ADVANCED TOPICS IN TRADE POLICY
CUTTING EDGE ISSUES

CD30 Outline                                                                         Course Structure Index

Goals
The course aims at achieving a number of objectives, including:

·        gaining a better appreciation of the micro-economic foundations of 'globalization', particularly the impact of the emergence of the global firm, the disaggregation of production along global lines and its re-integration through trade, investment, and electronic links;

·        understanding the trade and other economic implications of globalization, i.e., of the erosion of national regulatory control/influence over private sector production, trade and investment decisions;

·        analyzing the importance for traders and investors active in the global economy of common norms and standards for the conduct of their affairs and the production and sale of their prod­ucts;

·        surveying the characteristics, extent and success of the existing international regime for the regulation of transnational economic transactions;

·        examining the possibility of and prospect for extending the existing regime – both extensively and intensively, i.e., extending the regime of intergovernmental rule making and rule enforcement to a greater number of players, to a broader range of issues, and to a deeper extent;

·        considering the kinds of substantive issues that should or could figure on the agenda for trade negotiations in the medium term;

·        studying the political implications of the erosion of 'democratic governance' for the operation of national and international markets; and

·        discussing how the new range of issues might usefully be addressed; and analyzing the negotiating strategies that might need to be developed and deployed as well as the institutional and enforcement procedures and mechanisms that may be required.

Topics Covered
The module will begin by exploring what some analysts are calling a techno-economic paradigm shift, the changes in the technology and organization of production which underpin the current demand/search for changes in a wide range of social, political and economic policies and institutions. Discussion will include consideration of the kinds of analytical tools needed to measure and understand this phenomenon. It will then turn to some of the policy, institutional and negotiating issues raised by this development, such as competition and investment agreements, trade and environment agreements and trade and labor agreements as well as early indications of the way governments are likely to face the opportunities and challenges such agreements represent.

Key Books and Articles
Cowhey, Peter F. and Jonathan D. Aronson, Managing the World Economy: The Consequences of Corporate Alliances (New York: Council on Foreign Relations, 1993).

  Feketekuty, Geza, The New Trade Agenda, Occasional Paper no. 40 (Washington: The Group of Thirty, 1992).

 DeAnne Julius, Global Companies and Public Policy (London: Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1990).

 Hart, Michael, 'What's Next: Negotiating Rules for a Global Economy,' in OECD, New Dimensions of Market Access in a Globalising World Economy (Paris: OECD, 1994).

 stry, Sylvia and Richard R. Nelson, Techno-Nationalism and Techno-Globalism: Conflict and Co‑operation (Washington: Brookings Institution, 1995).

 Ostry, Sylvia, Governments and Corporations in a Shrinking World (New York: Council on For­eign Relations, 1990).

 Trebilcock, Michael J. and Robert Howse, The Regulation of international Trade (New York: Routledge, 1995).

Case Material
The course will use a number of OECD and other documents as a basis for analyzing how governments are approaching these issues.

Criteria for Evaluating Teaching and Student Performance
Students will demonstrate their understanding of the issues by developing a negotiating proposal for one of the new issues.