1. World Trade Organization 2.0: Reforming Multilateral Trade Rules for the Digital Age
- Author:
- Dan Ciuriak
- Publication Date:
- 07-2019
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for International Governance Innovation
- Abstract:
- The rules-based framework, as instantiated in rules established under the World Trade Organization (WTO), is not equipped to address the issues that are emerging under the technological conditions generated by the digital transformation. The emerging knowledge-based and data-driven economy features incentives for strategic trade and investment policy and a confluence of factors contributing to market failure at a global scale; digital social media and platform business models have raised concerns with calls for regulation affecting cross-border data flows; and newfound security issues raised by the vulnerabilities in the infrastructure of the digitized economy have precipitated a potential decoupling of global production networks along geopolitical fault lines. To date, the response has been fragmented, incomplete and, in large part, conducted outside the WTO. A new WTO digital round is required to create a multilateral framework that is fit for purpose for the digital age.
- Topic:
- International Trade and Finance, World Trade Organization, Digital Economy, and Multilateralism
- Political Geography:
- Global Focus