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Labour Rights in Special Economic Zones: Between Unilateralism and Transnational Law Diffusion J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2021-04-10 Lorenzo Cotula, Liliane Mouan
Special economic zones (SEZs) have spread rapidly over the past 20 years, including in many low- and middle-income countries keen to attract private investment for industrial development. But while much debate has focused on their economic performance and success factors and on links with the wider architecture of international economic law, there are enduring concerns over respect for labour rights
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The WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures and Unilateralism of Special Economic Zones J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2021-04-10 Sherzod Shadikhodjaev
Many governmental incentives unilaterally offered in special economic zones affect competition in international markets and thus fall within the scope of the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. Until very recently, products made in such zones could face countervailing duty investigations abroad on a charge of improper subsidization. In 2019, the World Trade
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Feminist Overview of International Investment Law—A Preliminary Inquiry J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2021-03-10 Sinha A, Anand P.
ABSTRACTThere have not been many studies to evaluate the tenets of international investment law from a feminist perspective. Thus, a study from a feminist perspective is not only desirable but also necessary to understand the position of women in this regime. To fill this gap, the article presents an analysis of the normative and structural frameworks of international investment law from a feminist
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Do Economic Crises Trigger Treaty–Based Investor–State Arbitration Disputes? J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2021-02-26 Bellak C, Leibrecht M.
ABSTRACTThe number of investor–state arbitration disputes has increased to more than 1000 to date, but their determinants are still not fully understood. We argue that in the wake of severe macroeconomic turmoil—economic crisis—policymakers have strong incentives to implement regulatory changes, even if these allegedly breach protection standards are provided by International Investment Agreements
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A Pareto-Improving Compensation Rule for Investment Treaties J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2021-02-26 Aisbett E, Bonnitcha J.
ABSTRACTInvestment treaties grant foreign investors legal rights to compensation for losses caused by certain host state conduct. Many states are reconsidering their involvement in these treaties because they perceive the risks to outweigh the benefits. We start from the normative premise that participation in investment treaties should benefit both ‘host’ and ‘home’ states. Using a law and economics
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Settling Interstate Trade Disputes: Lessons from the EFTA Complaints Procedure J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2021-02-24 Fahner J.
ABSTRACTWhen the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was founded 60 years ago, the contracting parties established a dispute settlement procedure that sought to strike a balance between the need to supervise compliance with the EFTA Convention and the need to respect the sovereignty of the member states. The procedure of Article 31 empowered the EFTA Council to hear interstate complaints, establish
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Retooling the Sustainability Standards in EU Free Trade Agreements J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2021-02-23 Bronckers M, Gruni G.
ABSTRACTThe EU’s weak promotional policy towards sustainability in its free trade arguments is up for revision. Labour and environmental standards need to be tightened. They were given a boost on balance by a remarkable panel ruling of January 2021 in the long-standing EU–Korea labour dispute. Compliance ought to be subject to regular dispute settlement between governments. Sanctions must be added
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Environmental and Human Rights Counterclaims in International Investment Arbitration: at the Crossroads of Domestic and International Law J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2021-02-23 Shao X.
ABSTRACTRecently, environmental and human rights (EHR) counterclaims in investment arbitration have attracted much attention as a vehicle to recalibrate the investor–state relationship. However, until now, successful instances of EHR counterclaims have been admittedly rare. As explained in this paper, some of the major barriers to EHR counterclaims in investment arbitration, and some of the concerns
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Brexit and Trade Defence: Effects of a Changed Territory J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2021-02-22 Bickel F.
ABSTRACTAfter the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU), the EU’s trade defence measures no longer applied to the territory of the UK. This means that the UK now applies its own trade defence measures and has transitioned some of the EU’s trade defence measures. The EU applies its trade defence measures to the reduced territory of the EU27, while third parties that had imposed trade defence
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Multilateralizing Investment Facilitation at the WTO: Looking for the Added Value J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Calamita N.
ABSTRACTSince 2017, World Trade Organization members have been engaged in Structured Discussions aimed at agreeing on a multilateral framework on investment facilitation for development. The negotiations focus on establishing binding disciplines for investment facilitation, which will likely be made subject to the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Understanding. Investment facilitation, however
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Anti-Corruption Provisions in International Investment Agreements: Investor Obligations, Sustainability Considerations, and Symmetric Balance J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Yan Y.
ABSTRACTIncorporating anti-corruption provisions into international investment agreements is a vital step for governments to address transnational corruption in international investment. This empirical study analyses a category of anti-corruption provisions that fosters compliance by investors. These anti-corruption provisions address anti-corruption issues either within corporate social responsibility
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Investment Law before Arbitration J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Hepburn J, Paparinskis M, Skovgaard Poulsen L, et al.
ABSTRACTInvestment law was not always about investor–state arbitration. Based on British and German archival materials from the Cold War, this paper shows how aims and priorities in the investment treaty regime changed over time. We find important differences in the role and relative importance of different legal rules then and now. Most notably, national treatment and free transfer clauses were key
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Narratives of Hunger in International Law: Feeding the World in Times of Climate Change J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Crow K.
Narratives of Hunger in International Law: Feeding the World in Times of Climate Change. By ANNE SAAB, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, Studies in International and Comparative Law, 2019. ISBN 9781108473378, 177pp.
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Patent Games in the Global South: Pharmaceutical Patent Law-Making in Brazil, India and Nigeria J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Adebola T.
Patent Games in the Global South: Pharmaceutical Patent Law-Making in Brazil, India and Nigeria. By AMAKA VANNI, UK, USA: Hart Publishing, Studies in International and Investment Law, 2019. ISBN, HB: 9781509927395, 240 pp.
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Metanarratives as a Trap: Critique of Investor–State Arbitration Reform J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Polonskaya K.
ABSTRACTThe ongoing reform of investment arbitration at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law can have a lasting impact on international investment protection for the decades ahead. This paper examines the current discussions at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law to explain why the current focus on reforming the procedural aspects of the system is too narrow
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Trade and Environment Governance at the World Trade Organization Committee on Trade and Environment J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-18 Marceau G.
Trade and Environment Governance at the World Trade Organization Committee on Trade and Environment. By MANUEL A.J. TEEHANKEE, Den Haag, Kluwer Law International, Wolters Kluwer, 2020. ISBN 978-94-035-2210-4, 424 pp.
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Reforming WTO Conflict Management: Why and How to Improve the Use of ‘Specific Trade Concerns’ J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-03 Wolfe R.
ABSTRACTWith its dispute settlement system in peril, the role of the World Trade Organization in mitigating commercial conflict is more important than ever, but its working practices need reform. The Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and Technical Barriers to Trade committees have developed a mechanism for members to raise ‘specific trade concerns’ about the laws, regulations, and practices of their
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Nations and Markets J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-03 Cohen H.
ABSTRACTEconomics and security seem increasingly intertwined. Citing national security, states subject foreign investments to new scrutiny, even unwinding mergers. The provision of 5G has become a diplomatic battleground—Huawei at its center. Meanwhile, states invoke national security to excuse trade wars. The USA invoked the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade national security exception to impose
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Taxation of Digital Services Under Trade Agreements J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-02 Noonan C, Plekhanova V.
ABSTRACTThe digitalization of the economy combined with sophisticated tax planning has enabled some multinationals to avoid paying almost any income tax in most market jurisdictions from which they earn substantial profits. Faced with financial and political pressures to act, market states have sought to expand their tax bases so that these multinationals, especially those providing internet advertising
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The EU in Search for Stronger Enforcement Rules: Assessing the Proposed Amendments to Trade Enforcement Regulation 654/2014 J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-11-21 Weiß W, Furculita C.
AbstractConsidering the new focus of the European Union (EU) trade policy on strengthening the enforcement of trade rules, the article presents the proposed amendments to the EU Trade Enforcement Regulation 654/2014. It analyzes the EU Commission proposal and the amendments suggested by the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA), in particular with regard to uncooperative third
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A Story Half Told—Selective Benefit Assessment in the New US CVD Rule for Exchange Rates J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-11-03 Lee J.
ABSTRACTThe new countervailing duty proceeding rule of the United States on exchange rates aims to address currency undervaluation through a subsidy tool under the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures. As there is no prohibition in the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) making macro-economic policies off-limits from the reach of subsidy norms, exchange rates can
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Book Review Essay: Varieties of Capitalism as Regulatory Challenge of International Economic Law J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-10 Petersmann E.
The Law of Political Economy. Transformation in the Function of Law. Edited by POUL FKJAER, Cambridge: Oxford University Press, 2020. ISBN 978-1-108-49311-6, 408pp.
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Hidden Meanings: Evolutionary Interpretation Between Norm Application and Progressive Development J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-12-03 Vidigal G.
ABSTRACTDebates about the meaning of ‘evolutionary interpretation’ reveal the existence of two conflicting views. Some see evolutionary interpretation as an inevitable step in the ordinary process of applying fixed written language to changing reality. Others see it as a means for interpreters—and, crucially, adjudicators—to update the agreement being applied, infusing into the text the interpreter’s
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Facilitating Access to Cross-Border Supplies of Patented Pharmaceuticals: The Case of the COVID-19 Pandemic J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-09-28 Frederick M Abbott, Jerome H Reichman
ABSTRACT The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into stark relief the gaps in global preparedness to address widespread outbreaks of deadly viral infections. This article proposes legal mechanisms for addressing critical issues facing the international community in terms of providing equitable access to vaccines, treatments, diagnostics, and medical equipment. On the supply side, the authors propose the
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Is Data Localization a Solution for Schrems II? J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-09-28 Anupam Chander
For the second time this decade, the Court of Justice of the European Union has struck a blow against the principal mechanisms for personal data transfer to the United States. In Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland, Maximillian Schrems, the Court declared the EU-US Privacy Shield invalid and placed significant hurdles to the process of transferring personal data from the European Union
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Women at the frontline of COVID-19: Can Gender Mainstreaming in Free Trade Agreements Help? J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-09-10 Amrita Bahri
Abstract Health pandemics affect women and men differently, and they can make the existing gender inequalities much worse. COVID-19 is one such pandemic, which can have substantial gendered implications both during and in the post-pandemic world. Its economic and social consequences could deepen the existing gender inequalities and roll back the limited gains made in respect of women empowerment in
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Money Laundering and Central Bank Governance in The European Union J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Panicos Demetriades, Radosveta Vassileva
Dirty money is often a by-product or a symptom of political corruption in the jurisdictions in which it originates. It can also spread corruption and erode democracy on its journey to its final destination. This typically involves multiple jurisdictions and is the reason why it is so hard to detect. Recently, a series of money laundering scandals have highlighted weaknesses in the anti-money laundering
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The Remains of the Day: The International Economic Order in the Era of Disintegration* J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Francesco Montanaro, Federica Violi
The last two decades of the XX century have been marked by a vigorous acceleration of international economic integration both at a global and regional level States accepted pervasive constraints on their national decision-making in the hope that stability and predictability would favor economic growth This model of international economic integration, however, has recently shown worrying signs of ‘disintegration’
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International Economic Law and Disintegration: Beware the Schmittean Moment J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Alessandra Arcuri
In his influential book, Straight Talk on Trade, Dani Rodrik provides a cogent critique of the existing international economic order and concludes as follows: ‘So, I accept that nation-states are a source of disintegration for the global economy ’ This article critically engages with the idea that the nation-state is a legitimate force of disintegration of the international economic order, with particular
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Differentiated Integration and Disintegration in the EU: Brexit, the Eurozone Crisis, and Other Troubles J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Menelaos Markakis
textabstractThis article looks at theories of differentiated integration and disintegration in the wake of the Eurozone crisis and the Brexit referendum. It advances four distinct, albeit interrelated, arguments with respect to these proposals. First, it could be contested whether certain policy areas should be pushed to the ‘outer core’ of European integration. Second, it would be very difficult to
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Disintegration and Change in the International Law on Foreign Investment J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Muthucumaraswamy Sornarajah
Resistance to the law made through expansionist interpretation of investment treaties by arbitral tribunals has led to the disintegration of the resulting structure of investment protection The creation of an inflexible system of investment protection through arbitral interpretation undermines the exercise of power of states to take measures to protect the public interest The process of disintegration
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From Monetary to Fiscal to Political Union: A Progression to Integration or a Recipe for Failure? J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-06-01 Massimo D’Antoni
In this paper, we discuss the limits of the architecture of the euro from an economic point of view We first highlight how the choice to create a monetary union was not supported by the accepted theory of optimal currency areas, and how its institutional set-up responded to a special and questionable view of the functioning of the economy, which recognized only a limited role to active macroeconomic
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The Achmea Judgment and the Applicability of the Energy Charter Treaty in Intra-EU Investment Arbitration J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-01-31 J Robert Basedow
The Energy Charter Treaty is the most frequently used investment treaty worldwide to launch investment arbitration against host states. The vast majority of disputes is of intra-European Union nature in that they involve an EU investor as claimant and an European Union member state as respondent. The recent Achmea judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union may thus have ramifications for
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Digital Trade Provisions in Preferential Trade Agreements: Introducing a New Dataset J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-01-31 Mira Burri, Rodrigo Polanco
The article introduces a new dataset that seeks to comprehensively trace developments in the area of digital trade governance. The TAPED (Trade Agreements Provisions on Electronic-Commerce and Data) dataset includes a detailed mapping and coding of all preferential trade agreements that cover chapters, provisions, annexes, and side documents that directly or indirectly regulate digital trade. This
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Clash of Trade and National Public Interest in WTO Law: The Illusion of ‘Weighing and Balancing’ and the Theory of Reservation J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-01-23 Csongor István Nagy
In the last two decades, World Trade Organization law’s public interest exceptions (Article XX GATT, Article XIV GATS, Article 2.2 of the TBT Agreement, and Article 20 TRIPS) have seen the emergence and evolution of the doctrine of ‘weighing and balancing.’ This paper provides a criticism of this doctrine through a comparative ontological analysis and demonstrates three propositions. First, it
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Reimagining Trade-Plus Compliance: The Labor Story J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2020-01-14 Kathleen Claussen
Today’s trade agreements include “trade-plus” provisions such as intellectual property, labor, and environment commitments and subject them to the same dispute settlement mechanisms as the traditional commercial provisions. This Article queries whether the institutional design in which such trade-plus provisions operate is both appropriate and appropriately theorized. It argues that the trade-plus
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Beyond Rational Choice: International Trade Law and The Behavioral Political Economy of Protectionism J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2019-12-01 Anne van Aaken, Jürgen Kurtz
The classic political economy of trade models state behavior on the international plane by reference to the formation of domestic interests. Voters, interest groups, and politicians are rational actors in this model, pursuing their economic preferences without cognitive or motivational distortions. This article questions the sufficiency of the rational choice model in the formation of contemporary
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Undermining the Consensus-Building and List-Based Standards in Export Controls: What the US Export Controls Act Means to the Global Export Control Regime J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2019-11-30 Cindy Whang
On 13 August 2018, US President Donald Trump signed a legislation called the ‘Export Controls Act of 2018’ (ECA) that is important for reinvigorating the export control regime in the USA. This paper argues that contents of the ECA will not only impact the USA but also the way that the ECA is structured will potentially have a long-lasting influence on international export control regimes and the
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ASEAN at the Crossroads: Trap and Track between CPTPP and RCEP J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2019-11-27 Chien-Huei Wu
In the wake of the mega-free trade agreements, all of the 10 member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations are determined to participate in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and to maintain the centrality of the Association of South East Asian Nations whereas Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam have also opted for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for
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Cross-Cumulation Arrangement as FTA Under Gatt Article XXIV J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2019-11-25 Jong Bum Kim
A cross-cumulation arrangement helps manufacturers meet the demands of the global value chain economy by facilitating the sourcing of intermediate products within the territories of participants in the arrangement. It is a de facto free-trade area formed by a network of bilateral free-trade areas underpinning the arrangement. However, a cross-cumulation clause provided in a bilateral free-trade area
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Toward a Geoeconomic Order in International Trade and Investment J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2019-11-25 Anthea Roberts, Henrique Choer Moraes, Victor Ferguson
Recent developments suggest that the international economic order is transitioning away from the Neoliberal Order that has flourished for much of the post-Cold War period toward a new Geoeconomic Order. The shift to this new order, which is characterized by a growing ‘securitisation of economic policy and economisation of strategic policy’, will likely see the rules, norms, and institutions of international
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The European Union in the Transnational Financial Regulatory Arena: The Case of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2019-06-01 Annamaria Viterbo
Starting from the observation of an increased politicisation of the financial regulatory debate, the article analyses how this might impact the relationship between the European Union (EU) and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. The article first describes transnational financial networks after the global crisis and the shift from trust in technocratic autonomy to distrust and politicisation
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Basel and the IASB: Accountability Interdependencies and Consequences for Prudential Regulation J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2019-06-01 Jan Riepe
Accountability is a key concern for international standard setters. If transnational actors set standards instead of national democratic authorities, then the standard setters might suffer from ‘apparent’ deficits in their democratic accountability and oversight. Consequently, most international standard setters rely on different processes to enhance their accountability and transparency to mitigate
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The Dark Side of Implementing Basel Capital Requirements: Theory, Evidence, and Policy J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2019-02-19 Aurelio Gurrea-Martínez, Nydia Remolina
Most financial systems around the world have imposed new capital requirements for banks in the past years. This policy seems to be justified on two powerful economic grounds. First, better capitalized banks promote financial stability by reducing banks’ incentives to take risks and increasing banks’ buffers against losses. Second, lack of compliance with a set of rules established by the Basel Committee
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TURK-SWITCH: The Tariff-Leverage and Legal Case for Turkey’s Switch from EU–Turkey Customs Union to FTAs with the European Union and Beyond J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2019-01-07 Juscelino F Colares, Mustafa T Durmus
Soon after becoming a World Trade Organization Member, Turkey established a Customs Union with the European Union, its biggest trade partner. Despite negotiating an average 42.6 percent tariff on slightly more than one-third of industrial goods—leaving remaining industrial goods unbound from World Trade Organization commitments—Turkey, pursuant to the Customs Union, eliminated all tariffs on European
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International Data Flows and Privacy: The Conflict and Its Resolution J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-12-03 Aaditya Mattoo, Joshua P Meltzer
The free flow of data across borders underpins today's globalized economy. But the flow of personal data outside the jurisdiction of national regulators also raises concerns about the protection of privacy. Addressing these legitimate concerns without undermining international integration is a challenge. This paper describes and assesses three types of responses to this challenge: unilateral development
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Evolutive Interpretation by the WTO Adjudicator J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-11-29 Gabrielle Marceau
Several types of changes can take place between the conclusion of a treaty and when its provisions call for interpretation, e.g. changes in the political, social, historical or legal context; technological changes; linguistic changes; or changes in the law. Traditionally, interpreters refused to considerchanges that may have occurred since the treaty’s conclusion. Today, many argue that it is more
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The Global Pact for the Environment: Freshwater and Economic Law Synergies J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-11-28 Brian McGarry
The Global Pact for the Environment has been proposed as an overarching framework for international environmental law, which would solidify and advance this regime in light of pressing challenges and the demands of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. By codifying principles in legally binding form, the Global Pact has attracted high expectations that it can bridge normative gaps in international
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A Theoretical Reflection on the OECD’s New Statistics Reporting Framework for the Mutual Agreement Procedure: Isolating, Measuring, and Monitoring J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-11-27 Qiang Cai, Pengfei Zhang
In October 2015, the G20 Finance Ministers endorsed the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project, which has been acclaimed as the most fundamental transformation of the international tax rules in almost a century. The BEPS project contains 15 actions, of which Action 14 aims to strengthen the mechanisms of international tax dispute resolution, particularly the mutual agreement procedure (MAP)
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Non-Market Economies, Significant Market Distortions, and the 2017 EU Anti-Dumping Amendment J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-11-22 Sherzod Shadikhodjaev
Anti-dumping is a fair trade mechanism of protecting domestic industries from certain underpriced imports. In December 2017, theEuropean Union made a remarkable amendment to its anti-dumping legislation to shift from a long-standing practice of specific dumping calculations for a pre-defined list of non-market economies to a ‘country-neutral’ approach of targeting significant market distortions
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The Obligation of Regulatory Stability in the Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard: How Far Have We Come? J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-10-18 Federico Ortino
While ‘regulatory stability’ regularly features in the decisions of investment arbitral tribunals interpreting the fair and equitable treatment (FET) provision, the extent to which the FET standard disciplines ‘adverse regulatory change’ in the absence of an express stabilization commitment from the host State is far from clear. Based on the conceptual distinction between the requirement of
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A Closer Look At WTO’s Third Pillar: How WTO Committees Influence Regional Trade Agreements J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-10-03 Devin McDaniels, Ana Cristina Molina, Erik N Wijkström
This paper illustrates how the work of World Trade Organization’s (WTO) standing bodies—its ‘Third Pillar’, as we will call it—is inspiring parties in regional trade agreements (RTA) negotiations and contributing to deeper integration. We focus on the work of the WTO technical barriers to trade (TBT) Committee and explore, as a case study, the extent to which the Committee's decision on principles
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Busier than Ever? A Data-Driven Assessment and Forecast of WTO Caseload J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-08-30 Joost Pauwelyn, Weiwei Zhang
Conventional wisdom has it that, in recent years, the legalized mechanism of dispute settlement before the World Trade Organization (WTO) has been “busier than ever”, “a victim of its own success”. This paper uses count data to assess the WTO’s current caseload and examines how it has evolved since the WTO’s creation in 1995. We also forecast panel and Appellate Body (AB) caseload ten years from now
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The IMF’s Jurisdiction Over The Capital Account—Reviewing the Role of Surveillance in Managing Cross-Border Capital Flows J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-08-21 Menno Broos, Sebastian Grund
In 1941, John Maynard Keynes noted that “[n]othing is more certain than that the movement of capital funds must be regulated; which in itself will involve far-reaching departures from laissez-faire arrangements”. 77 years later, the international regulation of capital movements appears everything but certain. The purpose of this paper is to review the IMF’s jurisdiction over the capital account. While
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Renewable Energy Subsidies and WTO Law: Time to Rethink the Case for Reform Beyond Canada – Renewable Energy/Fit Program J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-07-31 Ilaria Espa, Gracia Marín Durán
Since the Canada – Renewable Energy/FIT Program (2013) dispute at the World Trade Organization (WTO), it has become almost conventional wisdom in the literature that a clash exists between international climate change mitigation goals and WTO law, with a growing consensus (if not anxiety) that WTO subsidy rules ought to be reformed in order to safeguard ‘policy space’ for government support to renewable
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To Be or Not to Be with Targeted Dumping J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-06-07 Kyounghwa Kim, Dukgeun Ahn
The Appellate Body (AB) in US – Washing Machines clarified the concept of targeted dumping and the way to apply the pertinent part of Article 2.4.2. Above all, by limiting the applicable scope for the second sentence of Article 2.4.2 to ‘pattern transactions’ which consist of only low-priced export transactions, the Appellate Body clarifies that the remedial action for targeted dumping is dumping margins
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The WTO and the Rise of Plurilateralism—What Lessons can we Learn from the European Union’s Experience with Differentiated Integration? J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-06-01 Robert Basedow
The de facto failure of the Doha Round has shaken the confidence in multilateral trade negotiations and governance. Policy-makers increasingly turn to plurilateralism—in the form of Plurilateral and Critical Mass Agreements—as a new strategy for global trade governance. The World Trade Organization (WTO) may develop into a ‘club of clubs’. The rise of plurilateralism creates opportunities and
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Missing Investment Treaties J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-05-25 Rodrigo Polanco Lazo, Valentino Desilvestro, Azernoosh Bazrafkan
This article presents the situation of ‘Missing Investment Treaties’ (MITs), defined as those International Investment Agreements (IIAs) that have been concluded by States, but their texts (and in some cases their existence) are not publicly available or incomplete. In order to determine the number of MITs, we examined the text and language availability of IIAs concluded by countries, that are publicly
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Understanding the Role of the WTO in International Data Flows: Taking the Liberalization or the Regulatory Autonomy Path? J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-05-25 Nivedita Sen
Recent years have witnessed a surge in discussions relating to data and data flow in trade fora. This was predictable given the importance of data for trade in the digital economy, especially e-commerce. However, there is a major discord between WTO members on issues relating to data flows and data localization. This article sets out to understand how data flows across borders and the types of trade
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Single Undertaking, Different Speeds: Pliable Models for Decision-making in the WTO J. Int. Econ. Law (IF 2.0) Pub Date : 2018-05-23 Alex Ansong
The provisions on decision-making in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO Agreement) have fundamental constitutional significance for the running of the WTO. The decision-making procedures established in Articles IX, X and XII of the WTO Agreement are therefore foundational to any discussion on reform of WTO decision-making and the creation of a more pliable system
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