baldwin
Publisher: Centre for Economic Policy Research
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 88

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Book Description
"This book is based on a 10-13 September 2007 conference in Geneva that was jointly organized by the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, and the WTO Secretariat with the help of CEPR."--Acknowledgements.

Multilateralizing Regionalism

Multilateralizing Regionalism PDF Author: Richard Baldwin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139475398
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 743

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Book Description
Regional trade agreements (RTAs) have proliferated around the world in the past two decades, and now nearly all members of the WTO are party to at least one. Besides tariffs and rules of origin regulating trade in goods, many RTAs now include provisions on services, investments, technical barriers to trade and competition rules, as well as a host of issues not directly related to trade. The geographic reach of RTAs is expanding, with transcontinental agreements spreading forcefully alongside intra-regional agreements. 'Multilateralizing Regionalism' was the title of a major conference held from 10–12 September 2007 at the WTO in Geneva. Brought together in this publication, the conference papers achieve two things. First, they marshall detailed, new empirical work on the nature of the 'Spaghetti Bowl' and the problems it poses for the multilateral trade system. Second, they contribute fresh and creative thinking on how to 'tame the tangle' of regional trade agreements.

Multilateralizing Regionalism

Multilateralizing Regionalism PDF Author: Richard Baldwin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789287046666
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 742

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Book Description
Regional trade agreements (RTAs) have proliferated around the world in the past two decades, and now nearly all members of the WTO are party to at least one. Besides tariffs and rules of origin regulating trade in goods, many RTAs now include provisions on services, investments, technical barriers to trade and competition rules, as well as a host of issues not directly related to trade. The geographic reach of RTAs is expanding, with transcontinental agreements spreading forcefully alongside intra-regional agreements. 'Multilateralizing Regionalism' was the title of a major conference held from 10-12 September 2007 at the WTO in Geneva. Brought together in this publication, the conference papers achieve two things. First, they marshall detailed, new empirical work on the nature of the 'Spaghetti Bowl' and the problems it poses for the multilateral trade system. Second, they contribute fresh and creative thinking on how to 'tame the tangle' of regional trade agreements.

Regionalism versus Multilateralism

Regionalism versus Multilateralism PDF Author: L. Alan Winters
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9703111149
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 76

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Book Description
November 1996 Do the forces that regional integration arrangements set up encourage or discourage a trend toward globally freer trade? We don't know yet. The literature on regionalism versus multilateralism is growing as economists and political scientists grapple with the question of whether regional integration arrangements are good or bad for the multilateral system. Are regional integration arrangements building blocks or stumbling blocks, in Jagdish Bhagwati's phrase, or stepping stones toward multilateralism? As economists worry about the ability of the World Trade Organization to maintain the GATT's unsteady yet distinct momentum toward liberalism, and as they contemplate the emergence of world-scale regional integration arrangements (the EU, NAFTA, FTAA, APEC, and, possibly, TAFTA), the question has never been more pressing. Winters switches the focus from the immediate consequences of regionalism for the economic welfare of the integrating partners to the question of whether it sets up forces that encourage or discourage evolution toward globally freer trade. The answer is, We don't know yet. One can build models that suggest either conclusion, but these models are still so abstract that they should be viewed as parables rather than sources of testable predictions. Winters offers conclusions about research strategy as well as about the world we live in. Among the conclusions he reaches: * Since we value multilateralism, we had better work out what it means and, if it means different things to different people, make sure to identify the sense in which we are using the term. * Sector-specific lobbies are a danger if regionalism is permitted because they tend to stop blocs from moving all the way to global free trade. In the presence of lobbies, trade diversion is good politics even if it is bad economics. * Regionalism's direct effect on multilateralism is important, but possibly more so is the indirect effect it has by changing the ways in which groups of countries interact and respond to shocks in the world economy. * Regionalism, by allowing stronger internalization of the gains from trade liberalization, seems likely to facilitate freer trade when it is initially highly restricted. * The possibility of regionalism probably increases the risks of catastrophe in the trading system. The insurance incentives for joining regional arrangements and the existence of shiftable externalities both lead to such a conclusion. So too does the view that regionalism is a means to bring trade partners to the multilateral negotiating table because it is essentially coercive. Using regionalism for this purpose may have been an effective strategy, but it is also risky. This paper - a product of the International Trade Division, International Economics Department - was prepared for a conference on regional integration sponsored by the Centre for Economic Policy Research, La Coru-a, Spain, April 26-27, 1996, and will appear in the conference proceedings.

Multilateralising Regionalism: Disciplines on Export Restrictions in Regional Trade Agreements

Multilateralising Regionalism: Disciplines on Export Restrictions in Regional Trade Agreements PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Multilateralising Regionalism

Multilateralising Regionalism PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


Multilateralising Regionalism

Multilateralising Regionalism PDF Author: Richard E. Baldwin
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Commercial treaties
Languages : en
Pages : 64

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Book Description
This paper addresses the final steps to global free trade -- the political economy forces that might drive them, and the role the WTO might play in guiding them. Two facts form the departure point: 1) Regionalism is here to stay; 2) the motley assortment of regional trade agreements is not the best way to organise world trade. Moving to global duty-free trade will require a multilateralisation of regionalism. The paper presents the political economy logic of trade liberalisation and uses it to structure a narrative of world trade liberalisation since 1947. The logic is then used to project the world tariff map in 2010, arguing that the pattern will be marked by fractals - fuzzy, leaky trade blocs made up of fuzzy, leaky sub-blocs (fuzzy since the proliferation of FTAs makes it impossible to draw sharp lines around the 3 big blocs, and leaky since some FTAs create free trade 'canals' linking the blocs). The paper then presents a novel political economy mechanism - spaghetti bowls as building blocs - whereby offshoring creates a force that encourages the multilateralisation of regionalism. Finally, the paper suggests three things the WTO could do to help multilateralise regionalism.

Multilateralism and Regionalism after the Uruguay Round

Multilateralism and Regionalism after the Uruguay Round PDF Author: Riccardo Faini
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349255025
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 259

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Book Description
The book deals with both the short and the long-run effects of the Uruguay Round: the reduction in the obstacles to trade, the enlargement of the multilateral system, the new institutional framework and the balance between regionalism and multilateralism in world trade relations. Its conclusions are based on theory, political economy and empirical analysis.

Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Deeper Integration

Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Deeper Integration PDF Author: Robert Z. Lawrence
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 9780815722991
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
Over the past decade, international economic liberalization has been pursued through both multilateral and regional arrangements. In the Uruguay Round, more than one hundred governments pledged their commitment to greater open trade in goods and services, and established new rules under the enforcement of the World Trade Organization. At the same time, however, many regional arrangements have been negotiated--including the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement. Nonetheless, controversy still rages about these arrangements. Are regional arrangements stumbling blocks or, in fact building blocks for a more integrated and successful international economy? In this book, Robert A. Lawrence addresses this question and explains both sides of the debate. A volume of Brookings' Integrating National Economies Series

Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Economic Integration

Regionalism, Multilateralism, and Economic Integration PDF Author: Gary P. Sampson
Publisher: UNU
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
This publication considers whether regional trade agreements have led to a new form of economic co-operation, by promoting deeper integration in the regulatory structures of participating countries. An examination of recent experiences are found to show that, although there is no single model for deeper integration, regional trade agreements have generally more effective than more remote WTO procedures in facilitating trade and improving transparency. Regional processes and rules are found to have been consistent with the multilateral obligations of each party, with additional commitments in the regional agreements complementing WTO rules.