This dissertation examines the effects of trade liberalization policies (represented by membership in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization on selected Least Developed Countries' (LDCs) human development (represented by the Human Development Index). In this dissertation, General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and World Trade Organization (WTO) policies are theorized to have two distinct types of effects: their direct effect and their indirect effect. Two questions are focused on: first, what is the effect (total, direct and indirect) of WTO policies on human development for selected LDCs? Second, what is the effect (total, direct and indirect) of WTO policies on human development for selected developing/developed countries (i.e. non-LDCs) holding economic development constant? Using the dependency theory of development as a theoretical basis, this dissertation examines the assumptions of modernization-theory-based policies as expressed in trade liberalization policies (i.e. the implementation of comparative advantage and now market fundamentalism) with world-system analysis techniques. To examine these questions, four panel regression models are constructed to measure the total, direct and indirect effects of WTO policies during the near-term (1998-2003) and during a longer historical term (1975-2000). The data for the analyses are taken from seven different sources of international data. The analyses seemingly demonstrate that there are quantifiable negative effects of GATT/WTO membership (trade liberalization policies) on human development in selected LDCs. The current implementation of trade liberalization policies does not benefit the well-being of all concerned as promoted by the WTO.

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La période de l’après-guerre posa d’importants défis commerciaux à l’économie canadienne. Les années entre 1945 et 1950 furent effectivement marquées par la rupture de son système commercial traditionnel et la recherche d’une stratégie alternative. Le pays dut composer avec un déficit commercial croissant à l’égard des États-Unis, ainsi qu’une chute de ses exportations à destination du Royaume-Uni, ruiné par les années de guerre. Ce déséquilibre commercial qui menaçait d’épuiser les réserves canadiennes de dollars américains reflétait l’écart entre les capacités productives des deux rives de l’Atlantique. Le programme de reconstruction des économies européennes, ou plan Marshall, fut accueilli avec enthousiasme à Ottawa puisqu’il devait non seulement rétablir les marchés du Vieux Continent, mais également faciliter la mise en place d’un réseau multilatéral d’échanges et la libéralisation du commerce international. Les tensions de la guerre froide limitèrent toutefois l’ouverture de ces marchés aux marchandises canadiennes, puisque l’endiguement du communisme commanda une consolidation européenne qui privilégia le démantèlement des entraves aux échanges intra-européens, aux dépens du commerce transatlantique. Les préoccupations de Washington en matière de sécurité collective devaient néanmoins laisser place à une stratégie alternative pour le Canada, en poussant la coopération économique des deux pays, dans le but d’optimiser une production de défense destinée aux pays membres de l’OTAN, dont la demande était soutenue par l’aide Marshall. L’incorporation du Canada dans ce dispositif de défense élargie à la communauté atlantique permit ainsi d’assurer un accès privilégié à ses marchandises sur le marché américain, et par conséquent de progresser vers l’équilibre commercial. / The postwar years brought many challenges to the Canadian economy in terms of trade policies. Indeed, in the years between 1945 and 1950, Canada experienced growing trade imbalances as imports from the United States market reached new peaks and exports to the United Kingdom decreased dramatically due to financial exhaustion caused by the war. These developments soon raised concerns as the country was faced with the prospect of foreign reserves depletion, a situation mainly caused by the productivity gap existing between the economies of the two sides of the Atlantic. The American sponsored European Recovery Program or Marshall Plan was met with enthusiasm in Ottawa as it intended to restore economic viability of the European markets as well as to establish a multilateral trade system based on non-discriminatory trade practices. The international tensions of the nascent Cold War were to limit these achievements as the need for a strong Europe dictated the elimination of restrictive trade practices between European commercial partners without giving equal treatment to transatlantic trade relations. However, the conflictual Cold War context was to offer an alternative strategy to the Canadian’s quest for dollars, for Washington’s collective security concerns paved the way to closer economic cooperation and privileged access to Canadian exports of strategic materials and other defence related commodities in the American market. The Marshall Plan was a key element of the procurement mechanism of the NATO country whose demand alleviated the pressure on Canadian foreign reserves through greater exports to the United Stated.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O objetivo principal desta dissertação é analisar os impactos da abertura comercial vista no Brasil no início da década de 1990 entre 1990 a 1996 na margem de lucro das indústrias de transformação passando por três padrões monetários diferentes (cruzeiro, cruzeiro real e real). A especificação e metodologia adotadas no trabalho são as de Goldar e Aggawal (2004), que fazem uma análise de dados em painel para efeitos fixos e randômicos para as indústrias de transformação indianas como um todo e, posteriormente, aplicando os mesmos testes separando os vinte e oito setores da indústria brasileira de transformação em setores de bens de capital e intermediários no primeiro grupo e bens de capital no segundo. Este trabalho ainda inclui esta metodologia aplicando, além das duas já citadas, o teste de mínimos quadrados ordinários (MQO) para permitir uma melhor análise com três testes diferentes antes e depois de separar os setores por meio de variáveis explicativas como barreiras à importação, concentração industrial, participação salarial, produtividade do trabalho, representatividade setorial e variação na taxa de crescimento da produção do setor entre os anos. Conclui-se que o aumento observado na margem de lucro foi impactado significativamente pelas variáveis expostas acima e estes resultados são importantes para que possamos auferir de que forma impactaram positivamente ou contribuíram negativamente na margem de lucro auferida pela indústria brasileira de transformação entre 1990 e 1996.

La période de l’après-guerre posa d’importants défis commerciaux à l’économie canadienne. Les années entre 1945 et 1950 furent effectivement marquées par la rupture de son système commercial traditionnel et la recherche d’une stratégie alternative. Le pays dut composer avec un déficit commercial croissant à l’égard des États-Unis, ainsi qu’une chute de ses exportations à destination du Royaume-Uni, ruiné par les années de guerre. Ce déséquilibre commercial qui menaçait d’épuiser les réserves canadiennes de dollars américains reflétait l’écart entre les capacités productives des deux rives de l’Atlantique. Le programme de reconstruction des économies européennes, ou plan Marshall, fut accueilli avec enthousiasme à Ottawa puisqu’il devait non seulement rétablir les marchés du Vieux Continent, mais également faciliter la mise en place d’un réseau multilatéral d’échanges et la libéralisation du commerce international. Les tensions de la guerre froide limitèrent toutefois l’ouverture de ces marchés aux marchandises canadiennes, puisque l’endiguement du communisme commanda une consolidation européenne qui privilégia le démantèlement des entraves aux échanges intra-européens, aux dépens du commerce transatlantique. Les préoccupations de Washington en matière de sécurité collective devaient néanmoins laisser place à une stratégie alternative pour le Canada, en poussant la coopération économique des deux pays, dans le but d’optimiser une production de défense destinée aux pays membres de l’OTAN, dont la demande était soutenue par l’aide Marshall. L’incorporation du Canada dans ce dispositif de défense élargie à la communauté atlantique permit ainsi d’assurer un accès privilégié à ses marchandises sur le marché américain, et par conséquent de progresser vers l’équilibre commercial. / The postwar years brought many challenges to the Canadian economy in terms of trade policies. Indeed, in the years between 1945 and 1950, Canada experienced growing trade imbalances as imports from the United States market reached new peaks and exports to the United Kingdom decreased dramatically due to financial exhaustion caused by the war. These developments soon raised concerns as the country was faced with the prospect of foreign reserves depletion, a situation mainly caused by the productivity gap existing between the economies of the two sides of the Atlantic. The American sponsored European Recovery Program or Marshall Plan was met with enthusiasm in Ottawa as it intended to restore economic viability of the European markets as well as to establish a multilateral trade system based on non-discriminatory trade practices. The international tensions of the nascent Cold War were to limit these achievements as the need for a strong Europe dictated the elimination of restrictive trade practices between European commercial partners without giving equal treatment to transatlantic trade relations. However, the conflictual Cold War context was to offer an alternative strategy to the Canadian’s quest for dollars, for Washington’s collective security concerns paved the way to closer economic cooperation and privileged access to Canadian exports of strategic materials and other defence related commodities in the American market. The Marshall Plan was a key element of the procurement mechanism of the NATO country whose demand alleviated the pressure on Canadian foreign reserves through greater exports to the United Stated.

Widespread cross-border securities trading have led to the internationalization of securities markets. No one seriously disputes that such securities dealings require regulation, but there is no academic consensus on the best normative approach to such regulation. The academic debate initially focused on whether regulatory competition or cooperation constitutes the better model. However, the debate seems to have evolved to adopt a hybrid model combining the virtues of these two approaches. ‘Harmonization’ constitutes the dominant hybrid model. Nevertheless, the implementation of the harmonization model has barely received any attention in the literature. The aim of this thesis is hence two-fold: first, justify why harmonization should be the preferred model for the regulation of international securities markets; and second, develop, applying an international trade regulation perspective, a regulatory framework to implement the harmonization model using the World Trade Organization and General Agreement on Trade in Services (WTO/GATS) framework.

Widespread cross-border securities trading have led to the internationalization of securities markets. No one seriously disputes that such securities dealings require regulation, but there is no academic consensus on the best normative approach to such regulation. The academic debate initially focused on whether regulatory competition or cooperation constitutes the better model. However, the debate seems to have evolved to adopt a hybrid model combining the virtues of these two approaches. ‘Harmonization’ constitutes the dominant hybrid model. Nevertheless, the implementation of the harmonization model has barely received any attention in the literature. The aim of this thesis is hence two-fold: first, justify why harmonization should be the preferred model for the regulation of international securities markets; and second, develop, applying an international trade regulation perspective, a regulatory framework to implement the harmonization model using the World Trade Organization and General Agreement on Trade in Services (WTO/GATS) framework.

Aunque las diferencias entre países en la productividad total de los factores (TFP) sectorial está en el corazón de la teoría Ricardiana de comercio y en el de muchos modelos de crecimiento y desarrollo, muy poco se sabe acerca de su forma y tamaño. Los dos primeros artículos intentan rellenar esta brecha utilizando un modelo de comercio híbrido de Ricardo-Heckscher-Ohlin y datos bilaterales de comercio sectorial. Se brinda un conjunto comparable de productividades para sectores industriales en más de sesenta países en todas las etapas de desarrollo, y las estimaciones se aplican para probar teorías de desarrollo que tienen implicancias sobre el patrón de productividades sectoriales entre países. El tercer artículo se enfoca en los efectos de la liberalización comercial sobre la estructura productiva de los países. Se estiman matrices de transición que describen la dinámica de especialización en economías liberalizadas. La sección final del artículo relaciona empíricamente la especialización sectorial con la dotación e intensidad de factores

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / O objetivo principal desta dissertação é analisar os impactos da abertura comercial vista no Brasil no início da década de 1990 entre 1990 a 1996 na margem de lucro das indústrias de transformação passando por três padrões monetários diferentes (cruzeiro, cruzeiro real e real). A especificação e metodologia adotadas no trabalho são as de Goldar e Aggawal (2004), que fazem uma análise de dados em painel para efeitos fixos e randômicos para as indústrias de transformação indianas como um todo e, posteriormente, aplicando os mesmos testes separando os vinte e oito setores da indústria brasileira de transformação em setores de bens de capital e intermediários no primeiro grupo e bens de capital no segundo. Este trabalho ainda inclui esta metodologia aplicando, além das duas já citadas, o teste de mínimos quadrados ordinários (MQO) para permitir uma melhor análise com três testes diferentes antes e depois de separar os setores por meio de variáveis explicativas como barreiras à importação, concentração industrial, participação salarial, produtividade do trabalho, representatividade setorial e variação na taxa de crescimento da produção do setor entre os anos. Conclui-se que o aumento observado na margem de lucro foi impactado significativamente pelas variáveis expostas acima e estes resultados são importantes para que possamos auferir de que forma impactaram positivamente ou contribuíram negativamente na margem de lucro auferida pela indústria brasileira de transformação entre 1990 e 1996.

“What drives firms' performance?” remains one of the most intriguing topics in the economic literature. The myriad determinants identified so far include both internal and external factors. While the internal factors tend to relate to either firms' characteristics or the business decision-making process determined by managers/owners, the external factors tend to relate to the business environment and any possible stimulus for the conditions in which firms are located and operate. This thesis follows the strand of literature that continues the quest for relevant firm-performance-driving factors, taking an applied approach. The thesis, consisting in three essays, provides empirical evidence of how trade liberalization, together with local business environment features, affects firms' performance in the context of a transitional country, Vietnam. The main focus centres particularly on firms' productivity (the first and second essays). As firms use labour as an indispensable input of production, interest, in the third essay, shifts to firm-level demand for skills so as to understand also potential consequences of trade reform policies for the labour market. Highlights of the three essays are as follows: The first essay (Chapter 2) investigates the interplay of trade liberalization and local business environment features in affecting firms’ productivity. Particular interest lies in how frictions in the local business environment where firms operate alter the productivity gains from trade. Making use of a large panel dataset of Vietnamese manufacturing firms from 2006 to 2012, the analysis provides robust evidence of a positive effect of trade liberalization on firms’ total factor productivity. However, distortions in the local business environment such as unenforceable property rights, an ineffective land-titling system, bureaucratic hurdles and labour market frictions play a crucial role in the transmission of trade liberalization shocks. It is recommended, from the results obtained, that complementary business environment reforms addressing local market constraints need to be implemented alongside trade liberalization. The second essay (Chapter 3) investigates first the impact on firms’ productivity of trade liberalization and second how corruption interacts with trade policies. Particular interest centres on how firms’ productivity improvement induced by trade openness is reduced by corruption. Using firm-level data on Vietnamese manufacturing enterprises from 2000 to 2012, the period of which spans the country's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the analysis provides robust causal evidence that trade openness increases firms’ productivity, the higher so if firms export. However, the productivity gains expected by firms from trade liberalization are reduced by corruption, which has important implications for aggregate productivity. The findings suggest that complementary policies addressing either export constraints or corruption need to be implemented in company with trade reform policies. The third essay (Chapter 4) investigates the firm-level employment consequences of trade liberalization. Particular interest is given to how small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adjust their labour demand in response to different types of trade shocks. Using a unique dataset of private manufacturing SMEs over the 2003--2014 period that captures the 2007–2008 drastic reduction in both output and input tariffs, that analysis shows that the effects on firms' labour demand of output and input tariff liberalization are non-identical. While output tariff liberalization has a labour-friendly effect on unskilled workers, a reduction in input tariffs has an “absolute” skill-biased effect, shifting firms’ demand from unskilled workers to skilled labour. The findings suggest important consequences of trade openness for the labour market evolution. A cautious view on the employment consequences of trade openness is strongly suggested, coupled with the implementation of coherent education and training policies to guide the labour supply under trade liberalization. The contributions of this thesis to the literature are as follows. First, it helps to understand how firms adjust to trade liberalization policies in terms of both behaviour and performance in the context of a developing country in transition. Second, it shows that the effectiveness of trade liberalization policies significantly varies with the business environment conditions, explaining why gains from trade are unevenly distributed across locations. Third, in a movement towards free trade, benefits are shown to go hand in hand with drawbacks. In terms of policy implications, a thorough multi-dimensional view on the potential consequences of trade openness is highly recommended. Besides, the effective implementation of appropriate complementary policies in the wake of trade liberalization is of utmost importance in order to first achieve an overall optimal economic outcome and second make trade openness beneficial for everyone.