Explaining the American Boom: The Roles of 'Globalisation' and United States Global Power

The article is about implementing obligations under Article 27.3(b) of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS). However, concerned with the fragmentation of international law in a globalised world, the article uses Kenya as a case study to interrogate the apparent choice and latitude in Article 27.3(b). At the TRIPS Council, Kenya has sought to locate Article 27.3(b) within a wider frame by adroitly norm-borrowing, and it canvassed for integrating norms and principles from other multilateral agreements into TRIPS. Yet, when introducing plant breeders' rights into domestic law, Kenya fails to either explore the apparent latitude or deliver on its rhetoric in Geneva. I explain this decoupling between Geneva rhetoric (ritual) and domestic law (behaviour) as another symptom of what Steinberg [(2002), ‘In the Shadow of Law or Power? Consensus-Based Bargaining and Outcomes in the GATT/WTO’, International Organization, 56 (2), pp. 339–74)] characterises as ‘organised hypocrisy’ of the World Trade Organisation. In demonstrating that fragmentation in global legal architecture may not automatically emerge in domestic law, the article draws out the significance of attending to a domestic political economy of law-making.     

The Rise of Finance and the Decline of Organised Labour in the Advanced Capitalist Countries

The goal of this article is to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the impacts of finance and corporate governance reforms on organised labour since 1980. The argument is made that contemporary institutional and ‘Varieties of Capitalism’ as well as ‘Varieties of Unionism’ perspectives on labour market reform have overstated the power of states, institutions and organised interests in deflecting global economic pressures. Drawing on a range of recent Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) statistics and qualitative studies, it is claimed that current developments in finance and corporate governance mark a fundamental break with post-war developments. Capital has reasserted its power over organised labour and labour markets not only in the US and UK, but throughout Western Europe as well. In assessing how far this reversal has gone, the article focuses on three key political economic changes: i) the rise in finance and adoption of corporate ‘shareholder’ systems; ii) the expansion of mergers and acquisitions and their negative effects on unionisation and manufacturing jobs; and iii) the effects of financial pressures and corporate reform on collective bargaining and wages. This is the first study to report on comparative changes and qualitative reforms to both finance and labour in 13 OECD countries between 1980 and 2005.     

Industrial Policy and Islamic Finance

Debates on industrial policy have typically focused on interventions in the ‘real’ sector to facilitate the transformation of a resources-based economy to one that is based on manufacturing. Although the financial sector has always figured strongly in these discussions, its development, or rather repression, is almost always considered in the context of serving the ‘real’ sector. In contrast, this paper contributes to the emerging literature on government policies to develop financial sectors into independent and internationally competitive sources of economic growth on their own right through an analysis of the development of Islamic finance in Malaysia. The paper argues that the emergence of Islamic finance in Malaysia, and the country's evolution into a key player of the sector in the global market, can be attributed to developmental efforts or industrial policies adopted by the government. The case of Islamic finance in Malaysia suggests the continuing relevance of industrial policy for developmental purposes. More importantly, it demonstrates that developing countries can chart a path towards services-led growth, the next frontier in economic development.     

The Santa Fe approach to complexity: a Marshallian evaluation

The paper examines the characteristics of the ‘Santa Fe approach’ (hereafter SFA) to complexity and attempts its evaluation in terms of the Marshallian intellectual tradition. The paper is organised into three parts. The first part outlines the main features of the SFA The second describes Marshall’s views on complexity and his appeal to common sense as a way to apply economic reasoning (on complex systems) in practice. The last part argues that Marshall’s views on complexity, rather than just being a historical precedent for the SFA, consist in an original illustration of the role of judgement in the use of economic theory.     

DOHA,DEVELOPMENT AND DISCRIMINATION*

Abstract. Two distinct challenges confront WTO members – whether to ‘save’ the WTO’– that is, a multilateral trading system that is based on non‐discrimination and most favoured nation liberalization – and if so, how to do so, and determining what role the WTO should play in attaining (pursuing) national development objectives. This paper explores whether moves to achieve the first objective will help achieve the latter, and whether specific actions to pursue more seriously economic development objectives through the WTO could help move the system closer to achieving the goal of non‐discrimination.     

Gazprom and the complexity of the EU gas market: a strategy to define

Abstract

Confronted with an increasingly competitive market in the European Union and the credible threat of a new entrant in the form of liquefied natural gas imports from the United States, Gazprom’s traditional export strategy is open to question. The company must decide whether it should launch a price war in order passively to adapt to impending competition and its role as a ‘residual supplier’ to the EU gas market, or whether it should take advantage of the current price uncertainty. This article explores the scope for long-term strategic action by Gazprom other than simply engaging in a price war. It is argued that Gazprom could forge a position as a key player in the EU gas market capable of playing the same role as Saudi Arabia does in the global oil market.     

Unfinished Business

Abstract This article is about three phases in Australian trade policy: protectionism, unilateral liberalisation, and participation in regional trade liberalisation. Australia used to have one of the most protected economies in the world. The last dozen years have seen a radical transformation of Australian economic policy: Australia is in the process of becoming one of the most open economies in the world. The last five-to-ten years have also seen a related transformation of Australian foreign economic policy. This policy is now centrally concerned with promoting the process of international economic integration within the Asian region; particularly through the APEC process. Should Australia be pursuing ‘open regionalism’ in the Pacific? or promoting an Asia Pacific trading bloc? or concentrating on its own unilateral trade liberalisation? or using its energy to press for global liberalisation through the GATT? I argue that there remains a deep contradiction in the APEC process; that ‘open regionalism’ is in Australia's interests, and that the critical test of Australia's conversion to liberalisation will come in this third phase, in the future answers that it gives to these questions.     

On novelty and economics: Schumpeter’s paradox

Is novelty as such an intra or extra-economic phenomenon? Must we, necessarily, treat novelty uniquely as something that, from outside of an economic system, has an influence on it and on its evolution? Is it not a paradox to say that something that has no economic meaning is able to explain economic change? If so, is this paradox present in the Schumpeterian view on development? In this paper, we present what will be called the Schumpeter paradox: denoting nominally ‘novelty’ and ‘creator personality’ as its source, and ‘norm change’ as an analytical tool, is insufficient to separate different fields such as development and growth, if previously (and as a necessary condition) one does not develop a theoretical framework that has a natural place for the elements of ‘novelty’ and ‘creator personality’ that can support such a difference. Nobody should pretend that the study of economic development processes is straightforward. There are good grounds for believing that the innovation ‘black box’ will remain partially closed to economic analysis. However, this does not mean that nothing substantial may be said about novelty and economic development. How to tackle with this topic (and so, with the above-mentioned paradox) will require a change of perspective: a heuristic task should be undertaken. The ‘action plan approach’ here proposed would provide a coherent analytical framework to tackle with this kind of paradox.     

Why is China a Reluctant Leader of the World Trade Organization?

ABSTRACT

China has drawn massive benefits via expanded trade since it acceded to the WTO in 2001. We might therefore reasonably expect it to have taken a more assertive lead in trying to rectify the travails in which the organisation finds itself mired, attendant with its rising power status, its active trade diplomacy elsewhere, the high levels of relative gains it has enjoyed since becoming a member, and its broader trade dependency. That China has not done so represents a puzzle, which is usually answered with reference to the international picture: i.e. that global trade has appeared to be holding up reasonably well throughout and beyond the global crisis, and, despite some inchoate protectionism, there generally exists a broad commitment to an open trading regime. Yet this only tells part of the story: China’s approach cannot simply be ‘read off’ from the structural context and there are, in fact, a series of interesting domestic explanations for why China has remained a ‘reluctant leader’ of the WTO too. On the basis of a series of interviews with Chinese experts, we offer a more complete account of these processes that better recognises patterns of agency, and how China navigates a contingent international order.     

The macrostructure of Adam Smith's theoretical system: a reconstruction

The paper is an attempt to solve - in the style of circumstantial evidence - a few riddles which concern Smith's puzzling ranking of sectors in the fifth chapter of Book II of the Wealth of Nations. In that short (15 pages) chapter ‘Of the different Employments of Capitals’ Smith presents the final element of his theoretical system. The interpretations offered by the modern secondary literature are, as far as I can see, nor correct.

What is Smith's own interpretation? What is his theory behind that ranking? Do his statements really lack consistency? A solution to these riddles can help to clarify Smith's system as a whole and to reconstruct its macroeconomic structure in particular, which is based on a very special but often overlooked conception of sectoral verticality.     

How Important is APEC to China?

APEC is an important forum for China to show its commitment to economic openness. Concerted trade liberalisation in the APEC region reduces the adverse terms of trade effect of China's own trade liberalisation. These help maintain the momentum of reform by reducing domestic resistance. APEC is not a stepping stone to WTO membership, but it gives China an opportunity to rally international support for its early entry into the WTO. However, APEC cannot substitute for WTO membership. This is not only because the WTO framework provides greater security for market access for Chinese exports as well as potentially larger gains to the Chinese economy, but also because it imposes legal bindings on China's trade policy once it becomes a member. In facilitating China's trade liberalisation, APEC and the WTO seems to be mutually re-enforcing. APEC prepares China for the WTO and the WTO accession pushes China to go along with the APEC process. Both APEC and WTO accession push forward domestic reform.     

Is Happiness Infectious?

The paper uses an appropriate survey from rural China to answer the question: is happiness infectious, i.e. does the happiness of an individual depend positively on the happiness of his or her reference group? The evidence is consistent with this hypothesis, but the challenge is to solve the ‘reflection problem’, i.e. is the apparent effect of neighbours’ happiness on own happiness a causal one or merely a reflection? A ‘quasi‐panel’ approach is adopted, treating villages as groups and individuals as multiple observations within each group, and using an error components 2SLS estimator. The results suggest that the relationship might be largely causal. The normative and policy implications are briefly considered.     

An experimental analysis of ultimatum bargaining

There are many experimental studies of bargaining behavior, but suprisingly enough nearly no attempt has been made to investigate the so-called ultimatum bargaining behavior experimentally. The special property of ultimatum bargaining games is that on every stage of the bargaining process only one player has to decide and that before the last stage the set of outcomes is already restricted to only two results. To make the ultimatum aspect obvious we concentrated on situations with two players and two stages. In the ‘easy games’ a given amount c has to be distributed among the two players, whereas in the ‘complicated games’ the players have to allocate a bundle of black and white chips with different values for both players. We performed two main experiments for easy games as well as for complicated games. By a special experiment it was investigated how the demands of subjects as player 1 are related to their acceptance decisions as player 2.     

The Euroland crisis and Germany’s euro trilemma

This paper investigates the causes behind the Euroland crisis, particularly Germany’s role in it. It is argued that the crisis is not primarily a ‘sovereign debt crisis’, but rather a (twin) banking and balance of payments crisis. Intra-area competitiveness and current account imbalances, and the corresponding debt flows that such imbalances give rise to, are at the heart of the matter, and they ultimately go back to competitive wage restraint on Germany’s part since the late 1990s. Germany broke the golden rule of a monetary union: commitment to a common inflation rate. As a result, the country faces a trilemma of its own making and must make a critical choice, since it cannot have it all – perpetual export surpluses, a no transfer/no bailout monetary union, and a ‘clean,’ independent central bank. Misdiagnosis and the wrongly prescribed medication of austerity have made the situation worse by adding a growth crisis to the potpourri of internal stresses that threaten the euro’s survival. The crisis in Euroland poses a global ‘too big to fail’ threat, and presents a moral hazard of perhaps unprecedented scale to the global community.     

Technology and globalization: the european payments system as a case of non-globalization

This paper shows that in the design of European EFTPOS payment networks the dominant influences on network design were national; these included national banking industry structures, regulatory regimes, retail industry structures and cultural attitudes to debt. There was no sign of the technology itself driving globalization—on the country, the network technology is ‘configurable’ and appears subject to shaping by many distrinct national–social contexts. Where there was some movement to ‘globalization’, understand as a process of standarization of the service provided through the technology acros national frontiers, it derived from the explicit social objectives of the European Commission and was not an inevitable result of the ‘technology’ itself. The argument is widened to show that much of the evidence for the overall ‘trend’ to globalization may be reinterpreted as the result of a process of ‘industrialization’ in certain parts of the world. In conclusion, the very existence of the assumed ‘trend’ to globalization may be questioned, while technology does not ‘drive’ globalization, but may be ‘shaped’ by social agencies like the European Commission that have an interest in fostering its own versions of the globalization process.     

Who Counts in Crises? The New Geopolitics of International Migration and Refugee Governance

Recent migration ‘crises’ raise important geopolitical questions. Who is ‘the migrant’ that contemporary politics are fixated on? How are answers to ‘who counts as a migrant’ changing? Who gets to do that counting, and under what circumstances? This forum responds to, as well as questions, the current saliency of migration by examining how categories of migration hold geopolitical significance—not only in how they are constructed and by whom, but also in how they are challenged and subverted. Furthermore, by examining how the very concepts of ‘migrant’ and ‘refugee’ are used in different contexts, and for a variety of purposes, it opens up critical questions about mobility, citizenship and the nation state. Collectively, these contributions aim to demonstrate how problematising migration and its categorisation can be a tool of enquiry into other phenomena and processes.     

Trading Out of the Global Food Crisis? The World Trade Organization and the Geopolitics of Food Security

The geopolitics of the Global Food Crisis and international trade has received limited scholarly attention, a significant omission given the major roles of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in structuring world food production and trade flows and as a principal inter-state governing mechanism of the global agro-food system. Analysing recent international policy actions framing the WTO as a ‘fix’ to the Global Food Crisis, this article points to the value of a critical geopolitics of agro-power sensitive to the spatial reconfiguration of production and power in the global agro-food system, problematising geospatial categories such as ‘North’ and ‘South’, and that takes seriously contests for control of geopolitical agents such as the WTO.     

Is EU Cross-border Cooperation Ethical? Reading Cross-border Cooperation Through the ‘Needs for Roots’ by Simone Weil

This article applies Simone Weil’s philosophical concept of ‘uprootedness’ and the ‘14 needs of the soul’, set out in her 1943 book ‘The Need for Roots’, to the empirical case study of the border ‘Italy-Slovenia’ considered within Programme 2007–2013. A multi-dimensional qualitative approach that relies on an extensive literature, consultation of primary sources and semi-structured interviews carried out between October 2013 and February 2014 has been adopted.

The article questions why does cross-border-cooperation often fail to develop an ‘integrated’ border territory and a cohesive ‘moral’ community? Conversely, why does social fragmentation emerge from cross-border-cooperation? It is argued that while the EU (Commission) has focused on initiatives and projects in order to achieve regional, economic border integration, it has instead failed to develop an ‘ethical framework’ for promoting a ‘rooted’ integrated borderland and a cohesive moral community.