There are large differences between WTO Members in terms of resource capacity constraints and national trade policy and investment priorities. These affect the ability and willingness to incur the costs associated with implementation of new rules, as well as the net benefits of doing so. The...

Poor countries are rarely challenged in formal WTO trade disputes for failing to live up to commitments, reducing the benefits of their participation in international trade agreements. This paper examines the political-economic causes of the failure to challenge poor countries and discusses the...

The issue of special and differential treatment (SDT) for developing countries in the WTO has become a source of tension in North-South trade relations. The absence of an effective SDT regime clearly contributed to the failure of the Cancun Ministerial meeting of the WTO. This paper argues for a...

The current post-crisis environment and fragile economic recovery increases the importance of aid for trade. Global rebalancing and tightened fiscal budgets in the short to medium term also place renewed emphasis on aid effectiveness. This note identifies four options to enhance the...

The poorest WTO member countries almost universally fail to engage as either complainants or interested third parties in formal dispute settlement activity related to their market access interests. This paper focuses on costs of the WTO`s extended litigation process as an explanation for the...

The poorest WTO member countries almost universally fail to engage as either complainants or interested third parties in formal dispute settlement activity related to their market access interests. This paper focuses on costs of the WTO's extended litigation process as an explanation for the...

Although the WTO has fulfilled several key tasks it was set up to do – providing periodic reviews of members’ trade policies, resolving disputes, supporting negotiations – with the notable exceptions of the Trade Facilitation and Information Technology agreements, WTO members have not been...

International law, political science and economics scholars are all concerned with analyzing the performance of the WTO as an organization. In this paper we focus on the objectives that these different disciplines attribute to the WTO and how performance is assessed against these objectives. The...