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82
Emulation relates to the concept of structural equivalence and is derived from
reference group theory. Emulation reflects a socio-cultural link contributing to a
shared meaning. For example, a social policy may spread through commonwealth
states sharing a cultural and moral tradition yet may not find acceptance in states less
linked culturally to the United Kingdom. Referral to Francophone Africa and Latin
America implies a commonality, if not necessarily communitarianism, based on a
shared language, common history, and shared values. Harry G. Johnson (1965a)
recognizes the role of international emulation as a determinant of nationalistic
objectives citing not only policy adoptions but also the importance placed on
winning Olympic medals. For developing countries, RTAs may represent an
outward demonstration of nationalism. Indeed, Johnson (1965b) relies heavily on
nationalism as the motivation for developing countries to forego multilateralism in
favor of RTAs.
Most certainly, there is a place for emulation as an explanation for the
proliferation of RTAs. To what extent states seek to mimic policies perceived as
successful is difficult to extract from the extent to which states adopt the RTA as a
defensive strategy to retain relative position in a social system, whether economic or
militarily. Nonetheless, it is intuitively appealing to suggest that the adoption of
RTAs by states informs the decision-making in other states.
Learning is the most malleable source of diffusion as its meaning varies
across different social sciences. Economists, for example, generally subscribe to
Bayesian updating as a model for learning. Bayesian updating requires that new
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 91 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 82 Emulation relates to the concept of structural equivalence and is derived from reference group theory. Emulation reflects a socio-cultural link contributing to a shared meaning. For example, a social policy may spread through commonwealth states sharing a cultural and moral tradition yet may not find acceptance in states less linked culturally to the United Kingdom. Referral to Francophone Africa and Latin America implies a commonality, if not necessarily communitarianism, based on a shared language, common history, and shared values. Harry G. Johnson (1965a) recognizes the role of international emulation as a determinant of nationalistic objectives citing not only policy adoptions but also the importance placed on winning Olympic medals. For developing countries, RTAs may represent an outward demonstration of nationalism. Indeed, Johnson (1965b) relies heavily on nationalism as the motivation for developing countries to forego multilateralism in favor of RTAs. Most certainly, there is a place for emulation as an explanation for the proliferation of RTAs. To what extent states seek to mimic policies perceived as successful is difficult to extract from the extent to which states adopt the RTA as a defensive strategy to retain relative position in a social system, whether economic or militarily. Nonetheless, it is intuitively appealing to suggest that the adoption of RTAs by states informs the decision-making in other states. Learning is the most malleable source of diffusion as its meaning varies across different social sciences. Economists, for example, generally subscribe to Bayesian updating as a model for learning. Bayesian updating requires that new |
