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9
consumers never demanded the minivan per se, however, Chysler faced intense
competition and needed to develop a new product to attract customers. Chysler
produced and marketed a vehicle in the form of a minivan to accommodate the
particular needs of the auto consumer. The market responded favorably to the
innovation and other auto manufactures adopted the innovation to compete with
Chrysler. With the increase in production of minivans, firms reallocated scarce
resources by reducing production of mid-size and full-size family sedans, which
once met the automotive needs of families. On the demand side, neighbors and
friends easily observed the relative advantage the minivan and made the choice to
adopt the product.
The RTA innovation is not a one-time improvement but rather an on-going
process consistent with the example of hybrid corn examined by Zvi Griliches
(1957) and Everett Rogers (1962). William H. Redmond (2004) observes that the
introduction of innovation has an unintended effect of exposing potential adopters to
what he refers to as newness (p. 1296). The implication of this continuous exposure
to innovation is a reduction in risk aversion associated with adopting subsequent
innovations. Accordingly, the process of producing innovations primes the market to
accept future innovations. Redmond’s observation offers a useful insight that may
help to explain the willingness of states to adopt multiple RTAs. Similarly,
Redmond offers insight to explain the finding presented later in the empirical
analysis that states with previous experience with RTAs adopt the RTA innovation
more quickly.
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 18 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 9 consumers never demanded the minivan per se, however, Chysler faced intense competition and needed to develop a new product to attract customers. Chysler produced and marketed a vehicle in the form of a minivan to accommodate the particular needs of the auto consumer. The market responded favorably to the innovation and other auto manufactures adopted the innovation to compete with Chrysler. With the increase in production of minivans, firms reallocated scarce resources by reducing production of mid-size and full-size family sedans, which once met the automotive needs of families. On the demand side, neighbors and friends easily observed the relative advantage the minivan and made the choice to adopt the product. The RTA innovation is not a one-time improvement but rather an on-going process consistent with the example of hybrid corn examined by Zvi Griliches (1957) and Everett Rogers (1962). William H. Redmond (2004) observes that the introduction of innovation has an unintended effect of exposing potential adopters to what he refers to as newness (p. 1296). The implication of this continuous exposure to innovation is a reduction in risk aversion associated with adopting subsequent innovations. Accordingly, the process of producing innovations primes the market to accept future innovations. Redmond’s observation offers a useful insight that may help to explain the willingness of states to adopt multiple RTAs. Similarly, Redmond offers insight to explain the finding presented later in the empirical analysis that states with previous experience with RTAs adopt the RTA innovation more quickly. |
