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Begin New Search Author Imtiaz Hussain Publication Year within 25 Years

1. Legal Integration in North America: Domestic and Multilateral Comparisons

Author:
Imtiaz Hussain
Publication Date:
03-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
With so much attention riveted upon economic integration today, another form of integration, having to do with the laws, constitutional provisions, and judicial arrangements countries abide by, has received considerably less attention. To partly redress that imbalance, a case study of legal integration in North America is undertaken. Building upon the specific dispute settlement arrangements of chapters 19 and 20 of the North American Free Trade Agreement, two comparative studies are pursued—the first between the legal practices, constitutional requirements, and judicial contexts in Canada, Mexico, and the United States; the other between NAFTA, GATT, and the World Trade Organization provisions. Two broad findings undergird legal integration in North America: The recognition of the need a) for at least three forms of reciprocal relationships: between economic and legal forms of integration; regional procedures and their domestic counterparts; and regional procedures and their multilateral counterparts; and b) to keep the state an active participant in supranational efforts by leaving a veto power over such developments or the exit option with the state, and thereby accomodating domestic interests and cross-national divergences as widely as possible.
Topic:
Economics, International Trade and Finance, and Politics
Political Geography:
North America

2. Take the State Back Out? Comparing French Responses to Globalization in Agriculture and Shipping

Author:
Mark Aspinwall and Imtiaz Hussain
Publication Date:
02-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas
Abstract:
How autonomous is a state in today's highly interdependent international economy to pursue policies that diverge widely from the international norm? Does the degree of autonomy vary for different domestic sectors? We adapt and apply Benjamin Cohen's unholy trinity model (1993), to a comparative assessment of how France responded to globalization over agriculture and shipping, focusing on three dimensions—investment, transaction costs, and government policy responses. Although France is reputed to possess a strong state machinery (Katzenstein, 1987; Wilson, 1987; Skocpol, 1985), our analysis raises qualifications. On the one hand, regardless of government policy intentions, we find irreversible forms of disinvestment in both sectors, though different in nature—geographic for shipping, and functional for agriculture; on the other, we also find continued dependence upon the state—for aid in shipping and resisting free trade in agriculture. We further find that, although internal and endogenous, as well as external and exogenous, factors influence policy-making, the nature of these factors are different for the two sectors. We conclude by drawing implications of our findings for state-society relations and European integration.
Topic:
Agriculture, Economics, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, and France