Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2003. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The norms governing international trade on the one hand, and sustainable development on the other, have both different origins and objectives. This is the central problem that will be addressed in this research assignment, by analysing the structure, functioning and future of the World Trade Organisation Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM). Though there has been a significant shift from politics to legality, the dispute settlement system is still far from perfect. When looking at recent environmental trade disputes, the stress placed on the system is revealed. •• The focus is on the impact of environmental disputes on the nature and functioning of the DSM, and how these disputes have contributed to the development of international trade law, and the concept of sustainable development. These will all contribute to a greater understanding of the interaction of the World Trade Organisation and the multilateral trading system, and the future role the WTO should play on the agenda for sustainable development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die norme wat enersyds internasionale handel, en andersyds volhoubare ontwikkeling beheer, het uiteenlopende oorspronge en doelstellings. Hierdie is die sentrale probleem wat deur hierdie navorsingsverslag aangespreek word, te wete deur die struktuur, funksionering en toekoms van die Wereldhandelsorganisasie (WHO) Dispute Settlement Mechanism (DSM) te analiseer. Hierdie dispuutskikkingstelsel is nog steeds nie volmaak nie, ten spyte daarvan dat daar reeds 'n betekenisvolle verskuiwing van politiek tot wetlikheid plaasgevind het. As daar na onlangse omgewingshandelsdispute gekyk word, kom die druk wat op die stelsel geplaas word, duidelik na vore. Die fokus word dus met hierdie navorsingsverslag geplaas op die impak wat omgewingsdispute op die aard en funksionering van die DSM het, en hoe die dispute bygedra het tot die ontwikkeling van internasional handelswette asook op die konsep van volhoubare ontwikkeling. Hierdie fokus behoort by te dra tot 'n groter begrip tot die interaksie tussen die Wereldhandelsorganisasie (WHO) en die multilaterale handelstelsels, asook op die toekomstige rol wat die WHO behoort te speel met betrekking tot die agenda vir volhoubare ontwikkeling.

En mai 2009, l’Ontario a adopté la Loi sur l’énergie verte et devint ainsi la première juridiction en Amérique du Nord à promouvoir l’énergie renouvelable par le biais de tarifs de rachat garantis. En novembre 2010, dans son Plan énergétique à long terme, la province s’est engagée à déployer 10,700 MW en capacité de production d’énergie renouvelable non-hydroélectrique par 2018. Il s’agit de la cible de déploiement la plus élevée dans ce secteur au Canada. Les infrastructures de production et de distribution d’électricité comprennent des coûts d’installation élevés, une faible rotation des investissements et de longs cycles de vie, facteurs qui servent habituellement à ancrer les politiques énergétiques dans une dynamique de dépendance au sentier. Depuis le début des années 2000, cependant, l’Ontario a commencé à diverger de sa traditionnelle dépendance aux grandes centrales hydroélectriques, aux centrales à charbon et aux centrales nucléaires par une série de petits changements graduels qui feront grimper la part d’énergie renouvelable dans le mix énergétique provincial à 15% par 2018. Le but de ce mémoire est d’élucider le mécanisme de causalité qui a sous-tendu l’évolution graduelle de l’Ontario vers la promotion de l’énergie renouvelable par le biais de tarifs de rachat garantis et d’une cible de déploiement élevée. Ce mémoire applique la théorie du changement institutionnel graduel de Mahoney et Thelen au cas du développement de politiques d’énergie renouvelable en Ontario afin de mieux comprendre les causes, les modes et les effets du changement institutionnel. Nous découvrons que le contexte canadien de la politique énergétique favorise la sédimentation institutionnelle, c’est-à-dire un mode changement caractérisé par de petits gains favorisant l’énergie renouvelable. Ces gains s’accumulent pourtant en transformation politique importante. En Ontario, la mise sur pied d’une vaste coalition pour l’énergie renouvelable fut à l’origine du changement. Les premiers revendicateurs de politiques favorisant l’énergie renouvelable – les environnementalistes et les premières entreprises d’approvisionnement et de service en technologies d’énergie renouvelable – ont dû mettre sur pied un vaste réseau d’appui, représentant la quasi-totalité de la société ontarienne, pour faire avancer leur cause. Ce réseau a fait pression sur le gouvernement provincial et, en tant que front commun, a revendiqué l’énergie renouvelable non seulement comme solution aux changements climatiques, mais aussi comme solution à maints autres défis pressants de santé publique et de développement économique. La convergence favorable d’un nombre de facteurs contextuels a certes contribué à la réussite du réseau ontarien pour l’énergie renouvelable. Cependant, le fait que ce réseau ait trouvé des alliés au sein de l’exécutif du gouvernement provincial s’est révélé d’importance cruciale quant à l’obtention de politiques favorisant l’énergie renouvelable. Au Canada, les gouvernements provinciaux détiennent l’ultime droit de veto sur la politique énergétique. Ce n’est qu’en trouvant des alliés aux plus hauts échelons du gouvernement que le réseau ontarien pour l’énergie renouvelable a pu réussir. / In May 2009, Ontario adopted the Green Energy and Green Economy Act and became the first jurisdiction in North America to promote renewable energy through advanced feed-in tariffs. In November 2010, in its Long-Term Energy Plan, the province pledged to deploy 10,700 MW of non-hydroelectric renewable energy capacity by 2018, the highest such target in Canada. Electricity production and distribution infrastructure is characterized by high setup costs, low capital stock turnover and long life spans, factors that traditionally entrench energy policy in path-dependent trajectories. Since the early 2000’s, however, Ontario has diverged from its historic reliance on large hydro, coal and nuclear through a series of gradual policy shifts set to expand renewable energy’s share in the overall supply mix to 15% by 2018. The purpose of this thesis is to uncover the causal mechanism behind Ontario`s gradual shift toward the promotion of renewable energy through advanced feed-in tariffs, accompanied by high deployment targets. The thesis applies Mahoney & Thelen’s theory of gradual institutional change to the case of renewable energy policy development in Ontario, providing new insight into the causes, modes and effects of institutional change. The thesis finds that the Canadian energy policy context favors a layering pattern of change, characterized by small, yet cumulative, renewable energy policy gains. The driving force of this process involves coalition building. To achieve renewable energy policy gains, Ontario`s first renewable energy proponents, mostly environmental groups and early renewable energy supply and service firms, had to build a wide-ranging, multi-stakeholder network of allies and lobby government from a unified front, presenting renewable energy as a solution not only to climate change but a combination of other immediately pressing public health and economic challenges. Elements of timing greatly aided the renewable energy network’s campaign. Ultimately, however, the thesis finds that, given provincial governments` ultimate veto power over energy policy, finding allies in the top echelons of government was most crucial to the renewable energy network`s success.

Com o crescente debate a respeito da contribuição do homem nas emissões de gases causadores do efeito estufa, além da pressão da sociedade por um comprometimento maior das lideranças mundiais com políticas de mitigação dos efeitos das mudanças climáticas, faz-se necessário estudar os efeitos que a adoção de políticas climáticas pelos países do chamado Anexo I (desenvolvidos) e pelos que pertencem ao Não-Anexo I (em desenvolvimento) podem ter sobre a economia brasileira. Também é importante analisar como se daria este impacto em um contexto onde o Brasil adotaria políticas de mitigação dos efeitos das mudanças climáticas, principalmente pelo fato do país ser responsável por uma parcela considerável de gases causadores do efeito estufa, devido às atividades relacionadas às mudanças no uso da terra, agricultura e pecuária, bem como pela crescente pressão para um compromisso mundial de esforço de redução de emissões. O presente trabalho buscou estimar cenários para o Brasil, levando-se em consideração políticas ambientais domésticas e internacionais já discutidas ou em aplicação pelos países desenvolvidos, e assim, verificar quais os impactos sobre as economias em termos de bem-estar e produto. / With the growing debate about the contribution of human emissions of greenhouse gases, along with pressure from society for a greater commitment of world leaders with policies to mitigate the effects of climate change, it is necessary to study the effects that adoption of climate policies by the countries of the so-called Annex I (developed) and those who belong to non-Annex I (developing) may have on the Brazilian economy. It is also important to analyze how this impact would occur in a context where Brazil would adopt policies to mitigate the effects of climate change, mainly because the country is responsible for a significant portion of greenhouse gas emissions due to activities related to changes in land use, agriculture and livestock, as well as the increasing pressure for a global commitment to emissions reduction effort. The present study sought to estimate scenarios for Brazil, taking into account domestic and international environmental policies already discussed or implemented by developed countries, and thus determine the impacts on the economies in terms of welfare and product.

Este trabalho teve por objetivo analisar o processo de juridicização do sistema multilateral de comércio, por meio da aplicação do modelo teórico de K. W. Abbott et aI (2000) e contraposição dos resultados obtidos à análise do recurso a elementos normativos para justificação das decisões emanadas do sistema em procedimentos de solução de controvérsias em que foi suscitado o artigo XX(g) do GATT para defesa da medida questionada. Observou-se que, apesar do nível de juridicidade tenha permanecido praticamente o mesmo da passagem do GATT-1947 para a OMC, o recurso a elementos normativos para motivação das decisões foi incrementado. A hipótese demonstrada pelos resultados desta pesquisa é que o enfoque restrito no processo de institucionalização por meio de tratados não permite que sejam refletidas, no processo de juridicização, as alterações ocasionadas por outros elementos, como foi o caso, na presente pesquisa, das regras relativas à conformação dos órgãos auxiliares, à interpretação e à tomada de decisão - sejam elas originadas em tratados, costumes ou princípios. / This research aims at analyzing the legalization of the multilateral trade system, applying the theory developed by K. W. ABBOTT et al (2000) and confronting the results with the leveI of recourse to normative elements to justify the decisions issued on disputes where Article XX(g) of GA TT was used in defense of the challenged measure. Notwithstanding the fact that the legalization of the system did not alter from the GATT-1947 to WTO, more normative elements are used for motivation of the decisions taken by WTO. The research shows that excessive focus on the process institutionalization by treaties does not reflected the changes brought about by other elements, such as the configuration of the auxiliary organs - panels and Appellate Body - and the rules related to interpretation and decision making - be them customary international law or principIes.

A escalada tarifária, isto é, o emprego de tarifas de importação crescentes conforme o grau de processamento de um produto estimula a importação de produtos primários em detrimento dos processados nos mercados importadores que a exercem. O objetivo deste trabalho foi mensurar os ganhos ao Brasil da eliminação da escalada tarifária em produtos do café na UE, e da soja na China e na UE, e comparar com a redução da escalada proposta na Rodada Doha da OMC. Foram simuladas reduções tarifárias e quantificados os impactos comerciais através da modelagem de equilíbrio parcial segundo Laird e Yeats (1986). Pelos resultados, as negociações sob Doha podem reduzir a escalada tarifária incidente sobre os produtos analisados, no entanto, sem a eliminar, o que requereria maiores cortes nas tarifas de importação. Os impactos comerciais, que se mostraram mais expressivos na simulação de eliminação da escalada tarifária do que na de redução sob Doha, indicaram favorecimento das exportações brasileiras de produtos processados, relativamente às de primários. Na UE, o aumento no valor das importações dos produtos brasileiros processados do café e da soja seria 75,4% maior com a eliminação da escalada tarifária do que com a redução conforme Doha. Na China, a possibilidade de eliminação da escalada tarifária também acarretaria em resultados mais expressivos que os obtidos pela redução: 27,4% a mais de farelo, e cerca de 100% e 107% no caso do óleo de soja em bruto e refinado, respectivamente. O objetivo complementar desse trabalho foi verificar os impactos do Diferencial Tributário de Exportação como instrumento para compensar os desestímulos ao processamento doméstico de produtos da soja resultantes da escalada tarifária nos mercados importadores. Assim, foram construídos cenários nacionais de tributação combinados com a aplicação de escalada tarifária nos mercados da UE e da China para verificar os impactos em termos de variação na margem de esmagamento do setor. Pelos resultados, a margem de esmagamento da soja esteve ampliada nos mercados importadores devido às tarifas de importação em: US$ 4,89 por tonelada (ou em 13%) na UE e US$ 14,46 (ou em 37%) na China, em média, em 2007. Na simulação de manutenção da taxação nacional como antes da Lei Kandir, a margem de esmagamento no Brasil poderia ter sido elevada em média em US$ 5,74 (ou 15%) durante o período analisado. Esse aumento teria sido suficiente para contrapor os efeitos da escalada tarifária da UE, mas não da China. O DTE argentino também foi considerado. No período analisado, o aumento da margem interna de esmagamento não se mostrou suficiente para contrabalançar totalmente os efeitos da escalada tarifária da China e da UE. Ainda assim, o aumento de margem proporcionado pôde favorecer o exportador argentino de produtos processados em detrimento do brasileiro na situação corrente. Considerando que, no caso da soja, a Argentina consiste no principal concorrente do Brasil e mantém uma política tributária que favorece a indústria doméstica de processamento em detrimento dos competidores, cabe a defesa do disciplinamento do DTE internacionalmente, além da eliminação da escalada tarifária nos mercados importadores. / Tariff escalation, which is the use of import tariffs that grow according to the processing level of a product, stimulates the imports of primary commodities rather than processed products in importing markets that apply this tool. This papers goal was to measure the gains to Brazil of the elimination of the tariff escalation in coffee products in EU, and soybean products in China and EU. In addition, it aimed to compare these gains to those obtained from the reduction of the tariff escalation, which is being proposed under WTOs Doha Round. Tariff cuts were simulated and trade gains were quantified through Laird e Yeats (1986) modeling of partial equilibrium. The results indicated that Doha negotiations could reduce the tariff escalation currently applied over coffee and soybean chains in the selected markets. However, they are not enough to eliminate them, which would require larger tariff cuts. The increase in EU imports of coffee and soybean processed products from Brazil due to tariff escalation elimination could be 75.4% higher than considering only its reduction under Doha. In China, the tariff escalation elimination would also imply in larger volume of imports than those obtained from the tariff reduction under Doha: 27.4% more of meal, and nearly 100% and 107% of soybean oil, crude and refined, respectively. This paper additional goal was to identify the impacts of the Differential Exports Taxes DTE as a tool to counterbalance the negative impacts over soybean exporting countries of the tariff escalation applied by importing markets. To achieve this goal, national scenarios of export taxes were built up and added to the tariff escalation in the EU and China in order to obtain the impacts in terms of variation of the sectors processing margin. According to the results, due to the import tariffs, the processing margin in the importing markets has been expanded as follows: in US$ 4.89 per tonne (or 13%) in the EU and in US$ 14.46 (or 37%) in China, along of 2007 in average. Simulating the national taxation such as before Kandir law, the soybeans processing margin in Brasil could have been raised by US$ 5.74 (or 15%) in average along of the analyzed period. That expansion would have been enough to compensate the effects of the tariff escalation of the EU, but not the one applied by China. The DTE for soybeans in Argentina was also considered. For the analyzed period, the increase in the internal processing margin was not enough to totally offset China and EU tariff escalation effects. Nevertheless, the raise in the domestic processing margin contributed to benefit the exporters of processed products in Argentina in detriment of the Brazilians in the current situation. Considering that, in the soybean case, Argentina is Brazils main competitor and the country keeps a national taxation structure that favors the domestic processing industry in prejudice of Brazilian industry, it is important to consider the defense of DTE stricter rules internationally, besides the elimination of the tariff escalation in the importing markets.

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Tyrimo objektas – verslo plėtrą įtakojantys Lietuvos Respublikos mokesčiai. Tyrimo dalykas – mokesčių įtaka verslo plėtrai. Tyrimo tikslas – nustatyti mokesčių įtaką smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtrai Lietuvoje. Uždaviniai: 1. Nustatyti smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtros tendencijas apmokestinimo kontekste. 2. Identifikuoti pagrindines smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo apmokestinimo problemas. 3. Atlikus Lietuvos Respublikos smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo apmokestinimo analizę, parengti pasiūlymus Lietuvos Respublikos mokesčių pakeitimams, kurie padėtų skatinti smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo plėtrą. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros ir teisės aktų analizė ir sintezė, ekonominiai-statistiniai duomenų rinkimo ir analizės metodai; rodiklių grupavimo, palyginimo ir grafinio vaizdavimo būdai. Tyrimo rezultatai: • Pirmoje darbo dalyje ištirta smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo būklė ir plėtros tendencijos, įvertinta apmokestinimo uždavinių ir principų taikymas ūkio subjektams, apibrėžta smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo apmokestinimo ypatumai ir problemos. • Antroje darbo dalyje išanalizuota mokesčių įtakos ūkio subjektams vertinimo metodai, išskiriama tiesioginių ir netiesioginių mokesčių bei įmokų įtaka įmonės veiklai, pateikiama apmokestinimo įtakos Lietuvos smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo veiklai ir plėtrai tyrimo etapai. • Trečioje dalyje pateikiama mokesčių įtakos smulkaus ir vidutinio verslo ūkio subjektų plėtrai įvertinti modelio adaptavimo rezultatai, nustatyta įmonės veiklos rezultatų... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Research objective – effective taxation regulation on business expansion in the Republic of Lithuania. Research purpose – taxation influence on business. Research aim – determine taxation influence on small and medium sizes business development in Lithuania Aims: 1. Determine small and medium business development trends in light of taxation 2. Identify major small and medium business taxation problems. 3. Upon completion of analysis, to present suggestions in the Lithuanian regulation of taxation in order to promote small and medium business development. Research methods: analysis and synthesis of academic literature and taxation regulations, economical – statistical data collection and analysis; data compilation, comparison and graphic depiction methods. Research Results: • The first part of the Thesis presents current state of small and medium business, its development tendencies. It has summarized application of taxation aims and fundamentals on business entities and also summarized small and medium business taxation problems and peculiarities. • The second part of the Thesis has analyzed the valuation methods of taxation effect; direct and indirect taxation on business organization; taxation effect evaluation research stages. • The third part of the Thesis presents the research method application results where it has determined the correlation between business development results and taxation burden and as well the effect in the light of exemptions and... [to full text]

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En mai 2009, l’Ontario a adopté la Loi sur l’énergie verte et devint ainsi la première juridiction en Amérique du Nord à promouvoir l’énergie renouvelable par le biais de tarifs de rachat garantis. En novembre 2010, dans son Plan énergétique à long terme, la province s’est engagée à déployer 10,700 MW en capacité de production d’énergie renouvelable non-hydroélectrique par 2018. Il s’agit de la cible de déploiement la plus élevée dans ce secteur au Canada. Les infrastructures de production et de distribution d’électricité comprennent des coûts d’installation élevés, une faible rotation des investissements et de longs cycles de vie, facteurs qui servent habituellement à ancrer les politiques énergétiques dans une dynamique de dépendance au sentier. Depuis le début des années 2000, cependant, l’Ontario a commencé à diverger de sa traditionnelle dépendance aux grandes centrales hydroélectriques, aux centrales à charbon et aux centrales nucléaires par une série de petits changements graduels qui feront grimper la part d’énergie renouvelable dans le mix énergétique provincial à 15% par 2018. Le but de ce mémoire est d’élucider le mécanisme de causalité qui a sous-tendu l’évolution graduelle de l’Ontario vers la promotion de l’énergie renouvelable par le biais de tarifs de rachat garantis et d’une cible de déploiement élevée. Ce mémoire applique la théorie du changement institutionnel graduel de Mahoney et Thelen au cas du développement de politiques d’énergie renouvelable en Ontario afin de mieux comprendre les causes, les modes et les effets du changement institutionnel. Nous découvrons que le contexte canadien de la politique énergétique favorise la sédimentation institutionnelle, c’est-à-dire un mode changement caractérisé par de petits gains favorisant l’énergie renouvelable. Ces gains s’accumulent pourtant en transformation politique importante. En Ontario, la mise sur pied d’une vaste coalition pour l’énergie renouvelable fut à l’origine du changement. Les premiers revendicateurs de politiques favorisant l’énergie renouvelable – les environnementalistes et les premières entreprises d’approvisionnement et de service en technologies d’énergie renouvelable – ont dû mettre sur pied un vaste réseau d’appui, représentant la quasi-totalité de la société ontarienne, pour faire avancer leur cause. Ce réseau a fait pression sur le gouvernement provincial et, en tant que front commun, a revendiqué l’énergie renouvelable non seulement comme solution aux changements climatiques, mais aussi comme solution à maints autres défis pressants de santé publique et de développement économique. La convergence favorable d’un nombre de facteurs contextuels a certes contribué à la réussite du réseau ontarien pour l’énergie renouvelable. Cependant, le fait que ce réseau ait trouvé des alliés au sein de l’exécutif du gouvernement provincial s’est révélé d’importance cruciale quant à l’obtention de politiques favorisant l’énergie renouvelable. Au Canada, les gouvernements provinciaux détiennent l’ultime droit de veto sur la politique énergétique. Ce n’est qu’en trouvant des alliés aux plus hauts échelons du gouvernement que le réseau ontarien pour l’énergie renouvelable a pu réussir. / In May 2009, Ontario adopted the Green Energy and Green Economy Act and became the first jurisdiction in North America to promote renewable energy through advanced feed-in tariffs. In November 2010, in its Long-Term Energy Plan, the province pledged to deploy 10,700 MW of non-hydroelectric renewable energy capacity by 2018, the highest such target in Canada. Electricity production and distribution infrastructure is characterized by high setup costs, low capital stock turnover and long life spans, factors that traditionally entrench energy policy in path-dependent trajectories. Since the early 2000’s, however, Ontario has diverged from its historic reliance on large hydro, coal and nuclear through a series of gradual policy shifts set to expand renewable energy’s share in the overall supply mix to 15% by 2018. The purpose of this thesis is to uncover the causal mechanism behind Ontario`s gradual shift toward the promotion of renewable energy through advanced feed-in tariffs, accompanied by high deployment targets. The thesis applies Mahoney & Thelen’s theory of gradual institutional change to the case of renewable energy policy development in Ontario, providing new insight into the causes, modes and effects of institutional change. The thesis finds that the Canadian energy policy context favors a layering pattern of change, characterized by small, yet cumulative, renewable energy policy gains. The driving force of this process involves coalition building. To achieve renewable energy policy gains, Ontario`s first renewable energy proponents, mostly environmental groups and early renewable energy supply and service firms, had to build a wide-ranging, multi-stakeholder network of allies and lobby government from a unified front, presenting renewable energy as a solution not only to climate change but a combination of other immediately pressing public health and economic challenges. Elements of timing greatly aided the renewable energy network’s campaign. Ultimately, however, the thesis finds that, given provincial governments` ultimate veto power over energy policy, finding allies in the top echelons of government was most crucial to the renewable energy network`s success.

Univ., Diss.--Copenhagen, 2007.