The
Oxford Handbook of International Commercial Policy
As we enter the 2010s, the global economy is becoming increasingly integrated.
International trade has been growing rapidly, an ostensibly irresistible trend that was
only temporarily disrupted by the 2008-09 global recession. Globalization has become
associated with a country's economic success while failure to open up markets is often
viewed as a cause of economic stagnation. This is predicted by economic theory and
verified by empirical investigations. One reason for the growth of trade is the impressive
reduction of trade barriers over the past 60 years; namely the pursuit of liberal
commercial policy by many countries, led by the United States. Yet, particularly with the
economic malaise that has persisted since the Great Recession, the role of commercial
policy has become increasingly controversial in the media and other public fora. The
relationship between trade and employment, as well as the implications of trade for income
distribution, are examples of profound influences on national economies that have provoked
intensive debate in the public realm. These domestic effects go a long way towards
explaining the widespread backlash against globalization that we have observed in recent
years.
This volume of contributions from some of the
best-known international trade economists explores and analyzes the various aspects of
commercial policy--theoretical, empirical, and institutional--in a way that standard texts
in international economics do not.
It does this via two sets of chapters: the first
part covers general approaches to commercial policy, including theoretical, institutional,
historical, and empirical contributions. Topics addressed include a general analysis of
free trade compared to its alternatives, the future of the international trading system
(including the regional trade agreement zeitgeist), trade's effects on employment, and the
"special" case of agriculture. The second part is comprised of country-specific
and regional applications, including case studies of key players in the international
trading system (United States, the European Union, and Japan); small, open markets
(Australia and Israel); large emerging markets (China and India); and a South-South
regional grouping (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations).
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW: By Modechai E. Kreinin,
Michigan State University and Michael G.
Plummer, the Johns Hopkins University and OECD
PART I: General Approaches to
Commercial Policy
Chapter 1: Free Trade and Its Alternatives
By Sven W. Arndt, Claremont McKenna College
Chapter 2: The International Trading System
and Its Future By Rachel McCulloch, Brandeis University
Chapter 3: Administration of Commercial
Policy By Alfred E. Eckes Jr., Ohio University
Chapter 4: Trade and the Labor Market:
Recent Development and New Frontiers By Carl Davidson, Michigan State University
and Nicholas Sly, University of Oregon
Chapter 5: Protection of Agriculture By
Tim Josling, Stanford University
Chapter 6: Theory and Economic Modeling of
Regional Trading Agreements By Modechai Kreinin, Michigan State University and
Michael Plummer, the Johns Hopkins University and OECD
Chapter 7: The Ruled-Based Trading System
By Cristiane Carneiro, University of Sao Paulo and Gary Hufbauer, Institute for
International Economics
PART II: Country (Regional) Studies
Chapter 8: U.S. Trade Policy Since 1934: An
Uneven Path Toward Greater Trade Liberalization By Robert E. Baldwin, University
of Wisconsin
Chapter 9: The European Community
Commercial Policy By Patrick A. Messerlin, University of Paris
Chapter 10: Japan's Commercial Policy By
Masahiro Kawai, ADB Institute, and Shujiro Urata, Waseda University,
Chapter 11: Commercial Policy and
Experience in the Giants: China and India By Ganeshan Wignaraja, Asian
Development Bank
Chapter 12: Australian Commercial Policies
By Peter Lloyd, University of Melbourne
Chapter 13: The European Transition
Economics By Torbjirn Becker and Anders Fredriksson, Stockholm School of
Economics
Chapter 14: Trade Liberalization in a Small
Open Economy: The Case of Israel By Michael Michaeli, The Hebrew University
Chapter 15: ASEAN Commercial Policy
By Hal Hill and Jay Menon
432 pages, Hardcover