The main objective of the doctorate thesis was to explore the causes of the current state of relations between the EU and Russia and to provide substantiation for future effective cooperation. The main analytical assumption of the thesis is that deeper regional economic cooperation creates positive effects for improvement of economic relations. Based on that assumption a complex exploratory framework with solid theoretical grounding was created in order to evaluate potential gains from trade liberalization scenarios between the EU and Russia. Main research is focused on the three following areas: historical background of economic relations, current developments and perspectives of the future cooperation in light of trade liberalization. Historical background of common economic relations stems from political and economic development on both sides, legal and institutional framework and problematic areas. Current development of trade and economic relations is based on analysis of trade flows in goods, trade in services and capital flows. Analysis of the future development is based on three liberalization scenarios: - Accession of Russia to the World Trade Organization (WTO), - Free trade agreement (FTA) -- scrapping customs tariffs between the EU and Russia, - Comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA+) -- reduction of non-tariff barriers to trade, liberalization of trade in services and capital flows, regulatory harmonization. Meta-analysis of different computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling is used to evaluate the liberalization scenarios. Research results proved positive effects of trade liberalization for both sides. However, comprehensive free trade agreement seems to be the most effective form of trade liberalization with maximum economic welfare gains for the EU and the Russian Federation.

O Brasil possui um grande potencial agrícola e deve ampliar suas exportações para reduzir o déficit em transações correntes. No entanto, as exportações agrícolas brasileiras estão sujeitas a restrições tarifárias e não-tarifárias nos Estados Unidos e na União Européia, mercados importantes para o Brasil. Este trabalho visou a avaliar a incidência de picos tarifários, quotas tarifárias, barreiras técnicas e barreiras sanitárias e fitossanitárias sobre o valor das exportações agrícolas brasileiras nos Estados Unidos e na União Européia, definir as medidas de proteção mais usadas por cada um desses parceiros comerciais e verificar os principais produtos e complexos agrícolas sujeitos a essas medidas no ano 2000, através da utilização dos índices de cobertura e freqüência. / Brazil has a large agricultural potential and must increase its exports to reduce the deficit in current transactions. However, Brazilian agricultural exports are subject to tariff and non-tariff trade restrictions in the United States and European Union, which are important markets for Brazil. The purpose of this theses was to evaluate the importance of tariff peaks, tariff rate quotas, technical barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary measures over Brazilian agricultural export value in the United States and European Union, to define the protection measures applied by each of these trade partners and verify which are the main agricultural products subjects to these measures in the year 2000, by the use of frequency and coverage indexes.

This study examines economic integration within the European Union (EU) as a factor in conflict transformation and peace-building. European responses to causes of frequent conflicts and wars after the end of WWII focused on the search for peace, economic cooperation and prosperity. This thesis will focus on three elements: economic interdependence, the expansion of the free market, and economic integration. In-depth examination of these factors reveals that economic interdependence or the exchange of goods and services across inter-state and international boundaries only, is not sufficient to bring peace among states. Economic inter-dependence may reduce the impact of war, but cannot maintain sustainable peace. Unfair competition fanned by economic nationalism was a strong obstacle to free trade in Europe in the early 19th century. In the 21st century, the expansion of free trade, with increased understanding has enhanced reduction in interstate conflicts. However, free trade, in and of itself does not constitute a strong factor for a sustainable peace. Free trade may encourage democracy, but the expansion of free trade coupled with interdependence, does not bring sustainable peace. The EU has successfully established sustainable peace through economic integration-the creation of the single market that established freedom of movement, people, goods, services; and a single currency that facilitates easy transactions. The single market also abolished tariffs and custom duties. By and large, economic integration within the EU has been successful in creating a sustainable peace because economic interdependence, and the expansion of the free market have been combined with political integration by building democratic institutions at the intergovernmental and transnational levels.

<p>The EPA&rsquo / s will have an impact on regional integration in Africa, especially in the SADC region. The region has been split between the SADC and ESA EPA configuration therefore impacting on regional integration objectives set out under the SADC Trade Protocol.The EPA&rsquo / s will be concluded separately with six of the sub groupings under the ACP grouping. With the EU-SADC EPA negotiations has come a problem of overlapping of membership of the different regions which has created confusion and conflicts. Members of Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) did not all enter into the EU-SADC EPA has one. The EU-SADC EPA configuration consists of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania. The rest of the SADC member states are negotiating with the EU-ESA configuration. With South Africa having been allowed into the negotiations, its role should be examined and what it can contribute to the negotiations. Another conflict that has been created is the fact that South Africa has its own bilateral agreement with the EU thus putting stain on the trade relationship between South African and the rest of the SADC countries.</p>

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

University of Macau / Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Department of Government and Public Administration

<p>The tri-partite initiative in and for Africa has been accompanied by high levels of optimism since its political endorsement in 2008. It provides for an opportunity to resolve a host of problems with regards to regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. The overall aim of this study is to explore the prospects and challenges towards realising the Tri-partite Free Trade Area&nbsp / (T-FTA) in and for Africa. This study is pragmatic and implicitly seeks to uncover how the T-FTA could contribute to the African Regional Integration Project (ARIP), given the challenges that&nbsp / regional integration face in Africa. Regional integration has a long and rich history in Africa, which started at thehave been weak since the start and persist in its superficial nature with littledevelopmental impact. The reasons for the lack of meaningful integration in Africa are wide-ranging and span national, regional and system level analytical viewpoints. They encompass&nbsp / areas such as developmental levels, political will, respect for regional architecture, overlapping membership and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). These factors impact on the&nbsp / integration process in Africa and explain in varied ways why there has been little comprehensive economic integration. The starting point was to define the complex concept of regional integration. The dominant factors that define and affect regional integration in this study are that it is a state-based exercise, driven by economic integration, and influenced by the global political economy of the day. It was determined that Africa has adapted its regional integration strategies according to the shifts and influences in the global political economy on states,&nbsp / emanating from the post WWII period to the present day. The mpact of the global economy on Africa since independence was great and is viewed impact on the integration process. Regional integration is essentially a state to state&nbsp / pursuit for integration. Essentially, regional integration is being pursued by states that are still struggling to consolidate statehood, and this leaves little space to move towards a regional approach. However, given the dynamics of a globalised world, regional integration as a strategy is no longer questioned in Africa and is an important component of its developmental agenda. Clarifying the T-FTA was important, and this was done in order to highlight what the tri-partite initiative is and is not. This provided for an opportunity to&nbsp / investigate what the dominant areas are that have informed the emergence of the tri-partite process. The former was found to be largely economic in nature, focusing on harmonising the trade&nbsp / regimes of COMESA, EAC and SADC as a primary motivation. The tri-partite initiative will facilitate and encourage the harmonisation of trade regimes by stressing market integration,&nbsp / infrastructure development and industrialisation, coupled by a developmental approach. This is promising, as the tri-partite initiative seeks to simultaneously deal with many issues that have&nbsp / been commonly associated with the problems that regional integration face in Africa. When viewing the negotiating context, as well as the principles upon which it is to be based, indicate though, that Africa still favours individual state interest that will be hard to reconcile given that the tri-partite region currently has 26 participant states. In terms of economic integration, the T-FTA&nbsp / seeks to put new generation trade issues on the agenda by including services, movement of persons as well as trade facilitation, all of which have been found to be important in realising a&nbsp / trade in goods agenda that is the focus of regional integration in Africa. Analysing the grassroots realities of the market integration pillar offered some valuable insights towards the purposes&nbsp / of this study. The market integration pillar is inundated with challenges, with Rules of Origin (RoO) being the primary challenge towards consolidating the trade in goods agenda on a tri-partite&nbsp / level. New generation trade issues are going to be equally difficult to realise, given that they have no implementation record in the individual Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Promising though is that trade facilitation has already seen positive results by resolving non tariff barriers in the regions.Infrastructure development is equally challenging, although it provides&nbsp / a significant opportunity to create better connectivity (physical integration) between states. In lot of pan-African goals that directly feed into initiatives of the African Union (AU) pillar has not as yet created any concrete tri-partite plans, so it remains to be seen what can be achieved. Ideally, industrialisation is viewed as the pillar that will solve the supply-side constraints of African&nbsp / economies hence, strengthening the trade in goods agenda in the regions. Even though the T-FTA has practical challenges to implementation, there are at least two underlying factors that&nbsp / indirectly affect the prospects of realising the tripartite initiative. The EPAs are an emergent threat in that they run parallel to tripartite negotiations / and respect for a rules based integration process, are issues that warrant consideration. Fundamentally, in order to achieve a successful T-FTA will require a shift in the way business is done in African integration. African states need&nbsp / to realise that their national interests are best served through cooperation, in meaningful ways. Inevitably this requires good faith as well as ceding some sovereignty towards regional goals. Thus, there is a risk that the T-FTA not realised. The fundamentals of political will, economic polarisation and instability have to be resolved. This will lay an appropriate foundation for the&nbsp / tripartite initiative to be sustainable, with developmental impact. </p>

Originally presented as the author's thesis: Universität Göttingen, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

台灣的國內生產毛額及薪資在過去十幾年來相當的穩定,但是生活水準卻仍然一直提升。這種矛盾現象來自於新台幣的名目跟實質匯率背離,在先進國家裡面是相當罕見的。本論文研究了台灣與國際經濟的整合、貨幣政策、政治局勢以及收支平衡帳等因素,並了解他們跟此矛盾之間的潛在因果關係。由於台灣未能充分參與最近一波的全球化浪潮,使得它的價格體系跟國際水準脫勾。而對外投資、外匯累積,以及傳統商業跟文化結構等因素,共同創造了現有獨特的低物價水準環境。為了防止這種長期的價格扭曲影響,台灣的國際政治情勢必須改善,或至少跟經濟行為能力分離。唯有如此,台灣的經濟情況才能恢復正常,讓實質跟名目匯率的差距縮小,(以美金計價的)名目國內生產總值和工資也才能成長。 / Taiwan’s GDP and wages have remained steady for more than a decade, though the living standard continued to rise. This paradox is induced by the New Taiwan Dollar’s nominal and real exchange rates diverging, an anomaly amongst advanced economies. Investigating ongoing international economic integration, Taiwan’s monetary policy, political situation, and balance of payments unveils the underlying causality. Taiwan could not participate in the most recent wave of globalisation, insulating its price level. In combination with outgoing investments, reserves accumulation, and its traditional business culture and structure, this has created an area of inimitable low prices. In order to prevent distortionary long-term effects, Taiwan’s political situation needs to either be resolved, or separated from its economic capacity to act. Only then can Taiwan’s economic situation normalise and the real/nominal exchange rate spread fade, which implies an increase in nominal GDP and wages (measured in USD).

Questa tesi offre un’analisi complessiva della posizione e del ruolo giocato dall’Argentina nell’economia globale durante l’ultimo decennio, attraverso l’uso di diverse metodologie tipiche dell’analisi economica. La ricerca parte dall’analisi della dimensione economica interna del Paese, fornendo uno studio della struttura produttiva dell’Argentina e del suo sviluppo economico. In seguito l’analisi si focalizza sullo studio delle variabili determinanti dei flussi commerciali dell’Argentina con i suoi partners regionali tramite un’applicazione econometrica del modello gravitazionale. Infine, si concentra sull’analisi del ruolo dell’Argentina nella gestione dell’economia globale studiandone il ruolo nel Fondo Monetario Internazionale, nel G20 e nel MERCOSUR attraverso un approccio di International Political Economy. Il risultato principale è la scoperta dell’esistenza di un collegamento tra la dimensione interna e quella esterna. Infatti la persistente instabilità macroeconomica e inappropriate politiche economiche adottate a livello nazionale provocano una perdita di competitività globale che potrebbe danneggiare nel lungo periodo la performance economica dell’Argentina, ostacolandone il raggiungimento dello status di Paese completamente sviluppato. Inoltre, populismo e nazionalismo economico stanno isolando l’Argentina dal resto della regione sudamericana e dal mondo, portando il Paese verso la condizione di ‘pariah’ nelle relazioni internazionali. / This thesis offers a comprehensive analysis of Argentina’s position and role within the global economy during the last decade, adopting different methodologies of the economic analysis. The focus of the research starts from the analysis of the domestic economic dimension of the country, providing a study of Argentina’s economic structure and development pattern. It then examines the study of the determinants of Argentina’s trading flows with its regional partners with an econometric application of the gravity model of international trade. It finally focuses on the analysis of Argentina’s global inclusion in the management of the global economy through the description of Argentina’s behavior in the IMF, the G20 and MERCOSUR with an approach taken from International Political Economy. The main finding is that there is a link from the internal to the external dimension, since persistent macroeconomic instability and inappropriate economic policies result into a lack of global competitiveness which might affect in the long run the economic performance of Argentina, preventing it from achieving the status of a completely developed country. Moreover, populism and economic nationalism are isolating Argentina from the rest of South America and the world, driving the country to the status of a ‘pariah’ in international relations.