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Terms modified by WTO Selected AbstractsThe role of organizational size in the adoption of green supply chain management practices in ChinaCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2008Qinghua Zhu Abstract Economic globalization, increasing resource scarcity and environmental degradation have caused green supply chain management (GSCM) to become an important competitive approach for organizations involved in international trade. Using survey data collected from over 200 China-based organizations, we compare the implementation levels of five GSCM practices among small-, medium- and large-sized organizations in China. We find that medium- and large-sized organizations are more advanced than their smaller-sized counterparts on most aspects, but not necessarily all, of these GSCM practices. Future research includes possible studies on GSCM practices and promotion, especially targeting small manufacturing organizations. In addition, the influence of globalization and foreign direct investment, especially after China's entry into the WTO, could be more carefully examined. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] African Countries and the WTO's Dispute Settlement MechanismDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2007Amin Alavi The WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism was designed, inter alia, to secure the ,rule of law' within international trade and provide all members with opportunities to exercise their rights under multilateral trade agreements. But, after ten years, no sub-Saharan African country has yet used the option to initiate a dispute. This article examines what prevents the WTO Africa Group from using the system and critically reviews the solutions they have proposed to remedy this. It concludes by discussing how this reflects broader problems concerning African participation in WTO, and puts forward some alternative proposals. [source] Africa, Tropical Commodity Policy and the WTO Doha RoundDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2007Peter Gibbon Despite their critical importance for Africa, and African efforts to the contrary, tropical commodity problems have been touched on only marginally in the WTO Doha Round. This article examines African proposals in the area, their reception in the WTO, and their relation to the current international policy debate. It goes on to provide an explanation, in political economy terms, for their relative success and failure, before concluding by discussing the prospects for finding any international forum where the issues raised by African countries could receive meaningful consideration. [source] Rights and Access to Plant Genetic Resources under India's New LawDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 4 2004Anitha Ramanna Recognition of ,Farmer's Rights' is an attempt by developing countries to evolve a counterclaim to breeders' Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) promoted under the TRIPs Agreement of the WTO. India is one of the first countries to have granted rights to both breeders and farmers under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001. This multiple rights system aims to distribute rights equitably, but may pose the threat of an ,anticommons tragedy' i.e. too many parties independently possessing the right to exclude others from utilising a resource. If under-utilisation of plant genetic resources results, the Act will have negative consequences for sustaining crop productivity and for the welfare of the very farming communities it seeks to compensate. [source] Investment and Competition Policy in the WTO: Issues for Developing CountriesDEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2002Oliver Morrissey This article uses the case of trade-related investment measures (TRIMs) to examine the liberalisation of investment and its potential impact on developing countries. Very few developing countries actually use TRIMs to any appreciable degree, but, when taken in conjunction with the broader liberalisation of investment, the 1994 TRIMs Agreement has significant implications that will constrain governments' policy options and require issues of competition policy to be addressed. Multilateral competition policy would be difficult to agree and implement and the article considers alternative strategies that developing countries could adopt. [source] Authority through synergism: the roles of climate change linkagesENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 5 2006Björn-Ola Linnér Abstract This article examines the conceptual basis of synergies between the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other international organizations and agreements. It discusses why synergies are made, what kinds there are and their potential consequences. Considering actors' divergent goals, synergies do not necessarily imply win,win outcomes. The article distinguishes between positive and negative synergetic effects, which should be explicated at different levels, such as the differing goals of various agreements, institutions, parties and social groups. Efforts of international organizations to increase synergy can be regarded as attempts to build authority. Yet, synergy is also used by countries to influence this process. Current synergetic efforts may profoundly affect the relocation of authority in global environmental governance, not only by streamlining mandates, practices and objectives, but also by leading to more powerful international organizations (e.g. WTO) increasingly taking precedence over climate change agreements. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] After Cancún: what next for agricultural subsidies?EUROCHOICES, Issue 3 2003Tim Josling Summary After Cancún: what next for agriculturalsubsidies? The collapse of the Ministerial in Cancún highlighted the enhanced role of the developing countries in the WTO and the reduced ability of the US and the EU to manage the trade system. One aspect of these changes has been that developing countries have taken much more interest in the level of domestic support in developed countries. Developed countries believe that the shift of support from production-linked to decoupled instruments has had a positive impact on trade. Developing countries maintain that this reform has not helped them, and has perpetuated inequities in the trade system. Research suggests that the output effect of decoupled support is limited, if not negligible. Such decoupling may be necessary to reform domestic polices. Additionally, domestic policies are being challenged by developing countries using the trade litigation of the WTO. But such challenges risk undermining support for the WTO. Until agreement is reached on these issues there will be little progress in further agricultural trade reform. A political solution must be found that continues the slow process of improvement of domestic farm policies and at the same time offers hope to developing countries that they will benefit from the improvement in the trade conditions for agricultural products. Après Cancún:quel avenir pour les subventions? L'échec de la conférence ministérielle de Cancun met en évidence !e rôle accru des pays en voie de développement à l'OMC, ainsi que la faible aptitude des Etats-Unis et de l'Europe à gérer le système des échanges internationaux. Ces changements impliquent que les pays en voie de développement s'intéressent de plus en plus aux niveaux de protection internes des pays développés. Les pays développés croient que le glissement des aides vers plus de découplage aura eu un effet positif sur les échanges. Mais les pays en voie de développement continuent à penser que ces réformes ne les ont pas aidés, et qu'elles ont perpétué les inégalités du commerce mondial. Le travail présenté ici semble montrer que l'effet du découplage sur l'offre est très faible, voire nul. Peut-être le decouplage est-il utile pour la réforme des politiques internes. Mais, au delà, ces politiques internes sont mises en cause par les pays en voie de développement, qui utilisent à leur encontre les ressources de procédure mises à leur disposition par l'OMC. De telles mises en cause sont de nature à détruire le soutien de l'opinion à l'OMC. II ne faut pas s'attendre à beaucoup de progrès dans les réformes du commerce international agricole tant qu'on n'aura pas trouve un accord sur ces questions. II est done necessaire d'élaborer des solutions qui confortent le lent progrès des politiques internes des pays developpes, tout en offrant aux pays en voie de développement 1, espoir de bénéficier de l'amélioration des conditions des échanges agricoles. Nach Cancún: Was geschieht als nächstes mitAgrarsubventionen? Das Scheitern des Ministerialtreffensin Cancún hob die verbesserte Position der Entwicklungsländer in der WTO und die verminderte Fähigkeit der USA und der EU hervor, das Handelssystem zu lenken. Finer der Aspekte dieser Veränderungen bestand darin, dass die Entwicklungsländer ein sehr viel größeres Interesse am Ausmaß der Inlandsstützung in Industrieländern gezeigt haben. Die Industrieländer glauben, dass sich der Schritt von einer produktionsgebundenen Inlandsstützung hin zu einer entkoppelten Inlandsstützung positiv auf den Handel ausgewirkt hat. Die Entwicklungsländer behaupten jedoch, dass ihnen diese Reform nicht geholfen habe und dass so Ungerechtigkeiten im Handelssystem aufrecht erhalten würden. Forschungsergebnisse legen es nahe, dass sich die entkoppelte Inlandsstützung sehr begrenzt, möglicherweise nur geringfügig, auf die Produktion auswirkt. Eine solche Entkopplung ist möglicherweise notwendig, urn inländische Politikmaßnahmen zu reformieren. Zusátzlich werden die inländischen Politikmaßnahmen von den Entwicklungsländern zur Zeit im Rahmen der WTO-Verfahren zur Beilegung von Handelsstreitigkeiten angefochten. Solche Anfechtungen bergen jedoch immer das Risiko einer abgeschwächten Unterstützung für die WTO. Bis in diesen Punkten Einigkeit herrscht, wird es nur geringe Fortschritte für die Agrarhandelsreformen geben. Es muss eine politische Lösung gefunden werden, welche den langsamen Verbesserungsprozess bei den inländischen Agrarpolitikmaßnahmen voran treibt und welche die Entwicklungsländer zugleich hoffen lässt, von der Verbesserung der Handelsbedingungen für landwirtschaftliche Erzeugnisse profitieren zu können. [source] The Current Status and Prospects of the ,Strategic Partnership' between the EU and China: Towards the Conclusion of a Partnership and Cooperation AgreementEUROPEAN LAW JOURNAL, Issue 6 2007Antoine Sautenet In the absence of a category of ,emerging countries' in international economic law, the Union must adapt its foreign policy with regard to this major economic and commercial power. Relations between the European Community and China are currently governed by a second-generation agreement from 1985. However, a new dynamic has been set in motion since 2003, by the drawing up of preparatory documents by both parties and joint declarations at annual summits bearing on the ,strategic partnership'. Seen in a long-term perspective, this partnership helps provide a measure of predictability in relations between the two partners, through combining elements of ,soft law' and ,hard law'. If the insertion of political dialogue into the strategic partnership seems to alter the coherence of the Union, notably with regard to the difficulties of implementing the dialogue on human rights, the added value of the partnership lies essentially in its economic and commercial aspects, through not only the putting into place of non-binding ,economic dialogues' which cover a large spectrum of the relationship, but also by the multiplication of sector-based accords in numerous areas (maritime transport, customs cooperation, etc.). This constant development has thus allowed parties, at the last annual summit, to envisage the conclusion of a new framework agreement: this is the origin of the mandate given to the Commission in December 2005 to conclude a partnership and cooperation agreement. This article will sketch out a forecast of the legal framework, measured against the yardsticks of Asiatic regional reconfigurations and the law of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The commercial risks of the relationship could imply the integration of the domains known as ,WTO plus' into the future agreement, notably in the field of investments and intellectual property rights, which would introduce a greater variety into the agreement. That being the case, the negotiations risk being equally fragile at the political level, in particular concerning the insertion of a clause of democratic conditionality in the future agreement. Also, any clash between the values and the interests of the EU would be uncomfortably highlighted during negotiations. [source] Changing patterns of human resource management in contemporary China: WTO accession and enterprise responsesINDUSTRIAL RELATIONS JOURNAL, Issue 4 2004Ying Zhu ABSTRACT This study examines the increasingly complex challenges facing human resource management (HRM) in China following the country's accession to the WTO and, consequently, the implications for further reform of government policy and enterprise-level HRM practices. The article concludes that current HR practices among enterprises vary depending on ownership, industrial sector, location and history. The direction of future changes may depend on the level of involvement from external forces as well as internal strategies adopted by Chinese enterprises to survive. [source] How the WTO Matters to Industry: The Case of Scotch WhiskyINTERNATIONAL POLITICAL SOCIOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Andy Smith Although the World Trade Organization (WTO) has spawned a considerable academic literature, as yet research on this organization has rarely been problematized around clear theories of the relationship between law, economics, and politics. Building upon institutionalist premises and concepts drawn from political sociology and industrial economics, this article suggests a means of filling this gap by grasping the "political work" involved in the regulation of specific industries. Illustrated through the case of Scotch whisky, a focus is developed on how the WTO matters to contemporary industry. This reveals that the most powerful actors in industries such as Scotch have developed resources which legitimize their simultaneous engagement in a range of decision-making arenas. These include, but are not necessarily dominated by, the WTO. [source] From GATT to the WTO: The Internal Struggle for External Competences in the EUJCMS: JOURNAL OF COMMON MARKET STUDIES, Issue 5 2006STIJN BILLIET Despite the rise of ,mixity', the Commission is nonetheless the key European player in the WTO, even regarding issues that are not exclusive EC competences. While established integration theories struggle to explain this phenomenon, this article argues that the external institutional context should be brought into the analysis. [source] Giovanni Anania, Mary E. Bohman, Colin A. Carter and Alex F. McCalla (eds): Agricultural Policy Reform and the WTO , Where are We Heading?JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2007Gouranga Gopal Das First page of article [source] Recent international and regulatory decisions about geographical indicationsAGRIBUSINESS : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2008Stephan Marette As worldwide consumer demand for high-quality products and for information about these products increases, labels and geographical indications (GIs) can serve to signal quality traits to consumers; however, GI systems among countries are not homogeneous and can be used as trade barriers against competition. Philosophical differences between the European Union (EU) and the United States about how GIs should be registered and protected led to the formation of a World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute-settlement panel. In this article, we discuss the issues behind the dispute, the WTO panel decision, and the EU response to the panel decision leading to the new Regulation 510/2006. Given the potential for GI labels to supply consumer information, context is provided for the discussion using recent literature on product labeling. Implications are drawn regarding the importance of the panel decision and the EU response relative to GI issues yet to be negotiated under the Doha Round. [JEL classifications: D8, F1, Q1]. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Assessing the distortionary impact of state trading in ChinaAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 3-4 2010Steve McCorriston Trade policy; State trading enterprises; China Abstract State trading is a common feature in the management of imports and exports of agricultural products and it has been a long-standing feature of China's agricultural trade regime. While the use of state trading was modified by China's accession to the WTO, it remains a dominant feature for some commodities, even though there have been recent attempts to diminish its importance. In this article, we review the role that the state trading enterprise (STE), China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Import and Export Company (COFCO), continues to play in the importing and exporting of some agricultural commodities. We then review the economic theory that has been developed to measure the tariff equivalent of importing STEs. Finally, we apply that theory through a calibration exercise to measure the tariff equivalent of COFCO in China's import market for wheat. The distortionary impact of COFCO depends on the bias in government policy toward agriculture, the competitiveness of the domestic procurement market, and also the number of firms that are allocated licenses to import alongside COFCO. [source] Food regulation and trade under the WTO: ten years in perspectiveAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2007David Orden World Trade Organization; technical barriers; sanitary and phytosanitary regulations Abstract This article reviews the performance of the World Trade Organization in the oversight of national regulatory decisions affecting agricultural and food trade. A picture emerges of modest international disciplines on the regulatory decisions of sovereign nations and the need for ongoing improvements. A road map to regulations is presented and empirical assessments of the effects of technical regulation on trade are reviewed. Conflicts over sanitary and phytosanitary barriers raised in the relevant World Trade Organization committee are summarized and formal dispute settlement cases involving technical trade barriers are evaluated. Drawing on these reviews, suggestions are made for improving international food regulation. [source] Impacts of WTO restrictions on subsidized EU sugar exportsAGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2000Daneswar Poonyth Abstract The study evaluates the impact of World Trade Organization (WTO) restrictions on the European Union (EU) sugar sector and the world sugar market. A small reduction in production quotas would be sufficient to satisfy the export subsidy limitations of the Uruguay Round agreement. Complete elimination of export subsidies by 2005 would require either a 10% reduction in production quotas or the combination of an 8% reduction in quotas and an 11% reduction in intervention prices. Higher world prices resulting from reduced EU exports would result in increased production of unsubsidized C-sugar, with different impacts across EU member countries explained by differences in institutional pricing arrangements and marginal production costs. [source] China's WTO accession, state enterprise reform, and spatial economic restructuringJOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2002Simon Xiaobin Zhao China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) promises to have profound effects on the development of the nation's economy and on nationwide enterprise reorganization. This paper attempts to address the relationship between China's WTO accession and state enterprise reforms, and their impacts on the performance of China's spatial economy, including the possible rise and fall of several large national financial centres, such as Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. It is argued that China's new international ties will enhance current enterprise reforms and promote changes in the existing pattern of enterprise organization, with enterprise mergers, acquisitions, takeover activity and the formation of large multinational corporations (MNCs) becoming dominant trends within China's industrial development. Alongside these changes, some economic sectors, such as information technology (IT) and advanced professional services are predicted to become concentrated in several national information ,heartlands,' each having its own well-developed information infrastructure and other comparative advantages over traditional industrial centers. Meanwhile traditional industrial enterprises, while continuing to rely upon their pre-assigned resource priorities, will certainly face fierce international competition in the turbulent global market. The spatial shift of production and trade undoubtedly requires that Chinese enterprises, especially those that are state-owned, reorganize their production-trade systems according to the global ,rules of the game'. All of these changes, due to take effect imminently with China's WTO accession, will fundamentally restructure China's spatial economic landscape, including the creation of a new information heartland and hinterland that will in turn determine the life or death of the country's national financial centres. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] International political marketing: a case study of its application in ChinaJOURNAL OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, Issue 4 2007Henry H. Sun The practice of International Political Marketing can be seen increasingly in the foreign relations of independent states. A review of relevant Political Marketing and International Relations publications reveals close linkage between the two. Based on the review, this paper categorizes political marketing into three aspects: the election aspect, the governing aspect (permanent campaign) and the international aspect of political marketing. The focus of this study is on international political marketing which was defined based on the review. This paper then reports a case study of the utilization of International Political Marketing by the government of the People's Republic of China. It looks at the recent events of China's accession of the WTO in 2001, China's hosting of Sino-African Summit in 2006 and the on going promotion of China's image of ,Peaceful Development and Cooperation'. The paper advances the argument that practically all nation states and international organizations apply International Political Marketing to both their strategic planning as well as conduct of day-to-day affairs. The paper concludes that there is a great demand both at a theoretical as well as practical level for International Political Marketing, requiring further study. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] THE CONTRIBUTION OF THIRD-PARTY INDICES IN ASSESSING GLOBAL OPERATIONAL RISKS;,JOURNAL OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2010KUNTAL BHATTACHARYYA In the face of global uncertainties and a growing reliance on third-party indices to obtain a snapshot of a country's operational risks, we explore the related questions: How accurately do third-party indices capture a country's operational risk, and how does the operational risk of the country, in turn, affect the volume of its import and export supply chains? We examine these questions by empirically investigating 81 member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) using archival data collected from UN agencies, independent think tanks, the WTO, and the Economist Intelligence Unit. We use seven third-party indices to gauge a country's internal environment and map those indices to corresponding country-specific operational risks to further understand the consequent effects of those operational risks on trading volume. Results provide strong evidence for the use of certain third-party indices in assessing operational risk. In addition, operational risks are found to negatively affect the volume of import and export supply chains, albeit in varying degrees. [source] Learning to Dispute: Repeat Participation, Expertise, and Reputation at the World Trade OrganizationLAW & SOCIAL INQUIRY, Issue 3 2010Joseph A. Conti This mixed-method analysis examines the effects of repeat participation on disputing at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Differences between disputants in terms of their experience with WTO disputing processes affect the likelihood of a dispute transitioning to a panel review in distinct ways, depending upon the configuration of the parties. More experienced complainants tend to achieve settlements, while more experienced respondents tend to refuse conciliation. Strategies of experienced respondents are derived from the expertise generated from repeated direct participation and the normalcy of disputing for repeat players as well as the benefits accruing from a reputation for being unlikely to settle. Repeat players also seek to avoid disputes expected to produce unfavorable jurisprudence but do not actively try to create new case law through the selection of disputes. This research demonstrates a dynamic learning process in how parties use international legal forums and thus extends sociolegal scholarship beyond the nation-state. [source] Explaining the profitability of foreign banks in ShanghaiMANAGERIAL AND DECISION ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2003M.K. Leung This paper uses survival analysis to examine the factors determining the time taken for branches of foreign banks in Shanghai, China to make a positive rate of return after entering that market. Particular attributes of banks including the parent bank's size, early entry and the number of branches the bank has in China are found to reduce time to profitability. Market conditions in Shanghai, captured by levels of foreign direct investment and Eurodollar interest rates, are also found to have significant effects. A number of managerial implications are drawn from the analysis in light of the greater access to the Chinese banking markets following China's accession to the WTO. To ensure long-term profitability in Shanghai, the foreign bank needs to contain costs and risks in the new markets, formulate an effective market penetration strategy, identify appropriate customer target groups, attract businesses from firms of different countries, seek early entry and undertake more fee-income generating businesses. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Saudi Arabia's Accession to the WTO: Is a"Revolution" Brewing?MIDDLE EAST POLICY, Issue 1 2006William Clatanoff [source] Document: Terms of Saudi Arabia's Accession to the WTOMIDDLE EAST POLICY, Issue 1 2006Article first published online: 3 MAR 200 This material is a summary prepared by Loeffler Tuggey Pauerstein Rosenthal LLP on behalf of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia. [source] Bringing the Moral Economy back in , to the Study of 21st-Century Transnational Peasant MovementsAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 3 2005MARC EDELMAN James Scott's The Moral Economy of the Peasant (1976) appeared at a time when "peasant studies" had begun to occupy an important place in the social sciences. The book's focus on Vietnam, as well as its novel argument about the causes of rural rebellion, attracted widespread attention and unleashed acerbic debates about peasants' "rationality" and the applicability of concepts from neoclassical economics to smallholding agriculturalists. In this article, I analyze E. P. Thompson's notion of "moral economy" and Scott's use of it to develop an experiential theory of exploitation. I then discuss other influences on Scott, including Karl Polanyi, A. V. Chayanov, and the Annales historians. "Moral economy" and "subsistence crisis" are concepts that Scott elaborated mainly in relation to village or national politics. In the final section of the article, I outline changes affecting peasantries in the globalization era and the continuing relevance of moral economic discourses in agriculturalists' transnational campaigns against the WTO. [source] Industrial energy policy: a case study of demand in KuwaitOPEC ENERGY REVIEW, Issue 2 2006M. Nagy Eltony The purpose behind building the industrial energy demand model was to enable assessment of the impact of potential policy options and to forecast future energy demand under various assumptions, including the impact of the possible removal of energy subsidies in accordance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement. The results of the model, based on three scenarios, underline several important issues: With nominal energy prices staying the same (the status quo) and with inflation and economic growth continuing to expand (i.e. baseline scenario), it is expected that industrial demand will grow. In this sector, energy consumption is projected to grow at an annual growth rate of about 3.5 per cent throughout the forecast period. In the moderate scenario, however, this drops to 1.9 per cent and when all energy subsidies are removed as in the case of the extreme scenario, the energy consumption is projected to grow by only 1.5 per cent annually throughout the same period. Moreover, with regards to inter-fuel substitution, the model forecast indicates that electricity and natural gas consumption will decline, while the consumption of oil products will increase in all scenarios. The results of the model also indicate that the changing price structure of energy resources should be done in a comprehensive manner. In other words, electricity prices should be adjusted upwards instantly with the adjustment of oil products' prices and natural gas otherwise, a massive inter-fuel substitution will occur within the various consuming industries. [source] DOHA, DEVELOPMENT AND DISCRIMINATION*PACIFIC ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 3 2007Bernard Hoekman This paper explores whether moves to achieve the first objective will help achieve the latter, and whether specific actions to pursue more seriously economic development objectives through the WTO could help move the system closer to achieving the goal of non-discrimination. [source] ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF CHINA'S WTO ACCESSION ON INVESTMENTPACIFIC ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 3 2006Terrie L. Walmsley More recently, with China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) a reality, FDI has once again picked up. This paper explores the linkage between WTO accession and investment in China. We find that investment and capital stocks increase substantially. Moreover, foreign ownership of Chinese assets doubles by 2020. Central to this increase is the expected catch-up in the productivity of the services sectors driven by reforms. These estimates are far larger than those predicted by earlier studies, which ignored the reforms affecting Chinese services sectors, and abstracted from international capital mobility. [source] The Politics of Foreign Direct Investment into Developing Countries: Increasing FDI through International Trade Agreements?AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2008Tim Büthe The flow of foreign direct investment into developing countries varies greatly across countries and over time. The political factors that affect these flows are not well understood. Focusing on the relationship between trade and investment, we argue that international trade agreements,GATT/WTO and preferential trade agreements (PTAs),provide mechanisms for making commitments to foreign investors about the treatment of their assets, thus reassuring investors and increasing investment. These international commitments are more credible than domestic policy choices, because reneging on them is more costly. Statistical analyses for 122 developing countries from 1970 to 2000 support this argument. Developing countries that belong to the WTO and participate in more PTAs experience greater FDI inflows than otherwise, controlling for many factors including domestic policy preferences and taking into account possible endogeneity. Joining international trade agreements allows developing countries to attract more FDI and thus increase economic growth. [source] China,Intellectual Property Rights: Implications for the TRIPS-Plus Border MeasuresTHE JOURNAL OF WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Issue 5 2010Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan One of the ground-breaking features of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) is its part III on the enforcement of intellectual property (IP) rights. In early 2009, the first WTO Dispute Settlement Panel Report primarily addressed obligations on IP enforcement. Here, the technical success of the US border measures claim comes with a crucial limitation: those Chinese measures that cover basically all of the commercially relevant activity are ab initio excluded from the panel's findings. Because they go beyond the minimum standards of TRIPS, the panel relied on one of the few TRIPS provisions that specify the relevance of TRIPS for additional "TRIPS-Plus" IP protection and enforcement. Given that such "TRIPS-Plus" measures are increasingly common in national laws and international treaties, it is time to take a closer look at how TRIPS addresses TRIPS-Plus IP protection. With a focus on border measures, I conclude that TRIPS contains not only minimum but also maximum standards or "ceilings" that impose limits on additional IP protection and enforcement. Such ceilings in TRIPS can function as limits for further extensions of IP protection and enforcement,as currently negotiated under a proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement or relating to border measures against generic drugs in transit. [source] TRIPS-Plus Implications for Access to Medicines in Developing Countries: Lessons from Jordan,United States Free Trade AgreementTHE JOURNAL OF WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY, Issue 6 2007Hamed El-Said Since the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 and implementation of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) as a result, the United States (US) sought to impose still higher levels of intellectual property rights on developing countries, a phenomenon that is commonly known today as TRIPS-Plus. The Jordan,US FTA, signed in 2001, contains several TRIPS-Plus rules that restrict the poor's access to medicines, and is today touted by US officials and the US Trade Representative (USTR) as a success, and providing a wide range of benefits. These benefits not only include a higher growth rate, but also more specific benefits to the pharmaceutical sector in particular, such as an improved ability to develop generic medicine and engage in new innovative research, as well as increasing the presence of and collaboration with multinational drug makers. This article analyzes in detail the TRIPS-Plus provisions of the Jordan,US FTA. It challenges the claims that the FTA brings general and specific benefits to developing countries, and provides fresh evidence which strongly suggests that benefits from the Jordan,US FTA have been largely exaggerated while the costs underestimated. [source] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||