About the Book
The original contributions in Fair Trade and Harmonization investigate the growing conflict between free trade policies and the domestic environmental, labor, and antitrust policies of individual nations. They clarify the issues and offer a critical economic and legal analysis of the contending positions along with a series of proposals for resolving or reconciling them. Taken together, the two volumes present a comprehensive catalog of the government actions that are causing conflict in these areas and a critique of the existing scholarly literature on the subject. In each area, the contributors extensively discuss and analyze forms of policy harmonization and the arguments for and against it, with a goal of better understanding as a constant throughout. A more particular goal, however is to take a sober second look at, and impose some restraint upon, the growing chorus of demands to push aside the existing trade institution (the World Trade Organization) in the name of social policies, especially those regarding environmental and labor rights.
Contributors
Volume 1: Jagdish Bhagwati, Christopher Bliss, Drusilla K. Brown, Alessandra Casella, Richard H. Clarida, Alan V. Deardorff, Alvin K. Klevorick, David W. Leebron, James Levinsohn, Arik Levinson, John McMillan, Andre Sapir, Gary R. Saxonhouse, Joel Slemrod, T. N. Srinivasan, Robert M. Stern, John Douglas Wilson
Table of Contents:
Introduction, Jagdish Bhagwati. Part 1 Harmonization - General analytical issues: the demands to reduce domestic diversity among trading nations, Jagdish Bhagwati; lying down with procrustes - an analysis of harmonization claims, David W. Leebron; free trade and evolving standards, Alessandra Casella. Part 2 Environmental standards: trade and the environment - does environmental diversity detract from the case for free trade?, Jagdish Bhagwati and T.N. Srinivasan. Part 3 Labour standards: international labour standards and trade - a theoretical analysis, Drusilla K. Brown, Alan V. Deardorff, and Robert M. Stern. Part 4 Tax policy: tax cacophony and the benefits of free trade, Joel Slemrod. Part 5 Competition policy: trade and competition control, Christopher Bliss; competition policy and international trade, James Levinsohn; dumping - in theory, in policy, and in practice, Richard H. Clarida. Part 6 Race to the bottom: capital mobility and environmental standards - is there a theoretical basis for a race to the bottom?, John Douglas Wilson; environmental regulations and industry location - international and domestic evidence, Arik Levinson; reflections on the race to the bottom, Alvin K. Klevorick. Part 7 Japan and Europe - fair trade and harmonization: a short summary of the long history of unfair trade allegations against Japan, Gary R. Saxonhouse; why does Japan resist foreign market-opening pressure?, John McMillan; trade liberalization and the harmonization of social policies - lessons from European integration, Andre Sapir.
About the Author :
Jagdish N. Bhagwati is University Professor of Economics, Law, and International Relations at Columbia University and former Adviser to the Director General of GATT, Arthur Dunkel. He is the author (with Arvind Panagariya) of Why Growth Matters: How Economic Growth in India Reduced Poverty and the Lessons for Other Developing Countries.
Review :
"The subject of these volumes is of enormous importance to the world economy, and perhaps even more broadly than that. Harmonization has crept up on the academic community as an applied area of great appeal and policy significance. These volumes will help to educate the policy and research communities to both our collective intellectual progress on these highly important issues, and our need for more research on the shoulders of the work collected here." --Robert Willig, Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affiars, Princeton University "These two volumes, edited by Jagdish Bhagwati and Robert Hudec, are extremely well-written. They provide valuable insights into the 'trade and' agenda, whether the environment, labor, or competition policy. Everyone interested in trade will benefit from the comprehensive treatment presented here." --Carla A. Hills, Chairman & CEO, Hills & Company, International Consultants; former U.S. Trade Representative, 1989-1993
