Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Pennsylvania, 1934. / "Selected bibliography": p. 142-153.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-106). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

The issue of tensions between market access and environmental protection is relatively new focus in the domain of international trade. This article suggests solutions to this conflict within the WTO framework so that while pursuing the goals of free trade and promoting development of economy the objective of 'sustainable development' can be achieved at the same time. This article includes an introduction, the main body (three chapters) and conclusion. j The Introduction starts by describing the development of the regimes of market access and environmental protection; it goes on to analyze the causes of the tension between the two and finally emphasizes the importance of resolving this tension within the World Trade Organization (WTO) framework. Chapter One elaborates on the existing principles, regulations and exception in the WTO framework and states that these regulations cannot live up to expectations of the developed countries and environmentalists. The conclusion is that it is impractical for the developing countries to avoid this issue. Chapter Two starts with an inquiry into the crux of tensions between free trade and environmental protection. It goes on to enlist different proposals by academic scholars and compare these principles' application in European Community Treaty (EC) and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), hoping to resolve the tensions between market access and environmental protection. Chapter Three summarizes academic proposals and experiences of EC and NAFTA and discusses possible practical resolutions within WTO including both short-term measures and long-term ones. This chapter concludes by suggesting possible courses of action for China that could allow it to sustain the 'green challenge.' The Conclusion discusses the objectivity and unavoidability of the tensions between the free trade and the environment protection and reinforces the importance of resolving the problem within the WTO framework as well as the necessity of amending related regulations and harmonizing environmental standards of the WTO members.

This thesis uses a comprehensive data set to examine the relationship between Canadian labour market outcomes and several changes in the policy environment. The data set, spanning the period 1981-98, is compiled from a number of comparable surveys and contains information on the demographics and job characteristics of individual workers. The first chapter examines the impact that the tariff reductions of the Canada- U.S. Free Trade Agreement (CUSFTA) had on the inter-industry wage structure in the goods producing sector. Previous studies use industry-level data and consequently are unable to control for either differences in worker composition or divergent wage trends for different worker types. These studies find that tariff cuts either had no effect or increased the relative wages of workers in impacted sectors. In contrast, I use data with information on worker characteristics and find that the relative wages of non-union workers in impacted industries decreased. The second chapter investigates the link between the CUSFTA tariff reductions and several labour market outcomes that are potentially linked to industrial productivity. In particular, I examine whether tariff reductions are related to changes in the (i) the size of firm a worker is likely to be employed with, (ii) the probability that a worker will be represented by a union, and (iii) the mean skill level of workers. Although I find evidence that these outcomes have changed over time, none of them seem to be linked directly to CUSFTA. The final chapter, co-authored with David Green, examines the extent to which the declining market outcomes of successive cohorts of job entrants in Canada can be accounted for by changes in the minimum wage, unionization rate, and industrial composition of employment. A flexible density estimator is used, which allows for a comparison between cohorts across the entire wage distribution. The main findings are that for males, changes in unionization and industrial composition can account for about a quarter of the decline in wage outcomes for new job entrants between 1998 and 1981. Similar results are found for females; in addition, the minimum wage provides a "wall" against further erosion for more recent cohorts of entrants.

This dissertation examines the failure to achieve a final agreement for the Free Trade Area of the Americas(FTAA)at the 2005 Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas. The predominant explanation for this outcome highlights the economic asymmetries and the lack of economic interdependence between the participating states. In view of these structural impediments, based on original field interviews and extensive document analysis, the author goes a step further and argues that these factors were exacerbated by an ideological shift that took place during the decade that the FTAA was negotiated. Specifically, it is argued that the emerging consensus in the hemisphere that was in place at the launching of the FTAA negotiations in 1994 centered on the desirability of economic liberalization; this began to unravel in view of growing political challenges to neo-liberalism in many of the Americas’ social formations. This particular political challenge of economic liberalization emerged against the background of the failure of neo-liberal reforms to achieve their promised results, and the resultant socio-economic polarization. In many social formations, this polarization led to crises of authority, which sometimes opened the political arena to social forces that articulated, to different degrees, alternatives to neo-liberalism. In two countries of import for the FTAA, Venezuela and Brazil, governments were elected which challenged the United States’ leadership within the FTAA negotiations, based on a discourse of state sovereignty. In broader terms, the growing de-legitimization of neo-liberalism in the Americas engendered crises of authority in certain countries, notably in Venezuela and Brazil. This in turn brought forth political dynamics that constrained the United States’ hegemony in the hemisphere, which would have been consolidated by the FTAA. As such, this dissertation draws upon a Gramscian analysis to examine the manner in which crises of authority, rooted in the social formations of the hemisphere, came to be manifested within the institutional framework of the FTAA. Consequently, this work further demonstrates that global governance structures are not only mechanisms through which hegemony is disseminated and counter-hegemony is absorbed, but that they can serve as spaces where hegemony can be confronted and counter-hegemony articulated. / Thesis (Ph.D, Political Studies) -- Queen's University, 2012-01-24 10:01:37.746

Liberalization of textiles and clothing was one of the pillars of the Uruguay Round under the WTO aimed at promoting economic growth, development and alleviating poverty. For over 40 years this sector had been separated from the established principles of liberal trade stemming mainly from protectionist sentiments. The new regime established by the Uruguay Round aimed at integrating the sector into GATT on the basis of its strengthened rules and disciplines in furtherance of its general objective to liberalize trade. This change in international trade rules is a phenomenal development that is bound to have an impact on trade in other areas. The paper explores the liberalization process by analyzing current trends in the textiles and clothing liberalization process. It identifies opportunities and also highlights challenges the process presents to participants in the sector. Although no precise picture of the trade following the full integration can be drawn at this stage, there are some indicators of potential winners and losers explaining both the praises and condemnation in the liberalization debate from the various commentators. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

The sharp decline of tariff trade barriers has been one of the achievements of the world trading system. However, the reduction in tariffs has exposed the many non-tariff barriers that remain. As tariffs continue to fall, there seems to be a corresponding reliance on SPS measures as a source of protection for domestic producers. This underscores the need for a legal framework that can address the fundamental issue of whether a measure validly exists to protect consumers or is merely a 'sham' to protect domestic producers. This thesis argues that the protectionist use of SPS measures undermines the promised benefits of agricultural trade liberalization. Developing countries face numerous problems with regard to SPS measures. This thesis examines these problems and argues that there is a need to strengthen the capacity of developing countries to establish and implement SPS measures; meet the SPS requirements of trade partners; and participate fully in the work of standard setting organizations in the establishment of international standards, guidelines and recommendations. In addition, despite the proposed reductions in tariff barriers stipulated in the WTO Agreement on Agriculture, a lot remains to be done to fully liberalize trade in agriculture. Several issues still need to be addressed in order to enable developing countries to reap the benefits of trade liberalization in agriculture. These issues include market access, domestic and export support, food security and special and differential treatment.

This thesis addresses the German position in the negotiations on the British proposal for a Europe-wide free trade area, on the acceleration of the tariff schedule of the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1960, the formation of EFTA, and the first British application for membership of the EEC. To do this it analyses the attitudes, interests and lobbying efforts of German industry, West Germany's European policy from 1957 to 1963 after the establishment of the EEC and industrial influence on the respective decisions by the Federal Government. The main focus is on the trade relations with Western European countries outside the EEC. Previous historiography has stressed the overriding German economic interest in and corresponding industrial pressures for avoiding trade discrimination by the EEC vis-a-vis the other European members of the OEEC/OECD. It has however failed to address the problem that, despite an alleged political consensus in line with these economic interests. Chancellor Adenauer was able to deliver a policy precluding the Europe-wide solution demanded by parliament, German business, and Ludwig Erhard, the Minister of Economics. It seems to suggest that this policy outcome was mainly a function of Adenauer's personal authority and his constitutional prerogatives as Chancellor. In order to address this central problem, the thesis examines industrial interests at the sectoral level. These are analysed on the basis of a quantitative study of sectoral foreign trade in manufactured products with the countries of EEC and EFTA respectively in the 1950s and 1960s. From other sources it examines the influence which German industry exerted on government policy towards European economic integration. This reveals that industrial interest at the sectoral level in fact gave rise to lobbying pressures for the policy outcome sought by Adenauer, to prevent the large Europe-wide free trade area and to prevent British accession to the EEC. The quantitative analysis shows that for those sectors in favour of the proposed free trade area and British accession the opportunity costs of the failure of these two projects were practically invisible. For sectors in decline and in structural difficulties, on the other hand, both these projects constituted a major threat. The EEC of the Six, however, offered them not only protection against competition from outside, but at the same time considerable export opportunities, particularly in the French and Italian markets. The intra-governmental power struggle over these issues is analysed first with regard to industrial pressure and second to the international framework and the respective constraints and opportunities it provided for domestic policy makers in West Germany. The eventual policy outcome is explained in three dimensions: first in terms of the particular structure of industrial interest and respective pressures; second an alliance between protectionist interests and the specific political agenda of the head of the executive; third in terms of opportunities for the Federal Chancellor arising from the interplay of policy and power at the international level. It is argued that this is a more convincing interpretation and more securely based on the historical evidence.

No description available.

Diss. Örebro : Örebro universitet, 2005.