Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Regional Trade Agreement (RTAs)'

The rapid growth in the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has led to concern about the weakening of the multilateral trading system. This thesis examines the spread of such agreement and the extent to which they pose a threat to the multilateral system. Regionalism and multilateralism are complimentary as shown in the case study of the East African Community. The current regional trade agreement management rules are weak and ambiguous and possible amendments for these rules are proposed

Dans cette thèse, nous étudions l'effet de la répartition inégale des ressources naturelles entre les pays sur trois aspects principaux. Dans le premier chapitre, nous examinons empiriquement les effets asymétriques potentiels de l'adhésion à l'Organisation Mondiale du Commerce (OMC) entre les membres, en nous concentrant spécifiquement sur les pays en développement. Les résultats suggèrent que l'adhésion à l'OMC a contribué à l'augmentation des exportations de tous les pays, à l'exception des pays non-émergents riches en ressources. En revanche, les pays émergents riches en ressources sont les plus grands bénéficiaires de l'accession à l'OMC. Dans le deuxième chapitre, nous explorons empiriquement l'impact de la dotation en ressources naturelles sur les gains de six Accords Commerciaux Régionaux (ACR) entre les membres à travers trois axes : la complémentarité entre les pays, la diversification des pays riches en ressources ainsi que la création et le détournement des échanges. Nous concluons que la complémentarité entre les pays riches et les pays pauvres en ressources a été atteinte dans les accords de l’ECOWAS, du SADC et du CIS. Les résultats indiquent également que, dans tous les ACR, les pays riches en ressources ont accru leurs exportations hors secteurs des ressources naturelles et diversifié ainsi leurs structures d'exportation, en particulier avec les partenaires régionaux. En outre, dans la plupart des ACR, les pays pauvres ont accru leurs exportations vers leurs partenaires riches en ressources, tandis que ces derniers souffrent du détournement des échanges en termes d'importations. Dans le dernier chapitre, nous étudions l'impact de la dotation en ressources naturelles sur le processus de convergence entre les pays du PAFTA. Premièrement, les résultats démontrent que la sigma-convergence n'était observable qu'entre 1970 et 1990 dans les pays du PAFTA. De plus, l’estimation révèle que les ressources naturelles sont l'un des principaux déterminants de la convergence conditionnelle au sein du PAFTA. Par conséquent, l'asymétrie entre les pays en termes de dotation en ressources naturelles n'a pas empêché la convergence dans le PAFTA. L'analyse de la convergence des clubs a identifié trois principaux clubs parmi les pays du PAFTA. En outre, les facteurs qui ont déterminé la formation des clubs sont les ressources naturelles, la qualité des institutions et l'investissement. Par ailleurs, une abondance de ressources naturelles n'est pas suffisante pour être le meilleur club, mais doit être accompagnée d'institutions de qualité
In this thesis, we examine the effect of the unequal distribution of natural resources between countries on three main aspects. In chapter one, we empirically examine potential asymmetric effects of the accession of the World Trade Organization (WTO) across members, focusing specifically on the developing countries. The results suggest that membership in the WTO contributed to greater exports for all countries, except for non-emerging resource-rich countries. In contrast, emerging resource-rich countries are the greatest beneficiaries from the accession of the WTO. In chapter two, we empirically explore the impact of natural resource endowments on the gains of six Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) across members through three axes: complementarity between countries, diversification of resource-rich countries, and trade creation and diversion. We conclude that the complementarity between resource-rich and resource-poor countries has been achieved in the ECOWAS, SADC and CIS agreements. The results also indicate that in all RTAs, the resource-rich countries increased exports in non-natural resource sectors and thereby diversified their export structures, especially with regional partners. Moreover, in most RTAs, poor countries boosted their exports to resources-rich partners, while resource-rich countries suffer from trade diversion in terms of imports. In the last chapter, we study the impact of natural resource endowments on the process of convergence among PAFTA countries. First, the results demonstrate that sigma-convergence was only observable between 1970-1990 among PAFTA countries. The estimation reveals that natural resources are one of the main determinants of conditional convergence within PAFTA. Therefore, the asymmetry between countries in terms of natural resource endowment did not impede the convergence in PAFTA. Club convergence analysis identify three main clubs among PAFTA countries. In addition, the factors that determined clubs’ formation are natural resources, quality of institutions, and investment. Further, an abundance of natural resources is alone not enough to be the best club, but must be accompanied by high-quality institutions

Dans un contexte où les négociations commerciales multilatérales languissent dans une impasse, les accords commerciaux régionaux ACR prennent de l’élan. Cette thèse doctorale cherche à faire avancer la connaissance sur ce domaine. C’est grâce au modèle de gravité du commerce que trois chapitres supportés par des analyses économétriques appliqués ont été mis au point.Le premier chapitre examine les effets sur les flux bilatéraux de commerce attribuables aux ACR, le système généralisé de préférences (SGP) et l’appartenance à l’Organisation mondiale du commerce OMC. Plusieurs spécifications économétriques et techniques d’estimation ont été testées. Particulièrement Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML), qui se présente comme la technique la plus recommandée pour contenir des biais bien connues et des problèmes d’endogénéité. Cette recherche a été conduite avec un modèle de gravité du commerce international qui comporte 153 pays sur la période 1980-2012. Les résultats montrent systématiquement qu’un effet positif et significatif sur les flux bilatéraux de commerce est à attendre après l’entrée en vigueur d’un ACR. De même, des effets positifs mais peu importants, voir nuls sont accordés à la participation au sein de l’OMC. La spécification qui utilise PPML et qui contrôle l’influence de l’hétérogénéité inobservable montre un effet non-significatif pour le SGP. Le deuxième chapitre, coécrit avec mon directeur de thèse Jean-Marc Siroën, explore quel est l’effet de l’hétérogénéité des ACR sur le cadre de l’approfondissement de l’intégration. Nous envisageons pouvoir déceler si les ACR qui sont plus profonds contribuent plus à la création de commerce que ceux qui sont moins profonds. Nous avons recours à deux bases de données récemment ouverts au public. La première appartenant à l’OMC et la deuxième a la World Trade Institute (WTI-DESTA). Nous procédons à créer des indicateurs crédibles de l’approfondissement de l’intégration pour passer à les tester dans un modèle de gravité. Nous trouvons qu’un effet positif et significatif peut-être accordé aux accords les plus profonds, indépendamment que l’indicateur testé soit un indicateur additive où un indicateur obtenu par l’Analyse de correspondance multiple (ACM). De même cet effet est constaté pas seulement dans les accords qui comportent des clauses classiquement négociées sur le cadre de l’OMC, mais aussi dans les accords qui dépassent cette dimension. Le troisième chapitre se consacre à étudier l’existence des potentiels de commerce entre la Colombie et l’Union Européenne. Des prédictions dans l’échantillon après des estimations avec PPML et effets fixes qui varient dans le temps nous indiquent que des potentiels de commerce existent avec l’Autriche, la République Tchèque, la Finlande, la France, l’Allemagne, la Hongrie, la Suède et la Pologne. Dans le sens inverse la Suède, l’Irlande, la Finlande et Pologne détiennent une marge importante à gagner dans le marché colombien. Des tests de sensibilité ont été effectués pour garantir la robustesse de ces résultats
Regional trade agreements (RTAs) have surged in a context of stalled multilateral trade negotiations. This doctoral thesis intends to advance scientific knowledge in the field. Thus, thanks to a gravity model theoretical framework, three chapters of applied empirical econometrics analysis have been completed. The first chapter examines the effects of RTAs, the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) and World Trade Organization memberships on bilateral trade flows. I put into practice different econometric specifications and estimation methods, notably Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML), which is the one that better seems to contend with well-known biases and endogeneity problems. I conduct this research with an international trade gravity model estimated across 153 countries from the year 1980 to 2012.I consistently found a strong positive impact of regional trade agreement RTAs on most specifications and low or non-significant results for WTO membership. The estimates from the PPML method that includes controls for unobserved heterogeneity show non-significant effects of the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) on trade.The second chapter, co-authored with my supervisor Jean-Marc Siroën, explores the effect of heterogeneity of RTAs in the scope of deep integration. We intend to determine if deeper RTAs promote trade more effectively than less ambitious agreements. We make use of two recently available data sets from the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Trade Institute (WTI-DESTA) to generate credible indicators of deep integration. Additive and Multiple Correspondence Analysis derived indicators for the depth of the agreements are then computed and their significance is tested in a gravity model. We find that deeper agreements increase trade more than shallow ones, whereas the provisions they included are within or outside of the WTO domain.The third chapter investigates the existence of trade potentials between Colombia and the EU. I obtain in-sample predictions after the estimation of a gravity model with the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood estimator. I control for unobserved omitted variable bias by the inclusion of exporter and importer time varying fixed effects, and run a series of sensitivity analysis.Untapped trade potentials are found between Colombia and a group of EU countries in both directions of the trade flows. Exports from Colombia have a gap to bridge with Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland and Sweden. In the other direction, Sweden, Ireland, Finland and Poland have an interesting margin to gain in the Colombian market

Government procurement is a very important aspect of international tradeas it can either promote or inhibit trade depending on laws and policies of a country. The study is confined to issues pertaining to the role of RTAs in establishing government procurement standards that resemble or conform to those of the GPA in developing countries. The study used Africa as a case study by evaluating selected RTAs that have been signed focussing on RTAs such as the procurementinitiativeof the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement. The major objectives of the study were to examine the role of the existing international regulatory instruments towards the harmonisation of global standards on government procurement. The reserach aimed at analysing the role of the WTOs GPA as a possible global standard for government procurement and to investigate reasons of limited membership by developing countries.

Regional Integration is one of the most prominent phenomena in the 21st century; it has manifested itself in various ways worldwide, including through the Intra-Regional Trade. The African continent has not been an exception as we have seen African leaders calling for the strengthening of the continent's Regional Economic Communities (RECs) through the signing of the Abuja Treaty in the year 1991 in the quest for the African Economic Community (AEC). As one of Africa's RECs, SADC signed the Trade Protocol in the year 1996 seeking to enhance the free flow of goods, services and capital among member states, presumably in response to the call from the continental level. Regional integration initiatives are not without challenges in the African continent. Thus, using the case of SADC's Free Trade Agreement (FTA), envisaged by the Trade Protocol, this study seeks to understand the contributing factors to the failure of the member states, who are signatories to the Trade Protocol, to live up to their commitments. It argues that varying degrees of economic growth and development, as well as different trading structures, have different impacts on member states' responses to their commitments. To conduct this study, a Qualitative case study approach is adopted. The study recommends that, efforts made by SADC to industrialise the region, through the Regional Development Fund, should be prioritised and well implemented as it has the potential to capacitate SADC member states that lack necessary infrastructure and developed industry sector to efficiently work towards goals enshrined in the region’s trade protocol.
Mini Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Political Sciences
MA
Unrestricted

Magister Legum - LLM
Trade has been widely accepted as an important tool in spearheading economic growth and development. In many different parts of the world, countries have alleviated poverty and economically prospered through effective trade. Despite the efforts to dismantle trade restrictions and create a common market, the problem remains that of African disintegrated markets which then lead to poor intra-African trade. There is therefore the need to use intra-African trade as an instrument that effectively serve in the attainment of rapid and sustainable social and economic development. The aim of this study is to therefore determine whether the solution to increasing intra-African trade can be found in the Tripartite FTA.

The advent of trade in services theory has been a developing research topic since 1980, where various factors are in place to determine trade flows and the impact of regulatory frameworks and policies. Services trade is an important contributing factor towards economic objectives and continues to drive development. With growth in services trade across the globe there is increased value in understanding the impact of the services sector on the African continent. The evolving reliance on services towards globalisation in low-income economies is proven to contribute significantly to gross domestic product. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement was instituted to integrate economies by creating ease of access for the intra-trade of goods and services across the continent. This study aimed to explore the impact of the AfCFTA agreement on a regional financial services provider. The research followed a semi-structured interview methodology, which measured and tested the impact of the agreement on trade in services for this qualitative study. The results indicated that the service provider would adopt the AfCFTA agreement’s requirements in the expansion of its operations, to establish services across the continent. Although the minimum number of countries required supported the ratification process, a lot of work is needed to develop and understand the effect of international trade, on the back of reformative policy changes such as the AfCFTA agreement.
Mini Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2019.
Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
MPhil
Unrestricted

This thesis analyses the relationship between Indonesian nationalism and ASEAN regional integration, with specific reference to the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA). Traditionally, the relationship between nationalism and regionalism has most often been characterised as contentious. This thesis, however, challenges the argument that nationalism and regionalism cannot co-exist, and argues instead that the two ideologies can stand in a symbiotic relationship to each other. The relationship between nationalism and regionalism can be conflicting or mutually exclusive, but can also sometimes be mutually reinforcing. Therefore, nationalists today are not necessarily hostile to free trade and closer economic ties with other states. In 1992, members of ASEAN agreed to closer economic integration through the formation of AFTA. In principle, this agreement was made to increase the international competitiveness of ASEAN industries and to make the Southeast Asian region an attractive investment location. This thesis analyses the contemporary attitude of Indonesians towards this trade agreement. During the signing of this trade agreement, little opposition was expressed by Indonesian domestic actors because within Indonesian politics at the time Indonesian foreign economic policy was the business of the President, the Nfinistry of Foreign Affairs, the military, and a handful of members of the academic I community. The wave of democratisation that emerged as a result of the economic crisis of 1997 allowed for the greater involvement of domestic actors in determining Indonesian foreign economic policy. Although the majority of the Indonesian political elite remain supportive of AFTA, some Indonesian pressure groups, particularly non-governmental. organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs), have expressed their scepticism. Despite this, scepticism about AFTA is not a result of increased nationalist sentiment in Indonesia, but is due instead to the lack of proper information disseminated to these pressure groups. ii

Climate change is the most obvious and pressing impairment of the biological, physical, and chemical systems. To help mitigate this unprecedented problem, I present heads of state, policymakers, and members of civil society with a set of new provisions that they can include in their trade agreements to drive emissions reduction from countries inside and outside of their trade agreements, maintain their ability to compete in an increasingly globalized world, and comply with international trading rules. Ultimately, I seek to demonstrate the untapped potential for leveraging trade agreements to reduce emissions in the midst of an international system that lacks concerted climate action. In light of humanity’s inadequate efforts to address the immense threats posed by a changing climate, decentralized efforts, such as these, are increasingly essential to reduce emissions.

The objective of this paper is to assess the bilateral exports from an origin to a destination, in the context of countries belonging to the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), and whether or not the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA) leads to trade creation or trade diversion, or both. To study this, a panel gravity model is employed with 135 countries, from 2000-2014, using a Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood method (PPML). To study the impact of AFTA on trade creation/diversion, a set of three dummy variables are used, denoting whether the origin country belongs to ASEAN, whether the destination country belongs to ASEAN and finally, whether both origin and the destination countries belong to ASEAN. Along with AFTA, five other Regional Trade Agreements (RTA) are also taken into account. The main finding of this paper is that there is no pure trade creation nor pure trade diversion due to AFTA, but rather a significant export trade creation, that is, ASEAN’s exports to the rest of the world is positive and significant. Future policy implications could include measures to strengthen the regional economic cooperation amongst the members of ASEAN.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 has resulted in the GATT Contracting States making a renewed commitment to freer global trade and trade liberalisation. These Contracting States signalled their commitment to GATT policies and principles by undertaking to abolish all those non-tariff barriers which were not converted to tariffs and to decrease all tariffs applied by their domestic economies. The movement away from protectionism is intended to bring contracting states in line with the GATT most-favoured-nation and national treatment principles. The only exceptions to these principles are the regional trade arrangements which can be implemented in accordance with Article XXIV of GATT 1947 and the Understanding on the Implementation of Article XXIV of GATT 1947. Regional trade arrangements such as customs unions and free-trade areas have been allowed by the GATT as they are deemed to promote trade liberalisation through the removal of substantially all trade restrictions between countries party to these trade arrangements. In practice this has not been the case, however, as these regional trade arrangements have been known to apply very protectionist trade policies. This research determines whether regional trade arrangements are inherently protective ie does the nature of these regional trade arrangements encourage protectionism? The external trade policies of the European Union (EU), Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) are analysed to determine whether the contracting parties to regional trade arrangements have corrupted the GATT provisions and so contributed towards the protectionist nature of these regional trade arrangements. The internal trade provisions relating to the implementation of these regional trade arrangements have also been discussed to determine their compliance with Article XXIV of GATT 1947. As all the selected regional trade arrangements have direct or indirect links to South Africa, the implications of the policies chosen by these parties for South Africa have also been discussed. Analysis of the EU, SADC, SACU and ASEAN has shown that prior to the adoption of the GATT 1994, the free-trade areas and customs unions were not implemented in accordance with Article XXIV provisions. These regional trade arrangements have been moulded to fit the economic aspirations of the relevant contracting states. Of the regional trade arrangements accepted by the GATT, free-trade areas have been found to be the least protectionist and are the least likely to be perverted by contracting parties. Customs unions, on the other hand, may encourage contracting parties to protect their economies as they rely on group participation rather than individual participation. Individual Member States become responsible to the group which provides these states with greater economic power. As a result Member States are motivated to protect the new group entity from outside competition. In this way, they are inherently protective. Safeguards are therefore necessary to protect individual non-Member States from such behaviour. The implications of protectionism for South Africa, SADC and SACU have also been discussed.

With the signing of the New Partnership Agreement (Cotonou Convention) between the European Union and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific States in June 2000, the trading relationship between Senegal and the European Union (EU) has taken a new direction. Under the new agreement, Senegal must decide by 2004 if it will enter into a Regional Economic Partnership Agreement (REPA) with the EU, similar to a free trade arrangement, or move to an enhanced form of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP). Given the high percentage of Senegalese groundnut products that are exported to the European Union and the significance of the groundnut sector to the Senegalese economy, this study examines the economic impacts of both options on the Senegalese groundnut sector in conjunction with changes in development funding, infrastructural investments, and structural adjustment policies. Overall, the study finds that the REPA option is the more beneficial for the Senegalese groundnut sector. This result stems partially from the ability of increases in development funding to offset any adverse economic impacts caused by the REPA. Though overall more harmful than a REPA, moving to an enhanced GSP does have the benefit of increasing groundnut (in-shell and shelled) exports by a significant amount. Thus, the Senegalese government must weigh the benefit of a boost in the confectionery sector against the adverse impact on producers caused by the GSP. This study provides needed information for policy decisions by the Senegalese government, and a framework for future modeling efforts pertaining to the Senegalese groundnut sector.
Master of Science

Increasing energy needs globally have recently led to an interest in effectively bringing energy services in the trading system. Energy services were part of the Uruguay Round of negotiations, whose main achievement was the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). The objective of the GATS is to achieve progressive liberalisation and reduction or elimination of trade barriers of all services sectors, including energy services. The GATS has made commendable progress in liberalising many service sectors, however it has not made meaningful progress with energy services. Furthermore though the SADC region engages in energy services trade through bilateral and regional agreements, a variety of 
barriers inhibit major successes from being achieved. Effective energy services trade and liberalisation has therefore proved problematic both at the multilateral, regional and bilateral level. This study, seeks to investigate why energy services liberalisation and trade at the multilateral, regional and bilateral level is problematic, with a particular focus on 
the SADC region.

Regionaler Wirtschaftlicher Integration (RWI) liegt ein doppelter Zielkonflikt (“trade-off“) zugrunde. Zum einen besteht dieser trade-off auf räumlicher Ebene da es sich um eine politische und ökonomische Organisationseinheit zwischen dem Lokalen und Globalen handelt. Zum anderen besteht ein trade-off da sowohl Liberalisierungsansätze innerhalb der Region als auch das Aufrechterhalten (oder gar Erweitern) von Protektionismus gegen die Außenwelt Teil von regionalen Ansätzen sind. Darüber hinaus ist RWI ein facettenreiches, polymorphes und idiosynkratisches Phänomen, das (potentiell) eine Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Politkfelder und Politikschlagrichtungen enthält. Traditionell wird RWI nach der Klassifizierung von Balassa (1961) in Präferenzabkommen (PTAs), Freihandelsabkommen (FTAs), Zollunionen (CUs) Gemeinsame Märkte (CMs), Währungsunionen (MUs) und ggf. Politische Unionen (PUs) eingeteilt und meist auch eine zeitliche Abfolge in dieser Reihenfolge unterstellt. In Wahrheit finden solche Prozesse teilweise parallel und in vielen Fällen unvollständig statt. Daher erscheint es sinnvoller, in vier verschiedene Kategorien an Politikfeld0ptionen zu unterschieden, nämlich • Präferentielle Liberalisierung von Güterhandel; • Präferentielle Liberalisierung anderer Produktionsfaktoren; • Koordinierung & Harmonisierung von Regularien und Institutionen; • Koordinierung und gemeinsame Verausgabung von öffentlichen Mitteln. Ein solch vielgestaltiges und janusköpfiges Phänomen bezieht seine Rechtfertigung aus einer großen Anzahl an unterschiedlichen theoretischen Schulen. Wir diskutieren diese Schulen in dieser Arbeit in drei separaten Kapiteln zum Neo-Klassischen Ansatz, zu Ansätzen der Politischen Ökonomie sowie zu Heterodoxen Ansätzen. Dabei lassen sich fünf Gruppen von Effekten unterscheiden. Diese sind • Allokationseffekte; • Akkumulationseffekte; • Lokationseffekte; • Levellingeffekte; • Und Gouvernanz-Effekte. Bei der Analyse von RWI sind darüber hinaus Imperfektionen zu beachten, die insbesondere in Afrika eine entscheidende Rolle spielen. Dies bezieht sich insbesondere auf die teilweise sehr schwache Implementation von beschlossenen RWI Maβnahmen, die sich z.B. im „Spaghetti Bowl“ Phänomen, politischen Widerständen auf nationaler Ebene, administrativen Schwächen und massiven Deckungslücken in den Budgets der regionalen Behörden niederschlagen. Auch die Dominanz der Informalität in der Wirtschaft wirft Fragen zur potentiellen Wirkungsmächtigkeit von RWI auf. Während solche „Papiertiger“-Phänomene grundsätzliche Fragen an der Ernsthaftigkeit der jeweiligen Regionalvorhaben aufwerfen, kann die Präsenz solcher Hürden auch Grund für Optimismus sein da die empirisch bislang beobachteten, relativ geringen Wohlfahrtseffekte zu einem substantiellen Anteil auf die geringe Implementierungstiefe zurückgeführt werden können und nicht zwangsläufig ein Beleg für die Ineffektivität von RWI per se gesehen werden muss. Mit anderen Worten, eine wirkliche empirische Überprüfung des Erfolgs oder Versagens von RWI in Entwicklungsländern könnte erst stattfinden, wenn es tatsächlich ordnungsgemäß umgesetzt würde. Der bekannteste und am umfangreichsten entwickelte Ansatz zur Analyse der Effekte von RWI ist fraglos der Neo-klassische Ansatz, der sich grundlegend und ausschlieβlich mit der auf Viner zurückgehenden Gegenüberstellung von Handelsschaffung und Handelsumlenkung. Wir zeigen, dass die neoklassischen empirischen Methoden und Resultate trotz Tausender Studien wenig robust sind und zu einem Gutteil arbiträr gewählt sind. Kleinste Änderungen in Modell-Parametern, der empirischen Strategie oder den Datenquellen führen zu stark abweichenden Resultaten. Grundsätzlich scheint Handelsumlenkung weniger stark ausgeprägt zu sein als Handelsschaffung, der Netto-Effekt für die Regionen scheint also aus dieser Perspektive in den allermeisten Fällen positiv zu sein (dies zeigen sowohl Sekundärstudien als auch eigene Berechnungen). Es gibt sowohl Gewinner als auch Verlierer innerhalb der Regionen. Allerdings scheinen diese nicht wie vom Neoklassischen Ansatz vorhergesagt, durch die anfängliche ökonomische Machtverteilung vorherbestimmt zu sein. Dennoch bleibt die axiomatische Inferiorität von RWI zwischen Entwicklungsländern gegenüber multilateraler Liberalisierung (sowie Nord-Süd Integration und unilateraler Liberalisierung) intakt, solange die Analyse auf diese Perspektive beschränkt bleibt. Dies wirft die Frage auf, warum es dann sein kann, dass Regionalintegration so weit verbreitet ist – sowohl die Analysen aus Politökonomischer Sicht als auch jene aus Heterodoxer Sicht versuchen jeweils Antwort auf dieses scheinbare Rätsel zu geben. Darüber hinaus mündet eine unvoreingenommen und holistische Analyse von Regionalintegration innerhalb des Neoklassischen Ansatzes in einer fundamentale Erkenntnis, die überraschenderweise nur selten in der Literatur diskutiert wird. Ein näherer Blick auf die jeweiligen Schätzungen offenbart, dass selbst die optimistischsten Berechnungen in Größenordnungen enden, die absolut vernachlässigbar sind im Verhältnis zu generellen Wachstumsdynamiken, da es sich bei den Effizienzgewinnen aus Allokationseffekten um Einmal-Effekte in Höhe von unter einem Prozent des BIP handelt. Dies trifft interessanterweise nicht nur auf RWI zu, sondern auch für eine mögliche allumfassende multilaterale Liberalisierung. Diese eklatante Bedeutungslosigkeit der allokationsbedingten Handelsschaffung von sowohl RWI als auch multilateraler Liberalisierung wirft in unseren Augen mehr Fragen bezüglich der Zweckdienlichkeit des Neoklassischen Ansatzes auf, als bezüglich des Entwicklungs- und Wachstumspotentials von Regionalintegration. Allerdings stellt sich die Frage, warum dieser Analyse dann ein solch großer Raum beigemessen wird. Der Hauptgrund scheint, wie in vielen anderen Bereichen der Volkswirtschaft auch, weniger der Umstand zu sein, dass die Einsicht fehlt, dass diese Analysen die Realität nur unzureichend ab- und nachbilden, sondern vielmehr, dass von vielen Autoren mehr Wert auf eine elegante, mathematisch raffinierte und zumindest scheinbar klar quantifizierte und eindeutige Ergebnisse liefernde Methode setzen wollen als auf eine, bei der die Disziplin methodisch bestenfalls in den Anfangsschuhen steckt, Datengrundlagen in substantiellem Umfang fehlen und Ungewissheiten aufgrund der Komplexität kaum abschließend überwunden werden können. An zweiter Stelle folgt in Bezug auf Popularität und Anzahl an Studien ein spieltheoretischer Ansatz der Politischen Ökonomie. Hierbei wird der Frage nachgegangen, warum Regionalintegration betrieben wird, obwohl der Neoklassische Ansatz (scheinbar) nachweist, das seine multilaterale Lösung zu präferieren wäre. Als Grund wird hierbei der Einfluss von Lobbyisten und anderen Interessengruppen angenommen. Die Diskussion widmet sich im weiteren Verlauf fast ausschließlich der Frage, ob eine solcherart zustande gekommene Regionalintegration weitere, multilaterale Liberalisierungsschritte beflügelt und behindert. Allerdings ist der Erkenntnisgewinn aus den unzähligen Studien und Modellen äußerst überschaubar. Andere wichtige Ansätze für die Analyse von RWI erhalten deutlich weniger Aufmerksamkeit in der wissenschaftlichen Diskussion, obwohl diese heterodoxen Ansätze, die den Fokus auf dynamische Effekte und Strukturwandel legen, in der öffentlichen Debatte eine nicht unbedeutende Rolle spielen. Diesen Ansätzen ist gemein, dass sie einen Fokus auf Marktversagen und Externalitäten legen. Das Triumvirat der Neuen Handelstheorie, der Neuen der Diskussionen, wobei zusätzlich einige Keynesianische Einflüsse, der Neue Institutionalismus (sowie praxisorientierte Aspekte der Öffentlichen Finanzen) und einige radikalere Ansätze mit Ökonomischen Geografie und der Neuen Endogenen Wachstumstheorie bildet hierbei den Kern Fokus auf Arbeitsmärkte und Entwicklungsfallen eine Rolle spielen. Heterodoxe, dynamische Effekte sind sehr komplex und divers und die theoretische und empirische Anwendung auf Regionalismus ist nur sehr schwach entwickelt. Einige heterodoxe Argument ändern die Resultate der Neoklassischen Theorie nur in beschränktem Umfang und zeigen sowohl Vorteile und Nachteile von regionalen und multilateralen Liberalisierungsschritten. Einige andere heterodoxe / dynamische Effekte treten entweder ausschließlich bei RWI auf oder zu einem deutlichen geringeren Maβe auch im Gefolge von Multilateralismus und Nord-Süd Integration. Einige davon haben unserer Einschätzung nach tatsächlich das Potential, die Neoklassischen Argumente zur Dominanz von multilateralen Lösungen komplett ins Gegenteil zu verkehren. Leider ist die empirische Analyse von dynamischen Effekten jedoch sehr schlecht entwickelt. Dennoch erscheinen Schätzungen aufgrund von dynamischen Modellen “sufficiently specified to suggest that the benefits behind the dynamics of integration are potentially large” (Develin & French-Davis, 1998:20). Die Komplexität der heterodoxen Effekte impliziert, dass komplizierte Entscheidungen zur Auswahl von spezifischen Maβnahmen getroffen werden müssen. Auch wenn Regionalismus dynamische Effekte auslösen kann, ist dies keineswegs ein Automatismus, der aus jeglichen regionalen Anstrengungen entspringt. Rodrik’s Kommentar zu Industriepolitik paraphrasierend, sollte daher in Zukunft weniger der Frage nachgegangen werden, ob Regionalismus unter Entwicklungsländern eine gute Politikwahl ist, sondern eher, wie Regionalismus ausgebildet werden muss, um erfolgreich Entwicklungsimpulse geben zu können.

Trade agreements play a big part in international trade and have existed for as long as countries have been trading internationally. Countries often agree to sign a trade agreement with their trading partners because trade agreements can stimulate international trade by removing barriers. Trade agreements can also have a negative impact on a country, such as social injustice and economic inequality. South Africa has numerous trade agreements with various countries, one important agreement that South Africa is part of is the regional trade agreement between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries which originated in 1976. The Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) is a preferential trade agreement which evolved from the Cotonou Agreement which came into force in 2000 and envisioned the creation of mutual trade agreements. When this agreement expired in 2007, the (EPA) was created. The main objective of the EPA’s is to integrate the ACP countries into the world economy. The EU aims to combine trade, politics and development and enhance the political dimension of ACP countries by addressing issues such as corruption, poverty and inadequate development policies. The EU is in favour of the EPA because it will reduce the number of negotiations with various countries, which it currently holds simultaneously. South Africa had some reservations regarding the EPA. South Africa is currently governed by the Trade, Development and Co-operation Agreement (TDCA), which was created with specific goals and also acts as a strategic partnership between the EU and South Africa. If the EPA is implemented in South Africa, it will replace certain elements of the TDCA agreement. South Africa has characteristics of both a developed and developing economy and will be excluded from several of the general trade arrangements of the EPA. The EU is offering duty-free and quota-free access for all the countries except for South Africa. This will result in two different SACU tariffs for imports from the EU. South Africa also argues that various discrepancies will arise between the EPA and TDCA which will cause various challenges regarding political, legal and technical aspects between Southern African countries and this will hinder regional integration amongst these countries. There are various opinions as to which agreement will be more beneficial for South Africa. Where the EPA aims to create a single agreement for all ACP countries, the TDCA is an exclusive agreement between South Africa and the EU, and addresses issues specific to South Africa. The underlying problem is that South Africa has qualities of both a developed and a developing nation and is being excluded from some of the benefits that the EU is offering the other members. This rings some alarm bells, as South Africa and its neighbouring countries are working towards better regional integration. The EPA might have a negative influence on this regional integration because various African countries will benefit differently under the EPA. This Study analyses the possible effects the EPA could have on South Africa’s trade with the EU and South Africa’s neighbouring countries by means of a literature study and an empirical analysis. The first part of literature study gives an overview on trade theories and trade agreements, advantages of free trade, trade barriers and the likeliness of countries to trade with each other. The second part provides an in depth overview of regional and preferential trade agreements and economic integration. The Third section of the literature study gives a complete overview of South Africa and the EU’s economic and trade situation. The Fourth and final section of the literature study provides an overview of the TDCA and the EPA and compares the two agreements. The literature study is followed by an empirical analysis and an overview of the gravity model. The empirical analysis studied the impact of trade barriers on the historic trade between South Africa and the EU using a gravity model as a basis. The gravity model was used as a base for the regression models, because it has proven to give accurate estimations in previous studies done with similar trade data. This study used data for each variable for the time period 2000 to 2010 and was sourced from the World Bank and the International Trade Centre but there are data limitations. Separate models were estimated for exports from South Africa to the EU and imports to SA from the EU. From the import regression results, it was clear that the coefficients were very small and should all tariffs be eliminated, there will not be a significant increase in imports to South Africa from the EU. The export regression results were similar to the results of imports and indicated that if all tariffs should be eliminated with the implementation of the EPA, there will not be a significant increase in exports from South Africa to the EU. However the EPA stretches beyond only trade benefits and because the EU remains one of South Africa’s biggest trade and development partners, it is vital to consider the effects of the EPA. It does appear that the EPA’s main motivator is not international trade, but that it is rather political and development orientated.
Thesis (MCom (International Trade))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The tri-partite initiative in and for Africa has been accompanied by high levels of optimism since its political endorsement in 2008. It provides for an opportunity to resolve a host of problems with regards to regional integration in Eastern and Southern Africa. The overall aim of this study is to explore the prospects and challenges towards realising the Tri-partite Free Trade Area 
(T-FTA) in and for Africa. This study is pragmatic and implicitly seeks to uncover how the T-FTA could contribute to the African Regional Integration Project (ARIP), given the challenges that 
regional integration face in Africa. Regional integration has a long and rich history in Africa, which started at thehave been weak since the start and persist in its superficial nature with littledevelopmental impact. The reasons for the lack of meaningful integration in Africa are wide-ranging and span national, regional and system level analytical viewpoints. They encompass 
areas such as developmental levels, political will, respect for regional architecture, overlapping membership and the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). These factors impact on the 
integration process in Africa and explain in varied ways why there has been little comprehensive economic integration. The starting point was to define the complex concept of regional integration. The dominant factors that define and affect regional integration in this study are that it is a state-based exercise, driven by economic integration, and influenced by the global political economy of the day. It was determined that Africa has adapted its regional integration strategies according to the shifts and influences in the global political economy on states, 
emanating from the post WWII period to the present day. The mpact of the global economy on Africa since independence was great and is viewed impact on the integration process. Regional integration is essentially a state to state 
pursuit for integration. Essentially, regional integration is being pursued by states that are still struggling to consolidate statehood, and this leaves little space to move towards a regional approach. However, given the dynamics of a globalised world, regional integration as a strategy is no longer questioned in Africa and is an important component of its developmental agenda. Clarifying the T-FTA was important, and this was done in order to highlight what the tri-partite initiative is and is not. This provided for an opportunity to 
investigate what the dominant areas are that have informed the emergence of the tri-partite process. The former was found to be largely economic in nature, focusing on harmonising the trade 
regimes of COMESA, EAC and SADC as a primary motivation. The tri-partite initiative will facilitate and encourage the harmonisation of trade regimes by stressing market integration, 
infrastructure development and industrialisation, coupled by a developmental approach. This is promising, as the tri-partite initiative seeks to simultaneously deal with many issues that have 
been commonly associated with the problems that regional integration face in Africa. When viewing the negotiating context, as well as the principles upon which it is to be based, indicate though, that Africa still favours individual state interest that will be hard to reconcile given that the tri-partite region currently has 26 participant states. In terms of economic integration, the T-FTA 
seeks to put new generation trade issues on the agenda by including services, movement of persons as well as trade facilitation, all of which have been found to be important in realising a 
trade in goods agenda that is the focus of regional integration in Africa. Analysing the grassroots realities of the market integration pillar offered some valuable insights towards the purposes 
of this study. The market integration pillar is inundated with challenges, with Rules of Origin (RoO) being the primary challenge towards consolidating the trade in goods agenda on a tri-partite 
level. New generation trade issues are going to be equally difficult to realise, given that they have no implementation record in the individual Regional Economic Communities (RECs). Promising though is that trade facilitation has already seen positive results by resolving non tariff barriers in the regions.Infrastructure development is equally challenging, although it provides 
a significant opportunity to create better connectivity (physical integration) between states. In lot of pan-African goals that directly feed into initiatives of the African Union (AU) pillar has not as yet created any concrete tri-partite plans, so it remains to be seen what can be achieved. Ideally, industrialisation is viewed as the pillar that will solve the supply-side constraints of African 
economies hence, strengthening the trade in goods agenda in the regions. Even though the T-FTA has practical challenges to implementation, there are at least two underlying factors that 
indirectly affect the prospects of realising the tripartite initiative. The EPAs are an emergent threat in that they run parallel to tripartite negotiations
and respect for a rules based integration process, are issues that warrant consideration. Fundamentally, in order to achieve a successful T-FTA will require a shift in the way business is done in African integration. African states need 
to realise that their national interests are best served through cooperation, in meaningful ways. Inevitably this requires good faith as well as ceding some sovereignty towards regional goals. Thus, there is a risk that the T-FTA not realised. The fundamentals of political will, economic polarisation and instability have to be resolved. This will lay an appropriate foundation for the 
tripartite initiative to be sustainable, with developmental impact.

On October 1, 2018, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), concluding 13 months of negotiations that concerned economies totaling 27.88% of world GDP. The recentness, magnitude, and relevance of the USMCA invokes a comprehensive analysis of the multidimensional factors that led to this agreement. Explaining the USMCA of 2018 requires insight of the continent’s political and economic forces that bound Canada, the United States, and Mexico with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994. After doing so, this study then compiles a variety of works in a meta-analysis on NAFTA’s effects during the past 25 years. This paper finds that NAFTA achieved its intended goals, but failed to anticipate many negative repercussions for which it is criticized today. Then, this study investigates the demand for renegotiation of NAFTA which was triggered by Donald Trump calling it “the worst trade deal in history maybe ever” during his presidential campaign. However, when presenting the new USMCA to the press, he described it as a “wonderful new trade deal.” Therefore, study analyzes how different the USMCA is from NAFTA, and finds that the few changes are explained by a modernization of certain chapters to adapt the treaty to the digital era. These modifications heavily resonate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a regional free trade agreement that included the U.S. until President Trump withdrew from it. What then results to be a rebranding of other agreements is predicted here to bring more political repercussions than economic change, as elections in Canada dawn later this year and in the U.S. in 2020. Ultimately, each party succeeded per its own renegotiation objectives; Mexico and Canada sought market penetration in the U.S., whereas the U.S. sought concessions and an end to NAFTA. Ratification of the USMCA is pending at the domestic level of each country, which this paper predicts will occur successfully, perhaps even before the end of 2019. Nonetheless, despite the modernization efforts involved in producing the USMCA, this paper questions whether the agreement equips these three member states to face the challenges of tomorrow.

O MERCOSUL e a União Européia (UE) firmaram no ano de 1995, o Acordo Marco de Cooperação Inter-Regional, que tinha como objetivo fortalecer as relações bi-regionais e a preparar as condições para a criação de uma Associação Inter-Regional, que abrangesse a área comercial, cooperação econômica, tecnológica, financeira, e também cultural e social. A concretização da Associação representaria um grande ganho para o MERCOSUL devido à importância comercial que a UE representa para o bloco, sendo a sua principal parceira tanto nas exportações quantos nas importações. Desde a assinatura do acordo, os dois blocos realizaram diversas rodadas de negociações, mas não conseguiram avançar na direção de maiores realizações. Um dos principais entraves tem sido a intransigência da UE, principalmente no que diz respeito ao conceder melhores ofertas no setor agrícola. O presente trabalho objetiva, portanto, analisar a evolução das negociações comerciais entre os dois blocos, a fim de identificar os entraves no setor agrícola, que contribuíram para o impedimento da implantação da Associação Inter-Regional. A evolução das rodadas de negociações entre os dois blocos mostrou que o protecionismo agrícola é um dos pontos cruciais para a obtenção de um acordo de livre comércio. O fracasso das negociações provou para o MERCOSUL, que independemente das negociações acontecerem no plano multilateral ou bilateral, a UE não está disposta em maiores concessões. Portanto, enquanto a UE mantiver as subvenções, responsáveis por enormes excedentes na produção agrícola européia, não será possível a obtenção de melhores resultados, que conduzam a implantação de uma área de livre comércio entre MERCOSUL e União Européia.
MERCOSUR and the European Union (EU) signed in 1995, the Framework Agreement on Inter-Regional Cooperation, which aimed to strengthen bi-regional relations and prepare the conditions for the creation of an Interregional Association, covering the commercial area, economic cooperation, technological, financial and also cultural and social. The concretion of the Association would be a great gain for Mercosur due to the commercial importance that the EU accounts for the block, which is its main partner in both exports and imports. Since signing the agreement, the two blocks had several rounds of negotiations, but failed to move toward greater accomplishments. A major obstacle has been the intransigence of the EU, particularly with regard to grant better offers in the agricultural sector. This paper aims, therefore, to examine developments in trade negotiations between the two blocs, in order to identify the barriers in the agricultural sector, which contributed to impeding the implantation of the Inter-Regional. The evolution of rounds of negotiations between the two blocs has shown that agricultural protectionism is one of the crucial points for achieving a free trade agreement. The failure of the negotiations proved to MERCOSUR, that independently the negotiations occur multilaterally or bilaterally, the EU is not willing to further concessions. So, while the EU maintains subsidies, responsible for huge surpluses on European agricultural production, it is not possible to obtain better results, which conduce to establishment of a free trade area between MERCOSUR and the European Union.

This paper aims at contributing to the debate about Japan’s leadership capabilities. Lately, scholars from all around the world have referred to Japan as the “new leader of free trade”. This comes as a surprise, as the country has always been the archetype of a passive and mercantilist state. Therefore, what role is Japan playing in contemporary free trade agreements? What leadership style, if any, is the country exercising? What changes has Japanese leadership experienced in the last decades? Testing theories of this kind is challenging because there is limited information on the topic and most of it is only available in the language of the country in matter. Drawing on a case study based on the role of Japan in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and analyzing it from Young’s framework on political leadership, this article concludes that Japan is exercising a leadership role in contemporary FTAs.

Cette thèse vise à contribuer aux récents débats sur les avantages potentiels de l'ouverture commerciale entre les pays Africains. Elle le fait en abordant la triptyque Accords Régionaux de Commerce(ACRs), bien-être et conflits.Le continent Africain fait face aujourd’hui à deux enjeux majeurs de gouvernance : l’intégration régionale et la gestion des conflits armés. En effet, les performances commerciales des pays africains restent toujours marginales comparativement au reste du monde. Et ce, malgré les différentes politiques commerciales mises en œuvre depuis les années 70 (politique d'import-substitution, accord régional nord-sud, etc.…). Parmi ces politiques commerciales, les gouvernements Africains ont décidé de privilégier les accords régionaux en vu d’accroître le commerce entre les pays membres. Ces accords ont-ils eu l'effet escompté ? Dans quelle mesure ?Si on se réfère au point de vue largement partagé, la réponse semble être négative. Cependant cette réponse ignore les bénéfices politiques potentiels de l'ouverture commerciale. A ce titre, le travail présenté ici étudie l'effet des accords régionaux africains sur le commerce et le bien-être. Cela en utilisant les derniers développements de la théorie du commerce international ainsi que les meilleures techniques d'estimations des équations de gravité. Deuxièmement, Nous analysons l'effet de l'augmentation du commerce sur la probabilité de survenance d'une guerre civile à la fois de façon théorique et empirique. Les résultats obtenus, nous permettent de conclure que sans la signature des ACRs, près de la moitié des échanges entre leurs membres n'auraient pas été réalisé. D'autre part, cette thèse affirme que le commerce, à la fois domestique et international permet de diminuer le risque de conflit civil en Afrique
This thesis aims to contribute to recent debates on the potential benefits of trade openness among African countries. This, by addressing the triptych regional trade agreements, welfare and conflict.The African continent is currently facing two major governance challenges: regional integration and the management of armed conflicts. Indeed, the trade performance of African countries remains marginal compared to the rest of the world. This is despite the different trade policies implemented since the 1970s (import substitution policy, North-South regional agreement, etc.). Among these trade policies, African governments have decided to focus on regional agreements in order to increase trade among member countries. Have these agreements had the expected effect ? To what extent ?If we refer to popular belief, the answer seems to be no. However, this answer ignores the potential political benefits of trade openness. As such, the work presented here first examines the effect of African regional agreements on trade and welfare. This is done using the latest developments in international trade theory and the best techniques for estimating gravity equations. Second, we analyze both theoretically and empirically the effect of increased trade on the probability of a civil war occurring. The results obtained allow us to conclude, on the one hand, that nearly half of the trade between members of trade agreements in Africa would not have been possible without the signing of the RTAs. On the other hand, both domestic and international trade, reduces the risk of civil conflict in Africa

The Central African Monetary and Economic Community, known by its French acronym CEMAC (Communauté
Economique et Moné
taire de l&rsquo
Afrique Centrale), is one of the oldest regional economic blocs in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states. Its membership comprises of Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. It has a population of over 32 million inhabitants in a three million (3 million) square kilometre expanse of land. The changes in the world economy, and especially between the ACP countries, on the one hand, and the European Economic Community-EEC (hereinafter referred to as European Union (EU)), on the other hand, did not leave the CEMAC region unaffected. CEMAC region, like any other regional economic blocs in Africa was faced with the need to readjust in the face of a New International Economic Order (NIEO). The region which had benefited from preferential access to the EU market including financial assistance through the European Development Fund (EDF) had to comply with the rules laid down in the World Trade Organisation (WTO). This eventually led to a shift in the EU trade policy, in order to ensure that its trade preferences to developing countries were compatible to the rules and obligations of the WTO.

Cette thèse a pour but d'étudier certains déterminants du commerce international. Le premier chapitre analyse l'évolution des prix des exportations de vin français. L'analyse se base sur le modèle d'Hummels et Lugovskyy (2009) où deux effets de force opposées sont à l'oeuvre. D'une part, l'augmentation du niveau de vie conduit à une augmentation des prix (les consommateurs étant prêt à payer plus cher pour obtenir un bien plus proche de leur variété idéale). D'autre part, une plus grande concurrence, devrait réduire les prix (les profits potentiels attirant plus d'entreprises). Ces fondations théoriques sont confirmées par les résultats des estimations réalisées pour le marché du vin. Le second chapitre cherche à mettre en évidence si l'eau est un déterminant du commerce agricole. Pour estimer cet impact, nous construisons un nouvel indicateur nous permettant d'obtenir une meilleure approximation de l'eau disponible au sein d'un pays corrigé des caractéristiques locales ainsi que de celles liées aux produits. Puis, des simulations sur l'impact du changement climatique sur le commerce ont été réalisé, démontrant un effet négatif de ce dernier sur le commerce mais surtout de grandes inégalités entre les pays. Les chapitres 3 et 4 s'intéressent aux Accords Commerciaux Régionaux (ACR) comme déterminant du commerce pour les pays africains. En utilisant deux méthodologies différentes, nous estimons l'impact des ACR sur le commerce africain, pour lesquels peu d'études ont été réalisées. Le premier des deux chapitres quantifie l'impact de plusieurs accords (COMESA, SADC,...) sur le commerce. Le second poursuit l'analyse en se concentrant uniquement sur l'EAC. Les résultats indiquent qu'il y a bien une augmentation de bien-être pour ces pays mais que celle-ci reste faible
This dissertation studies several determinants of international trade. The first Chapter focuses on prices evolution for French wine export. It explains the recent stability of wine price by an increasing competition faces by French exporters that thwarts the increasing global demand due to the growth of higher income in emerging market (mainly in China). In the second Chapter, we investigate whether water is a determinant of agricultural trade. To estimate this impact, we construct a new indicator that allows to get a better approximation of available water by correcting some local and product specificities. This analysis is completed with simulations about the climate change impact on trade. Simulations highlights a negative impact of climate change on trade but the effect is inequaly distributed among countries. Chapter 3 and 4 analyse the Regional Trade Agreement as determinant of trade for African countries. The third chapter quantifies the impact of several agreements (COMESA, SADC,...) on trade while the fourth chapter is focusing more specifically on the EAC agreement. Main results show an increase of welfare for African countries but with an amplitude of such an increase relatively weak

This thesis examines the implementation, enforcement and evolution of IP laws and regulations in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The period of interest includes the last decade of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty first century, with emphasis on the role played by Free Trade Agreements struck between Jordan and the United States, the European Union, and Jordan’s accession to the World Trade Organization. This thesis also examines the enforcement of the current set of IP laws in Jordan, and looks at their social and economic compatibility with the Jordanian societal norms and economic realities. This thesis argues that Jordanian IP laws lack a meaningful social and economic texture, and have failed to be evenly enforced in Jordan, essentially because they do not fit the Jordanian culture and are not compatible with Jordan’s economic stage of development. Additionally, the thesis argues that IP laws have had insignificant economic impact on the Jordanian economy as the majority of technologies used in Jordan, and the majority of foreign direct investments attracted to Jordan, are not IP related. Finally, the thesis argues that the current Jordanian enforcement model, which is built on coercion by donor countries, is serving the interests of foreign companies to the exclusion of the local citizens, and will not, in the long run, produce an enforcement model based on self-regulation by Jordanians, themselves. The laws, therefore, are unable to produce tangible results for the Jordanian people, or help meet their economic interests. The last part of the thesis deals with recommendations and suggestions aimed at creating an integrated approach to the adoption of IP policies.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES
This work aims to evaluate the impact on Brazilian agribusiness form realization of agreement, Transpacific Trade Preference (TPP). As well as exploring the issue of comparative advantages and complementarity of Brazil's producers markets with the markets of other regions and how it would affect the Brazilian agribusiness. In this sense, we not only analyse the changes in the economy when the elimination of all tariff barriers, what characterizes the formation of a free trade area, but also the elimination of barriers tariff in conjunction with the elimination of the subsidies agreement. To this end, we use the general equilibrium model of Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP). The Elimination of import tariffs between the economies of the TPP, it was possible to identify the economic impacts on Brazilian agribusiness, mostly, were negative, hurting mainly the sectors of meat, corn, wool, processed food and rice. The fields of wheat, oilseeds and vegetables suffer positive impacts. On the other hand in the scenario of complete liberalisation of trade between the intrablocos regions, such as the Elimination of import tariffs and export subsidies and production. The impacts generated in Brazilian agribusiness were more significant, in the fields of wheat, vegetables, oil seeds and fruits, with the Brazilian agricultural sector producer and exporter being positively influenced. However, wool, milk, processed foods and meats were the hardest hit. In addition, the complete liberalization of trade would promote economic welfare gains and losses higher, when compared to the scenario of tariff elimination, because the tariff structure between members of the TPP is already reasonably reduced. Therefore, the possible intensification in trade intrabloco of TPP, without the reduction of subsidies on production, could weaken the Brazilian agribusiness, therefore suggests loss of competitiveness in the sector.
Este trabalho objetivou avaliar os impactos no agronegócio brasileiro na formação do Acordo de Preferência Comercial Transpacífico (TPP). Nesse sentido, foram analisadas não apenas as mudanças na economia quando ocorre a eliminação de todas as barreiras tarifárias, o que caracteriza a formação de uma área de livre comércio, mas também a eliminação de barreiras tarifárias em conjunto com a eliminação de subsídios entre as regiões do acordo. Para tal, utilizou-se o modelo de Equilíbrio Geral Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP). Os resultados indicaram, no cenário de eliminação de tarifas de importação entre as economias do TPP, que impactos econômicos no agronegócio brasileiro, na sua maioria, seriam negativos, prejudicando principalmente os setores de carnes, milho, lã, alimentos processados e arroz. Os setores de trigo, sementes oleaginosas e os vegetais sofreriam impactos positivos. Por outro lado, no cenário de liberalização total de comércio entre as regiões intrablocos, como eliminação de tarifas de importação e de subsídios à exportação e produção, os impactos gerados no agronegócio brasileiro seriam mais significativos nos setores de trigo, vegetais, sementes oleaginosas e frutas, com o setor agrícola brasileiro produtor e exportador sendo positivamente influenciado. Porém, os setores lã, leite, alimentos processados e carnes seriam os mais prejudicados. Além disso, a liberalização completa do comércio promoveria perdas econômicas e ganhos de bem-estar maiores, quando comparados ao cenário de eliminação tarifária, pois a estrutura tarifária entre membros do TPP já é razoavelmente reduzida.

This research paper pays particular attention to the EAC because of its unique composition of four LDCs46 and 1 DC47 and the fact that three of these countries are landlocked least developed countries (LLDCs).48 The EAC was notified as a RTA to the WTO under the Enabling Clause on 9 October 2000 and registered as a Custom Union49 under WT/COMTD/N/14.50 The notification of the EAC under the Enabling Clause is due to the nature of composition of members therein and to the fact that the Enabling Clause does not require regional trading arrangements to cover substantially all trade, or to achieve free trade in the bloc within ten years after notification. Additionally, it provides an avenue for giving special consideration to the LDCs through making concessions and contributions,51 allows automatic exemptions from MFN (non-discrimination) treatment in favour of DCs,52 and thus allows other WTO members to accord more favourable treatment to DCs in many cases without according the same treatment to other WTO members.53.

Les pays d'Asie du Sud-Est ont, très tôt dans leur période post-coloniale, envisagé de se regrouper pour former une organisation régionale : l’Association des nations d’Asie du Sud-Est, dénommée l’ANASE ou, plus communément appelée par son sigle anglais, ASEAN. En nous appuyant sur l’exemple de l’ASEAN, nous aborderons le concept d’intégration régionale économique sous son angle juridique, en cherchant notamment à le distinguer des vocables contigus de régionalisme, régionalisation ou encore de coopération économique. Quelles sont les caractéristiques d'une intégration régionale? Ses manifestations? En dépit de l'hétérogénéité des organisations régionales ayant pour objectif de construire une intégration économique dans une région donnée, quels sont les points communs qu’un juriste peut observer? Comment décrypter l’ASEAN grâce au processus d’intégration économique qu’elle conduit et à la stratégie qu’elle a choisie? Quelles sont ses particularités? Quels défis doit-elle relever pour atteindre ses objectifs d’intégration à travers les trois dimensions communautaires : économique, politico-sécuritaire et socio-culturelle? De quels soutiens externes l’ASEAN peut-elle bénéficier pour renforcer son processus d’intégration régionale ? Le rapprochement entre pays d’Asie du Sud-Est s’appuie sur l’intergouvernementalité et la sauvegarde absolue de la souveraineté de ses Etats membres qui conduisent à privilégier le recours au droit souple plutôt qu’au droit dur dans leur production normative. L’approche adoptée prendra soin de se différencier de celles de l'économiste, du politiste ou du spécialiste des relations internationales et ouvrira sur des points de vue extra-européens. Les spécificités de l’ASEAN et sa dimension interne seront abordées dans un premier temps, tandis que la seconde partie couvrira la dynamique externe de l’intégration économique de l’ASEAN à partir d’un choix sélectif de partenariats (UE, accords de libre-échange, Banque asiatique du développement, APEC)
The countries located in Southeast Asia have, very soon, during the postcolonial period, foreseen to regroup to forming a regional organization named “ASEAN” (Association of nations of Southeast Asia). We would like to address the concept of economic regional integration from a legal perspective based on the example of ASEAN. This will in particular lead us to distinguish such a concept with other terms similar or very closed, such as regionalism, regionalization and economic cooperation. What are the features of regional integration? What are its manifestations? Despite all the diversity of regional organizations the purpose of which is to build an economic integration within a specific region, what are the common features that a lawyer can observe? How to reveal the ASEAN regional organization through the economic integration process it has launched and strategies chosen by it? What are its peculiarities? What are the challenges it has to face to achieve its integration goals through the following three dimensions: the ASEAN Economic Community, the ASEAN Political &Security Community, and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community? What external support can ASEAN receive to strengthen its regional integration process? Southeast Asian countries look for a closer proximity between themselves on the basis of intergovernmentality and with the deep concern of recognition and protection of their sovereignty that lead to favor Soft law more than hard law in decision-making production. Our approach will be well differentiated from those adopted so far by the economists and political scientists or experts in international relations and will not be reductive to a Eurocentric viewpoint. The main features and the internal dimension of the ASEAN will be addressed in a first part, while the second part will be devoted to the external dynamic of the economic integration of the ASEAN based on a selective choice of partnerships (EU, free trade agreements, Asian Development Bank, APEC)

Le contexte des relations commerciales internationales est marqué, depuis 1995, par une multiplication des processus de négociation et de renégociation des Accords Commerciaux aussi bien au niveau multilatéral, plurilatéral (y compris les arrangements régionaux) que bilatéral. La plupart des Accords Commerciaux Régionaux (ACR) en vigueur dans le monde sont les produits de processus de négociation qui mettent ensemble les pays de niveaux de développement différents.La présente étude identifie et analyse les facteurs qui influencent aussi bien le déroulement que l’issue des négociations des ACR dans un contexte asymétrique, entre les partenaires engagés dans des processus d’intégration régionale. Elle se concentre sur les conditions et les modalités dans lesquelles les acteurs du système interagissent pour produire des règles et des normes qui vont régir leurs relations commerciales. L’analyse place en son centre la question du pouvoir des acteurs et son utilisation dans un système politique. Plus précisément, elle vise à mettre en exergue les facteurs qui déterminent les rapports de pouvoir dans le système politique qu’est le processus de négociation et à analyser les mécanismes d’influence de ces facteurs sur le déroulement et l’issue du processus. L’étude conclu que les rapports de force dans la négociation d’un ACR au sein d’une configuration asymétrique, se déterminent et s’expliquent par un ensemble de facteurs d’ordre socio-anthropologiques, économiques, politique, géographiques et historiques. Ces facteurs peuvent être résumés par cinq concepts qui sont : la force, la dépendance, la cohérence, la stratégie et la tactique. Ils se déploient dans une dynamique et un environnement cryptés, impulsés par les puissances qui gouvernent les relations économiques et commerciales internationales, et ils sont promus par les institutions mises en place à cet effet. Enfin, les résultats de leur utilisation sur le pouvoir des acteurs sont imprévisibles à priori
The context of international trade relations is marked since 1995 by a multiplication of the negotiation and renegotiation processes of trade agreements both at the multilateral, plurilateral (including regional arrangements) and bilateral levels. Most of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) in force in the world are the products of negotiations that bring together countries of different levels of development.This study identifies and analyzes the factors that influence both the progress and the outcome of RTAs negotiations in an asymmetric context between partners involved in regional integration process. It focuses on the conditions and modalities in which the actors of the system interact to produce rules and standards that will govern their trade relations. The analysis places at its center the question of power and its use by the actors in a political system. Specifically, it aims to highlight the factors that determine the balance of power in the negotiation process seen as a political system, and to analyze the mechanisms of influence of these factors on the course and outcome of the process.The study conclude that the balance of power in the negotiation of an RTA in an asymmetrical configuration, is determined and can be explained by a set of factors from socio-anthropological, economic, political, geographical and historical order. These factors can be summarized by five concepts which are: strength, dependence, consistency, strategy and tactics. They unfold in a dynamic and encrypted environment-driven powers that govern international economic and trade relations, and they are promoted by the institutions established for this purpose. Finally, the results of their use on the power of actors are unpredictable a priori

碩士
國立政治大學
國際經營與貿易學系
106
Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement) provides WTO members the right to take sanitary and phytosanitary measures for the protection of human, animal or plant life or health, and requires these SPS measures to avoid distinctions or a disguised restriction on international trade. Thus, SPS Agreement can achieve the balance of ‘protection of food safety and animal of plant health’ and ‘protection of international trade’. However, in practice, SPS Agreement is criticized as focusing on trade protection rather than health. There is doubt on the management in food safety and animal and plant health for SPS Agreement. Besides, with decline of legislative function in WTO, the governance turned to bilateral or multilateral trade agreement. As a result, this article collects and analyzes the regulations of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures in Regional Trade Agreement – especially on EU and U.S.’s Regional Trade Agreement and CPTPP Agreement, and compares with SPS Agreement to see the WTO-Plus or WTO-Extra regulations, and to analyze if these improvements can resolve the problem of SPS Agreement. In this article, the improvements of SPS regulations on animal welfare, adaptation to Regional Conditions, and technical cooperation focus on food safety or animal or plant health. On the other hand, the SPS regulations with more improvents focus on international trade, including the regulations on Harmonization, Equivalence, Scientific Evidence and Transparency. It is concluded that the improvements in SPS regulations seemed not to solve the governance problems in SPS Agreement. It is worthy to see if the improvements in SPS regulations can solve the problems in practice, and keep observing the development of SPS regulations in regional trade agreement in the future.

碩士
國立屏東商業技術學院
國際企業所
99
Many nations worked hard to promote the multilateral trade negotiation and regional fee trade agreement (RTA) after the World Trade Organization (WTO) failed in 2003. The major nations of East Asian are approved 73 RTA with other negotiations result in economical conformity in East Asian. China is acceded to Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASENA) in 2010. Most people supported that Japan and Korea will be acceded to ASENA in 2012. We care marginalize Taiwan's economy due to our country will not be acceded to ASENA by politics factors. This study uses the Gravity model established by Bergstrand (1985) to analysis the influence of regional economic integration in China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and ASEAN members from 2001 to 2010. We also analysis the influence on Taiwan’s trade flows after China, Japan, Korea participate in ASEAN Free Trade Area in 2012. The research results show that the GDP, population, exchange rate have positive effect on bilateral trade flows in China, Japan Korea after they participate in ASEAN Free Trade Area in 2012. Besides, the regional economical organizations have outstanding influence between China, Japan and Korea. Taiwan will decrease the bilateral trade flows compare with ASEAN members in 2012.

碩士
國立政治大學
國家安全與大陸研究碩士在職專班
104
Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) is a regional agreement in the wake of the global economic integration is blocked, the trend appears under the regional economic and trade booming, its produce has its special background, so that the content is somewhat different than the other agreements. It appears Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) directly affects the economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, on various aspects of Taiwan's development strategy and foreign trade have a significant impact. Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) Taiwan is an opportunity or a challenge, but also from multiple angles and aspects to analyze. This paper describes the cross Partnership Agreement (TPP) content and process of development of the Pacific, and from the perspective of international political and economic liberalism and analyze the impact of development Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) of the coping strategies of Taiwan.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
法律學研究所
100
The World Trade Organization (WTO) has held many rounds of negotiations evolving around regional trade agreements- the purpose is to set out clear rules on regional, multilateral and free trade agreements within the WTO framework. During this period, the increase in the establishment of international enterprises has made countries dependent on one another’s products, as a result causing imbalance in tariff reductions. In order to prevent scandals and protect investors, the importance of regional trade agreement has become prominent since countries who sign often share similar culture, background and interest. Is regional trade agreement (RTA) a stumbling block or building block to the multilateral trading system? This question has long been discussed among international writers and experts. In recent years, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) has become widely interpreted as the new generation of RTA, the importance of its implication to the multilateral trade system has caught the attention of both developed and developing countries. The initial participants in the TPP negotiations include ten APEC members from four different regions in the Asia Pacific: East Asia (Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Japan); Oceania (Australia, New Zealand); Latin America (Chile, Peru); and North America (United States). The agreement include core issues traditionally included in trade agreements, including industrial goods, agriculture, and textiles as well as rules on intellectual property, technical barriers to trade, labor and environment. The TPP seeks to represent a new kind of trade agreement, one that serves as a platform for other nations to join in to and that addresses both tariff and non-tariff barriers to set a standard by which countries can conduct true, market-based trade. The TPP is perceived as a pathway towards developing a comprehensive FTAAP. In Chapter 1, the thesis will review different stages of the development of regionalism, including regionalism from the 1950s to 1980s; regionalism since the 1990s and the new generation of regionalism. In Chapter 2, the initiation of TPP and the different stages of negotiations from various perspectives will be discussed. Key questions that will be covered include the factor that has prompted other states like the United States to join this agreement and the aspect that these member countries see in the TPP that gives them confidence for building a future together. In Chapter 3, the substantive issue on state-owned enterprises will be identified for more in-depth discussions. In Chapter 4, the thesis will focus on the new standards of TPP for intellectual property protection to promote an environment for innovation. These substantive issues are important because a) some comprehensive high standards will be set, b) they will become an example for developed countries to require other developing countries to follow high standards, c) they will create a better environment for the geographically widely covered TPP region. The thesis will also look into the implication of TPP to WTO from the wide geographical coverage. In Chapter 5, the thesis will discuss the stumbling block and building effects of TPP to the multilateral trading system. From the perspective that it is an exception to WTO, it can be seen as a stumbling block. From the perspective that there will be new and higher substantive standards, it can be seen as a building block because they might have positive affect to the future negotiation of WTO. The final section of this thesis is a summary and concluding remark in Chapter 6.

This study examines the comparative impact of multilateral trade agreements on intra-regional trade in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regions in Africa. Annual data was gathered from 2000 to 2018 and dynamic panel data and econometric techniques were used to control for individual country characteristics, endogeneity, serial correlation, heteroscedasticity and interdependencies between the countries in each region. Two estimations were done, one using the tariff measures of multilateral agreements, the second using non-tariff measures of multilateral agreement. The results of the empirical analysis show that the SADC region has a slight edge over ECOWAS in terms of technological progress and investment, especially in trade infrastructure. However, the ECOWAS levels of employment and economic growth are higher than those in the SADC region. These differences further translate into differences that drive intra-African trade in these regions, and how they relate to the role of multilateral agreements in intra-African trade in each of these regions. While technology and investment are key drivers and enhancers of intra-African trade in SADC countries, economic growth and employment stand out as key enhancers of intra-African trade in ECOWAS, especially where multilateral agreement is represented by tariff measures. This study reports that when non-tariff measures are used to represent multilateral agreements, export trade costs, in addition to investment and technology, are the key drivers of intra-African trade in SADC countries. For ECOWAS, under non-tariff measures of multilateral agreements, only economic growth drives intra-African trade.
Business Management
D. Phil. (Business Management)

Services are the fastest growing sector of the economy. With the advent and development of technology, trade in services has grown more rapidly than trade in goods in world production. This has also resulted from ongoing economic reforms and the development of more liberal policies. Prior to the Uruguay Round of negotiations, international trade was confined to the conventional form of trade in goods or merchandise trade. With new developments, especially with the advent of technological changes, trade not only centred on cross border exchanges of goods but was broadened to include cross border trade of services. In spite of this development in trade in services, trade negotiations on services liberalisation have made little progress under the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Because of this, countries have opted for other fora to address their needs under trade in services. One of the ways of doing this has been to enter into regional and free trade agreements providing for liberalisation of trade in services. Such has been the case of the proliferation of such agreements not only Africa but the world over, during the last decade. Services provisions under regional trade agreements (RTAs) follow the same trend as those RTAs that provide for goods. They are largely premised on the elimination of explicit barriers to the entry of foreign service providers in the region. Notably, for services trade under RTAs, two models of liberalisation are largely used. A number of RTAs tend to duplicate the use, found in GATS, of a positive-list approach to market opening, whereas others pursue a negative-list approach. The negative-list approach is modelled along the services provisions in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Much discourse has been advanced on which of the models of liberalisation is better although no conclusive research has been undertaken in support of either one. Proponents of the negative list do advance its attributes while those of the negative list do the same. However, most of them conclude that one cannot say with finality that either one is the better option because the impact of liberalisation is not automatic. Such liberalisation, in order to benefit the regional economy, and also the domestic economies, must be accompanied by related policy reforms and proper formulation of such reforms. Managing reforms of services markets should therefore be done in combination with the proper formulation of both competition and regulatory reforms and policies. In addition, there should be adequate regulation and supervision mechanisms to monitor the functioning of the different services sectors or else the liberalisation efforts of the countries will be undermined. Much of such discourse on the choice of either approach to liberalisation has been undertaken based on the RTAS and free trade agreements in North America and Asia. Notably, not much of the same has been done regarding such agreements in Africa. As such, this research is undertaken focusing on assessing albeit fleetingly, the scheduling approach adopted by the East African countries under the Protocol for the establishment of the East African Community Common market. This research, while drawing from that undertaken in other regions, attempts to explore the likely consequences of the liberalisation approach adopted by the countries of the East African Community.
Dissertation (LLM)--University of Pretoria, 2010.
Centre for Human Rights
unrestricted

碩士
國立成功大學
政治經濟研究所
104
Taiwan’s economic development is highly dependent on the international trade. In fact, Taiwan has signed seven RTAs (Regional Trade Agreement, RTA), but accompanied by some debates about liberalization of trade. The most well-known events are the importation of American Beef and Sunflower Movement. Based on these events, we can observe that domestic actors think free trade not only brings economic benefits, but also has negative effects on social security, justice and so on. Therefore, the main questions of this research are: What is the mode of operation of the Taiwan’s regional trade agreement? How did it form in the international and domestic level? Whether domestic actors will affect the outcome of agreements? This study will mainly adopt Milner’s (1997) Two Level Game and International Negotiation approach to seek theoretical explanation. In order to depict the importance of domestic actors in the process of the formation and operation of Taiwan’s trade agreement, and try to examine factors that influence the formation of the Taiwan’s trade agreement, I would divide trade agreements into three types. The research results indicate that Taiwan's trade agreements faced both international and domestic impacts, and then current mode of agreement was formed. The important factors affecting the results of the agreement include the patterns of agreement, the gap among actors’ interest, domestic institution and information environment, and the gap among the interests of the various actors is particularly critical.

碩士
國立中興大學
國際政治研究所
101
Generally speaking, the early Free Trade Agreement (Free Trade Agreement, FTA) only involve in trade and economic function level. FTAs keeps pace with the times and evolved into depth integration of exceeding traditional commodities trading, which rise a wave of one signed the FTA in recent years, especially between the Asian countries, there is more relative to compete for the FTA signing. However, any country would intend to do the national strategy and policy measures to safeguard national interests when it comes to protecting national security and competing for implement of national goal which the perspective of comprehensive security. With International Economic Interdependence widen and deepen, foreign economic strategy affects policy-making of national strategic. Also, FTAs which have both political and economic effects also becoming the core of alliance with other countries. However, this thesis analyzes that whether the external trade policy of South Korea is the result of the political and economic when it facing the challenges of financial crisis and economic globalization, as well as comprehensive understanding of strategic of South Korea is able to fully explain contact the signing of the FTA between South Korea, United States, and European Union. Korea’s FTA strategy is the program which focuses on the territory of the global economic and put her as a trade hub and spread to form an economic zone. Besides the consideration of the International Trade and Investment, energy diplomacy will also be included in the FTA policy. Based on national security considerations and affected by the economic globalization, Taiwan must adjust diplomatic (or political) and economic policy, while Taiwan and South Korea''s external trade or economic development are similar, since both countries are restricted by the development of the domestic economy, expensive labor costs and other factors, have to depend on other countries in the economic, Taiwan can learn from South Korea FTA strategy as the adjustment of the situation changes in response to the global, regional integration policy model.

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil
Increasing energy needs globally have recently led to an interest in effectively bringing energy services in the trading system. Energy services were part of the Uruguay Round of negotiations, whose main achievement was the General Agreement on Trade in Services(GATS). The objective of the GATS is to achieve progressive liberalisation and reduction or elimination of trade barriers of all services sectors, including energy services. The GATS has made commendable progress in liberalising many service sectors, however it has not made meaningful progress with energy services. Furthermore though the SADC region engages in energy services trade through bilateral and regional agreements, a variety of barriers inhibit major successes from being achieved. Effective energy services trade and liberalisation has therefore proved problematic both at the multilateral, regional and bilateral level. This study,seeks to investigate why energy services liberalisation and trade at the multilateral, regional and bilateral level is problematic, with a particular focus on the SADC region.

Motivation of virtually all regional economic integration (REI) initiatives has been prospect of enhanced economic growth. Although REI's role in contributing to growth and development was recognised and acknowledged, its importance in Africa has never been properly outlined. Theoretical background, economic assumptions and evidence of REI are examined to bring out REI's importance to Africa. Depicting from these, benefits and challenges of REI in Africa are explored. This dissertation analyses the progress, pace, approach, sequence of REI in Africa looking at different variables. Africa's regional integration blueprint and institutional framework are compared to EU's but selected areas are identified as essential for Africa. Progress on REI has been found to be slow. This study concludes that REI should be viewed as one aspect of strategy towards Africa's development and growth. However, the benefits of REI make it imperative for it to remain the central pillar of Africa's development agenda.
Economics
M.Com. (Economics)

Special and differential treatment (SDT) provisions in GATT were created to assist developing countries achieve economic progress while assimilating into the multilateral trading system. Despite these intentions, global trade imbalances still persist. Within this context, I focus on the region of East Asia which has experienced astounding growth in just several decades, propelling it far beyond other developing country regions. Although international trade continues to be the crucial factor driving growth in the region, reliance on SDT has in certain circumstances hindered development. As such, East Asia should seek alternatives to SDT. In that vein, I argue that sustainable growth and trade liberalization can be achieved by enhancing integration through a regional trade agreement. I further discuss various proposals for an East Asian trade agreement such as ASEAN+3, FTAAP, and EARTA. Finally, I highlight the importance of governance and identify several institutions essential for a successful regional arrangement.

Dissertação de Mestrado em Direito apresentada à Faculdade de Direito
A presente dissertação foi elaborada no âmbito do Mestrado em Ciências Jurídico-Económicas e versa principalmente sobre as problemáticas presentes nas relações comerciais e econômicas entre a União Europeia e a América Latina. O trabalho demonstra que, até ao final do século XX, a América Latina manteve-se como região periférica no relacionamento comercial europeu com o resto do mundo, ocorrendo uma modesta mudança de cenário, ainda na década de 1990, por ocasião do início das negociações com o MERCOSUL e, em seguida, dos acordos com o México e o Chile, em vigor desde 2000 e 2003, respectivamente. No dia 28 de junho de 2019, contudo, foram concluídas as negociações do pilar comercial do Acordo de Associação UE-MERCOSUL, que visa a liberalização progressiva do comércio de bens e serviços e a abertura dos mercados de contratos públicos entre os espaços. O ambicioso acordo birregional simboliza uma nova era nas relações entre as regiões, algo que se pretendeu confirmar. Os desafios atuais destas negociações perpassam os entraves relacionados com as solicitações latino-americanas de acesso livre dos seus produtos agrícolas ao mercado europeu, que privilegia, por seu turno, a produção industrial. Questões sensíveis, como desenvolvimento sustentável e integração regional, acabam por (legitimamente) receber maior atenção, em virtude das políticas comerciais dos seus Estados-Membros. A presente dissertação foi elaborada no âmbito do Mestrado em Ciências Jurídico-Económicas e versa principalmente sobre as problemáticas presentes nas relações comerciais e econômicas entre a União Europeia e a América Latina. O trabalho demonstra que, até ao final do século XX, a América Latina manteve-se como região periférica no relacionamento comercial europeu com o resto do mundo, ocorrendo uma modesta mudança de cenário, ainda na década de 1990, por ocasião do início das negociações com o MERCOSUL e, em seguida, dos acordos com o México e o Chile, em vigor desde 2000 e 2003, respectivamente. No dia 28 de junho de 2019, contudo, foram concluídas as negociações do pilar comercial do Acordo de Associação UE-MERCOSUL, que visa a liberalização progressiva do comércio de bens e serviços e a abertura dos mercados de contratos públicos entre os espaços. O ambicioso acordo birregional simboliza uma nova era nas relações entre as regiões, algo que se pretendeu confirmar. Os desafios atuais destas negociações perpassam os entraves relacionados com as solicitações latino-americanas de acesso livre dos seus produtos agrícolas ao mercado europeu, que privilegia, por seu turno, a produção industrial. Questões sensíveis, como desenvolvimento sustentável e integração regional, acabam por (legitimamente) receber maior atenção, em virtude das políticas comerciais dos seus Estados-Membros.
This dissertation was prepared within the framework of the Master's Degree in Legal and Economic Science Programme. It addresses the main issues arising from trade and economic relations between the European Union and Latin America. The work shows that until the end of the 20th century, Latin America remained as a peripheral partner in the context of European countries’ trade relations with the rest of the world. A modest change took place still in the 1990s, with the beginning of negotiations with MERCOSUR and, following that, with the agreements with Mexico and Chile, in force since 2000 and 2003, respectively. However, in June 28, 2019, negotiations were concluded on the trade pillar of the EU-MERCOSUR Association Agreement, which aims at the progressive liberalisation of trade in goods and services and the opening of public procurement markets between both areas. The ambitious bi-regional agreement symbolises a new era in relations between the two regions, which it was intended to confirm. The current challenges in these negotiations are interwoven with Latin American requests for free access to the European market for their agricultural products, which in turn favours industrial production. Sensitive issues, such as sustainable development and regional integration, end up receiving (and legitimately so) more attention because of the trade policies of their Member States. This dissertation was prepared within the framework of the Master's Degree in Legal and Economic Science Programme. It addresses the main issues arising from trade and economic relations between the European Union and Latin America. The work shows that until the end of the 20th century, Latin America remained as a peripheral partner in the context of European countries’ trade relations with the rest of the world. A modest change took place still in the 1990s, with the beginning of negotiations with MERCOSUR and, following that, with the agreements with Mexico and Chile, in force since 2000 and 2003, respectively. However, in June 28, 2019, negotiations were concluded on the trade pillar of the EU-MERCOSUR Association Agreement, which aims at the progressive liberalisation of trade in goods and services and the opening of public procurement markets between both areas. The ambitious bi-regional agreement symbolises a new era in relations between the two regions, which it was intended to confirm. The current challenges in these negotiations are interwoven with Latin American requests for free access to the European market for their agricultural products, which in turn favours industrial production. Sensitive issues, such as sustainable development and regional integration, end up receiving (and legitimately so) more attention because of the trade policies of their Member States.

The EPA&rsquo
s will have an impact on regional integration in Africa, especially in the SADC region. The region has been split between the SADC and ESA EPA configuration therefore impacting on regional integration objectives set out under the SADC Trade Protocol.The EPA&rsquo
s will be concluded separately with six of the sub groupings under the ACP grouping. With the EU-SADC EPA negotiations has come a problem of overlapping of membership of the different regions which has created confusion and conflicts. Members of Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) did not all enter into the EU-SADC EPA has one. The EU-SADC EPA configuration consists of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania. The rest of the SADC member states are negotiating with the EU-ESA configuration. With South Africa having been allowed into the negotiations, its role should be examined and what it can contribute to the negotiations. Another conflict that has been created is the fact that South Africa has its own bilateral agreement with the EU thus putting stain on the trade relationship between South African and the rest of the SADC countries.