Economic research and trade policy analysis

This chapter explores how non-state actors (NSAs) seek to influence government policy in relation to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and preferential trade agreements (PTAs) as alternative venues for international trade cooperation. Little research has been done on NSA–government interaction on trade policy development in Jordan and almost no analysis exists that captures and contrasts this interaction in relation to multilateral as opposed to bilateral or plurilateral negotiations. This chapter based on interviews with representatives of government and NSAs focuses on recent developments in Jordan’s trade policy-making. It has found that NSA activity in Jordan is relatively weakly developed compared with the other cases in this study but that it is growing in large part as a result of the influence of international actors including US foreign aid donors and some other international business and civil society organizations (CSOs).

D’après une étude publiée par le Parlement européen en 2017 la chaîne de blocs pourrait « changer nos vies » (Boucher 2017). Ce que montrent les différentes applications de la chaîne de blocs qui sont mises au point dans des domaines aussi divers que le financement du commerce la facilitation des échanges le commerce des services la propriété intellectuelle et les marchés publics c’est que la chaîne de blocs peut avoir un impact considérable sur les opérateurs commerciaux et sur les organismes gouvernementaux participant au commerce international. Les possibilités sont multiples mais elles ne seront réalisées que si plusieurs défis clés sont relevés.

Social protection refers to publicly provided safety nets of two kinds. The first type is poverty alleviation measures which help people who are born poor or who lack the productive assets or skills to get out of poverty. The second type consists of social insurance programmes or other labour market interventions that allow people to deal with labour market risk. The focus of this chapter is on the social protection systems of the latter type which protect individuals against the negative consequences of labour market changes caused by external shocks.

En el presente capítulo se examinan las iniciativas relacionadas con el comercio y el empoderamiento económico de las mujeres que llevan a cabo los Gobiernos la sociedad civil el sector privado y las instituciones multilaterales. Se da prioridad a las medidas que podrían ser más eficaces para abrir los mercados a las mujeres y reforzar su capacidad comercial. También se señalan los riesgos que plantea el comercio para las mujeres trabajadoras y se proponen políticas para mitigarlos. El capítulo concluye con un examen de las iniciativas emprendidas por el Banco Mundial y la OMC para abordar la cuestión del comercio y el género.

This chapter proposes a holistic framework by which acceding governments may evaluate the macroeconomic impact of joining the WTO. Because both acceding governments and WTO members are interested in preserving their own systemic stability and the stability of the multilateral trading system evaluation of the Accession Package can be achieved by examining its impact on the domestic and external stability of the acceding country. The chapter concludes that in the long run the impact should be positive and should be driven by better resource allocation as the acceding economy opens to international trade makes deep structural reforms and aligns its institutions and policies with internationally recognised standards. However in the short term implementation of WTO commitments may lead to substantial adjustment costs in the public and private sectors. Overall the design and implementation of WTO accession commitments is a matter of public policy that should aim to promote systemic stability and accelerate domestic reform while addressing transitional costs.

Global Value Chains (GVCs) represent the dominant form of cross-border economic organization for the production and delivery of goods and services and developing countries have to deal with them to maintain and enhance their participation in the global economy. While GVCs are the product of the significant changes that have taken place in the global economy over the last three decades and market forces largely determine their scope and direction governments still have an important role to play in influencing the nature and terms of participation of their firms. The ongoing expansion of trade in services has added a significant new dimension to GVCs and offers another avenue for developing countries to grow their economies. This paper looks at policy challenges and opportunities that global and regional value chains raise for developing countries and argues that proactive policy measures can improve outcomes for these countries. However GVCs pose particular problems for small poor countries with weak governance structures to maintain and improve their participation in the global trading system. GVCs require a robust multilateral rule-making process in order to enhance their economic and political sustainability.

The emergence of global value chains – whereby goods that used to be produced within one country are now fragmented and distributed across global networks of production – has offered developing countries new opportunities to integrate into the global economy. This has also had fundamental impacts for workers in developing countries. The chapter shows that higher earnings and employment within sectors and firms is associated with GVC integration which also supports other spillovers that operate through labor markets. But it has also had distributional implications of where jobs go and the types of jobs they are. Jobs growth has occurred directly in the export sector as well as indirectly through linkages of exporting firms to domestic input-supplying firms. Employment creation and wage gains have been biased towards more skilled workers in developing countries which contrasts with the predictions of trade theory. The skill-biased nature of GVC trade is associated with increased complexity of global supply chains as well as increased use of skill-intensive inputs notably services. New emerging trends including automation and digitization may further determine how employment in developing countries will be affected by GVC trade in the future. The findings point to education as well as trade and labor policies as important factors for strengthening the GVC-labor relationship.

Geographical indications are signs used to identify the origin of goods characterized by a given quality or reputation that is essentially linked to their geographical origin. They preserve traditional knowledge foster the growth of local production and satisfy the needs of increasingly quality-conscious and demanding global consumers. Governments acceding to the World Trade Organization (WTO) have reformed their rules on geographical indications in order to achieve WTO consistency. In doing so they have added value to the multilateral trading system by clarifying the scope of WTO obligations in the field of geographical indications in the following ways: minimum standards of protection; requirements for application to geographical indication protection; the relationship between geographical indications and trademarks; and the scope of substantive provisions with regard to geographical indications. This heightened understanding of the regulation of geographical indications has set new standards in the multilateral trading system. Acceding economies have followed international best practices and sometimes gone a step further by undertaking commitments that exceed those in effect among incumbent WTO members. Rule-making on geographical indications has also helped to prevent disputes on related issues. The lessons learned in the WTO accession process can serve other developing countries and emerging economies to unravel the legal and economic potential of geographical indications.

La présente section porte sur la politique en matière d'innovation et traite des raisons qui la justifient d'un point de vue économique ainsi que de son impact concret. Pour qu'il y ait innovation il faut que de nouvelles connaissances soient créées grâce à l'investissement dans la recherche puis diffusées par le système éducatif ou les publications les brevets et l'échange d'idées. Lorsque des entreprises ou des pouvoirs publics soutiennent le progrès technologique en utilisant ces connaissances ou leur présence dans des inventions pour changer des processus des comportements ou des technologies la croissance économique peut être affectée en fonction de plusieurs paramètres. Dans tous les pays la diffusion des nouvelles technologies dépend des institutions du niveau d'ouverture économique ainsi que de l'investissement dans l'éducation et la recherche.