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1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Since the inception of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
in 1947, 376 Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have been notified to the GATT
and its successor institution, the World Trade Organization (WTO).1 More than
three-quarters of all RTAs have been notified to the GATT/WTO since 1992. The
recent and persistent popularity of RTAs both in terms of the absolute quantity of
RTAs and the breadth of participation by nearly all United Nations (UN) member
states has not evaded the percipience of analysts of political economy and public
policy.
The proliferation of RTAs notifications to the GATT/WTO is puzzling
because the guiding principles of non-discrimination and reciprocity are violated
with the formation of RTAs that deny preferences to GATT/WTO members
unaffiliated with the RTA. Provisions included in the GATT/WTO provide for
exceptions but it is evident that the GATT/WTO is not enforcing the rules governing
the exceptions. The proliferation of RTAs in absolute terms is well documented,
however, the adoption by nearly every state in the international community is less
discussed. Why is the RTA trade policy so popular? This examination of the
proliferation of RTAs considers this puzzle at a macro-level rather than at a micro-level.
The intention is to develop a greater understanding of the overall
1 Calculated using a document provided by the WTO dated May 21, 2007.
Object Description
| Title | Riding the wave: an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the popularity of RTA notifications to the GATT/WTO |
| Author | McClough, David Andrew |
| Author email | mcclough@usc.edu; dmcclou@bgsu.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Political Economy & Public Policy |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-08-07 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2008-10-18 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Katada, Saori N. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Nugent, Jeffrey B. Cartier, Carolyn |
| Abstract | The proliferation of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) notified to the GATT/WTO since the early 1980s deviates from the long-term trend and reflects participation of nearly every member of the United Nations. This dissertation seeks to explain the current wave of RTA notifications by supplementing the economic model of supply and demand with diffusion theory. Application of the supply and demand model is useful in distinguishing between changes in demand and changes insupply of RTAs. This distinction is seldom emphasized in the current literature examining RTAs. Recent applications of diffusion theory in the discipline of international relations offer a unique opportunity to include a dynamic force in the static analysis of the supply and demand model. Empirical analysis assesses the fit of the RTA diffusion pattern by comparing the RTA diffusion pattern to a cumulative standard normal distribution. The analysis indicates that the diffusion pattern of RTAs resembles the diffusion of an innovation through a social system.; The implication of this finding is that the adoption of an RTA as trade policy is not made independently of the decision by other states. Indeed, the analysis suggests interdependency between states. Further empirical analysis explores economic and political variables that may explain the decision to adopt the RTA as trade policy. The empirical analysis is unique in that survival analysis is utilized to assess the variation in duration to adopt an initial RTA since the early 1980s. A central discovery is that regional designation explains the variation in duration to adopt an initial RTA. Multiple regression analysis confirms the results generated using survival analysis and support the assertion that the proliferation of RTAs likely reflects changes in both the demand for RTAs and the supply of RTAs. This dissertation concludes by considering implications for the WTO resulting from the increase in RTA notifications. |
| Keyword | trade agreements |
| Coverage date | after 1980 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1675 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | McClough, David Andrew |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-McClough-2338 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume32/etd-McClough-2338.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 10 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Since the inception of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1947, 376 Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have been notified to the GATT and its successor institution, the World Trade Organization (WTO).1 More than three-quarters of all RTAs have been notified to the GATT/WTO since 1992. The recent and persistent popularity of RTAs both in terms of the absolute quantity of RTAs and the breadth of participation by nearly all United Nations (UN) member states has not evaded the percipience of analysts of political economy and public policy. The proliferation of RTAs notifications to the GATT/WTO is puzzling because the guiding principles of non-discrimination and reciprocity are violated with the formation of RTAs that deny preferences to GATT/WTO members unaffiliated with the RTA. Provisions included in the GATT/WTO provide for exceptions but it is evident that the GATT/WTO is not enforcing the rules governing the exceptions. The proliferation of RTAs in absolute terms is well documented, however, the adoption by nearly every state in the international community is less discussed. Why is the RTA trade policy so popular? This examination of the proliferation of RTAs considers this puzzle at a macro-level rather than at a micro-level. The intention is to develop a greater understanding of the overall 1 Calculated using a document provided by the WTO dated May 21, 2007. |
