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81. Participation of Small Developing Economies in the Governance of the Multilateral Trading System

Author:
Richard L. Bernal
Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Given their vulnerability to external economic events, small developing countries (SDEs) are particularly cognizant of their place in the world economy. Moreover, given their reliance on international trade for prosperity, SDEs are also concerned about the rules and institutions governing the multilateral trading system. In this paper, the author reviews and evaluates the participation of SDEs in the governance of the multilateral trading system, with a particular focus on the WTO. He suggests how SDEs can improve the efficacy of their participation in the WTO's decision-making process, and proposes ways in which the WTO could be adapted to better integrate SDEs in its governance.
Topic:
Economics, Emerging Markets, International Trade and Finance, Third World, and World Trade Organization

82. The Implications of China's Ascendancy for Africa

Author:
Hany Besada
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
China's spectacular economic progress has led some security analysts and policy makers in the North and the South to question Beijing's intentions in other parts of the world. This paper examines the extent to which China's engagement with Africa has produced mutual benefits for both and whether Africa is reaping the necessary benefits required for poverty alleviation and economic development. Chinese state-owned enterprises have invested billions of dollars in foreign reserves, construction, and engineering resources assisting African oil-producing exporters. While many in the west have started to question China's extraordinary level of interest in Africa – in particular, its economic engagement with perceived repressive regimes – African leaders view China's entry as a means of pulling Africa onto the path of globalization. It is thus important that African leaders and policy makers ensure that Chinese trade and investment bring reciprocal and tangible benefits for Africans, and contribute to economic stability and good governance.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Treaties and Agreements, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Africa and China

83. China's Role as a Trade Bridge for Expanding Regional and World Trade

Author:
Min Gong and Wenpu Li
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
To understand China's trade relations with the US, Japan, and South Korea, we estimate a vector autoregressive model (VAR) model to investigate the trade interactions among these four countries using data from the period of the first quarter of 1993 to the fourth quarter of 2005. We find substantial Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)-induced indirect trade from Japan and Korea to the US through China, and between Japan and Korea through China. These indirect trade flows lead to increases in China's trade deficit with Japan and Korea as well as China's trade surplus with the US. The indirect trade flows through China also indicate the importance of China's role as a trade bridge. From the viewpoint of world trade growth, as a trade bridge, China contributes to the stable growth of the regional and world economies. However, China's role as a trade bridge may negatively affect its long-run economic growth.
Topic:
Globalization, International Political Economy, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, China, Asia, South Korea, and Korea

84. The End of Monetary Dominance? How Crises Can Influence Monetary Policy Decisions and Institutions

Author:
Pierre L. Siklos
Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Has the global financial crisis made monetary policy more powerful, or it has exposed its limitations? For the most part, the answer is the former, at least today, but the outlook may not be so rosy. When the former British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was asked what were the greatest challenges he faced, he replied: “Events, my dear boy, events.” We have certainly witnessed in the last year a series of events that are challenging policy makers as well as their beliefs about how monetary policy ought to be conducted in future. Indeed, these same events may come to haunt the monetary authorities, and we may well see a return to a period when monetary policy was subservient to a fiscal policy that steps in, ostensibly to impose order on an apparently unruly private sector. Central banks, among other players, appear to have unwittingly put in place the conditions necessary for what we can now confidently call the perfect storm of 2008. There were several observers who predicted that a train wreck was looming on the horizon. Indeed, perhaps most stunning of all, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), created from the ashes of World War I and which quickly became the forum for central bank cooperation, a role it continues to fill to this day, had repeatedly warned about the troubles that lay ahead. “…these facts also suggest that the magnitude of the problems yet to be faced could be much greater than many now perceive” (BIS Annual Report, 2008: 9). The failure of central banks to act on these warnings may come back to haunt them in the near future.
Topic:
Economics, International Cooperation, International Trade and Finance, Monetary Policy, and Financial Crisis
Political Geography:
Britain

85. EU Commercial Policy in a Multipolar Trading System

Author:
Simon Evenett
Publication Date:
04-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
In recent years, the bipolar multilateral trading system of the post-war years has given way to a multipolar alternative. Although many specifics have yet to be determined, some contours of this new trade policy landscape are coming into focus and in this short paper I examine their implications for the European Union's external commercial policy. Particular attention is given to both the state of business-government relations and the propensity to liberalise under the auspices of reciprocal trade agreements by Brazil, India, and China; the potential new poles of the world trading system. I consider the likely consequences of these developments, plus factors internal to both the European Union and the United States, for the possible con-tent of future multilateral trade initiatives.
Topic:
Development, Government, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States, China, Europe, India, and Brazil

86. Beyond the International Monetary Fund: The Broader Institutional Arrangements in Global Financial Governance

Author:
Tony Porter
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
In recent years there has been an upswing in interest in the reform of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In contrast to its earlier years, the IMF today exists in an international environment populated by a wide variety of public and private-sector international institutions that compete with and complement the work done by the IMF. A key factor in the IMF's performance and future prospects is its relationship with these institutions. This paper analyzes institutional developments in the IMF's environment, linking these with broader contemporary social trends, and drawing conclusions about the significance of these developments for IMF reform. These social trends include a shift from hierarchies to networks, A recognition of the socially-constructed character of knowledge and the growing importance of this knowledge relative to material resources, and a shift from a reliance on US hegemony to multilateralism. The paper argues that the IMF has taken some modest steps in its work to include these considerations and enhance its relationship with other institutions, but these elements need to be included in the process of IMF reform to a much greater degree.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Globalization, and International Trade and Finance

87. The Political Economy of IMF Surveillance

Author:
Ngaire Woods and Domenico Lombardi
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
This paper investigates the political economy foundations of International Monetary Fund (IMF) surveillance by developing a taxonomy that accounts for its differential impact across the membership and examine its rationale in light of how surveillance has historically affected members' economic policies. With powerful member countries now pressing for the IMF to strengthen surveillance, we identify the factors that would enable it to affect the policies of its member countries, exploring the impact that IMF's internal governance has on the effectiveness of both bilateral and multilateral surveillance and contrasting it with the experience of select international organizations.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Development, International Trade and Finance, and Political Economy

88. Slipping into Obscurity? Crisis and Reform at the IMF

Author:
Bessma Momani and Eric Helleiner
Publication Date:
02-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Top policymakers worry today that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) risks 'slipping into obscurity'. What explains the IMF's declining influence? Two significant developments have been the declining demand for IMF loans from middle-income borrowers, and the emergence of a more critical view towards the institution from US policymakers in recent years. In this new political context, a range of reform proposals has been put forward by Fund management, key shareholders, and the concerned policy community with the goal of restoring and preserving the IMF's significance. Advocates of change have focused particular attention on the need for process-oriented reforms that would change the nature of IMF governance as a means of restoring its legitimacy among many member governments. Also prominent have been more outcome-oriented reforms that propose various changes in IMF activities and performance. Are-invigorated IMF is unlikely to emerge from the current situation without the implementation of governance-related reforms.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Economics, Emerging Markets, and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States

89. Recent Regional Agreements: Why so many, so fast, so different and where are they headed?

Author:
John Whalley
Publication Date:
09-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Recent years have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) both concluded and under negotiation. This paper attempts to document and discuss this growth focusing on the United States (US), the European Union (EU), China, India and the agreements of other countries. The form, coverage, and content of these agreements vary considerably from case to case. This paper poses the following questions: why so many, why the variation, and why the recent increase in RTAs? Implications for the trading system are discussed in a final section.
Topic:
Development, International Trade and Finance, Regional Cooperation, and Treaties and Agreements
Political Geography:
United States, China, and India

90. The Asian Economic Revolution and Canadian Trade Policy

Author:
John Whalley
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
This paper discusses the broad orientation of Canada's trade policy relative to two major historical phases of development based on a secure national market behind the National Policy from 1879 until the 1930s, and progressive integration with the United States (US) through Bilateral Agreements (1930s), the Auto Pact (1965), the Canada-US Free Trade Agreement (1987) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (1994). Currently, Canada exports approximately 85% to the US, but imports from China account for 8% and are growing at over 20% a year. Sharply unbalanced (surplus) trade with the US is counterbalanced by unbalanced deficit trade with China. A scenario of elevated growth in Asia (principally China, India, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN) poses challenges of relative disintegration from North America and growing global integration centered on Asia. Seemingly a series of implications follow; including positioning Canada within the emerging network of regional agreements in Asia, more resourcebased and Western Canada focused trade and infrastructure development, and responding to capital market integration with Asia. Broader issues include the potential adjustments facing Central Canada as Asian imports of manufactures displace both imported manufactures from the US and domestic production are raised.
Topic:
Economics and International Trade and Finance
Political Geography:
United States, China, Canada, Asia, and North America