Trade policy and protectionism. Previous crises experiences, Great Depression. Protectionism and current crisis, measures taken by important states. WTO and current crisis, influence of the crisis on the Quatar Round.

Thesis advisor: Robert Murphy / In this paper, I explore the connection between governance and economic growth. Economic growth has been a phenomenon experienced by some countries, but totally lacking in others. This paper explores the role of governance on growth, utilizing the governance indicators developed by the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators project. I develop a model that is a synthesis of the Solow Growth Model, as well as the growth models developed by Burnside and Dollar (2000) and Kaufmann and Kraay (2002). My results conclude that governance is linked with economic growth through two channels: first, governance and economic growth are positively correlated with each other; and secondly, good governance positively affects trade and investment, which then is positively associated with the growth of GDP per capita. Thus, good governance should be of the utmost concern for countries attempting to achieve growth of GDP per capita. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics Honors Program. / Discipline: Economics.

The theme of this thesis is the current trade policy of India. India is not longer seen only as a cheap "call" center and low-cost outsourcing factory. More and more large Western companies have chosen India because of high added value and they begin to perceive it as an equal player with global ambitions. The thesis is divided into five chapters. The aim of the first chapter is to explain the concept of business policy. The second chapter deals with the basic macroeconomic indicators. The third chapter analyzes trade policy instruments used in India. The remaining chapters are devoted to foreign direct investment policy and innovation policy. You find enclosed and compiled a questionnaire which was sent to selected companies. These are companies that have experience with the Indian market.

The politics of trade after the Cold War has transformed United States foreign policy. In fact, given the surge of interest in free trade agreements (FTAs) and the far-reaching political and economic repercussions of globalization, this thesis argues that the post-Cold War period, reinforced by the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, constitute a critical juncture in the history of U.S. international economic policy and trade diplomacy. The U.S. began to seek FTAs after 1989 as a way to maintain its strategic influence in international relations and counterbalance the formation of trading blocs such as the European Union (EU). Yet, despite its hegemony, the U.S. has succeeded in negotiating and implementing relatively few FTAs. Addressing this paradox, this dissertation seeks to answer two basic questions: First, why does the U.S. have relatively few FTAs compared to other economically powerful countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD)? Second, why has the U.S. taken longer to negotiate and conclude certain FTAs over others? These questions will be examined by analyzing the evolution of interest group coalitions and the persistent conflict surrounding FTAs and international trade in general since the end of the Cold War. To further this analysis, the dissertation will study the influence of interest groups, bureaucratic politics, and the role of institutions, as well as the interaction among state and civil society actors, on the politics of trade. The dissertation will focus on the immediate aftermath of the Cold War period, which set the tone for current U.S. trade policy, and will examine the negotiations leading to the agreements signed with Jordan, Singapore, and Chile.

This thesis consists of three essays in the fields of the political economy of international trade. Location Equilibrium with Endogenous Rent Seeking: This paper analyzes the location of manufacturing activities when regional policy is determined by endogenous rent seeking. Once lobbying for government transfers to regions is included in an economic geography framework with size asymmetries, the standard prediction that the larger region becomes the core when trade barriers are reduced no longer holds. The establishment of manufacturing production in the economically smaller region is increasing in the level of regional integration once trade becomes freer than a certain threshold value. When free trade prevails, the relocation of industry takes place up to the point where there are as many firms operating in the South as in the North. Furthermore, lobbying slows down the agglomeration process, whereas the home market magnification effect (Baldwin, 2000) becomes weaker. Endogenous Tariff Formation and the Political Economy of Trade Retaliation: This paper extends the notion of endogenous tariff formation under representative democracy by allowing for strategic interaction between governments. The model developed suggests that the ideological distribution in the electorate within a country affects the tariff setting behavior among its trading partners. The equilibrium tariffs in a country depend on the trade policy preferences of the ideologically neutral voters among such partners as well as on the distribution of their sector-specific factor ownership. Ideological shifts in the population which systematically alter the political power of different voter groups, or types of factor owners, in one country thus influence the tariff setting behavior in competing trading nations. On the Indeterminacy of Trade Policy under Different Electoral Rules: Current research has found ambiguous results with respect to the effects of the type of electoral regime on trade policy. The present paper proposes a solution to this indeterminacy. It is shown that the equilibrium level of trade protection can be relatively higher, as well as lower, under a majoritarian electoral rule compared to proportional representation. The framework developed in this paper thus includes as special cases earlier models reported in the literature. The equilibrium outcome is shown to depend on the number of voters in swing districts who own a factor specific to the exporting industry in relation to those who possess claims to the specific input employed by the import-competing sector. Using a cross section of countries, empirical evidence is consistent with this hypothesis.

My thesis develops three models of political economy, examining different factors that affect equilibrium in political markets. The first paper develops a model based on that of Moutos (2001) whereby a government must choose between a tariff and an income tax in order to raise revenue to finance redistribution from rich to poor. I use a simple median voter model of political economy to show that an income tax may be preferred if it can raise more money than the tariff. This result links well with the empirical observation that more liberal trade regimes are often associated with larger government sizes. The second paper explores the idea of interactions between different parts of a political party’s platform and the benefit that different groups can receive from those policies. I show that even when parties have no predisposition towards any particular policy their policy announcements may differ due to the difference in demand for policy favours from special interests. I also discuss how this difference in demand can affect the relative success of interests groups and of the political parties themselves, and apply these results to a simple model of trade policy to show that left-wing parties proposing higher income tax rates may attract support from groups who support trade protection in developed countries. My third paper provides an extension to the well known model of special interest politics by Grossman and Helpman (1996). I introduce costly informative spending that special interests can use to convert uninformed voters into informed ones. This is advantageous to special interests when those being informed are of a similar political persuasion to the interest group members, thus skewing equilibrium policies towards the group’s objectives.

The main goal of the following paper is to compare the trade policies of Brazil and the Russian Federation, analysing their insertion in global value chains. Briefly, it is argued that both countries follow a three-track strategy in international trade. Brazil focuses its efforts on the multilateral, regional and bilateral levels, especially with developing and emerging countries. Russia also focuses on the multilateral and regional levels, but the third pillar of its strategy is a "Look East", towards the more dynamic markets of today's global economy.

During the 1990s, South Africa's trade policy was drastically reformed. This mainly entailed rapid tariff liberalisation agreed to under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994, and implemented from 1995 onwards under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). South Africa's trade policy reform was premised on the assumption that tariff liberalization would increase the competitiveness of domestic manufacturing industries. The thesis attempts to ascertain if this did in fact materialise by critically appraises the impact of trade policy reform on the production of the South African manufacturing sector. The results indicate that tariff liberalisation has not been successful in securing improved competitiveness. The thesis argues that improved competitiveness goes beyond trade policy reform — government polices should also be directed at issues relating to efficiency in production, distortions in factor markets and institutional development. The desired or appropriate level of openness does not necessarily entail completely free markets for trade and investment. In the light of market and institutional failures the role of government in securing the appropriate industrial outcomes should not be underestimated. / Thesis (DCom (Economics))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Economics / unrestricted

<p>The impact of trade policies on the pursuit of gender equality is often ignored. Recognising the link between trade and gender, this dissertation aims to enhance the capacity of policy-makers to mainstream gender in trade policy and to help identify ways for using trade to respond to women&rsquo / s needs in South Africa. In order to meet this objective, it analyses the impacts that trade liberalisation has had on the economy and on gender in general and in South Africa in particular. In addition, it evaluates the impacts on men and women in order to see if trade has contributed to reducing, accentuating or perpetuating gender inequality in South Africa. Findings have confirmed that Trade liberalisation has had both positive and negative impacts on women and men. But, they have also demonstrated that trade liberalisation has affected women and men differently having negative influences on the pursuit of gender equality. The research has, however, concluded that the impact of trade liberalisation on the pursuit of gender equality is influenced by other key factors. As strategy to mainstream gender in trade policies, the research suggests that policy-makers should analyse the implications for women and men of any trade policy before adopting such policy. This analysis would help him/her to see the possible imbalances of the new policy and implement policies and programmes to eradicate them. Also, it will help him/her to identify possible ways for using trade to empower women. The research is based on the idea that the elimination of the existing inequalities will put women at the same stage with men and will, therefore, contribute to women&rsquo / s empowerment in South Africa.</p>

<p>The impact of trade policies on the pursuit of gender equality is often ignored. Recognising the link between trade and gender, this dissertation aims to enhance the capacity of policy-makers to mainstream gender in trade policy and to help identify ways for using trade to respond to women&rsquo / s needs in South Africa. In order to meet this objective, it analyses the impacts that trade liberalisation has had on the economy and on gender in general and in South Africa in particular. In addition, it evaluates the impacts on men and women in order to see if trade has contributed to reducing, accentuating or perpetuating gender inequality in South Africa. Findings have confirmed that Trade liberalisation has had both positive and negative impacts on women and men. But, they have also demonstrated that trade liberalisation has affected women and men differently having negative influences on the pursuit of gender equality. The research has, however, concluded that the impact of trade liberalisation on the pursuit of gender equality is influenced by other key factors. As strategy to mainstream gender in trade policies, the research suggests that policy-makers should analyse the implications for women and men of any trade policy before adopting such policy. This analysis would help him/her to see the possible imbalances of the new policy and implement policies and programmes to eradicate them. Also, it will help him/her to identify possible ways for using trade to empower women. The research is based on the idea that the elimination of the existing inequalities will put women at the same stage with men and will, therefore, contribute to women&rsquo / s empowerment in South Africa.</p>