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From the Outside Looking In: The Effect of Trading Blocs on Trade Disputes in the GATT/WTO
YORAM Z. HAFTEL
Ohio State University
The increasing number and expansion of trading blocs is an important
dimension of the contemporary international economy. This study
examines the effects of such trading blocs on third parties and on the
multilateral trading system. It is argued that trading blocs have negative
economic effects on economic sectors in non-members’ states. These
sectors urge their governments to take political action vis-a`-vis the
trading bloc. Governments have several policy choices on their menu,
and the attractiveness of these policies is determined by domestic and
international incentives and constraints. I argue that filing a complaint
in the GATT/WTO is an attractive and effective policy tool in the hands
of third parties’ governments. Thus, I hypothesize that the existence,
deepening, and widening of trading blocs result in an increase in the
number of complaints filed against their members in the multilateral
trading system. I examine these propositions in the context of three
important trading blocsFnamely, the EU, NAFTA, and MercosurFin
the period 1948–2000. To test these hypotheses a time-series crosssectioncount model is performed. Controlling for conventional
alternative explanations, the empirical analysis supports the theoretical
framework.Since the early 1990s regional trading blocs have become a prominent feature ofthe international economy. While existing regional initiatives, such as the EuropeanUnion (EU), have deepened their levels of integration, new regional economicarrangements have mushroomed in the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Today, mostindustrialized and less developed states in the world are members of at least one
trading bloc, and more than one third of world trade takes place within suchagreements. These developments raise the issue of the effects of such trading blocson third parties,1 and by extension on the multilateral trading system as a whole.
At the same time, the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round greatly
enhanced the importance of the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT)and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO). Growing membership andAuthor’s note: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2002 International Studies Association Annual
Convention, New Orleans, LA, 2002. This research was supported in part by a PEGS award from the Ohio State
University. I would like to thank Ed Mansfield, Brian Pollins, DonSylvan, Alex Thompson, and Einat Haftel for
extremely helpful comments, advice, and discussions. I also thank David Bearce, Paul Fritz, Yoav Gortzak, Pat
McDonald, David Rowe, and three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. Any errors are the
responsibility of the author.
1 A third party may or may not be a member of another trading bloc.
r 2004 International Studies Association.
Published by Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA, and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK.
International Studies Quarterly (2004) 48, 121–142
coverage of new issue-areas have rendered the WTO as the backbone of the
multilateral trading system. At the heart of the GATT/WTO institutions is thedispute settlement system. As a result of Uruguay Round reforms, this system isnowFaccording to some observersFthe central feature of the new 本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。