Thesis (doctoral)--Helsinki School of Economics, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1984.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

No description available.

Since the liberalization of international trade intensified in the middle of the XXth century, some States wished that goods and services containing a cultural value be put aside from the process of liberalization by means of a cultural exception. Others, on the contrary, considered that cultural industries constitute commodities entirely subjected to the principles of free trade. This thesis analyzes the present debate in order to determine if the cultural value of certain industries is enough to justify a specific treatment in international trade. For that purpose, the study goes back to the historical origins of the problem and attempts to determine if these industries have a specificity, particularly by analyzing their role in a society and by examining their legal nature. Based on these considerations, during the negotiations of the international trade agreements, some States intended to impose their point of view. Some of the latest agreements hold a specific regime to the cultural sector, whereas others did not refer explicitly to these. However, several governments have implemented support measures for their cultural industries, something other States considered violations to the principles of free trade and attacked them on political and legal grounds. Finally, this thesis examines the recent evolutions of the debate, especially at the time of the new round of negotiations within the framework of the WTO. It analyzes, as well, the new questions given arise by the development of new technologies, the new strategies of the States, and the solutions proposed to solve this debate. Most of these solutions refer to the cultural diversity concept, which, in a sense tend to appear as a political objective, which will make it possible to draw some legal conclusions in the field of international trade.

The objective of this dissertation is to examine the effect of recent trade policy changes on trade and economic growth for southern Africa. This is accomplished by using a dynamic panel data modeling approach to examine the effect of openness on economic growth during the 1990s. The gravity model and Tobit maximum likelihood estimation are used to examine the effect of trade policy changes and two types of spatial separation on the likelihood of trade. The two types of spatial separation are distance and preferential trading arrangements. This study uses sophisticated econometric techniques and a more complete sample of countries than previous studies on southern Africa. / The results show that distance impedes the likelihood of trade. Trade policy changes and the preferential trading arrangements, SADC and COMESA, enhanced trade in southern Africa during the 1990s. The trade stimulating effect was larger for SADC membership. However, some members benefited much more from the existence of preferential relations than other members. The study results indicate that openness affects economic growth.

Intra-industry trade is a recent development in international trade theory. This study attempts, for the first time, to measure the extent of intra-industry trade in South Africa. It is found that approximately a one-third of total South African trade is of the intra-industry type. The first chapter places theoretical developments accounting for intra-industry trade in relation to the conventional models of trade. This chapter is followed by a detailed coverage of seven models that allow for intra-industry trade, in order to ascertain the major determinants of intra-industry trade. A third chapter examines the "existence problem" and discusses measures of intra-industry trade and a fourth chapter estimates the level of intra-industry trade in South Africa. Statistical analyses of the major determinants of intra-industry trade were generally successful, except for the poor performance of product differentiation proxies. A final chapter concerns the commercial policy and welfare aspects of intra-industry trade, concluding that there are gains to be had, from social and political changes within South Africa, if such changes lead to greater economic integration and cooperation in the Southern Africa region. / Thesis (M.Com.)-University of Natal, 1987.

Thesis (M.Ec.(Rsch.))--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Economics, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-174).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1955. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 367-370).