ABSTRACT On 1 January 1995, the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (Dispute Settlement Understanding; DSU) entered into force. Since 1998, negotiations to review and reform the DSU have taken place (DSU review), however without yielding any result so far....

This paper shows that export costs, tariffs, and international transport costs are all important determinants of geographical export diversification in a sample of 123 developing countries. A 10% reduction in any one of these factors produces a 5%-6% increase in the number of foreign markets...

This paper shows that longer trade times are associated with higher levels of trade-related corruption, consistent with a theoretical framework in which “fast” producers earn higher profits than “slow” ones, but may have to pay “speed money” to possibly corrupt customs officials....

ABSTRACT On 1 January 1995, the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) entered into force. Until August 2006, the DSU has since been applied to 348 complaints – more cases than dispute settlement under the GATT 1947 had dealt with in nearly five...

Trading blocks can help or hinder the liberalization of world trade. A determining factor is whether trade within the block is organized around traditional comparative advantages, or around economies of scale. Regional free trade agreements such as NAFTA can be a substitutes for global free...

On 1 July 2001, a far-reaching free trade agreement between the EFTA States and Mexico entered into force. ”Doing Business in Mexico” provides targeted assistance to Swiss Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) that wish to tap the potential of Mexico as both an export destination and...

As traditional barriers to trade have fallen, the impact of domestic regulations on international trade and investment has become more apparent than ever before. While regulations aim at improving the functioning of market economies in a range of fields, such as market competition, business...

The main objective of the following article is to present the key findings of the existent research in the field of the influence the introduction of the euro had on the trade of the member states of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The intention of this article is also to inspire further...

While currency crises have been extensively studied, the opposite phenomenon, large appreciations, has been far less researched. We fill this gap by providing an empirical exploration of historical episodes of large real exchange rate appreciations, using a sample of 28 advanced and 25 emerging...

This work consists of two essays on law and finance in international trade. It addresses the means of raising funds for investment through receivables financing and project finance. The first essay discusses the role of receivables financing and in particular factoring in international trade. It...