Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements

Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements PDF Author: Evgeny Postnikov
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351627368
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 146

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Book Description
This book examines the causes and consequences of social standards in US and EU preferential trade agreements (PTAs). PTAs are the new reality of the global trading system. Pursued by both developed and developing countries, they increasingly incorporate labor and environmental issues to prevent a race to the bottom in social regulation and counter-protectionism. Using principal-agent theory to explore why US PTAs have stricter social standards than those signed by the EU, Postnikov argues that the level of institutional insulation of trade policy executives from interest groups and legislators determines the design of social standards. In the EU, where institutional insulation is high, social standards mirror the normative preferences of the European Commission leading to a softer approach. In the US, where such insulation is low, social standards are driven by interest groups and legislators they control, resulting in a stricter approach. This book shows that both approaches can be effective but work through different causal mechanisms. To test his argument, Postnikov draws on original data collected in Brussels, Washington, Santiago, Bogota, and Seoul. This book will be of interest to all scholars and students working in the fields of international political economy and EU and US trade policy.

Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements

Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements PDF Author: Evgeny Postnikov
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351627368
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 146

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book examines the causes and consequences of social standards in US and EU preferential trade agreements (PTAs). PTAs are the new reality of the global trading system. Pursued by both developed and developing countries, they increasingly incorporate labor and environmental issues to prevent a race to the bottom in social regulation and counter-protectionism. Using principal-agent theory to explore why US PTAs have stricter social standards than those signed by the EU, Postnikov argues that the level of institutional insulation of trade policy executives from interest groups and legislators determines the design of social standards. In the EU, where institutional insulation is high, social standards mirror the normative preferences of the European Commission leading to a softer approach. In the US, where such insulation is low, social standards are driven by interest groups and legislators they control, resulting in a stricter approach. This book shows that both approaches can be effective but work through different causal mechanisms. To test his argument, Postnikov draws on original data collected in Brussels, Washington, Santiago, Bogota, and Seoul. This book will be of interest to all scholars and students working in the fields of international political economy and EU and US trade policy.

Fairness in Practice

Fairness in Practice PDF Author: Aaron James
Publisher: OUP USA
ISBN: 0199846154
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 381

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Book Description
In this book, the author argues that to achieve a fair global economy, there must be compensation of people harmed by their exposure to the global economy, but also equal division of the "gains of trade" across societies.

Trade, Employment and Labour Standards A Study of Core Workers' Rights and International Trade

Trade, Employment and Labour Standards A Study of Core Workers' Rights and International Trade PDF Author: OECD
Publisher: OECD Publishing
ISBN: 9264104887
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 254

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Book Description
Recent years have witnessed growing concern over the controversial issue of trade and labour standards. This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of these questions and reviews evidence for a large number of countries throughout the world.

International Trade and Labor Standards

International Trade and Labor Standards PDF Author: Christian Barry
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231512961
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 228

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Book Description
Progressive governments in poor countries fear that if they undertake measures to enhance real wages and working conditions, rising labor costs would cause wealthier countries to import from and invest elsewhere. Yet if the world trading system were designed to facilitate or even reward measures to promote labor standards, poor countries could undertake them without fear. In this book, Christian Barry and Sanjay G. Reddy propose ways in which the international trading system can support poor countries in promoting the well-being of their peoples. Reforms to the trading system can lessen the collective-action problem among poor countries, increasing their freedom to pursue policy that better serves the interests of their people. Incorporating the right kind of linkage between trading opportunities and the promotion of labor standards could empower countries, allowing them greater effective sovereignty and enabling them to improve the circumstances of the less advantaged. Barry and Reddy demonstrate how linkage can be made acceptable to all players, and they carefully defend these ideas against those who might initially disagree. Their volume is accessible to general readers but draws on sophisticated economic and philosophical arguments and includes responses from leading labor activists, economists, and philosophers, including Kyle Bagwell, Robert Goodin, Rohini Hensman, and Roberto Mangabeira Unger.

Quality Systems and Standards for a Competitive Edge

Quality Systems and Standards for a Competitive Edge PDF Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 0821368958
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description
This book responds to the challenge of providing a comprehensive account of quality systems for private sector development: what works and what doesnt on the ground, and why. This volume provides a thorough analysis of the diversity of institutions, linkages, and arrangements involved in quality systems, identifying success factors in countries quality strategies. It explains why quality and standards matter for export growth, for productivity, for industrial upgrading, and for diffusion of innovation, all central ingredients in improving economic growth and generating real gains in poverty reduction. It provides a detailed blue print for implementing effective National Quality Systems. Quality and Standards Matter is a valuable tool for policymakers confronted with the challenges of building trade competitiveness in the new global economy.

Hard Choices, Soft Law

Hard Choices, Soft Law PDF Author: John J. Kirton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351931636
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 414

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Book Description
An important read for academics and policy-makers alike, Hard Choices, Soft Law asserts that voluntary standards, or 'soft' law, are an important supplement to international law in a number of areas. This key work firstly outlines the approach taken to combining soft and hard law and trade, environment and labour values in the WTO and NAFTA, and in the prospective Millennium Round. Then, using the forestry sector - a realm where formal international law remains largely absent - the book provides a detailed examination of the role of soft law in action. It demonstrates how soft and hard law can be combined to promote trade, environmental and social cohesion, in ways that also permit sustainable development. The book presents a wealth of knowledge from a range of contributors familiar with the work of the G7/G8, the OECD, the Biodiversity Convention and the Codex Alimentarius.

Odd Couple

Odd Couple PDF Author: Michael Huberman
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300158769
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 253

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Book Description
It has become commonplace to think that globalization has produced a race to the bottom in terms of labor standards and quality of life: the cheaper the labor and the lower the benefits afforded workers, the more competitively a country can participate on the global stage. But in this book the distinguished economic historian Michael Huberman demonstrates that globalization has in fact been very good for workers’ quality of life, and that improved labor conditions have promoted globalization.

International Labor Standards and International Trade

International Labor Standards and International Trade PDF Author: Mr.Stephen S. Golub
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1451845537
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 38

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Book Description
This paper reviews controversies regarding linkage of international trade and labor standards. Pressures for international harmonization of labor standards arise in the context of increased trade between countries with large disparities in wages, and also reflect the history of labor standards. A critical distinction is made between standards related to fundamental human rights and those related to employment conditions. The main conclusion is that trade sanctions to enforce labor standards should not be an option, but that international agreements on core labor standards, with voluntary compliance, may, apart from being worthwhile on ethical grounds, defuse calls for protection.

International Trade, Investment, and the Sustainable Development Goals

International Trade, Investment, and the Sustainable Development Goals PDF Author: Cosimo Beverelli
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108840884
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
A multi-disciplinary investigation of how economic globalization can help achieve the UN's 2030 Agenda, exploring trade-offs among the Goals.

Dilemmas of a Trading Nation

Dilemmas of a Trading Nation PDF Author: Mireya Solis
Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
ISBN: 0815729200
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
The balancing of competing interests and goals will have momentous consequences for Japan—and the United States—in their quest for economic growth, social harmony, and international clout. Japan and the United States face difficult choices in charting their paths ahead as trading nations. Tokyo has long aimed for greater decisiveness, which would allow it to move away from a fragmented policymaking system favoring the status quo in order to enable meaningful internal reforms and acquire a larger voice in trade negotiations. And Washington confronts an uphill battle in rebuilding a fraying domestic consensus in favor of internationalism essential to sustain its leadership role as a champion of free trade. In Dilemmas of a Trading Nation, Mireya Solís describes how accomplishing these tasks will require the skillful navigation of vexing tradeoffs that emerge from pursuing desirable, but to some extent contradictory goals: economic competitiveness, social legitimacy, and political viability. Trade policy has catapulted front and center to the national conversations taking place in each country about their desired future direction—economic renewal, a relaunched social compact, and projected international influence. Dilemmas of a Trading Nation underscores the global consequences of these defining trade dilemmas for Japan and the United States: decisiveness, reform, internationalism. At stake is the ability of these leading economies to upgrade international economic rules and create incentives for emerging economies to converge toward these higher standards. At play is the reaffirmation of a rules-based international order that has been a source of postwar stability, the deepening of a bilateral alliance at the core of America's diplomacy in Asia, and the ability to reassure friends and rivals of the staying power of the United States. In the execution of trade policy today, we are witnessing an international leadership test dominated by domestic governance dilemmas.