Are states constrained by international law? Recent studies suggest that the legal regime of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in particular, has no independent effect on members’ trade policies. We argue, in contrast, that the WTO’s “rule of law” is likely to deter protectionist practices against other members, including those lacking the ability to retaliate. The WTO accomplishes this by cl...

The World Trade Organisation has emerged as an important agency, whose rules and operations have major effects on the development policies of its developing country Members. This paper reviews some of the recent developments and issues arising from the WTO's work and activities. The paper takes what the author considers is a development perspective" of the trading system. The WTO held a Ministe...

Prices in the hog industry in Taiwan are determined according to an auction system. There are significant differences in hog prices before, during and after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO). The paper models growth rates and volatility in daily hog prices in Taiwan from 23 March 1999 to 30 June 2007, which enables an analysis of the effects of joining the WTO. The empirical results ha...

On December 6, 2005, shortly before the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, WTO member states agreed to accept a protocol of amendment to the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs Agreement). This amendment sought to provide a permanent solution to implement paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public ...

[Abstract] By drawing on the new institutional economics, this paper presents the hypothesis that the rules-of-law specified by the World Trade Organization (WTO), as an exogenous institution for the Member States, theoretically will shape the Members’ domestic telecommunications regulatory institutions somewhat, but that the actual effects will be different and will depend on the institutional...

Even though widely recognized as one of the core disciplines of international economic law, the interpretation of national treatment (“NT”) obligation has been long marked by legal indeterminacy. More recently, a series of landmark cases, including US—Clove Cigarettes, US—Tuna II (Mexico), US—COOL and EC—Seal Products, have fundamentally reshaped our collective understanding of the NT obligatio...

The article deals with the prospects for Development of the market of electronic payment systems in the context of accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO. The authors investigate the benefits of electronic payment systems for the national economy in the context of accession of the Russian Federation to the WTO, evaluate the competitiveness of the russian market of electronic payment sys...