The international trade regulatory system is a dynamic system that has been evolving throughout its history. Tension and conflict are part of the system. While calls for the abolition of the ...principal trade regulation authority, the WTO, have failed to understand this nature of the system, proponents for reforms have so far not paid sufficient attention to the evolving nature of tension and conflict. This book examines the evolving dynamics in international trade regulation from the conclusion of GATT in 1947 to the current crisis facing the WTO, from a perspective of emerging powers of developing countries with a focus of China as the latest force that demands reforms of the international trade regulatory regime. There is an extensive body of scholarship on ideological struggles, the rise of developing countries, geopolitical contest, the emerging powers (especially China), the use, misuse or abuse of trading rules and so on. There is, however, a lack of a single concise research book that synthesises these underlying causes and factors into a coherent and precise analytical theme. This book attempts to fill this research gap by building upon the existing scholarship and placing the various tensions and conflicts in a perspective that treats them as dynamic factors that have propelled a continuing process of evolution of the international trade regulation. The book will interest those researching on international trade regulation as well as development studies.
Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa Prepared by the Policy Wing of the IMF African Department, this first, annual issue of Regional Economic Outlook: Sub-Saharan Africa analyzes economic, ...trade, and institutional issues in 2004, and prospects in 2005, for the 42 countries covered by the Department (for data reasons, Eritrea and Liberia are excluded). Topics examined include responses to exogenous shocks, growth performance and growth-enhancing policies, and the effectiveness of regional trade arrangements. Detailed aggregate and country data (as of February 24, 2005) are provided in an appendix and a statistical appendix, and a list of relevant publications by the African Department is included.
The Genesis of the GATT Irwin, Douglas A.; Mavroidis, Petros C.; Sykes, Alan O.
06/2008
eBook
This book is part of a wider project on the economic logic behind the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). This volume asks: What does the historical record indicate about the aims and ...objectives of the framers of the GATT? Where did the provisions of the GATT come from and how did they evolve through various international meetings and drafts? To what extent does the historical record provide support for one or more of the economic rationales for the GATT? This book examines the motivations and contributions of the two main framers of the GATT, the United States and the United Kingdom, as well as the smaller role of other countries. The framers desired a commercial agreement on trade practices as well as negotiated reductions in trade barriers. Both were sought as a way to expand international trade to promote world prosperity, restrict the use of discriminatory policies to reduce conflict over trade, and thereby establish economic foundations for maintaining world peace.
The estimated coefficient of distance on the volume of trade is generally found to increase rather than decrease through time using the traditional gravity model of trade. This distance puzzle proved ...robust to several ad hoc versions of the model using data for 1962-96 for a large sample of 130 countries. The introduction of an "augmented" barrier to trade function removes the paradox, yielding a decline in the estimate of the elasticity of trade to distance of about 11 percent over the 35-year period for the whole sample. However, the "death of distance" is shown to be largely confined to bilateral trade between rich countries, with poor countries becoming marginalized.
The World Bank's 'World Trade Indicators' (WTI) database on the CD-ROM in this volume provides more than 300 performance indicators measuring at-the-border and behind-the-border country trade policy, ...institutions, and outcomes from 1995 to 2007. The database allows each country to be ranked by any policy or performance dimension relative to others. Trade-at-a-Glance tables for the 210 countries in the database facilitate comparisons among countries in key areas. Complementing the rich database are Trade Briefs for 142 developing countries summarizing insights from the data and the main findings of analytical work conducted by the Word Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization for individual countries.The companion volume to the 'World Trade Indicators 2008' highlights the main patterns in policy and performance revealed by the database grouping countries by region or income. The 20 best and 20 worst country rankings for a number of indicators are shown. For country policy makers, trade negotiators, and advisors, this volume provides the rich context within which to interpret a single country's standing on various dimensions. Business people will gain new insights about the countries in which they and their competitors operate. Trade researchers will find tantalizing country stories on trade policy and institutional dimensions and trade outcomes.Country performance is benchmarked in five key areas: ? Border protection, such as tariffs and nontariff barriers on imports of goods and services ? Market access barriers in the rest of the world to exports of goods ? Overall business and institutional environment ? Trade facilitation ? Trade outcomes, such as trade growth, integration, and diversification.
The World Bank's 'World Trade Indicators' (WTI) database on the CD-ROM in this volume provides more than 300 performance indicators measuring at-the-border and behind-the-border country trade policy, ...institutions, and outcomes from 1995 to 2007. The database allows each country to be ranked by any policy or performance dimension relative to others. Trade-at-a-Glance tables for the 210 countries in the database facilitate comparisons among countries in key areas. Complementing the rich database are Trade Briefs for 142 developing countries summarizing insights from the data and the main findings of analytical work conducted by the Word Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization for individual countries.The companion volume to the 'World Trade Indicators 2008' highlights the main patterns in policy and performance revealed by the database grouping countries by region or income. The 20 best and 20 worst country rankings for a number of indicators are shown. For country policy makers, trade negotiators, and advisors, this volume provides the rich context within which to interpret a single country's standing on various dimensions. Business people will gain new insights about the countries in which they and their competitors operate. Trade researchers will find tantalizing country stories on trade policy and institutional dimensions and trade outcomes.Country performance is benchmarked in five key areas: ? Border protection, such as tariffs and nontariff barriers on imports of goods and services ? Market access barriers in the rest of the world to exports of goods ? Overall business and institutional environment ? Trade facilitation ? Trade outcomes, such as trade growth, integration, and diversification.
The introduction of the euro generated substantial interest in measuring the impact of currency unions (CUs) on trade flows. Rose's (2000) initial estimates suggested a tripling of trade and created ...a literature in search of "more reasonable" CU effects. A recent meta-analysis of this literature shows that subsequent papers quantify CU trade impacts at 30-90 percent. However, most recent studies use shorter time series and fewer countries than Rose in his original work. We revisit Rose's original benchmark, extend the dataset, and address Baldwin's (2006) critiques regarding the proper specification of gravity models in large panels by simultaneously accounting for multilateral resistance and unobserved bilateral heterogeneity. This produces a robust average CU trade effect of 45 percent. Yet, the trade impacts of individual CUs vary substantially and are generally lower than those of preferential trade agreements (PTAs). Our revised benchmark can be used as a yardstick for future studies to delineate how estimates differ due to new data or differences in econometric specifications.
Preferential trading arrangements (PTAs) play an increasingly prominent role in the global political economy, two notable examples being the European Union and the North American Free Trade ...Agreement. These agreements foster economic integration among member states by enhancing their access to one another's markets. Yet despite the importance of PTAs to international trade and world politics, until now little attention has been focused on why governments choose to join them and how governments design them. This book offers valuable new insights into the political economy of PTA formation. Many economists have argued that the roots of these agreements lie in the promise they hold for improving the welfare of member states. Others have posited that trade agreements are a response to global political conditions. Edward Mansfield and Helen Milner argue that domestic politics provide a crucial impetus to the decision by governments to enter trade pacts. Drawing on this argument, they explain why democracies are more likely to enter PTAs than nondemocratic regimes, and why as the number of veto players--interest groups with the power to block policy change--increases in a prospective member state, the likelihood of the state entering a trade agreement is reduced. The book provides a novel view of the political foundations of trade agreements.
Services Trade and Policy Francois, Joseph; Hoekman, Bernard
Journal of economic literature,
09/2010, Letnik:
48, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
A substantial body of research has taken shape on trade in services since the mid-1980s. Much of this is inspired by the WTO and regional trade agreements. However, an increasing number of papers ...focus on the impacts of unilateral services sector liberalization. The literature touches on important linkages between trade and FDI in services and the general pattern of productivity growth and economic development. This paper surveys the literature on services trade, focusing on contributions that investigate the determinants of international trade and investment in services, the potential gains from greater trade, and efforts to cooperate to achieve such liberalization through trade agreements. There is increasing evidence that services liberalization is a major potential source of gains in economic performance, including productivity in manufacturing and the coordination of activities both between and within firms. The performance of service sectors, and thus services policies, may also be an important determinant of trade volumes, the distributional effects of trade, and overall patterns of economic growth and development. At the same time, services trade is also a source of increasing political unease about the impacts of globalization on labor markets, linked to worries about offshoring and the potential pressure this places on wages in high income countries.
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