The Political Economy of the World Trading System

The Political Economy of the World Trading System

Author: Bernard M. Hoekman

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2009-10-29

Total Pages: 765

ISBN-13: 0191564842

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The Political Economy of the World Trading System is a comprehensive textbook account of the economics, institutional mechanics and politics of the world trading system. This third edition has been expanded and updated to cover developments in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since its formation, including the Doha Round, presenting the essentials of trade negotiations and the WTO's rules and disciplines. The authors focus in particular on the WTO's role as the primary organisation through which trading nations manage their commercial interactions and the focal point for cooperation on policy responses to the rapidly changing global trading environment. It is the forum in which many features of the globalisation process are considered, and it currently faces an unprecedented set of challenges. The increasing importance of countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa in international trade relations, the revealed preference towards regionalism, intensification of trade conflicts, the role of business groups and NGOs in trade policy formation and negotiations, and pressures for more leadership in an institution threatened by paralysis are examples of issues that are discussed in some detail; all are critical for the operation of the system and for international business in the coming decade. This edition also includes numerous real-world examples to illustrate how the WTO impinges on business, workers and households, written from the perspective of managers and business associations. An insider's view of the institutional history of the WTO allows the authors to use a variety of conceptual tools to analyse the working of the WTO in a non-technical manner. Suggestions for Further Reading at the end of each chapter and an extensive bibliography make the volume suitable both for introductory and postgraduate courses on international economics and business, international relations, and international economic law.


African Perspectives on Trade and the WTO

African Perspectives on Trade and the WTO

Author: Patrick Low

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016-09-29

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781316626528

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Twenty-first century Africa is in a process of economic transformation, but challenges remain in areas such as structural reform, governance, commodity pricing and geopolitics. This book looks into key questions facing the continent, such as how Africa can achieve deeper integration into the rules-based multilateral trading system and the global economy. It provides a range of perspectives on the future of the multilateral trading system and Africa's participation in global trade and underlines the supportive roles that can be played by multilateral and regional institutions during such a rapid and uncertain transition. This volume is based on contributions to the Fourth China Round Table on WTO Accessions and the Multilateral Trading System, which took place just before the World Trade Organization's Tenth Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December 2015.


Emerging Powers and the World Trading System

Emerging Powers and the World Trading System

Author: Gregory Shaffer

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2021-07-22

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 1108495192

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This book explains the rise of China, India, and Brazil in the international trading system, and the implications for trade law.


Africa and the World Trading System

Africa and the World Trading System

Author: T. Ademola Oyejide

Publisher: Africa World Press

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 404

ISBN-13: 9781592211333

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This three-volume set presents the results of a research project initiated by the African Economic Research Consortium. The project intended to identify and examine the critical analytical and policy issues involved in Africa's economic links with the rest of the world, particularly in the context of the emerging global trading system. The project had two distinct but closely related component parts. The first was based on empirical, region-wide analysis and was designed to provide the framework for the menu of issues explored.


Termites in the Trading System

Termites in the Trading System

Author: Jagdish Bhagwati

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2008-07-14

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 0199715904

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Jagdish Bhagwati, the internationally renowned economist who uniquely combines a reputation as the leading scholar of international trade with a substantial presence in public policy on the important issues of the day, shines here a critical light on Preferential Trade Agreements, revealing how the rapid spread of PTAs endangers the world trading system. Numbering by now well over 300, and rapidly increasing, these preferential trade agreements, many taking the form of Free Trade Agreements, have re-created the unhappy situation of the 1930s, when world trade was undermined by discriminatory practices. Whereas this was the result of protectionism in those days, ironically it is a result of misdirected pursuit of free trade via PTAs today. The world trading system is at risk again, the author argues, and the danger is palpable. Writing with his customary wit, panache and elegance, Bhagwati documents the growth of these PTAs, the reasons for their proliferation, and their deplorable consequences which include the near-destruction of the non-discrimination which was at the heart of the postwar trade architecture and its replacement by what he has called the spaghetti bowl of a maze of preferences. Bhagwati also documents how PTAs have undermined the prospects for multilateral freeing of trade, serving as stumbling blocks, instead of building blocks, for the objective of reaching multilateral free trade. In short, Bhagwati cogently demonstrates why PTAs are Termites in the Trading System.


The Politics of Trade and Industrial Policy in Africa

The Politics of Trade and Industrial Policy in Africa

Author: Charles Chukwuma Soludo

Publisher: IDRC

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 1592211658

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This book maps the process and political economy of policy making in Africa. It's focus on trade and industrial policy makes it unique and it will appeal to students and academics in economics, political economy, political science and African studies. Detailed case studies help the reader to understand how the process and motivation behind policy decisions can vary from country to country depending on the form of government, ethnicity and nationality and other social factors.


Self-Enforcing Trade

Self-Enforcing Trade

Author: Chad P. Bown

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2010-02-01

Total Pages: 301

ISBN-13: 0815704186

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The World Trade Organization—backbone of today's international commercial relations—requires member countries to self-enforce exporters' access to foreign markets. Its dispute settlement system is the crown jewel of the international trading system, but its benefits still fall disproportionately to wealthy nations. Could the system be doing more on behalf of developing countries? In Self-Enforcing Trade, Chad P. Bown explains why the answer is an emphatic "yes." Bown argues that as poor countries look to the benefits promised by globalization as part of their overall development strategy, they increasingly require access to the WTO dispute settlement process to protect their trading interests. Unfortunately, the practical realities of WTO dispute settlement as it currently stands create a number of hurdles that prevent developing countries from enjoying the trading system's full benefits. This book confronts these challenges. Self-Enforcing Trade examines the WTO's "extended litigation process," highlighting the tangle of international economics, law, and politics that participants must master. He identifies the costs that prevent developing countries from disentangling the self-enforcement process and fully using the WTO system as part of their growth strategies. Bown assesses recent efforts to help developing countries overcome those costs, including the role of the Advisory Centre on WTO Law and development focused NGOs. Bown's proposed Institute for Assessing WTO Commitments tackles the largest remaining obstacle currently limiting developing country engagement in the WTO's selfenforcement process—a problematic lack of information, monitoring, and surveillance.


The History and Future of the World Trade Organization

The History and Future of the World Trade Organization

Author: Craig VanGrasstek

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 704

ISBN-13:

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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.


Special Economic Zones in Africa

Special Economic Zones in Africa

Author: Thomas Farole

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2011-01-01

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 0821386395

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"This book, designed for policymakers, academics and researchers, and SEZ program practitioners, provides the first systematic and comprehensive analysis of SEZ programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is the result of detailed surveys and case studies conducted during 2009 in ten developing countries, including six in Sub-Saharan Africa. The book provides quantitative evidence of the performance of SEZs, and of the factors which contribute to that performance, highlighting the critical importance not just of the SEZ itself but of the wider national investment climate in which it functions. It also provides a comprehensive guide to the key policy questions that confront governments establishing SEZ programs, including: if and when to launch an SEZ program, what form of SEZ is most appropriate, and how to go about implementing it. Among the most important findings from the study that is stressed in the book is the shift from traditional enclave models of zones to SEZs that are integrated ? with national trade and industrial strategies, with core trade and social infrastructure, with domestic suppliers, and with local labor markets.Although the book focuses primarily on the experience of Sub-Saharan Africa, its lessons will be applicable to developing countries around the world."