This paper attempts to study the usage of the GATT/WTO dispute settlement mechanism and to explain its patterns across different regimes and decades, using a unified theoretical model. This study first explores the role of the degree of legal controversy over a panel ruling in determining...

ENGLISH ABSTRACT: On 1 January 1995, the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes (DSU) entered into force. During its first ten years, the DSU has since been applied to 324 complaints – more cases than dispute settlement under the GATT 1947 had dealt with in...

We examine a sample of 328 filings of ¡§connected transactions¡¨ between Hong Kong listed companies and their controlling shareholders during 1998-2000. We address three questions: What types of connected transactions are likely to lead to expropriation of minority shareholders? Which firms...

In <i>Fair Trade for All: How Trade Can Promote Development</i>, Stiglitz and Charlton prescribe what a multilateral trade agreement--that promotes development and is fair for all--would include. This review appraises their prescriptions and offers some alternatives. Many of their ideas about what...

The development of an appropriate regime for trade, investment and the movement of creative and professional workers in the cultural industries will be among the issues for negotiation at the WTO in 2002 and beyond. One proposal calls for a New Instrument on Cultural Diversity (NICD), an...

In the Fall of 2003, UNESCO will consider the introduction of an international agreement on cultural diversity. Proponents of this convention view the commitments made by countries in trade agreements as weakening the ability of countries to pursue domestic policies to preserve and promote...

This Paper considers the economic analysis of non-tariff barriers in the context of disputes under Art. III of the GATT. This article establishes the principle of National Treatment, which requires WTO Members not to introduce internal measures that protect domestic products. We first observe...

The current WTO jurisdiction on linkages of trade and environment is not free of contradictions and has provided for heated debate due to some inconsistencies in past WTO rulings. The article argues that the WTO jurisdiction is not only unclear but also lacks economic reasoning. It aims to...