Free Trade Agreements and Governance of the Global Trading System

This article explores how far free trade agreements (FTAs) have strengthened or weakened global governance of the trading system. We open with an analysis of the altered political and economic context within which countries have come, in recent years, to assign a new importance to regional and bilateral trade agreements in their trade policies. We then consider each of the main provisions included in FTAs and comment on how these may separately affect the management of trade relations. We conclude with some observations of the broader trends affecting global governance that are associated with the spread of trade agreements as a whole.     

International Trade Agreements and International Migration

Despite large potential economic gains, bilateral and multilateral negotiations focusing on liberalisation of migration have not shared the high profile of international trade negotiations and agreements. Migration and trade have been traditionally viewed rather separately and the relevance of the many, and complex, interdependencies has been given remarkably little attention in the literature to date. In this article, we focus on the two‐way interaction between international migration and agreements designed to enhance cross‐border trade and investment. Liberalisation of international trade in services and in the movement of people potentially offers much greater economic gains than liberalisation of remaining barriers to goods trade. However, progress within multilateral frameworks is fraught with difficulty. The World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) has yielded little real progress so far and negotiations within more flexible unilateral and bilateral frameworks are likely to be more successful in liberalising the movement of labour. We discuss a range of specific examples, focusing particularly on the interesting case of New Zealand. We find that trade agreements are increasingly including agreements on migration, though typically favouring temporary migration and involving numerically modest quotas. We conclude that migration regulatory frameworks are likely to be further and more strongly linked to trade and investment agreements in the future, particularly given changing economic and demographic forces. The primary focus of migration policies may nonetheless remain different from that of trade policies. While further migration liberalisation is likely to be through bilateral and regional agreements, it will be important to try to lock in the gains of such agreements, while simultaneously working to consolidating these in a way that will help to facilitate future multilateral agreement.     

新冠疫情下国际投资中公共卫生例外条款分析

新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情的全球大规模流行影响了世界范围内的公众健康,也影响了国际投资的发展。东道国采取的疫情防控措施可能会因损害外国投资者的利益而被诉至国际投资仲裁庭。国际投资协定中起初鲜有公共卫生例外条款,而晚近的国际投资协定在序言及正文中开始包含一种或几种公共卫生例外以尊重东道国的公共卫生规制权。近年来,一些外国投资者依据老旧国际投资协定而提起的国际投资仲裁涉及公共卫生问题时,东道国不得不通过援引国家警察权力、紧急状态等规定对外国投资者提出的征收补偿或者违反公平公正待遇的主张进行抗辩。虽然东道国的这些抗辩得到了部分国际投资仲裁庭的支持,但其仍存在较大的不确定性。鉴于此,在国际投资协定中纳入明确的公共卫生例外条款对于保护东道国的公共卫生规制权具有重要意义。     

双边投资协定中的TRIPS-plus标准研究

投资协定中的知识产权保护是很重要的。通过将特定的知识产权纳入投资的定义范围,国际投资协定中的所有条款都适用于受保护的知识产权,这就使此类协定在公平与公正待遇、透明度义务、投资争端解决机制上为受保护的知识产权提供TRIPS-plus标准,我国应该采取的对策是,在有关投资的定义中增加限制性条款,对公平与公正待遇明确其含义,将透明度义务与公平与公正待遇独立,将与知识产权有关的纠纷排除在投资争端解决机制之外。     

国际投资协议中国民待遇原则与清单管理模式的比较研究及对中国的启示

本文从国际投资协定中国民待遇的基本内涵出发,围绕国民待遇适用标准及与之相配合使用的清单管理模式,比较研究准入前国民待遇和准入后国民待遇,以及正面清单、负面清单和混合清单3种清单管理模式的具体内容、特点与实践情况,重点结合当前国际投资协定中国民待遇与清单管理的两种主要组合模式——"欧洲模式"和"北美范本",深入探讨"准入前国民待遇+负面清单"模式在中国的具体适用问题。     

刍议国际投资协定中的税收仲裁机制——以中国的缔约实践为例

为减少与包括WTO协定和避免双重征税协定在内的其他涉税条约争端解决机制之间的冲突,特别是,避免原有的投资者与国家间投资仲裁机制对本国税收主权的过度限制,中国晚近缔结的国际投资协定引入了专门的税收仲裁机制。这一尝试值得期许。然而,该税收仲裁机制仍存在诸多的不足,这可能会削弱其应有的作用。对此,中国应参考有关国家的实践,作出相应的调整。     

Culture and International Anti-Corruption Agreements in Latin America

This paper analyzes the likelihood that recent conventions against corruption signed by the OECD and the OAS will be effective in Latin America. It begins by looking at the cultural context of corruption in Latin America and examines efforts by Latin American signatories to implement both agreements. It then evaluates the extent to which these efforts will prove successful. It concludes with suggestions for the development of culturally sensitive policies that will be effective in the fight against corruption in Latin America.     

Perspectives for Global Trade and the International Trading System

The authors review current developments in international trade and its prospects for the future arguing that despite the recent slowdown, trade remains an important driver of economic growth and development. Scepticism towards further trade opening needs to be addressed, notably via appropriate domestic adjustment policies. One challenge to advancing further global economic integration lays in the rapid transformation of trade itself and the nature of remaining barriers. The authors highlight new models of trade cooperation that can help to make progress at the global level, while accommodating countries’ diverse interests and levels of development.     

Liberalisation and Protection under Overlapping Free Trade Agreements: Dynamic Interplay between Free Trade Agreements and Investment

Two decades into the most recent wave of regionalism many of its implications remain to be fully understood. A vast literature has explored the impacts of free trade agreements (FTAs) on investment flows, but less attention has been given to how existing patterns of investment alter FTA liberalisation. It is contended here that the dynamic interplay between overlapping FTA areas and the investment sunk in them shapes governments' and firms' positions regarding further FTA liberalisation. During trade negotiations, a country may decide to exclude a sector from FTA liberalisation to prevent (concession prevention) future FTA partners from making similar demands. Concession prevention could also occur when a foreign firm, holding a dominant market position in a host country, relinquishes liberalisation demands in an FTA between host and home countries to prevent its current position being eroded if the host country grants similar (or better) concessions to competing firms from other countries in future FTAs. Conversely, investment sunk into a country's sensitive sector in the territory of partners from previous FTAs could pre‐empt (concession pre‐emption) the protectionist position of that country when it subsequently negotiates FTAs with the investment‐source countries. These arguments were tested in the negotiations around the liberalisation of the automotive industry that Thailand and Malaysia had with Japan in their respective bilateral FTAs. The distinct interaction between investment and the FTAs in which these countries participate resulted either in entrenchment of protectionism in the sector or its liberalisation across subsequent FTAs.     

国际投资规则视阈下的负面清单法律定位

负面清单模式是上海自贸区建立国际化和法治化跨境投资规则体系的初步尝试。在没有既有经验可循的情况下,上海自贸区负面清单管理模式应遵循国际化和法治化指导思想,选择合适法律路径实现与国际规则接轨。尽管上海自贸区负面清单是我国政府的单边行为,但由于中美BIT与上海自贸区投资规则存在互相影响和作用的内在联系,自贸区应前瞻性对接中美BIT谈判条款,从负面清单法律属性着手,明确负面清单的制订应遵循透明度原则,保持负面清单在框架和内容上与国际投资规则相协调。     

货币权力和国际货币体系的美元霸权

货币权力指各国在货币事务上独立决策并对其他国家实施影响的能力,包括自治力和影响力两个部分。由于中心国家的货币权力在国际货币体系的历史演变中越来越大,致使国际货币体系的不对称性日益显著。美元在牙买加体系中拥有空前的货币权力,这常被称为"美元霸权",美国次贷危机和国际金融海啸没有改变美元的霸权地位。     

国际税收协定与FDI相关性研究综述

目前学术界对国际税收协定能否促进一国的外商直接投资(FDI)流入存在较大的争议,多数早期的实证研究并没有找到支持该观点的证据.不过近年来有不少文献用新方法得出结论,认为国际税收协定对FDI确实存在正向激励效应.文章将主要循着理论分析及实证研究的思路,分别从三个方面对现有的相关文献作综述性回顾及总结.     

国际直接投资与国际风险投资的异同

中国引入国际风险投资才刚刚起步，要充分、灵活地利用国际风险投资，为我国高新技术产业的发展服务还有很长的路要走。其中分清国际直接投资与国际风险投资的异同是非常关键的一步。正是基于此，所以要力图较全面地对国际直接投资与国际风险投资进行比较，从投资主体、投资对象、投资规模、投资动因及所运用的投资理论等等各方面区分二者的不同。以便能更好地把握国际风险投资的内涵及特征，促进我国引入国际风险投资步伐的加快。     

我国生鲜农产品冷链投资不足的原因解析

我国生鲜农产品冷链投资不足,从需求方面来看,主要是由于产量和消费需求增长迅速,人们的食品安全意识提高,使现有冷链基础设施薄弱问题凸显:从供给方面来看,由于冷链设施资产的专用性,使企业在投资时非常谨慎.为此,政府的政策支持应倾向产地市场和产业集中度低的生鲜农产品流通行业,鼓励主产区龙头企业与协会积极进行产销紧密垂直合作的冷链运作,促进生鲜农产品的产业化发展;通过财政补贴主产区冷链保鲜技术所要求的基础设施投入;支持生鲜农产品标准化生产和保鲜技术集成示范化研究、推广与规范;加强生鲜农产品冷链信息化系统建设.     

自由贸易协议谈判中的国际劳工标准问题

国际劳工标准是一种规范全球范围劳工事务的制度。经济全球化导致劳工标准问题的重要性日益凸现,发达国家采取了将劳工标准与贸易挂钩的方式推进劳工标准的实施,并在地区层次和双边层次取得了重大进展,但在全球层次的谈判则陷入"囚徒困境"。这是发达国家和发展中国家在劳工标准领域博弈的结果。中国在劳工标准领域也面临着巨大的挑战。     

全球价值链视角下的制造业升级

伴随制造业升级带来产业的空心化以及国际产业转移和锁定,造成制造业发展停滞,对产业升级和结构调整具有极其不利影响,出现了大规模的垂直分离和再构。我国生产力水平具有多层次性和不平衡性,并受制于资本积累能力和技术创新能力限制,处于全球价值链的低端。只有实现国家比较优势的转变,嵌入GVC所带来的机会,创造升级换代的环境,才能保障制造业升级的顺利进行。     

Influence of International Trade Agreements on International Business: A Conceptual Model

The article provides a conceptual model, developed from analyzing over fifty trade agreement related research studies published during the last decade, which allows international business scholars to explore the influence of trade agreements (custom unions, free trade agreements, preferential trade agreements, regional trade agreements) on foreign market entry strategies. This model is an attempt to develop IB theory to address the current research gap in this very narrow but important allied field. Empirical findings generated by interviewing dairy produce exporters in New Zealand reveal a remarkable connection between TAs and IB, with TAs found to influence the regulative environment of participating countries, which may in turn reduce the regulative distance between member nations. The contribution provides a basis for IB researchers to explore this connection in multiple industries/countries.     

Business Regulations and Private Domestic Investment in Africa

In this article, the author seeks to complement the perception-based studies by utilizing the objective measures from the Doing Business project to analyze the relationship between business regulations and private domestic investment in Africa. He reports evidence that reforms in business regulations affecting contract enforcement, tax administration, firm entry, labor markets, and the private sector as a whole positively affect private domestic investment in Africa. These findings are important for assisting policy makers in creating a business regulatory environment that promotes domestic private investment and thereby encourages economic growth in Africa.