It has long been established in theory that uncertainty impacts on firm behaviour. However, the empirical basis for quantifying the uncertainty-reducing effects of trade agreements has not been firmly established. In this paper, we develop estimates of the effect of reducing uncertainty...

Modern economic partnership agreements like the TPP, TTIP, and RCEP address a wide range of areas of commercial regulation with varying levels of commitments. Estimates of their impacts vary widely, raising questions about the models and modelling protocols used to derive them. Issues of major...

The current global economic policy regime – the consensus macroeconomic management policy framework, the trade and investment regime, the emerging system of “megaregulation” that seeks to create a seamless framework for the global operations of multinational enterprises, and the...

New trade rules being implemented as part of the on-going wave of major bilateral/regional trade agreements are impacting the complex and evolving innovation ecosystem in non-neutral ways, favouring some innovation modes (such as patent-oriented research and development), but generating...

The importance of services to Canada's economy is often lost in the discussion of how Canada can take advantage of trade agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In this Commentary, we look to close this gap with respect to the vital financial services sector. In order to determine the...

This policy brief comments on a number of macro-structural linkages that have implications for firm-level dynamism, which may have served as contributing factors to the stag-deflation that has gripped the OECD region as a whole, including Canada, in recent years. Specific linkages considered...

The mega regional trade agreements – the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), and the Trade in Services Agreement (TISA) – will impact on non-parties through a combination of trade...

The Trans-Pacific Partnership and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership will impact on substantive market regulations in a wide a range of areas bearing on market access, both by establishing substantive new horizontal and sectoral standards and by establishing requirements regarding...

The major area of activity in international trade regulation is currently within the mega-regional trade negotiations – the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the Trade in Services Agreement. These...

Major developments in trade policy are currently taking place in the mega-regional trade agreements, in particular in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, and the Trade in Services Agreement. These agreements are setting new standards and breaking...