The paper applies an index suggested by Jeffrey Frankel on how to measure the gap between the intensity of national versus international transactions of a country to more than 100 countries over four periods between 1990 and 2005. The gap stands for "incomplete" globalization. It is shown that...

In the past, many WTO member states have liberalized their trade policies unilaterally. However, they were decreasingly prepared to guarantee these measures multilaterally, that is to "bind" them. This paper analyzes the background of this development by resorting to three political economy...

This paper discusses the issue whether developing countries forego chances in world manufactured markets by protecting intermediate services against market entry of new suppliers. By scanning the empirical literature on effective rates of protection (ERP), the evidence is supportive. Yet, it...

The paper departs from the perception that trade in services in general and developing countries' exports in services in particular are dynamic segments of world trade. Both total trade data as well as US import trade figures do not support this perception. Success episodes such as the recent...

For many applicant countries, accession to the WTO has been, and still is, a frustratingly slow process. In this paper, we discuss the substantial, contentious issues that are slowing down progress in accession negotiations. We contrast these with the benefits of WTO accession not only to the...

The article criticizes the World Bank as overy optimistic concerning its ability to raise the effectiveness of aid by concentrating aid on countries with "good" policies. It is shown that aid flows to the main recipient regions yielded the highest correlation to growth when their magnitudes...

The paper discusses the costs and benefits to be expected by least-developed and low-income ("vulnerable") economies if they accede to the WTO, the impact of current debates about WTO reform on vulnerable economies, and measures to make it easier for vulnerable economies to accede to and...