Thesis (doctoral)--Universität Münster, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 199-206).

A debate over environmental policies and trade competitiveness, “Do environmental policies really matter to impact trade competitiveness?” still exists during the past decade. The thesis aims at investigating the impact of WTO-EU environmental policies for the international olive oil market on production and export competitiveness of developing countries. In particular, we focus our analysis on the agro-industrial sector in the Arab countries, and we take specific reference to the case of the olive oil agro-industrial sector in Syria. In the frame of a partial equilibrium trade model, we incorporate the “end-of-the-pipe” environmental policies which in turn enhance the productivity of the polluting input. Moreover, a part of the burden of environmental compliance may be shifted onto foreign consumers. The most novel part of our model consists of the augmented effect of compliance with environmental policies, which includes not only the standard impact on the effective product price, but also on the input shadow price. The empirical findings, based on Syrian data, provide strong support to the Porter Hypothesis and its application to international markets for agro-industrial products. Accordingly, the study disproves the legitimacy of concerns that stricter environmental policies in developing economies may have negative impacts on their production and export competitiveness. In contrast, our results show that compliance with environmental policies under the large country assumption has positive effects on their international competitiveness of environmentally sensitive sectors, in particular. Therefore, the policy implications suggest the implementation of strict environmental regulatory policies supporting environmentally sound technologies.

This aim of this thesis will be to first address the issue of the direct applicability of the GATT within the national framework, mainly through the use of an analysis of the considerations that such a denial of the direct effect of the GATT is based upon, to understand if there are real obstacles to its implementation, before examining the harmful effects this of denial. The analysis will focus on the situation in both the European Union and the United States, these two countries being two of the most important trade partners in the WTO, before suggesting various solutions that could be adopted to implement the direct effect of the GATT in order to benefit both individuals and the WTO members. / However, since WTO members are still highly opposed to the recognition of the direct effect of the GATT, the unlikelihood of its implementation, at least in a short term perspective, will lead to an analysis of the situation directly at the WTO level. This will permit us to further conclude, whether it would be possible to find solutions to palliate the problems arising out of the denial of the direct effect of the GATT at a national level. Indeed, in the last part of the analysis undertaken in this work, various ways to remedy the deficit of democracy will be explored, examining alternatively the best vectors that could be used: individuals or NGOs, in order to enhance the legitimacy of the WTO which is principally under attack.

Magistro studijų baigiamasis darbas, 65 puslapiai, 18 paveikslų, 3 lentelės, 57 literatūros šaltiniai, 1 priedas, lietuvių kalba. RAKTINIAI ŽODŽIAI: integracija, globalizacija, Pasaulio prekybos organizacija, rinkų liberalizavimas, žemės ūkis. Tyrimo objektas – Lietuvos žemės ūkis globalizacijos sąlygomis. Darbo tikslas – išnagrinėti globalizacijos poveikį Lietuvos žemės ūkiui, remiantis šiuolaikine globalizacijos koncepcija. Iškeltam tikslui pasiekti sprendžiami šie uždaviniai: 1) išnagrinėti pokyčių žemės ūkyje globalų kontekstą; 2) išanalizuoti globalizacijos poveikį Lietuvos žemės ūkiui; 3) atskleisti žemės ūkio vystymosi problemas ir perspektyvas globalizacijos sąlygomis. Tyrimo metodai – mokslinės literatūros analizė, indukcijos, dedukcijos, statistinių duomenų rinkimo ir analizės, grafinio vaizdavimo metodai. Darbe naudojami mokslinių leidinių straipsniai, monografijos, Europos Sąjungos ir Lietuvos žemės ūkio ir kaimo plėtotės strateginiai dokumentai, teisiniai dokumentai, konferencijų bei interneto puslapiuose surinkta medžiaga, Lietuvos Statistikos departamento prie Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės bei Pasaulio prekybos organizacijos, Pasaulio banko elektroninės statistinės informacijos duomenų bazių informacija. / The final work of University Postgraduate studies, 65 pages, 18 figures, 3 tables, 57 references, 1 appendix, Lithuanian language. KEY WORDS: agriculture, integration, globalization, liberalization of markets, World Trade Organization. The object of research – Lithuanian agriculture in the context of globalization. The aim of work – to analyze the impact of globalization on the Lithuanian agriculture on the ground of the modern globalization conception. Seeking the aim, the tasks are: 1) to analyze the changes of agriculture in the context of globalization; 2) to analyze the impact of globalization on Lithuanian agriculture; 3) to identify the development problems and perspectives of agriculture in the context of globalization. Methods of research – the analysis of scientific literature, induction, deduction, statistical data compilation and analysis, graphical depiction methods. According to scientific publication articles, monographs, strategic documents of EU, Lithuanian agriculture and rural areas development, legal documents, material gained on the conferences and internet, Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania and World Trade Organization, World Bank database information.

China, a nation inhabited by one fifth of the world's population and often referred to as "the sleeping giant", is undergoing significant transition. China, subject to domestic changes in its quest for a new balance between traditions, socialist notions and market economy, defines its new role in a changing world that drives towards the globalization of trade in goods and services faces. / This study examines the Chinese position regarding two aspects significant for both China's domestic process of transition and China's international role: telecommunications and banking services. The first chapter examines the general international framework of the GATS with respect to telecommunications and financial services. This includes, inter alia, a study of the legal framework, comprising in particular the WTO Financial Services Agreement and the Basic Telecommunications Agreement. Chapter Two provides an overview of the Chinese telecommunications and banking sectors. This Chapter focuses on the historical and cultural background influencing the process of domestic deregulation and internationalization of these sectors. Chapter Three features an assessment of the Sino-US WTO Agreement on the telecommunications and banking sectors. In the course of this study, a number of concerns and probable consequences can be identified for both sectors examined. / Will "the sleeping giant" move on towards complete market liberalization, or is that prospect merely a castle in the air? This study explores how the China's legal framework governing these two key sectors might unfold.

International conventions signifies international trade, which in itself would be ineffective if there were no dispute settlement mechanisms. This essay intends to examine how dispute settlement mechanisms between states have developed over the years and a large emphasis is placed on the World Trade Organizations (WTO) Dispute Settlement Body since it’s had great significance for the efficiency of international law. In order to show the need for dispute settlement mechanisms, a background to the conventions that have called for the development of the DSB is in order. This essay focuses on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), and the agreement that currently regulate intellectual property rights, Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), but also its connection to the DSB. The current negotiations between the EU and the USA for a free trade agreement, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is also mentioned since it intends to serve as a global model once settled. The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyze the emergence of the TRIPS agreement, and its relation to the dispute settlement mechanism of the WTO.

Media critics and scholars have questioned and tried to define the role newspapers play in society for many years. Answers range from impartial observer to watchdog to social advocate. To understand how newspapers' roles are defined, this study looked at agenda-setting research, social responsibility theory, and conflict-reporting research. This study focused on coverage of a protest that turned violent. The objective was to evaluate newspaper content and identify paragraphs of coverage as issue-centered, event-centered, or neutral.Two coders evaluated 5,383 paragraphs of coverage in 300 articles that appeared in five newspapers between Nov. 29, 1999, and Dec. 5, 1999. The articles covered the World Trade Organization ministerial meeting that took place during that time in Seattle, Washington. Thousands of demonstrators went to Seattle to protest a variety of issues, including globalization, child labor, free-trade barriers, and pollution.Two local newspapers and three national newspapers were analyzed. Local newspapers were found to favor event coverage over issue coverage. National newspapers were found to favor issue coverage over event coverage.Chi-square analysis confirmed significant difference between issue and event coverage at each newspaper. Further analysis revealed an even greater difference between page-one stories' issues and events at the local newspapers. National newspapers showed balanced coverage in their page-one paragraphs. / Department of Journalism

This thesis argues that globalization is creating increased need and opportunities for Indigenous rights advocacy/participation within emerging institutions of global governance and analyzes the possibilities and limitations of Indigenous advocacy at the WTO, drawing on the experiences of First Nations from the Interior of British Columbia. It begins by examining how governance is shifting in the context of globalization, pointing to the emergence of an integrated global economy, the rise of supranational regulatory regimes such as the WTO, and the increased power and significance of non-state actors.within the global political-legal arena. It then analyzes how globalization is affecting Indigenous peoples and moreover, how Indigenous peoples have been responding to this through transnational advocacy efforts. The author argues that given the shifting nature of governance, and the growing significance of intergovernmental organizations (i.e. the WTO), it is prudent for Indigenous rights advocates to expand the parameters of their advocacy - to seek out non-traditional spaces at both local and global levels to assert Indigenous voices where they have traditionally been rendered absent. Adopting Boaventura de Sousa Santos' subaltern cosmopolitan legality perspective, the author then turns to examine how First Nations from the Interior of BC have used a multiplicity of legal techniques and strategies across a "plural legal landscape" to simultaneously assert their Indigenous rights over their forest resources and to challenge the dominant neoliberaI conception of economy. The author examines the political and legal mobilization of BC Interior First Nations from local acts of resistance against BC government forest policies to global acts of resistance vis a vis the submission of amicus curiae briefs to the WTO in the Canada-United States Softwood Lumber Dispute. In analyzing this struggle the author illustrates how globalization has created the need and opportunity for BC First Nations to locate new directions of advocacy, and how they have reinvented law to fit their objectives and enable their access to traditionally "closed" political-legal arenas. Upon conducting an examination of the BC Interior First Nations' experiences, the author then critically evaluates the possibilities and limitations of Indigenous advocacy at the WTO. The author finds that while amicus curiae submissions provide some possibility to strengthen Indigenous rights by raising awareness about the linkages between international trade and Indigenous rights within the international trade arena, there are significant limitations that must be considered in pursuing such advocacy. The author concludes with recommendations concerning how Indigenous rights advocacy may be approached in the context of shifting governance relations.

Doctoral Thesis--Universität Bern, 2004. / Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (p. 375-388) and index.

Zugl.: Münster (Westfalen), Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.