While the WTO and Doha Development Round do not deal with labour issues – they leave this to the ILO – the main countries that conclude free trade agreements incorporate labour provisions, which vary in terms of stringency. Sanctions are rarely used, and fears that “social clauses” would...

Les crises économiques ont, de façon récurrente, pour conséquences de raviver les tensions protectionnistes. Si, aux Etats-Unis, le principe du " Buy American " n'a finalement pas été retenu, on note toutefois, depuis quelques mois, une résurgence un peu partout dans le monde des mesures...

In a context of generalization of decentralization in the world going "hand in hand" with democratization and globalization, Brazil qualifies the universality of this process, at least in matter of fiscal federalism. In the paper, we firstly adopt a comparative perspective relative to an...

The new round of multilateral negotiations ("Round") opened in Doha in 2001, stalled and was unable to achieve a final agreement, which, in all cases, should not be readily ratified by the US Congress. This delay is mainly due to the changing environment which is sometimes a consequence of the...

Since the 1970s, the world follows a triple evolution in favor of democratization, opening and decentralization. Brazil has been following this movement with a democratic and decentralizing constitution and by the adoption of market-friendly policies. However, since the Real Plan (1993), Brazil...

Labour standards defined by the ILO in 1998 are universal but applied very differently in countries. They are much better respected in high income countries. However, the causality between labour standards and growth remains a controversial issue. The strategies of export-led growth might...