In its first seven years, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) tripled trade and quintupled foreign investment among the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, increasing its share of the world economy. In 2001, however, North America peaked. Trade slowed among the three, manufacturing jobs shrunk, and illegal migration and drug-related violence soared. Europe caught up, and China leaped ahead. In The North American Idea , eminent scholar and policy-maker Robert A. Pastor explains that NAFTA's mandate was too limited to address the new North American agenda. Instead of offering bold initiatives like a customs union to expand trade, the three leaders thought small. Interest groups stalemated the small ideas as they inhibited the bolder proposals, and the governments accomplished almost nothing. To overcome this resistance and re-invigorate the continent, the leaders need to start with an idea based on a principle of interdependence. If one country fails, all three are harmed, and if one grows, they all benefit. Drawing on first-hand experience as a policy-maker and analyst, Pastor shows how this idea-once woven into the national consciousness of the three countries-could mobilize public support for continental solutions to problems that have confounded each nation working on its own. To stimulate trade and reduce illegal migration, for example, the three countries could set up a fund to invest in the continent's infrastructure. Such a fund would be impossible without leadership and an idea of the continent's current importance and its future promise. Providing essential historical context and challenging readers to view the continent in a new way, Robert Pastor offers an expansive vision and a detailed blueprint for a more integrated, dynamic, and equitable North America.

The liberalization of trade and factor movements and the adoption of a common currency proposed for the EEC in 1992 have important implications for the rest of the world. Nineteen experts from academia, different countries and regions and international organizations analyze these implications theoretically and empirically. In general, the authors expect Europe 1992 to generate positive effects on trade and welfare, although concerns are raised over possible, inward looking policies by the Community. For many small and distant countries the effects are shown likely to be insignificant in any case.

A theoretical analysis of international trade and industrial policy, developing and using new models of trade with imperfect competition. Modeling of imperfect competition within international trade has been difficult until recent breakthroughs in this area, which have provided a more realistic view of the world economy. The book builds on the advances provided by such tools as game theory and the theory of monopolistic competition. The first section covers broad and basic trade issues which arise under imperfect competition. Section two examines implications for trade policy covering issues such as strategic trade policy in static and dynamic settings. Section three deals with various structural issues, such as optimal choice of trade liberalizing policies, the formation of trade blocks, and open dualistic economy with externalities.

The purpose of this book is to make the results of the Uruguay Round of Trade Negotiations easier to understand. The Uruguay Round, one of the longest and most complex economic negotiations ever undertaken, was completed successfully in December 1993. Its results are embodied in nearly 30 legal agreements and a large number of supplementary decisions, as well as a large number of highly detailed separate undertakings in which each country specifies the levels of trade restrictions, which it promises not to exceed, for thousands of different products or services. The joint agreements and decisions alone add up to well over 500 pages of printed text, and the individual undertakings, or schedules, bring the total volume of the results of the Uruguay Round to almost 300,000 pages. This formidable mass of paper embodies a total overhaul of the basic rules and institutions of world trade, and the birth of a new institution, the World Trade Organization.

This timely volume brings together professors of finance and accounting from Japanese universities to examine the Japanese stock market in terms of its pricing and accounting systems. The papers report the results of empirical research into the Japanese stock market within the framework of new theories of finance. Academics, professionals, and anyone seeking to understand or enter the Japanese market will applaud the publication of this practical, informative volume.

Having gathered data from the late 1970's through 1984, the authors analyze the market's behavior and the applicability of two major theoretical pricing models -- the Capital Asset Pricing Models and the Efficient Market Hypothesis -- to that market. Chapter 1 provides background statistical evidence on the behavior of monthly returns on Tokyo Stock Exchange common stocks. Chapter 2 discusses an empirical test of the capital asset pricing model. Chapter 3 examines evidence on the price performance of unseasoned new issues. The authors also examine the Japanese accounting disclosure system: Chapter 4 deals empirically with the information content of the annual accounting announcements and related market efficiency. The next chapter presents empirical evidence on the relationship between unsystematic returns and earnings forecast errors. Next, empirical research into the usefulness to investors of the disclosure system is examined. Finally, Chapter 7 presents several interesting questions and topics for future research on the Japanese stock market.

In the first, 1987, edition of this book, Dr. Higashi and Dr. Lauter have discussed and analyzed the initial stages of the internationalization process The authors with Michio Watanabe at a reception in Hakone, Japan, 1988. xvi THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF THE JAPANESE ECONOMY of the Japanese economy as it had evolved between 1985 and 1986. In this, the second, edition, they explore the developments during 1985-1988 and show how the gradual transformation of the economy from export-Ied to domestic demand-Ied growth has taken place, what the results of the trans formation process are, what remaining problems still have to be resolved, and what directions the Japanese economy might take in the future. While the transformation process is by no means completed, Drs. Higashi and Lauter provide a broad, policy-analysis based overview that enables the reader to understand not only the economic but also the basic political and social issues involved in the internationalization process. In this sense, the authors stay away from the extreme positions that characterize so many of the publications on Japan today and attempt to provide a realistic view of the changes and the impact of these changes. I believe that this book is a fair and balanced representation of events."

One of the most pressing issues confronting the multilateral trade system is the challenge posed by the rapid proliferation of preferential trade agreements. Plenty has been written about why governments might choose to negotiate preferentially or multilaterally, but until now it has been written almost exclusively from the perspective of governments. We know very little about how non-state actors view this issue of 'forum choice', nor how they position themselves to influence choices by governments about whether to emphasize PTAs or the WTO. This book addresses that issue squarely through case studies of trade policy-making and forum choice in eight developing countries: Chile, Colombia, Mexico, South Africa, Kenya, Jordan, Indonesia and Thailand. The case studies are based on original research by the authors, including interviews with state and non-state actors involved in the trade policy-making process in the eight countries of this study.

This book is the first wide-ranging guide to the key issues of intellectual property and ownership, genetics, biodiversity and food security. Proceeding from an introduction and overview of the issues, comprehensive chapters cover negotiations and instruments in the World Trade Organization, Convention on Biological Diversity, UN Food and Agriculture Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants and various other international bodies. The final part discusses the responses of civil society groups to the changing global rules, how these changes affect the direction of research and development, the nature of global negotiation processes and various alternative futures. Published with IDRC and QIAP.

For courses in International Trade. A balanced approach to theory and policy applications International Trade: Theory and Policy provides engaging, balanced coverage of the key concepts and practical applications of the discipline. An intuitive introduction to trade theory is followed by detailed coverage of policy applications. With this new 12th Edition, the author team of Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, renowned researcher Maurice Obstfeld, and Marc Melitz of Harvard University continues to set the standard for International Economics courses. Also available with MyLab Economics: MyLab (TM) Economics is an online homework, tutorial, and assessment program designed to work with this text to engage students and improve results. Within its structured environment, students practice what they learn, test their understanding, and pursue a personalized study plan that helps them better absorb course material and understand difficult concepts. Students, if interested in purchasing this title with MyLab Economics, ask your instructor for the correct package ISBN and Course ID. Instructors, contact your Pearson representative for more information.

Understanding how firms and national economic systems respond to globalization is one of the most urgent and demanding tasks listed in the current agenda of researchers and policy makers. The papers presented in this volume tackle the theme of defining firms' objectives in this comparatively new perspective. This collection of original studies illuminates the links between the internal structure of firms, their incentives, and their performance.
This volume presents theoretical and empirical papers investigating crucial aspects of firm's structure and strategies, such as cross-border mergers, outsourcing, innovation and the maximization of non-profit objectives, in connection with the new challenges posed by globalization.
This book is indispensable reading for all interested in trade theory and policy, and development economics.

This book looks at the experiences of six Asian countries in terms of developing and implementing domestic competition policy. It analyzes how the choice of development policies impacts on the state of competition in each country and how competition contributes to development. The considerable variation in policies and experiences across the countries provides a rich source of information from which lessons and best practices can be drawn.

This book examines the labour standards provisions in a number of Regional and Bilateral Trade Agreements, and assesses the potential of using the relevant clauses in these trade agreements as a benchmark for a multilateral approach. Based on the lessons learned from the Regional model, the book proposes a Global Labour and Trade Framework Agreement (GLTFA) combined with a joint ILO/WTO enforcement mechanism to resolve the contentious issue of the link between the CLS and international trade. The history of the linkage between the Core Labour Standards (CLS) and international trade dates back roughly 150 years, and has recently become one of the most vexing issues facing policy-makers. At the heart of the debate is the question whether or not trade sanctions should be imposed on countries that do not respect the CLS as embodied in multilateral conventions administered by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Concretely, this would entail inserting a social clause in the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, and would trigger the imposition of sanctions on those countries that do not adhere to the CLS.

Unravelling the complex relationship between gender inequality and trade, this is the first book to combine the tools of economic and gender analysis to examine the relationship between international trade and gender relations.

The book brings together fourteen contributions from a variety of economic perspectives, including structuralist, institutionalist, neoclassical and Post-Keynesian by a range of authors including Lourdes Beneria, William Darity, Marzia Fontana and Mariama Williams to demonstrate what feminist economics contribution to the analysis of international trade, through theoretical modelling, econometric analysis and policy-oriented contributions. It includes evidence from industrialized, semi-industrialized, and agrarian economies, using country case studies and cross-country analysis.

Arguing that trade expansion and reduction of gender inequality can be combined, but only if an appropriate mix and sequence of trade and other economic policies is implemented, this book is key reading for all students of international economics, gender and cultural studies and politics and international relations, amongst other disciplines.

A Basic Guide to International Business Law is an introduction to those parts of European and international law that are relevant to business. Having read this book, students will come away with a broad understanding of the international rules of law within the EEC, institutional rules of the European Union, international contract law, rules of competition and the four freedoms within the EEC.

The edition includes student friendly features, such as summaries of statements and references to relevant case law, making the book an ideal introduction for those on law and/or business programmes.

International Business and Institutions after the Financial Crisis provides an in-depth discussion and offers new insights concerning the ways in which firms from developed and developing countries are performing in the aftermath of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. This book examines various issues from different viewpoints, particularly that of institutions, and draws on research conducted in different country settings. This book examines various issues from different viewpoints, particularly that of institutions, and draws on research conducted in different country settings.

The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive is the most important directive in the field of trade practices to have emerged from the EC but it builds upon European activity which has sought to regulate trade practices on both a sectoral and horizontal level. It is an umbrella provision, which uses general clauses to protect consumers. How effective this approach is and how it relates the existing acquis are fundamental issues for debate. This work provides a critical appraisal of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive linking discussion of it to general debates about how fair trading should be regulated. It explains how the Directive fits into the existing acquis. It also examines national traditions where these are necessary to explain the European approach, as in the case of general clauses. The book will be a valuable tool for any student of consumer law seeking to understand the thinking behind the directive and how it will affect national laws. It will also influence policy makers by suggesting how the directive should be interpreted and what policy lies behind its formulation. Businesses and their advisers will use the book as a means of understanding the new regulatory climate post-the directive.

The Routledge Handbook of Transatlantic Relations is an essential and comprehensive reference for the regulation of transatlantic relations across a range of subjects, bringing together contributions from scholars, policy makers, lawyers and political scientists. Future oriented in a range of fields, it probes the key technical, procedural and policy issues for the US of dealing with, negotiating, engaging and law-making with the EU, taking a broad interdisciplinary perspective including international relations, politics, political economic and law, EU external relations law and international law and assesses the external consequences of transatlantic relations in a systematic and comprehensive fashion. The transatlantic relationship constitutes one of the most established and far-reaching democratic alliances globally, and which has propelled multilateralism, trade regulation and the EU-US relationship in global challenges. The different contributions will propose solutions to overcome these problems and help us understand the shifting transatlantic agenda in diverse areas from human rights, to trade, and security, and the capacity of the transatlantic relationship to set new international agendas, standards and rules. The Routledge Handbook of Transatlantic Relations will be a key reference for scholars, students and practitioners of Transatlantic Relations/EU-US relations, EU External Relations law, EU rule-making, EU Security law and more broadly to global governance, International law, international political economy and international relations.

The rise of the Arab world and China are part of the same story, once trading partners via the Silk Road. It isn't a coincidence that Arab traders have returned to China at the same time that China is fast regaining its share of the global economy. This is a breakthrough account of how China is spurring growth in the Arab world.

This book provides a comprehensive discussion and analysis of global energy resources, international energy markets, international energy forecasts for the first quarter of the 21st century, conventional and alternative energy technologies and pertinent historical developments of world energy. It is organized into four parts with 27 chapters that cover advance energy technologies, primary and alternative energy resources and country profiles. Part I introduces conventional energy resources; Part II covers alternative energy sources and conservation; Part III covers energy modelling and forecast methods for anlaysing energy development in the United States of America and the world; Part IV provides a country-by-country analysis of energy issues, law, resources and programs. It is indeed an assessment of the outlook for international energy that relates to major fuels, transportation, electricity and the environment.

This book asks anew whether there really was European integration before 1914. By focussing on quantitative (economic indicators) and qualitative data (the international regulation of patents, communication networks, social policy and plant protection), the authors re-evaluate European integration of the time and address the politics of seemingly apolitical cooperation. The authors show that European integration was multifaceted and cooperation less the result of intent, than of incentives. National polities and international regimes co-shaped each other. The result is a book that achieves two things: offer stand-alone chapters that shed light on specific developments and - these read altogether - develop a bigger picture. It will be of interest to researchers and students of economic history, as well as those interested in the history of internationalism and globalisation.

The book deals with both the short and the long-run effects of the Uruguay Round: the reduction in the obstacles to trade, the enlargement of the multilateral system, the new institutional framework and the balance between regionalism and multilateralism in world trade relations. Its conclusions are based on theory, political economy and empirical analysis.

Revealing a powerful economic motive behind Taiwan's 1990 application for GATT membership, CHO questions those who interpreted it solely as a political move designed to break that island nation's diplomatic isolation. Flourishing economically since the 1950s despite non-GATT membership, matters changed for Taiwan in the 1980s when it became both big and small. As a big trader, its dual trade regime was no longer tolerated, while as a small economy with little political clout, Taiwan was pushed to liberalize its trade practices by bilateral pressures. Taiwan believes that the most-favored nation principle and diffuse reciprocity embedded in GATT/WTO's multilateralism will sheild Taiwan from the pernicious effects of bilateral asymmetry while simultaneously providing it with more international living space.

First published in 1967, this superb collection of essays on trade in the Middle Ages has been a major contribution to modern medieval studies. Professor Carus-Wilson examines:

* fifteenth-century Bristol
* trade with Iceland
* the Merchant Adventurers of London
* the thirteenth-century cloth industry (with its highly developed capitalist system)
* the export of English woollen cloth
* the wine trade.

Each paper is firmly rooted in original research and contemporary sources such as customs returns and company minutes, and, in addition, her expose of the dubious accuracy of Aulnage accounts is widely recognised as a classic.