Author: Olga Memedovic
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461552257
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
The Post-Uruguay Round era has seen a proliferation of regional preferential trade agreements (PTAs) as well as progressive multilateral trade liberalization initiatives. This has stimulated theoretical discussion on whether the policy of pursuing PTAs will have a malign or a benign impact on multilateralism. In the former case, proliferation of PT As may increase protection in global trade due to trade diversion effects, thereby creating impediments to multilateral freeing of global trade. In the latter case, the expansion of PTA membership could ultimately lead to non-discriminatory global free trade. At the core of this discussion is the question of how to explain the preference for PTA membership. While some economists view the expansion of PTA membership as exogenously determined, participants of the Fourth Annual Workshop of the Network EU-LDC Trade and Capital Relations also considered endogenous factors explaining increased PTA membership. This book offers a closer look at the motives of policy makers in both developed and developing countries to still adhere to PTAs, notwithstanding the theoretical superiority of multilateralism, and addresses the question of how to bring order into the world trading system. These issues are dealt with in 9 chapters by scholars from both the EU and LDCs. Each paper is discussed in terms of its policy relevance by a policy maker as well as by an academic specialized in the field.
Multilateralism and Regionalism in the Post-Uruguay Round Era
Author: Olga Memedovic
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461552257
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
The Post-Uruguay Round era has seen a proliferation of regional preferential trade agreements (PTAs) as well as progressive multilateral trade liberalization initiatives. This has stimulated theoretical discussion on whether the policy of pursuing PTAs will have a malign or a benign impact on multilateralism. In the former case, proliferation of PT As may increase protection in global trade due to trade diversion effects, thereby creating impediments to multilateral freeing of global trade. In the latter case, the expansion of PTA membership could ultimately lead to non-discriminatory global free trade. At the core of this discussion is the question of how to explain the preference for PTA membership. While some economists view the expansion of PTA membership as exogenously determined, participants of the Fourth Annual Workshop of the Network EU-LDC Trade and Capital Relations also considered endogenous factors explaining increased PTA membership. This book offers a closer look at the motives of policy makers in both developed and developing countries to still adhere to PTAs, notwithstanding the theoretical superiority of multilateralism, and addresses the question of how to bring order into the world trading system. These issues are dealt with in 9 chapters by scholars from both the EU and LDCs. Each paper is discussed in terms of its policy relevance by a policy maker as well as by an academic specialized in the field.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461552257
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 329
Book Description
The Post-Uruguay Round era has seen a proliferation of regional preferential trade agreements (PTAs) as well as progressive multilateral trade liberalization initiatives. This has stimulated theoretical discussion on whether the policy of pursuing PTAs will have a malign or a benign impact on multilateralism. In the former case, proliferation of PT As may increase protection in global trade due to trade diversion effects, thereby creating impediments to multilateral freeing of global trade. In the latter case, the expansion of PTA membership could ultimately lead to non-discriminatory global free trade. At the core of this discussion is the question of how to explain the preference for PTA membership. While some economists view the expansion of PTA membership as exogenously determined, participants of the Fourth Annual Workshop of the Network EU-LDC Trade and Capital Relations also considered endogenous factors explaining increased PTA membership. This book offers a closer look at the motives of policy makers in both developed and developing countries to still adhere to PTAs, notwithstanding the theoretical superiority of multilateralism, and addresses the question of how to bring order into the world trading system. These issues are dealt with in 9 chapters by scholars from both the EU and LDCs. Each paper is discussed in terms of its policy relevance by a policy maker as well as by an academic specialized in the field.
Multilateralism, Regionalism and Bilateralism in Trade and Investment
Author: Philippe De Lombaerde
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402059515
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
In 2001, the United Nations University launched UNU-CRIS, a research and training programme on comparative regional integration to study the role of regional integration in global governance. This is a timely product of the research undertaken at UNU-CRIS. The report represents a unique collaboration between all regional UN Economic Commissions. It focuses on one of the central issues in the debate on global governance.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1402059515
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 279
Book Description
In 2001, the United Nations University launched UNU-CRIS, a research and training programme on comparative regional integration to study the role of regional integration in global governance. This is a timely product of the research undertaken at UNU-CRIS. The report represents a unique collaboration between all regional UN Economic Commissions. It focuses on one of the central issues in the debate on global governance.
Multilateralism Or Regionalism?
Author: Guido Glania
Publisher: CEPS
ISBN: 9290796030
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 121
Book Description
This new book highlights the multifaceted effects of regional trade agreements and outlines the strategic options for EU trade policy. It points out what is new about this most recent phase of regionalism and analyzes the effects on economic welfare and trade transaction costs. The authors draw upon elements of game theory to explore a self-reinforcing mechanism that is resulting in a potentially damaging race for markets. They focus in particular on the multiple impacts of regionalism on the WTO and the multilateral trading order. The book arrives at an opportune time, as the Doha Round is reaching a critical phase.
Publisher: CEPS
ISBN: 9290796030
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 121
Book Description
This new book highlights the multifaceted effects of regional trade agreements and outlines the strategic options for EU trade policy. It points out what is new about this most recent phase of regionalism and analyzes the effects on economic welfare and trade transaction costs. The authors draw upon elements of game theory to explore a self-reinforcing mechanism that is resulting in a potentially damaging race for markets. They focus in particular on the multiple impacts of regionalism on the WTO and the multilateral trading order. The book arrives at an opportune time, as the Doha Round is reaching a critical phase.
Regional Trade Agreements and the Multilateral Trading System
Author: Rohini Acharya
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107161649
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 753
Book Description
This volume contains a collection of studies examining trade-related issues negotiated in regional trade agreements (RTAs) and how RTAs are related to the WTO's rules. While previous work has focused on subsets of RTAs, these studies are based on what is probably the largest dataset used to date, and highlight key issues that have been negotiated in all RTAs notified to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). New rules within RTAs are compared to rules agreed upon by WTO members. The extent of their divergences and the potential implications for parties to RTAs, as well as for WTO members that are not parties to RTAs, are examined. This volume makes an important contribution to the current debate on the role of the WTO in regulating international trade and how WTO rules relate to new rules being developed by RTAs.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107161649
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 753
Book Description
This volume contains a collection of studies examining trade-related issues negotiated in regional trade agreements (RTAs) and how RTAs are related to the WTO's rules. While previous work has focused on subsets of RTAs, these studies are based on what is probably the largest dataset used to date, and highlight key issues that have been negotiated in all RTAs notified to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). New rules within RTAs are compared to rules agreed upon by WTO members. The extent of their divergences and the potential implications for parties to RTAs, as well as for WTO members that are not parties to RTAs, are examined. This volume makes an important contribution to the current debate on the role of the WTO in regulating international trade and how WTO rules relate to new rules being developed by RTAs.
Global Economic Prospects 2005
Author:
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821357477
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
This annual publication analyses the global and national dimensions of the investment climate for developing countries, in terms of the policy and institutional environment. This edition examines the growth of regional trade agreements, which have risen eight-fold in two decades with currently, as much as 40 percent of global trade taking place among countries that have some form of reciprocal regional trade agreement. Issues discussed include: regional trading trends; effects of regional agreements on trade creation, trade facilitation and services, investment, intellectual property rights, and labour mobility; whether the proliferation of agreements poses risks for multilateral trading system, and if so, options for managing them. The report finds that agreements leading to open regionalism (that is, deeper integration of trade as a result of low external tariffs, increased services competition, and efforts to reduce cross-border and customs delays costs) are effective as part of a larger trade strategy to promote growth. Although regional agreements can prove beneficial to member countries, they can have adverse effects on excluded countries, and the lowering of border barriers around the world is crucial to minimising these effects. The completion of the Doha Development Agenda by all WTO countries will reduce the risk of trade diversion associated with regional agreements and will decrease trade losses of countries excluded from agreements.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9780821357477
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 186
Book Description
This annual publication analyses the global and national dimensions of the investment climate for developing countries, in terms of the policy and institutional environment. This edition examines the growth of regional trade agreements, which have risen eight-fold in two decades with currently, as much as 40 percent of global trade taking place among countries that have some form of reciprocal regional trade agreement. Issues discussed include: regional trading trends; effects of regional agreements on trade creation, trade facilitation and services, investment, intellectual property rights, and labour mobility; whether the proliferation of agreements poses risks for multilateral trading system, and if so, options for managing them. The report finds that agreements leading to open regionalism (that is, deeper integration of trade as a result of low external tariffs, increased services competition, and efforts to reduce cross-border and customs delays costs) are effective as part of a larger trade strategy to promote growth. Although regional agreements can prove beneficial to member countries, they can have adverse effects on excluded countries, and the lowering of border barriers around the world is crucial to minimising these effects. The completion of the Doha Development Agenda by all WTO countries will reduce the risk of trade diversion associated with regional agreements and will decrease trade losses of countries excluded from agreements.
Multilateralism and Regionalism after the Uruguay Round
Author: Riccardo Faini
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349255025
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 259
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.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349255025
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 259
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.
The New Regionalism
Author: Björn Hettne
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Economic development
Languages : en
Pages : 116
Book Description
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Economic development
Languages : en
Pages : 116
Book Description
The History and Future of the World Trade Organization
Author: Craig VanGrasstek
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 704
Book Description
The History and Future of the World Trade Organization is a comprehensive account of the economic, political and legal issues surrounding the creation of the WTO and its evolution. Fully illustrated with colour and black-and-white photos dating back to the early days of trade negotiations, the publication reviews the WTO's achievements as well as the challenges faced by the organisation, and identifies the key questions that WTO members need to address in the future. The book describes the intellectual roots of the trading system, membership of the WTO and the growth of the Geneva trade community, trade negotiations and the development of coalitions among the membership, and the WTO's relations with other international organisations and civil society. Also covered are the organisation's robust dispute settlement rules, the launch and evolution of the Doha Round, the rise of regional trade agreements, and the leadership and management of the WTO.
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 704
Book Description
The History and Future of the World Trade Organization is a comprehensive account of the economic, political and legal issues surrounding the creation of the WTO and its evolution. Fully illustrated with colour and black-and-white photos dating back to the early days of trade negotiations, the publication reviews the WTO's achievements as well as the challenges faced by the organisation, and identifies the key questions that WTO members need to address in the future. The book describes the intellectual roots of the trading system, membership of the WTO and the growth of the Geneva trade community, trade negotiations and the development of coalitions among the membership, and the WTO's relations with other international organisations and civil society. Also covered are the organisation's robust dispute settlement rules, the launch and evolution of the Doha Round, the rise of regional trade agreements, and the leadership and management of the WTO.
Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Trade
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030905236X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 253
Book Description
Mandated standards used for vehicle airbags, International Organization for Standards (ISO) standards adopted for photographic film, de facto standards for computer softwareâ€"however they arise, standards play a fundamental role in the global marketplace. Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Trade provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the link between standards, product testing and certification, and U.S. economic performance. The book includes recommendations for streamlining standards development, increasing the efficiency of product testing and certification, and promoting the success of U.S. exports in world markets. The volume offers a critical examination of organizations involved in standards and identifies the urgent improvements needed in the U.S. system for conformity assessment, in which adherence to standards is assessed and certified. Among other key issues, the book explores the role of government regulation, laboratory accreditation, and the overlapping of multiple quality standards in product development and manufacturing. In one of the first treatments of this subject, Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Trade offers a unique and highly valuable analysis of the impact of standards and conformity assessment on global trade.
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 030905236X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 253
Book Description
Mandated standards used for vehicle airbags, International Organization for Standards (ISO) standards adopted for photographic film, de facto standards for computer softwareâ€"however they arise, standards play a fundamental role in the global marketplace. Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Trade provides a comprehensive, up-to-date analysis of the link between standards, product testing and certification, and U.S. economic performance. The book includes recommendations for streamlining standards development, increasing the efficiency of product testing and certification, and promoting the success of U.S. exports in world markets. The volume offers a critical examination of organizations involved in standards and identifies the urgent improvements needed in the U.S. system for conformity assessment, in which adherence to standards is assessed and certified. Among other key issues, the book explores the role of government regulation, laboratory accreditation, and the overlapping of multiple quality standards in product development and manufacturing. In one of the first treatments of this subject, Standards, Conformity Assessment, and Trade offers a unique and highly valuable analysis of the impact of standards and conformity assessment on global trade.
Regionalism versus Multilateralism
Author: L. Alan Winters
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9703111149
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 76
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.
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 9703111149
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 76
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.