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1
Melatos, Mark. "Modelling Regional Trade Agreements." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/486.
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In the last twenty years, regional trade agreements have proliferated. These have usually taken the form of customs unions (CUs) or free trade areas (FTAs). This thesis concentrates mostly on the formation and behaviour of CUs. Union members levy a common external tariff (CET) on non-members. Existing theoretical models, however, do not agree on how the CET rate is chosen. Every model imposes a different choice rule exogenously. In this thesis, for the first time, plausible choice rules, based on the CU's social welfare function, are derived endogenously. The strategic behaviour of members and non-members, reveals that responsibility for CET choice tends to be assumed by the member that can induce the rest of the world to levy those tariffs members prefer to face. Relatively few general results exist describing the relationship between country characteristics and trade bloc formation. Here, new light is shed on this issue, by systematically analysing bloc formation in an asymmetric world, and investigating the role of preferences in coalition formation. It is found that global free trade is most likely to arise when all countries are similar. Customs unions tend to form between relatively well-endowed countries or those with similar preferences. It is also demonstrated that CUs will usually Pareto dominate FTAs, except where preferences differ significantly. The role of transfers in CU formation has received relatively little attention in the regionalism literature. In this thesis, optimal intra-union transfers are introduced and their impact on CET choice is investigated. The impact of transfers on CU behaviour depends on the direction of the transfer. When the relatively inelastic member is the recipient, the CU responds less aggressively to non-member tariff choices than it does when transfers are not permitted. However, if the relatively elastic member is the transfer recipient, the union's aggression increases. Moreover, when one union member exercises a similar degree of control over both CET and transfer choice, then the equilibrium CET tends to be lower than in the corresponding no-transfers situation.
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Melatos, Mark. "Modelling Regional Trade Agreements." University of Sydney. Economics and Political Science, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/486.
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In the last twenty years, regional trade agreements have proliferated. These have usually taken the form of customs unions (CUs) or free trade areas (FTAs). This thesis concentrates mostly on the formation and behaviour of CUs. Union members levy a common external tariff (CET) on non-members. Existing theoretical models, however, do not agree on how the CET rate is chosen. Every model imposes a different choice rule exogenously. In this thesis, for the first time, plausible choice rules, based on the CU's social welfare function, are derived endogenously. The strategic behaviour of members and non-members, reveals that responsibility for CET choice tends to be assumed by the member that can induce the rest of the world to levy those tariffs members prefer to face. Relatively few general results exist describing the relationship between country characteristics and trade bloc formation. Here, new light is shed on this issue, by systematically analysing bloc formation in an asymmetric world, and investigating the role of preferences in coalition formation. It is found that global free trade is most likely to arise when all countries are similar. Customs unions tend to form between relatively well-endowed countries or those with similar preferences. It is also demonstrated that CUs will usually Pareto dominate FTAs, except where preferences differ significantly. The role of transfers in CU formation has received relatively little attention in the regionalism literature. In this thesis, optimal intra-union transfers are introduced and their impact on CET choice is investigated. The impact of transfers on CU behaviour depends on the direction of the transfer. When the relatively inelastic member is the recipient, the CU responds less aggressively to non-member tariff choices than it does when transfers are not permitted. However, if the relatively elastic member is the transfer recipient, the union's aggression increases. Moreover, when one union member exercises a similar degree of control over both CET and transfer choice, then the equilibrium CET tends to be lower than in the corresponding no-transfers situation.
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Nguyen, Duc Bao. "Essays on regional trade agreements and international trade." Thesis, Bordeaux, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019BORD0203/document.
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Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le contexte de prolifération des accords commerciaux régionaux (ACR) et traite des effets des ACR sur le commerce international. Nous visons à mieux comprendre et à apporter des points de vue nouveaux sur le rôle des ACR et du régionalisme en général en tant qu’élément important de la politique commerciale international aujourd’hui. Dans le premier chapitre, nous revisitons les effets ex post des ACR sur le commerce des pays membres et le commerce extrabloc en adoptant une approche empirique. Nous cherchons à déterminer la manière dont les blocs commerciaux régionaux affectent le commerce non seulement entre pays membres mais aussi entre pays membres et pays extérieurs à l’accord. Notre analyse confirme que les ACR augmentent de manière significative le commerce intra-bloc ; néanmoins, dans de nombreux cas, les ACR impliquent des effets de détournement d’échanges qui sont préjudiciables au reste du monde. Le chapitre deux examine de quelle manière la période de mise en œuvre de l’accord et les niveaux de développement des pays membres déterminent, en dynamique, l’effet des ACR sur le commerce international. Nous obtenons des tendances distinctes des effets ex post de l’ACR sur le commerce entre les accords Nord-Nord, Sud-Sud et Nord-Sud. Nous vérifions empiriquement que les ACR conclus par des partenaires commerciaux ayant un statut de développement économique analogue (les accords Nord-Nord ou Sud-Sud) sont susceptibles d’engendrer une augmentation plus forte du commerce des membres pendant une période de mise en œuvre plus courte. Le chapitre trois porte sur la manière dont les interactions entre ACR et développement financier influencent les flux d'échanges entre partenaires commerciaux. Dans ce travail conjoint avec Anne-Gaël Vaubourg, nous montrons que le développement financier (particulièrement sous sa forme intermédiée) encourage les échanges commerciaux mais que cet effet est atténué dès lors que les partenaires commerciaux ont signé un ACRThe subject of this dissertation focuses on the analysis of different aspects of the relationship between regional trade agreements (RTAs) and the multilateral trading system. We aim to provide a fresh understanding and views of the role of RTAs and regionalism in general as an important feature of international trade policy today. In chapter one we revisit the ex post effects of RTAs on member countries’ trade and extrabloc trade by adopting an empirical approach. We explore how regional trading blocs have influenced trade among members as well as trade with nonmembers. Our analysis confirms the widespread trade-enhancing effects of RTAs on member countries’ trade; however, in many cases, they lead to trade diversion effects that are detrimental to the rest of the world. Chapter two takes a closer look at how the implementation period of trade liberalization and partners’ levels of development affect the RTA dynamic effects on trade over time. We obtain distinct patterns of ex post RTA effects on trade across North-North RTAs, South-South RTAs and North-South RTAs. We empirically validate that RTAs formed by trading partners experiencing similar economic development status (North-North RTAs or South-South RTAs) are likely to lead to a larger increase in members’ trade during a shorter implementation period. Chapter three studies the mechanism through which RTAs impact the effect of financial development on trade flows between exporting and importing countries. In this joint work with Anne-Gaël Vaubourg, we show that the trade-enhancing role of financial development in the exporting country—especially through intermediated finance—is mitigated when there is an RTA between this country and its trading partner
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Alhassan, Osman. "Economic determinants of regional trade agreements." Kansas State University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/34513.
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Master of ArtsDepartment of Economics
Peri da Silva
The literature concerning the economics of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has evolved from a theoretical perspective to an empirically based approach over the past decade. Specifically, this report examines the various empirical studies on the economic determinants of RTAs and the likelihood of RTAs between country-pairs. Scott L. Baier and Jeffrey H. Bergstrand (2004) or BB (2004) provide us the first empirical work on the economic determinants of RTAs. Their model predicts fairly accurately, 85% of the 286 RTAs in 1996 among 1431 country-pairs, and 97% of the remaining 1145 pairs with no RTAs based on economic features. In this report, we begin with an introduction to RTAs, and then we will explore the contribution of BB (2004), as well as other economists’ empirical findings on the economics of RTAs, using empirical strategies similar to BB’s (2004) study.
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Liu, Yu-Tsyr. "Regional trade agreements and GATT Article XXIV." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1998. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape11/PQDD_0026/MQ50947.pdf.
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Liu, Yu-Tsyr 1971. "Regional trade agreements and GATT article XXIV." Thesis, McGill University, 1998. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=20989.
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This thesis examines the wave of regionalism currently being experienced in international trade, which is manifested by the proliferation of free trade areas and customs unions, regional trade agreements (RTAs). This thesis attempts to determine whether regionalism is welfare-enhancing and is liberalising the global economy as envisioned by GATT Article XXIV. The answer is: not necessarily.Chapter One briefly discusses the principle of non-discrimination and provides a general account of the recent development of RTAs. Chapter Two examines the economic and political-economic aspects of RTAs, while Chapter Three examines their legal aspects. To put the two chapters into perspective, a case study of the North American Free Trade Agreement is conducted in Chapter Four. Chapter Five suggests that the global economy should revert its attention back to the multilateral trading system and/or RTAs should incorporate "open regionalism" into their framework to effectively counter the diversionary problems they cause. In closing, Chapter Five introduces the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which is the only regional trading arrangement that is openly pursuing "open regionalism" and "multilateralism", as a model for all RTAs and as a bridge between regionalism and multilateralism.
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Sanchez, Bizot Gustavo. "Endogenous trade protection under regional trade agreements: the Andean case." Texas A&M University, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/3780.
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Endogenous tariff formation has been the subject of theoretical studies that attempt to
determine the fundamental economic variables that influence the structure of industry
protection implemented by international trade policy makers. An empirical analysis of
endogenous tariff formation under the framework of a regional trade agreement
implemented by the Andean Community Group is offered in this dissertation.
Econometric models for the groupÂs common external tariff (CET) and for individual
country tariff deviations with respect to the CET are estimated. The analysis is based on
cross-sectional industrial and trade data for 1996, collected at four digit level of
aggregation. The level of aggregation refers to the specific definition of industrial sectors
included in the International Standard Industrial Code (ISIC). While previous studies on
another regional integrated group in South America (MERCOSUR) use data at the three
digit level, the aggregation used in this research implies a significant increase in the sample size, and also a more homogeneous specification regarding the composition of
the industrial sectors under analysis.
The causal links among the variables are obtained by using the directed acyclical graphs
(DAGs) approach. This allows for a refined search for causal relationships. The
approach is particularly appealing for the analysis of endogenous trade protection since
it allows analyzing economic systems that involve policy intervention.
The empirical analysis supports several of the classic theoretical models on trade
protection. The results are consistent with the equity concern model, which suggests that
governments tend to protect industrial sectors that employ a significant number of low
wage unskilled workers. The estimated models also support the interest group and the
adding machine theoretical formulations. However, a rather interesting result derived
from the DAG analysis is the feedback interaction that seems to operate between tariffs
and policy variables. The current literature restricts the estimation of trade protection by
imposing tariffs as the dependent variable with no reverse effect from this variable to the
policy variables. Our results challenge this unidirectional causality view, since an effect
from tariffs to the policy variables shows up in most of the estimated specifications.
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Huang, Yangyang. "Trade remedy measures in the WTO and regional trade agreements." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/7784.
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Trade remedy measures (TRMs) in international economic law refer to antidumping measures, countervailing duties and safeguard measures. They are designed to respond to unfair trade practices or to compensate the negative impact on domestic industries resulting from tariff concessions made under the trade liberalization arrangements. Due to the importance of these instruments, the rules on TRMs are strengthened in the WTO legal framework and established on non-discriminatory basis towards all WTO Members. However, with the proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTA) in recent decades, it was noticed that, most RTAs adopted innovative approaches on TRMs among their regional partners. Such incoherence has brought a series of trade disputes and arguments concerning the conflicts between the WTO and RTA. Current central issues in this area are whether those innovative TRMs are consistent with WTO law and what is the appropriate approach to examine the legality of those measures. Against the canvas of WTO trade remedy rules, this research first investigates the diversified trade remedy approaches in RTAs and their impact on international trade. It then clarifies the ambiguous legal criteria against which TRMs in RTAs should be judged in order to be WTO-consistent. Thereafter, a methodology through which a RTA-specific TRM could be tested against the WTO’s criteria is also developed. It is argued that facilitating TRMs in RTAs must always adhere to the criteria laid down by the WTO, e.g. GATT Article XXIV. In particular, a “necessity test” should be applied when examining the legality of a special TRM in RTAs, in the case where a dispute arises between the RTA members and third countries on the issue. In order to bring the RTA-specific TRMs into compliance with WTO law, this research also looks at the WTO surveillance mechanism on RTAs. Considering a number of difficulties that have arisen in the GATT/WTO’s surveillance of RTAs in the past, the thesis addresses what positive measures can be taken in the future and whether TRMs in RTAs should be scrutinized by WTO political organs or through the dispute settlement mechanism.
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Smith, James Patrick. "Non-Economic Motivations for Joining Regional Trade Agreements." Thesis, Boston College, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/488.
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Thesis advisor: David DeeseThe proliferation of regional trade agreements is a well-documented phenomena. This thesis focuses on the relatively unexplored area of non-economic motivations states may have for joining regional trade agreements. It uses the formation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the negotiation of the European Community's Single European Act as case studies
Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2004
Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences
Discipline: Political Science
Discipline: College Honors Program
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Powers, Kathy Leniece. "International institutions, trade and conflict : African regional trade agreements from 1950-1992." The Ohio State University, 2001. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1283185178.
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Thiratayakinant, Kraijakr Ley. "Multilateral supervision of regional trade agreements : developing countries' perspectives." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2010. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2398/.
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The number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has risen sharply in the past decade. This has resulted in a new global trade landscape where a great proportion of trade is carried through preferential arrangements rather than on a most-favoured-nation basis. This prompts concerns over how such trade agreements should be managed. Importantly, developing countries are increasingly taking part in the current RTA proliferation. This thesis therefore sets out to identify the challenges facing developing countries when they negotiate and form such trade arrangements with their developed-country trade partners and among themselves, and seeks to deal with these challenges through the WTO rules and mechanisms pertaining RTA supervision. To do so, the thesis first surveys the general trends and characteristics of the current RTA proliferation, and examines three bodies of literature, which are supplemented with the author's personal participation in RTA negotiations and interviews with trade negotiators, in order to identify the challenges facing developing countries. It then evaluates the WTO rules governing the formation of an RTA, namely, GATT Article XXIV, the Enabling Clause, and GATS Article V. It is argued that these rules are problematic and inadequate to deal with the challenges. In response, the thesis proposes a variety of interpretative solutions. Lastly, acknowledging the practicality of the proposed substantive reforms, the thesis explores whether there are other less contentious means that may complement and strengthen the existing WTO rules and mechanisms with regard to RTA supervision. These include promulgation of code of best practices, revision of the WTO surveillance mechanism, and technical assistance for developing countries in relation to RTAs.
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Becker, Sam. "Leveraging Trade Agreements to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Accordance with the Paris Agreement." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2019. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2154.
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Climate change is the most obvious and pressing impairment of the biological, physical, and chemical systems. To help mitigate this unprecedented problem, I present heads of state, policymakers, and members of civil society with a set of new provisions that they can include in their trade agreements to drive emissions reduction from countries inside and outside of their trade agreements, maintain their ability to compete in an increasingly globalized world, and comply with international trading rules. Ultimately, I seek to demonstrate the untapped potential for leveraging trade agreements to reduce emissions in the midst of an international system that lacks concerted climate action. In light of humanity’s inadequate efforts to address the immense threats posed by a changing climate, decentralized efforts, such as these, are increasingly essential to reduce emissions.
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Awinador-Kanyirige, Darkowa. "Effects of the Economic Partnership Agreements on Regional Integration in Africa." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/28099.
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After gaining independence, African states embraced the idea of regional integration as an approach to boost economic development on the continent. This was evident in the new regional organizations that were predominantly generated among developing states in the southern hemisphere. Majority of these organizations, e.g. Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and Southern African Development Community (SADC), have continuously been striving to deepen social, political and most importantly economic integration and cooperation in Africa. In an attempt to further the regional integration agenda, there have been quite a number of colonial cross-border arrangements with EU. Assessed based on conventional integration theories by scholars like Ernst B. Haas, the prerequisites for effective regional economic integration in Africa, appear to be less successful, juxtaposed with the more developed and economically independent European Union. Although regional organizations like ECOWAS and SADC have managed to establish free trade areas (FTAs), they have failed to attain their agenda of establishing customs unions. Agendas of this kind among other things, are pertinent to consolidating the regional integration process. Even though several issues may be identified as causes of the inefficiency of the integration scheme on the continent, this paper explores the effect of north south trade agreements, in this case the economic partnership agreements (EPAs), on regional integration processes in Africa.
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Afifi, Tamer Mohamed Ahmed. "The challenge of implementing the overlapping regional trade agreements in Egypt /." Göttingen : Cuvillier, 2007. http://www.gbv.de/dms/zbw/539616834.pdf.
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Woolcock, Stephen. "The role of regional agreements in trade and investment rule-making." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2007. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/2955/.
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This thesis investigates the role of regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements in rule-making. Rule-making at the regional and bilateral levels has become more important, but there are at present no general criteria for assessing its impact. The thesis discusses the existing literature on preferential trade agreements and argues that there is a gap in terms of how rule-making in RTAs and FTAs might be assessed. An analytical framework is then developed that provides the basis for a qualitative assessment of the role of RTAs and FTAs. This framework is then applied to four horizontal case studies; technical barriers to trade, public procurement, investment and competition policy. These, together with secondary literature describing other case studies, show that rule-making is and has always been a multilevel process. The issue to be addressed in terms of the rule-making aspects of preferential agreements should therefore be what role RTAs and FTAs play in rule-making rather than whether preferential agreements undermine multilateral rules or not. The thesis argues that RTAs had a broadly positive effect during the period from the early 1980s to the mid 1990s, but that subsequent developments give rise to a more nuanced assessment. The thesis also makes a comparison of two dominant European Union and US approaches to regional and bilateral agreements. This shows the US approach to be more uniform and more assertive compared to the EU approach to negotiating FTAs. The thesis concludes with a discussion of how criteria developed from the analytical framework could be used as the basis for qualitative assessments of the role and impact of the rule-making aspects of regional and bilateral trade and investment agreements.
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Foltea, Marina. "The legal effects Of regional trade agreements under the Gatt/WTO." Bern : World Trade Institute (WTI), 2004. http://www.wti.org/images/stories/MILE/MILE%20Theses/The%20Legal%20Effect%20of%20Regional%20Trade%20Agreements.pdf.
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Liu, Tianshu, and tianshu liu@rmit edu au. "Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Regional Trade Agreements for Australia and China." RMIT University. Economics, Finance and Marketing, 2008. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20080428.094213.
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The thesis concentrates on measuring the benefits and losses of implementing regional trade agreements. In particular, the thesis analyses trade flow changes, foreign direct investment inflow changes, industrial total factor productivity changes and specific commodity trade flow changes in Australia and China. Four empirical studies are undertaken. Firstly, the thesis introduces the gravity model to estimate the effect of regional trade agreements on trade flow changes, focusing on thirty-nine countries and areas from seven regional trade agreements during 1980-2004. The results show that there are trade creation and trade diversion effects for various memberships. The results further show that China experiences an export creation effect for its APEC membership while Australia has an import diversion effect for its CER membership. When trade between Australia and China is considered, Australia's CER membership impedes its trade with China. However, both Australia and China benefit from attending APEC jointly to enlarge their bilateral trade. Secondly, a modified gravity model is undertaken to test the impact of regional trade agreements on foreign direct investment inflows to Australia and China. It uses the same regional trade agreements to that of the trade flow study for the period of 1980 to 2004 for Australia and 1985 to 2004 for China. The results show that CER members tend to strengthen their bilateral foreign direct investment cooperation after the implementation of CER trade and investment liberalization. Thirdly, the impact of regional trade agreements is examined on industrial total factor productivity growth. The findings show that industries with comparative trading advantages in both Australia and China tend to improve their total factor productivity upon liberalizing trade both bilaterally and multilaterally. However, industries with comparative disadvantages need more protection against severe foreign competition. It uses data from 1974-75 to 2004-05 for the Australian market sector analysis, from 1968-69 to 1990-2000 for the Australian manufacturing industry analysis, and from 1987 to 2003 for the Chinese industry analysis. Finally, the thesis investigates the impact of regional trade agreements on bilateral commodity trade between Australia and China from 1979 to 2004. A similar gravity model to that of the trade flow study is used, introducing an additional GDP per capita variable to capture the effect of increasing consumers' income on their consumption of particular goods and products type based on product and production characteristics. Both the one-digit and some detailed four-digit commodity classifications described in the Standard International Trade Classification are considered. The results show that participation in regional trade agreements is an important factor that affects Australia's major commodity trade with China. The major contribution of this thesis is the investigation of issues on trade flows and foreign direct investment specifically in Australia and China, together with the studies of the effect of regional trade agreements on industrial total factor productivity improvement and specific commodity trade changes. Due to the increasing pursuit of bilateral and regional economic cooperation in Australia and China, the results of this thesis are of particular importance to both countries in their foreign trade and economic strategies.
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Mathis, James Haley. "Regional trade agreements in the GATT/WTO GATT article XXIV and the internal trade requirement /." [S.l. : Amsterdam : s.n.] ; Universiteit van Amsterdam [Host], 2001. http://dare.uva.nl/document/60558.
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Mihashi, Kohichi. "The effect of regional trade agreements on the global economy and society." Connect to Electronic Thesis (CONTENTdm), 2009. http://worldcat.org/oclc/449760391/viewonline.
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Eliste, Paavo. "Three empirical essays on environmental regulations, strategic interaction, and regional trade agreements." Morgantown, W. Va. : [West Virginia University Libraries], 2002. http://etd.wvu.edu/templates/showETD.cfm?recnum=2476.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2002.Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 116 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references.
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Appau, Adriana Boakyewaa, and University of Lethbridge Faculty of Arts and Science. "Analysing Sub-Saharan Africa trade patterns in the presence of regional trade agreements : a comparative analysis." Thesis, Lethbridge, Alta. : University of Lethbridge, Dept. of Economics, c2013, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10133/3424.
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This thesis employs a dynamic form of the gravity model and data from 1988-2005 to estimate the effects of RTAs in SSA on intra-African trade. The thesis proposes a better approach to examining member-nonmember trade relations of RTAs. This thesis is unique because it uses System GMM estimator to overcome econometric issues associated with estimating dynamic models. The results suggest that COMESA and SADC has led to a significant increase in intra and extra-RTA trade. ECOWAS has increased intra-ECOWAS trade but decreased extra-ECOWAS trade. ECCAS has had a negative impact on both intra-ECCAS and extra-ECCAS trade flows. The proposed approach of examining member-nonmember relationships provides better estimates. A comparative analysis is made to shed light on how high or low the trade creation effect of RTAs in SSA are. The results of this thesis support the view that the impact of RTAs in SSA is higher than perceived.x, 61 leaves ; 29 cm
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Nnorom, Ancellam. "The role of the World Trade Organisation's Committee on Regional Trade Agreements, between 1996 and 2010." Thesis, University of East London, 2017. http://roar.uel.ac.uk/6394/.
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This paper looks at the role of the Committee on Regional Trade Agreements (CRTA) in its examination of regional trade agreements (RTAs) between 1996 and 2010. The rapid proliferation of RTAs led to concerns about the weakening of the multilateral trading system (MTS); it was feared that the rapid growth in the number of bilateral and regional trade agreements (RTAs), such as free trade areas (FTAs) and custom unions (CUs) could pose substantial threats to the multilateral trade system (MTS). This fear led to the creation of the CRTA by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in February 1996, for the examination of RTAs to ascertain their compatibility to the MTS and their conformity to WTO rules. Furthermore, this paper also explores the legal and systemic difficulties faced by the CRTA in the execution of its mandated duties. Nonetheless, the rapid proliferation of RTAs intensified the debate on the merits of RTAs to the MTS, this study, is also a contribution to that debate - the trade creation and trade diversion effects of RTAs, by showing how RTAs could displace trade with non-member nations, while at the same time boosting trade among its own members. Under the auspices of the WTO, as a general rule, the CRTA was to devote a single formal meeting for the consideration of each and every RTA notified to the WTO, formed under the provisions of the general agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT) Article XXIV and the general agreement on trade in (GATS) Article V. The focus of this paper is the role of the CRTA in its examination of RTAs created under the legal provisions and interpretation of GATT Article XXIV and GATS Article V.
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Dipholo, Thabo. "The potential impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement on a regional service provider." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/74834.
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The advent of trade in services theory has been a developing research topic since 1980, where various factors are in place to determine trade flows and the impact of regulatory frameworks and policies. Services trade is an important contributing factor towards economic objectives and continues to drive development. With growth in services trade across the globe there is increased value in understanding the impact of the services sector on the African continent. The evolving reliance on services towards globalisation in low-income economies is proven to contribute significantly to gross domestic product. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement was instituted to integrate economies by creating ease of access for the intra-trade of goods and services across the continent. This study aimed to explore the impact of the AfCFTA agreement on a regional financial services provider. The research followed a semi-structured interview methodology, which measured and tested the impact of the agreement on trade in services for this qualitative study. The results indicated that the service provider would adopt the AfCFTA agreement’s requirements in the expansion of its operations, to establish services across the continent. Although the minimum number of countries required supported the ratification process, a lot of work is needed to develop and understand the effect of international trade, on the back of reformative policy changes such as the AfCFTA agreement.Mini Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2019.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MPhil
Unrestricted
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Nyirongo, Raisa. "The role of law in deepening regional integration in Southern Africa - a comparative analysis of SADC and COMESA." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/25481.
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Regional integration is not a new phenomenon in Africa. It can be traced back to the creation of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) in 1917, which was the world's first customs union. Upon gaining independence, states formed the Organization of African Unity (OAU). At that time, Heads of States viewed regional integration as a protectionist measure against colonialism and as a way of forming a self-sustaining continent. However, the additional challenges facing Africa over time prompted various initiatives by Heads of States which were aimed at deepening integration on the continent. Notable actions include the signing of the Abuja Treaty, which established the African Economic Community (AEC), and the replacement of the OAU by the African Union (AU). Further, the continent experienced an increase in the number of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and there are now fourteen RECs. Despite the steps taken to further integration, the success of such regional integration on the continent has been minimal and Africa has become even more marginalized on the global market. This lack in progression can be attributed to challenges such as inadequate resources, overlapping memberships in multiple RECs and duplicated programmes and efforts. Another challenge that is not readily recognized is the lack of attention to the role of law in economic integration. RECs have largely focused on the economic and political aspects of regional integration but have given minimal attention to the necessity of a strong legal foundation. RECs develop community law and these laws should be enforceable within Member States. However, due to the weak legal systems of RECs in Africa that do not make community law supreme, enforceability of this law has proven challenging. Comparatively, other RECs such as the European Union, have achieved deeper levels of integration and this can partly be attributed to the strong legal systems that have been developed. It is on the basis of this challenge that this study is conducted. The study aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the weaknesses of existing legal systems of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The study further analyses the manner in which other RECs, such as the European Union and the Economic Community of West African States, have successfully integrated through law, with the aim of identifying solutions for the existing weaknesses in Southern Africa.
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Ekberg, Simon, and Hanna Seiz. "The effect of regional trade agreements on members’ competitiveness: The case of AFTA." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Nationalekonomiska institutionen, 2011. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-168496.
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Sanchirico, Emily. "A Strong Institutional Climate: Regional Trade Networks and Climate Action." Thesis, University of Oregon, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/1794/13410.
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Climate change has been described as a malign, wicked, and super wicked problem. I focus on key characteristics that make international collective action challenging: asymmetry, fear of free riding, scientific uncertainty, and inherent interdependencies. I argue that an institution designed to tackle such a complex problem requires a key set of features: leadership, linkage, quality information, differentiated obligations, monitoring/enforcement, transparency, and flexibility. I assess the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Kyoto Protocol to determine what aspects are missing. I then ask why the European Union (EU), with incentives to the contrary, set broad unilateral goals. I argue that the framework of political and economic integration made deep cooperation possible. Lastly, I consider whether this experience is specific to the EU and ask whether regional trade networks have a role in the global arsenal of climate change solutions.
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Then, de Lammerskötter Rosario. "WTO und Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) : Artikel XXIV und die enabling clause im Lichte eines idealen Regulierungssystems /." Münster : LIT, 2004. http://www.gbv.de/dms/sbb-berlin/387731849.pdf.
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Ahcar, Olmos Jaime Rafael. "An inquiry on Regional Trade Integration and Trade Potentials." Thesis, Paris 9, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015PA090055/document.
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Dans un contexte où les négociations commerciales multilatérales languissent dans une impasse, les accords commerciaux régionaux ACR prennent de l’élan. Cette thèse doctorale cherche à faire avancer la connaissance sur ce domaine. C’est grâce au modèle de gravité du commerce que trois chapitres supportés par des analyses économétriques appliqués ont été mis au point.Le premier chapitre examine les effets sur les flux bilatéraux de commerce attribuables aux ACR, le système généralisé de préférences (SGP) et l’appartenance à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce OMC. Plusieurs spécifications économétriques et techniques d’estimation ont été testées. Particulièrement Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML), qui se présente comme la technique la plus recommandée pour contenir des biais bien connues et des problèmes d’endogénéité. Cette recherche a été conduite avec un modèle de gravité du commerce international qui comporte 153 pays sur la période 1980-2012. Les résultats montrent systématiquement qu’un effet positif et significatif sur les flux bilatéraux de commerce est à attendre après l’entrée en vigueur d’un ACR. De même, des effets positifs mais peu importants, voir nuls sont accordés à la participation au sein de l’OMC. La spécification qui utilise PPML et qui contrôle l’influence de l’hétérogénéité inobservable montre un effet non-significatif pour le SGP. Le deuxième chapitre, coécrit avec mon directeur de thèse Jean-Marc Siroën, explore quel est l’effet de l’hétérogénéité des ACR sur le cadre de l’approfondissement de l’intégration. Nous envisageons pouvoir déceler si les ACR qui sont plus profonds contribuent plus à la création de commerce que ceux qui sont moins profonds. Nous avons recours à deux bases de données récemment ouverts au public. La première appartenant à l’OMC et la deuxième a la World Trade Institute (WTI-DESTA). Nous procédons à créer des indicateurs crédibles de l’approfondissement de l’intégration pour passer à les tester dans un modèle de gravité. Nous trouvons qu’un effet positif et significatif peut-être accordé aux accords les plus profonds, indépendamment que l’indicateur testé soit un indicateur additive où un indicateur obtenu par l’Analyse de correspondance multiple (ACM). De même cet effet est constaté pas seulement dans les accords qui comportent des clauses classiquement négociées sur le cadre de l’OMC, mais aussi dans les accords qui dépassent cette dimension. Le troisième chapitre se consacre à étudier l’existence des potentiels de commerce entre la Colombie et l’Union Européenne. Des prédictions dans l’échantillon après des estimations avec PPML et effets fixes qui varient dans le temps nous indiquent que des potentiels de commerce existent avec l’Autriche, la République Tchèque, la Finlande, la France, l’Allemagne, la Hongrie, la Suède et la Pologne. Dans le sens inverse la Suède, l’Irlande, la Finlande et Pologne détiennent une marge importante à gagner dans le marché colombien. Des tests de sensibilité ont été effectués pour garantir la robustesse de ces résultatsRegional trade agreements (RTAs) have surged in a context of stalled multilateral trade negotiations. This doctoral thesis intends to advance scientific knowledge in the field. Thus, thanks to a gravity model theoretical framework, three chapters of applied empirical econometrics analysis have been completed. The first chapter examines the effects of RTAs, the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) and World Trade Organization memberships on bilateral trade flows. I put into practice different econometric specifications and estimation methods, notably Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML), which is the one that better seems to contend with well-known biases and endogeneity problems. I conduct this research with an international trade gravity model estimated across 153 countries from the year 1980 to 2012.I consistently found a strong positive impact of regional trade agreement RTAs on most specifications and low or non-significant results for WTO membership. The estimates from the PPML method that includes controls for unobserved heterogeneity show non-significant effects of the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) on trade.The second chapter, co-authored with my supervisor Jean-Marc Siroën, explores the effect of heterogeneity of RTAs in the scope of deep integration. We intend to determine if deeper RTAs promote trade more effectively than less ambitious agreements. We make use of two recently available data sets from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Trade Institute (WTI-DESTA) to generate credible indicators of deep integration. Additive and Multiple Correspondence Analysis derived indicators for the depth of the agreements are then computed and their significance is tested in a gravity model. We find that deeper agreements increase trade more than shallow ones, whereas the provisions they included are within or outside of the WTO domain.The third chapter investigates the existence of trade potentials between Colombia and the EU. I obtain in-sample predictions after the estimation of a gravity model with the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood estimator. I control for unobserved omitted variable bias by the inclusion of exporter and importer time varying fixed effects, and run a series of sensitivity analysis.Untapped trade potentials are found between Colombia and a group of EU countries in both directions of the trade flows. Exports from Colombia have a gap to bridge with Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Sweden. In the other direction, Sweden, Ireland, Finland and Poland have an interesting margin to gain in the Colombian market
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Hoeffken, Jana Ulrike. "Competition provisions in EU regional trade agreements : consequences for domestic reform in developing countries." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2016. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3588/.
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Political economy research has long argued that regional trade agreements (RTAs) can contribute to domestic reform in developing countries. With the increase in scope and depth of regional trade agreements and the increasingly common practice of including new policy areas like competition policy in RTAs, this argument has gained new traction. However, despite the increased scholarly interest, there is still little knowledge about whether and how provisions in RTAs affect domestic change. This thesis contributes to this line of research by analysing how competition provisions in regional trade agreements between the European Union and Southern countries impact on the development of the Southern competition regimes. By combining different theories and research approaches on how regional trade agreements impact domestic reform, the analytical framework provides a detailed account on the type of change that takes place, the mechanisms through which change occurs, and the different types of actors that participate in this process. The research relies on two case studies: the EU-Morocco Association Agreement on the one hand, and the EU-Cariforum Economic Partnership Agreement on the other. The thesis finds that competition provisions in regional trade agreements were relevant in both cases for the development of competition regimes. However, the findings also suggest that the influence of the competition provisions is contingent on two other factors: the surrounding environment in which the regional trade agreement is embedded, and the presence of domestic actors that are willing to promote reform. The fact that the competition provisions in the EU-Morocco trade agreement were embedded in the European Neighbourhood Policy and, importantly, that a follow-up regional trade agreement with the European Union was envisaged for the future, implied that the EU had a stronger leverage to demand change from the Moroccan government. Moreover, in both Morocco and Cariforum, the interest of governments in advancing competition policy reform was limited. Therefore, domestic actors other than the government played a key role in ensuring that the competition provisions had an impact on the development of the respective competition regimes. In sum, the thesis makes an important theoretical and empirical contribution to the literature. First, it empirically adds to the literature that looks at the consequences of competition provisions in regional trade agreements by making in-depths analyses of two trade agreements. Second, it develops the literature on the impact of regional trade agreements on domestic reform by explaining how competition provisions can have an impact on domestic reform, even in situations when the government is not interested. Finally, it also contributes to the literature by showing the importance of serial trade agreements for domestic reform, an aspect that has previously been overlooked.
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Norder, Tobias. "Global frihandel i en regional värld : Hur påverkar frihandelsavtal möjligheterna att nå global frihandel?" Thesis, Uppsala University, Department of Economics, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-7020.
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How does the recent wave of preferential trading arrangements affect, the incentives for further trade liberalization of member states, and the possibility of obtaining global free trade? And are there any differences in this aspect between custom unions and other forms of preferential trading arrangements? These questions are well debated and have divided international trade researchers into two camps, one in favour for preferential trading arrangements and the other side against them. I have used well acknowledged researchers in the area of international trade theory to make a literature study of the above mentioned key elements in the debate. When comparing the two sides I have focused mainly on their differences, assumptions and results. I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing to be alarmed by of the wave of regionalism that’s occurring in the world today, but caution should be applied and more research in this area is necessary before any certain conclusions can be drawn. Free trade association seems to be welfare enhancing in general, with a few exceptions. I have found that the crucial points of what affect Free Trade Agreements will have on trade liberalization seems to be whether they are open or closed, how asymmetric the world is and the size of the trading blocs. The matter concerning custom unions are more alarming and seems to harm further trade liberalization in many aspects but this area also needs more research to give more reliable answers.
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Mutai, Henry Kibet. "The regulation of regional trade agreements : harnessing the energy of regionalism to power a new era in multilateral trade /." Connect to thesis, 2005. http://repository.unimelb.edu.au/10187/529.
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This thesis examines the regulation of regionalism by the WTO and the formation and operation of regional trade agreements by developing countries. In particular, this work focuses on regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. The aim of the thesis is to assess the effectiveness of the relevant legal regimes and determine ways in which they can be made more effective, both in terms of their impact on state conduct and in terms of their impact on the economic welfare of the states concerned. The thesis argues that, with regard to the WTO legal regime, the exemption from the application of Article XXIV, GATT 1994 given to developing countries by the Enabling Clause has contributed to the lack of effectiveness of the WTO regime. For developing countries, on the other hand, the Enabling Clause has deprived them of the legal discipline required to establish effective free trade areas and customs unions. This latter argument is examined through a case study of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). The thesis contends that for COMESA countries to engage in meaningful trade liberalisation, and to participate fully in the WTO, acceptance of greater legal discipline is critical. Such legal discipline can be obtained through compliance with Article XXIV.
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Abebe, Opeyemi Temitope. "Regional trade agreements and its impact on the multilateral trading system: eroding the preferences of developing countries?" Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2005. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&.
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The purpose of this paper was to examine the impact that the proliferation of regional trade agreements have had on the Multilateral Trading System and whether by allowing regional trade agreements under the World Trade Organization rules, the members of the World Trade Organization have not unwittingly weakened the multilateral trading system. It also examined the effect the proliferation of regional trade agreements have had on the special and deferential treatment for developing countries within the system.
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Hester, Annette. "Regional trade agreements in the Americas and country risk, solving the foreign direct investment puzzle." Thesis, National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, 1999. http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape7/PQDD_0015/MQ55274.pdf.
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Sauriol-Nadeau, Isabelle. "Building or stumbling, blocks anyhow: a comparative approach of regional labour mobility frameworks towards global solutions." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29712.
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While concessions to labour mobility at the international level seem off the agenda, with the General Agreements on Trades in Services essentially tabled, the past decades have produced a proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs), some of which are facilitating labour mobility specifically. In this paper, the author first conducts a comparative overview of RTAs that have a form of labour mobility programmes: namely, ECOWAS, ASEAN, the European Union, NAFTA, CARICOM and MERCOSUR. Building on an overview of the regulatory frameworks, institutions and legal instruments of these RTAs, the author seeks to find if patterns or lessons to be learned emerge that are relevant from a global perspective and to enhance the legal architecture of international labour mobility. The findings show positive outcomes, with some RTAs generating trade benefits and even moving forward with a common passport based on the newly shared regional identity, and at times even creating dispute settlement and legal systems for regional litigious matters. On the other hand, this exercise also points to various problems such as the poor implementation of the labour mobility provisions, to overly strict restrictions based on skill and to difficulty securing documents to benefit from the labour mobility programmes - in some of the agreements. In the second part, the author discusses these challenges faced in these regional systems. She notes that prioritising skilled as opposed to low-skilled workers has not yielded a comparative advantage and may also be fostering irregular movements. She also highlights that trade liabilities emerge from the association of countries with similar levels of development and that it accentuates the North-South paradigm. These problems disrupt access to the benefits of the programmes, which ultimately creates irregular migrations and uneven labour standards for migrant workers. Finally, the author finds that most RTAs reviewed are developing their own legal frameworks with limited interest for the international instruments available, which are at best a source of inspiration. In the third part, the author invites the reader to challenge many preconceived ideas on international mobility emerging from the first two sections, and shares her thoughts on ways forward to build an international framework, based on existing scholarly work and considering the unpopularity of the GATS. She concludes with a discussion on ‘new regionalism’ as an alternative until a shared international framework to facilitate migrations is set up, with the possibility of a merger between RTAs from the North and the South. This, she argues, could possibly unleash the full benefits of labour mobility such as increased GDPs, poverty reduction and tackling irregular migrations; benefits that have not been entirely felt to date.
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Apaza, Pamela. "The interaction between the dispute settlement mechanisms of the American regional trade agreements and the WTO." Bern : World Trade Institute (WTI), 2006. http://www.wti.org/images/stories/MILE/MILE%20Theses/Market%20Definition%20in%20World%20Trade%20Organisation%20Law.pdf.
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Owuor, Martin Shikuku. "Integration of intellectual property rights into Regional Trade Agreements Critical Analysis of EAC Common Market Protocol." Diss., University of Pretoria, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/53178.
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Warnholtz, Perez Edgar G. "From NAFTA to USMCA: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Forces Producing North America's Regional Trade Agreements." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2019. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2245.
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On October 1, 2018, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), concluding 13 months of negotiations that concerned economies totaling 27.88% of world GDP. The recentness, magnitude, and relevance of the USMCA invokes a comprehensive analysis of the multidimensional factors that led to this agreement. Explaining the USMCA of 2018 requires insight of the continent’s political and economic forces that bound Canada, the United States, and Mexico with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994. After doing so, this study then compiles a variety of works in a meta-analysis on NAFTA’s effects during the past 25 years. This paper finds that NAFTA achieved its intended goals, but failed to anticipate many negative repercussions for which it is criticized today. Then, this study investigates the demand for renegotiation of NAFTA which was triggered by Donald Trump calling it “the worst trade deal in history maybe ever” during his presidential campaign. However, when presenting the new USMCA to the press, he described it as a “wonderful new trade deal.” Therefore, study analyzes how different the USMCA is from NAFTA, and finds that the few changes are explained by a modernization of certain chapters to adapt the treaty to the digital era. These modifications heavily resonate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional free trade agreement that included the U.S. until President Trump withdrew from it. What then results to be a rebranding of other agreements is predicted here to bring more political repercussions than economic change, as elections in Canada dawn later this year and in the U.S. in 2020. Ultimately, each party succeeded per its own renegotiation objectives; Mexico and Canada sought market penetration in the U.S., whereas the U.S. sought concessions and an end to NAFTA. Ratification of the USMCA is pending at the domestic level of each country, which this paper predicts will occur successfully, perhaps even before the end of 2019. Nonetheless, despite the modernization efforts involved in producing the USMCA, this paper questions whether the agreement equips these three member states to face the challenges of tomorrow.
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Lunani, Sadat Mulongo. "Understanding regionalisation and preferential relations in world trade law and policy: a perspective from the East African Community (EAC)." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2011. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_6793_1363787835.
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The rapid growth in the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has led to concern about the weakening of the multilateral trading system. This thesis examines the spread of such agreement and the extent to which they pose a threat to the multilateral system. Regionalism and multilateralism are complimentary as shown in the case study of the East African Community. The current regional trade agreement management rules are weak and ambiguous and possible amendments for these rules are proposed
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Oscherov, Valeria. "Three Essays in Empirical Economics." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/51828.
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This dissertation consists of three essays. The first essay estimates a demand function for compressed natural gas as a fuel substitute to diesel fuel for firms with hybrid fleets. The data is from the Energy Information Administration, for the years 1989 to 2009, for 47 states. Results show that an increase of $0.10 in the price of diesel fuel will increase compressed natural gas demand by 5.59%.
The second essay focuses on regional trade agreements (RTAs). A number of studies have found that RTAs significantly increase members' trade flows. While recent studies have begun to explore the reasons for this, none have examined whether the RTA trade effect varies systematically with the number and type of policy areas covered by the agreement. While the empirical trade literature has shed considerable light on the trade-creating ability of RTAs (Grant and Lambert, 2008), much less is known about why these agreements are so successful. In this study, we draw on a new database from the World Trade Organization of trade policy areas covered by RTAs to examine whether the degree of trade liberalization is an important determinant of the RTA trade effect. An augmented, theoretically consistent gravity equation is developed to explore the effects of RTAs on trade, conditional on the policy areas they include. In particular, we investigate two policy areas that are particularly important for agricultural trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures (SPS) and technical barriers to trade (TBT). The results suggest that harmonization of non-tariff measures inside RTAs matters: Agreements that liberalize these policies increase members' agricultural trade by an additional 62 percent compared to agreements that do not. We conclude that studying the components of RTAs -- in particular, the policy areas covered by these agreements -- is important when analyzing the determinants of RTA trade effects.
The third essay uses Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA) to study the effect of membership in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the predecessor to the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the WTO on trade flows. Existing GATT/WTO literature is not univocal as to whether membership in the GATT/WTO increases trade flows. In this study, Bayesian model averaging (BMA) is used in the presence of theoretical uncertainty to address whether membership in the GATT/WTO plays a role in the gravity model. Several datasets are examined: a dataset from a previous study; and two datasets compiled for this study, world trade and agricultural trade. Results show, for all three sets of data, that membership in the GATT/WTO does belong in the gravity equation and increases trade flows.Ph. D.
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Fuentes, Sosa Ninfa. "Deep integration in the preferential trade agreements of Latin American countries and their global and regional partners (1982-2010)." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2014. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1006/.
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Even though for more than 15 years, deep integration in trade agreements has been a recurring topic for politicians, scholars, international institutions, non-governmental organizations, industry leaders and journalists; there is no consensus yet on what deep integration is, and how it can be assessed. There are continuous news reports about the efforts of political leaders to pursue deep integration, and constant mentions about the design of new treaties and mechanisms to achieve deep integration between countries. In general, the proliferation of trade agreements after the Second World War is widely acknowledged in international trade literature and is a trend that will continue in the near future. Along this trend, Latin American governments have established numerous trade agreements with developing and developed partners in all regions of the world. In addition, since the 1950s and 1960s, these governments have acknowledged trade integration as a mean to promote economic development, which makes it increasingly important to understand the wide differences in the nature and levels of deep integration in their trade agreements. Nevertheless, as in other regions, little attention has been paid to explain differences in the content of trade agreements. This research extends an endogenous trade theory framework, first to analyse limited liberalization; and second, to study a group of countries with particular characteristics of opacity and discretional decision-making. The framework adapts a categorization of deep integration, derives preferences of economic actors from economic trade theories, and extends aspects of veto player theory and access point theory to exploit further their potential as an integrated structure of analysis. Then, these three aspects are studied through a collective action framework. Finally, the insight of previous studies that have highlighted the importance of systemic and international variables in the formation and design of trade agreements is considered. The importance of systemic and international theories and variables is not contested; the domestic-level explanations are developed as a complement to the insight that theories of international relations have provided. Two main arguments are put forward The first one is that the underlying depth structure of the trade agreements studied fits a categorization of vertical and horizontal margins, which are qualitatively different: vertical policy benefits are broader and more excludable than horizontal ones. To test this argument, first, the complete texts of all dyadic trade agreements signed by Latin American countries from 1982 to 2010 (256 dyadic agreements) were manually coded to form a database of depth of provisions (a total of 28, 160 data points). To minimize error measurement, entries were compared with those of partially overlapping databases (publicly available or accessed by request). In the following areas, a total of 110 provisions per agreement were coded and measured: antidumping measures and countervailing duties, bargaining position, competition, decision power, dispute settlement mechanisms, environment, global and bilateral safeguards, government procurement, institutional capacities, investment, labour, legitimacy, permanency, number of members, rules of origin, services, technical barriers to trade, type of agreement, and support bodies and mechanisms. To the best of my knowledge, this is the most comprehensive and detailed database of the depth of provisions of trade agreements established by Latin American countries. Next, provisions were analytically assigned to each margin. At the horizontal margin, agreements vary in the extent of the areas covered, the barriers removed in each area, the limits placed to governments when domestic industries face injury, and the coverage and strength of the support and enforcement mechanisms in each area. At the vertical margin, agreements vary in type, legitimacy required for entry into force and for amendments, permanency, and scope of institutional capabilities. Finally, principal components analysis confirmed that each variable aligns in the component to which was analytically assigned. As expected, the analysis highlighted the existence of two main components, which corresponded to the vertical and horizontal margins. The second main argument in this research is that two main domestic aspects contribute to explain the wide variations in nature and levels of depth of the trade agreements established by Latin American countries after 1982. First, changes in the structure of concentration of the export sectors of Latin American countries. Second, the degree of political decisiveness and level of access of societal demands determined by the institutional settings of these countries. After most of the countries abandoned the economic model based in the substitution of imports, in the 1980s, the structure of the export sectors of the countries changed. Two forces pulled in different directions: unilateral liberalization towards concentration and diversification towards deconcentration. On the one hand, agreements vary in the extent of barriers removed in diverse trade related regulatory activities, and in the inclusion of support and enforcement institutions and mechanisms. This research argues that these aspects have implications over the economic benefits that different types of exporters are able to appropriate, and therefore over their preferences over aspects of deep integration and over the intensities of said preferences. Resourceful exporters with scale economies and/or fragmented production increased their static and dynamic gains from trade through vertical and horizontal integration. In addition, this research argues that the different extents of the governments’ political decisiveness and access to societal demands have important implications over the lobbying costs of levels and forms of deep integration, and therefore over the possibilities of different types of exporters to shape trade agreements according to their preferences and priorities. Combining the veto players theory and the access points theory (extending the former to consider competition from rents from lobbying, and extending latter to include settings of imperfect competition), suggests that decreases in the costs of lobbying veto players increased the possibilities of resourceful exporters with increasing returns to scale and/or fragmented production to achieve vertical integration. However, decreases in the costs of lobbying access points without veto power reduced these types of exporters’ advantages of capturing said points, which reflected negatively in horizontal depth. In these cases, predictions about deep integration based on of veto player theory and on access point theory, became conditional on the concentration of the export sector. Cross-sectional regression analysis was performed to test these arguments. The main results and those of robustness tests tended to show direct and indirect support for the arguments put forward in this research.
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Verdiyeva, Seljan [Verfasser]. "The Regional Trade Agreements in the Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus: Is multilateralization of regionalism possible? / Seljan Verdiyeva." Frankfurt a.M. : Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2021. http://d-nb.info/1228749728/34.
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Chaparro, Jorge Armando. "Sectoral and regional allocation of foreign direct investment in Mexico: The impact of NAFTA and EU-MEXICO Free Trade Agreements." Master's thesis, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, 2012. http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-161871.
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This thesis analyze the economic development and FDI prospects in the context of the Free Trade Agreements that Mexico has signed in the context of NAFTA with the United States and Canada, as well as EU-MEXICO FTA with the European Union. The analysis will be focused around the regional allocation of FDI, the analysis of the main industrial sectors where FDI lands and on the most active foreign investors in the country. However, a new series of reforms and measures to advance liberalization have triggered the interest of other countries to invest in Mexico; Most notably, from Europe. These new FDI inflows are being allocated in different regions and shifting away from manufacturing industries into the service sectors and on to new investment opportunities in strategic industries.
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Bektasoglu, Beyhan [Verfasser], and Martina [Akademischer Betreuer] Brockmeier. "Assessing the impact of data disaggregation level and non-tariff barriers in regional trade agreements utilizing the Global Trade Analysis Project Framework / Beyhan Bektasoglu. Betreuer: Martina Brockmeier." Hohenheim : Kommunikations-, Informations- und Medienzentrum der Universität Hohenheim, 2015. http://d-nb.info/1075249384/34.
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Aina, Tosin Philip. "A critical overview of the impact of economic partnership agreement with European Union on trade and economic development in the West African Region." Thesis, UWC, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/3216.
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Commendatore, Pasquale, and Ingrid Kubin. "Looking Ahead: Part I." Springer, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65627-4_5.
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This Chapter summarises the work carried out during the lifetime of the Action by Working Group I whose main task was to build multiregional NEG models. The main results are briefly presented and some of the questions left open are pointed at. Finally, topics for future research are suggested.
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Engelberg, Luciana Costa. "Integração econômica e defesa comercial: medidas antidumping nos acordos regionais de comércio." Universidade de São Paulo, 2013. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/2/2135/tde-10012014-160231/.
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Atualmente, há um debate acerca dos efeitos da aplicação de medidas antidumping entre as partes de um acordo regional de comércio. Discute-se que o emprego de tais instrumentos pode gerar um óbice ao livre comércio e ao avanço da integração econômica negociados em tais acordos. As regras do sistema multilateral de comércio determinam que direitos antidumping podem ser aplicados quando comprovada a existência de dumping, dano à indústria nacional e a relação causal entre estes. Entretanto, mesmo que haja regras sobre a condução de uma investigação antidumping e a aplicação da medida, ainda há muito espaço para a discricionariedade das autoridades nacionais investigadoras. Isso enseja a preocupação de que a aplicação desse instrumento pode conduzir a uma ineficácia dos objetivos de liberalização comercial negociados nos acordos regionais de comércio, além de neutralizar as concessões tarifárias feitas no âmbito desses acordos, em prol do protecionismo de uma indústria doméstica, muitas vezes, defasada e inapta à concorrência internacional. A presente dissertação pretende demonstrar que, à medida que o antidumping representa um potencial impacto negativo aos ideais dos acordos regionais de comércio, sua aplicação é antagônica com os objetivos desses acordos, inclusive no caso do MERCOSUL. Assim, as regras antidumping no âmbito do MERCOSUL deveriam ser repensadas, uma vez que a não aplicação de direitos antidumping no comércio intrarregional permitiria o avanço da integração econômica na região e representaria mais um passo rumo à consolidação da união aduaneira.Currently, there is a debate about the effects of antidumping measures among members of regional trade agreements. It is argued that the use of such instrument can represent an obstacle to free trade and the deepening of economic integration. The rules of the multilateral trading system determines that antidumping duties may be applied when verified the existence of dumping, injury to the domestic industry of the importing country and causal relationship between them. However, even though there are rules governing the conduction of an antidumping investigation and the application of antidumping measures, there is still much room for discretion of investigating authorities. This gives rise to concern that the use of antidumping may lead to ineffectiveness of the goals of trade liberalization and neutralization of tariff concessions made under such agreements, in order to protect a domestic industry, usually outdated and unprepared to international competition. This thesis intends to demonstrate that, as antidumping represents a potential negative impact to the achievements of regional trade agreements, its application among members of a RTA is opposed to the goals of such agreements, including in the case of MERCOSUR. Thus, antidumping rules within MERCOSUR should be reconsidered, since the elimination of antidumping duties on intraregional trade would allow the deepening of the regional economic integration and represent a step towards the consolidation of the customs union.
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Namara, Justine. "Regionalism under the WTO, an impediment or a spur to trade and development in the multilateral trading system :a case study of the EAC." Thesis, University of the Western Cape, 2009. http://etd.uwc.ac.za/index.php?module=etd&action=viewtitle&id=gen8Srv25Nme4_2625_1297925175.
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This research paper pays particular attention to the EAC because of its unique composition of four LDCs46 and 1 DC47 and the fact that three of these countries are landlocked least developed countries (LLDCs).48 The EAC was notified as a RTA to the WTO under the Enabling Clause on 9 October 2000 and registered as a Custom Union49 under WT/COMTD/N/14.50 The notification of the EAC under the Enabling Clause is due to the nature of composition of members therein and to the fact that the Enabling Clause does not require regional trading arrangements to cover substantially all trade, or to achieve free trade in the bloc within ten years after notification. Additionally, it provides an avenue for giving special consideration to the LDCs through making concessions and contributions,51 allows automatic exemptions from MFN (non-discrimination) treatment in favour of DCs,52 and thus allows other WTO members to accord more favourable treatment to DCs in many cases without according the same treatment to other WTO members.53.
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Ndlovu, Precious Nonhlanhla. "Competition law and cartel enforcement regimes in the global south: examining the effectiveness of co-operation in south-south regional trade agreements." University of the Western Cape, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/6286.
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Doctor Legum - LLDCompetition law and its enforcement have become necessary tools in the face of trade liberalisation. Nowhere is this more evident than in the area of cross-border cartels. The global South is steadily becoming aware of this. With the advent of globalisation and trade liberalisation, individual economies have become intrinsically linked. Anti-competitive conduct in one territory may have an impact in another territory. Therefore, an effective regional competition law framework complements trade liberalisation, especially in light of the principal objective of the South-South regional economic communities: the deepening of regional integration, in order to realise economic development and alleviate poverty. Cartel practices, such as, market allocation cartels, are in direct contradiction to this primary objective. This is when enforcement collaborations in South-South regional economic communities becomes crucial. The regional legal instruments of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community, the Southern African Customs Union and the Southern African Development Community make provision for enforcement collaborations among Member States. To facilitate collaboration, regional competition authorities have been created to investigate, among other things, cross-border cartels. Within these economic communities, there is a strong case for enforcement collaborations, as evidence shows that the majority of the firms engaging in cartels are the so-called Regional Multinational Corporations. They operate throughout the territories of Member States. Additionally, the international nature of cartels, such as, private international cartels and export cartels, provide an opportunity for South-South co-operation to be utilised. However, this co-operation has not been utilised to the fullest extent, especially with reference to cross-border cartel activities. This has been attributed to various factors, such as, institutional incapacities, resource austerity, the absence of common procedural rules, the lack of adequate investigatory tools, and political ineptitude. As a solution, this current study makes specific recommendations that are directed at enhancing the effectiveness of South-South collaborations pertaining to cross-border cartel activities.
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Nyomakwa-Obimpeh, James. "Explaining the outcomes of negotiations of Economic Partnership Agreements between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Regional Economic Communities : comparing EU-CARIFORUM and EU-ECOWAS EPAs." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/22996.
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The European Commission has been negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with Regional Economic Communities of African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States since 2002. The outcomes have been mixed. The negotiations with the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) concluded rather more quickly than was initially envisaged, whereas negotiations with West African Economic Community (ECOWAS) and the remaining ACP regions have been dragging on for several years. This research consequently addresses the key question of what accounts for the variations in the EPA negotiation outcomes, making use of a comparative research approach. It evaluates the explanatory power of three research variables in accounting for the variation in the EPA negotiations outcomes – namely, Best Alternative to the Negotiated Agreement (BATNA); negotiation strategies; and the issues linkage approach – which are deduced from negotiation theory. Principally, the study finds that, the outcomes of the EPA negotiations predominantly depended on the presence or otherwise of a “Best Alternative” to the proposed EPA; that is then complemented by the negotiation strategies pursued by the parties, and the joint application of issues linkage mechanism which facilitated a sense of mutual benefit from the agreements.
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Pereira, Poliana de Carvalho. "Acordos regionais de comércio: uma análise dos ganhos não-tradicionais." Universidade de São Paulo, 2008. http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/96/96131/tde-29042008-095115/.
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Paralelamente aos esforços dos países, sob a liderança norte-americana, para a construção de um sistema multilateral de comércio mais livre e mais integrado, o pós-guerra assistiu a esforços regionalistas sob a forma de Acordos Regionais de Comércio (ARCs). Impulsionados pela experiência européia, países na América Latina e na África engajaram-se na formação de ARCs nas décadas de 1960 e 1970, sem grande sucesso, marcando o primeiro momento regionalista. A ordem internacional após Guerra Fria foi marcada pelo reavivamento do regionalismo com a celebração de novos ARCs e o relançamento de antigos acordos, marcando o segundo momento. A formação de ARCs, especialmente a explosão de acordos desde a inauguração da OMC, tem suscitado discussões entre o multilateralismo e o regionalismo, se seriam complementares ou contraditórios. A percepção da importância que assumiram os ARCs na teoria econômica e nas relações econômicas internacionais desperta o interesse sobre os motivos que levam os países a formarem esses acordos e a despenderem tanto tempo e esforço em sua formação. De acordo com a análise tradicional, os países buscam os ARCs como forma de aumentar as trocas comerciais e os investimentos entre os países membros por meio da redução de barreiras alfandegárias. Embora estejam presentes nos ARCs e sejam importantes nos cálculos dos países na formação desse acordo, os motivos tradicionais não conferem um explicação completa, especialmente quando se considera novo regionalismo, marcado por grandes avanços nas liberalizações multilateral e unilateral. O fato é que os países não buscam a integração apenas por suas razões econômicas intrínsecas, configuradas nos ganhos tradicionais, os ganhos expressos em seus acordos. Além dos ganhos comerciais, muitas vezes, mais importantes que os ganhos econômicos, os países têm outros objetivos quando aderem a arranjos regionais. Em busca de uma teoria mais completa para explicar a formação de ARCs, este trabalho se apoiará em quatro ganhos não-tradicionais: acesso seguro a mercados, segurança, suporte para reformas domésticas e incremento do poder de barganha.Alongside with the countries efforts, under the leadership of United States, to the construction of a freer and more integrated multilateral trade system, the post-war period witnessed the regionalist efforts in the form of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). Stimulated by the European experience, countries in Latin America and Africa engaged themselves into the formation of RTAs in the 1960\'s and 1970\'s, without much success, determining the first regionalist period. The international order after the Cold War was marked by the revival of regionalism with the signing of new RTAs and the relaunch of old ones, determining the second period. The formation of RTAs, especially the explosion of new agreements since the inauguration of the WTO, has created discussions between multilateralism and regionalism, if they are complementary or contradictory. The perception of the importance assumed by the RTAs in economic theory and in the international economic relations arouses the interest about the reasons that lead countries to form such agreements and spend both time and efforts into their formation. According to the traditional analysis, countries seek RTAs as a way to increase trade and investment among member countries by reducing customs barriers. Despite being present in RTAs and despite being important in the countries calculation during agreements formation, the traditional motives don\'t grant a complete explanation, especially when considering the new regionalism, marked by great progress in the multilateral and unilateral liberalization. The fact is that countries do not seek integration only by its intrinsic economic reasons, configured in the traditional gains, gains that are expressed in their agreements. In addition to trade gains, often, more important than the economic gains, countries have other goals when they join regional arrangements. Searching for a more complete theory to explain the formation of RTAs, this work will be supported by four nontraditional gains: safe markets access, security, support for domestic reforms and increased bargain power.