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17
Outline of Remaining Chapters
Chapter 2 provides a description of the proliferation of RTA notifications to
the GATT/WTO. The chapter provides statistical evidence to confirm the increase in
RTA notifications to the GATT/WTO since the 1990s. Chapter 3 reviews the
academic literature examining trade agreements and RTAs, generally, and the recent
increase in RTA notifications, specifically. In addition, Chapter 3 examines an
interdisciplinary review of the scholarly literature relating to diffusion processes.
Chapter 4 examines potential explanations for the increase in RTA notifications. In
addition, Chapter 4 demonstrates that the adoption of RTAs since the 1980s
generates a cumulative density function based on a standard normal distribution that
resembles a typical diffusion process of an innovation through a social system.
Chapter 5 employs various applications of survival analysis to examine the factors
influencing the duration of each state to adopt the RTA trade policy. Chapter 6
investigates the variation in duration to adopt the RTA trade policy using multiple
regression analysis. Chapter 7 concludes the analysis of the proliferation of RTA
notifications to the GATT/WTO by summarizing the findings, applying the
analytical approach to related regional and global phenomenon, and proposing future
research opportunities.
To preview the empirical findings, evidence demonstrates that the increase in
RTAs since the early 1990s resembles the diffusion pattern of an innovation.
Examination of historical evidence leads to the conclusion that the impetus for the
increase in RTA notifications to the GATT/WTO since the early 1990s is likely the
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 26 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 17 Outline of Remaining Chapters Chapter 2 provides a description of the proliferation of RTA notifications to the GATT/WTO. The chapter provides statistical evidence to confirm the increase in RTA notifications to the GATT/WTO since the 1990s. Chapter 3 reviews the academic literature examining trade agreements and RTAs, generally, and the recent increase in RTA notifications, specifically. In addition, Chapter 3 examines an interdisciplinary review of the scholarly literature relating to diffusion processes. Chapter 4 examines potential explanations for the increase in RTA notifications. In addition, Chapter 4 demonstrates that the adoption of RTAs since the 1980s generates a cumulative density function based on a standard normal distribution that resembles a typical diffusion process of an innovation through a social system. Chapter 5 employs various applications of survival analysis to examine the factors influencing the duration of each state to adopt the RTA trade policy. Chapter 6 investigates the variation in duration to adopt the RTA trade policy using multiple regression analysis. Chapter 7 concludes the analysis of the proliferation of RTA notifications to the GATT/WTO by summarizing the findings, applying the analytical approach to related regional and global phenomenon, and proposing future research opportunities. To preview the empirical findings, evidence demonstrates that the increase in RTAs since the early 1990s resembles the diffusion pattern of an innovation. Examination of historical evidence leads to the conclusion that the impetus for the increase in RTA notifications to the GATT/WTO since the early 1990s is likely the |
