日本对外贸易政策的新动向--关于区域自由贸易协定的几点议论

日本与新加坡签署自由贸易协定,表明其对外贸易政策发生了一些变化,它有别于日本一贯主张的“多边主义”,这一变化是建立在对多边贸易政策和区域协定重新认识基础之上的,表现为日本积极参与区域协定的具体行动上,其意图是适应外部环境变化以解决自身的经济问题。     

Free Trade Agreements and the Neo-Liberal Economic Paradigm: Economic,Ecological, and Moral Consequences

Abstract

Since signing and implementing the North American Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in the early 1990s, the United States has pursued other free trade agreements with nations in Latin America and Asia. The premise undergirding FTAs is that trade liberalization within the neo-liberal global economy produces economic growth and development among all parties, and reduces poverty in poor nations. We examine arguments of proponents of free trade and the neo-liberal economy— particularly those of Martin Wolf, author of Why Globalization Works— to test these claims. We explore alternatives that center on norms of ecological sustainability and social justice, holding these two as inseparable. The central moral question of how to achieve needed socioeconomic development in the Global South in ways that are both ecologically sustainable and socially just frames our analysis. We conclude by proposing five principles for an alternative, more sustainable and equitable economic paradigm.     

After Seattle: Free Trade and the WTO

After the debacle in Seattle at the WTO Ministerial meeting in 1999, when the member countries failed to launch a new round of multilateral trade negotiations, new challenges to both free trade and the WTO have acquired importance. The former can be met by confronting the conceptual confusions, unfounded fears and policy-design sloppiness that afflict many of the demands of the critics. The latter, however, require changes in the WTO's functioning. But a distinction must be made among three areas: trade negotiations, the secretariat's work, and the dispute settlement mechanism. Each requires a different treatment.     

Talking about regional resilience: evidence from two formerly rural Spanish regions

ABSTRACT

This research analyses the contrasting socio-economic performances of two neighbouring territories, which, while sharing similar starting points, have, for various reasons, diverged in terms of their dynamics and ultimately reached different economic resilience levels. Regional production structure, socio-economic assets, social capital endowment and leadership strength, together with institutional and governance quality are factors that may underlie their current differences. The results of the research confirm the hypothesis that these factors are indeed the key to their different resilience levels.     

美加联盟中的政治与经济利益博弈——以加拿大对华粮食贸易为核心的考察

20世纪50年代末60年代初,面对中国发生的粮食紧缺问题,作为美国冷战盟友的加拿大开始采取自主行动,主动与中国开展粮食贸易。此时美国仍对中国进行政治孤立和经济封锁,加拿大的行为无疑与美国的冷战遏制战略相冲突,美国与加拿大的博弈由此开启。美加双方具有不同的利益诉求,加拿大希望扩大粮食销售市场,解决国内粮食过剩的问题,而美国更看重冷战联盟,并着眼于维护冷战联盟内部的团结,为此在不涉及美国核心利益的问题上向加拿大做出一定的让步。美国与加拿大之间的博弈反映了作为联盟主导者的美国开展联盟管理的困境,也体现了联盟政治与经济利益之间的张力。     

Economic models and having children: some evidence from Kwahu,Ghana

This discussion outlines briefly some of the main features of economic models of rational decision making with regard to fertility which focus on the perceived costs and benefits of parenthood, noting the findings of several Ghanaian studies which have tried to link changing patterns of costs and benefits involved in kin and conjugal family ties with changes in fertility and parental role expectations. Procreation and its context in a rural Kwahu town of southern Ghana in the early 1970s is then described and illustration is included of how a "cost benefit" analysis of pregnancy termination and child bearing in this society illuminates why, although induced abortion rates appeared high, there was little noticeable shift to much lower fertility values or achievements than those traditionally admired. The data on the families of Ghanaian salary earners indicated the usefulness of an economic approach, with attention given to the allocation of scarce resources through the essentially rational choices of individual parents, continually trying to avoid or alleviate the effects of role strain and conflict. They also illustrate the need for household economists' models to take more sophisticated account of variables such as the openness or closure of the conjugal family in various areas of its operation and the need to treat the degrees of jointness of the conjugal role relationship in different areas as crucial variables. The town of the research is a typical "home town," which means that it constitutes the base from which people depart, either to an urban center where they take up trading or look for other employment, or to a farming settlement where they may spend from a few months to several years clearing new land or harvesting crops. The data from Kwahu reveal that the people are struggling to improve their lot in an uncertain and changing context in which lineage support is not guaranteed, marriage is unstable and children often leave their parents at an early age, and in which educational qualifications and the ability to be mobile are critical in the search for incomes and better jobs. Early childbearing is a hindrance and is avoided where possible though it is not an impassable barrier to townward migration and upward mobility. The costs of later childbearing are frequently shelved and passed on to others, especially the child's mothers. Consequently, considerable inertia associated with poverty and insecurity remains with regard to decisions to regulate fertility. Knowledge and availability of contraceptives are restricted.     

Seeing the Wood for the Trees: The British Foreign Office and the Anglo-American Trade Agreement of 1938

The Anglo-American Trade Agreement of 1938 was signed againsta backdrop of escalating unease in Europe and a faltering policyof appeasement of the dictators. It is widely accepted thatthe Agreement was concluded more for its political than forits commercial value. Yet the negotiations were no simple affair,dragging on for over nine months and coming near to breakdownon several occasions. The complex negotiations are well documented,but the role of the British Foreign Office in determining policytowards the Agreement is less well known. What emerges is apicture of internecine struggle between the Foreign Office andthe Board of Trade over the direction of the negotiations. Asthe talks became bogged down in technical detail, the ForeignOffice made repeated representations to put the political valueof the deal before commercial considerations and adopt a moreconciliatory stance towards the Americans. The pleas of theForeign Office were made all the more difficult thanks to Americaninflexibility and Washington's determination to bargain hard.The talks were eventually resolved in the wake of the Munichagreement when both sides realised the time was right for ashow of Anglo-American solidarity, and not because of the exertionsof the Foreign Office. Yet this examination of Foreign Officeactivity during negotiation of the Agreement is illustrativenot only of how the Agreement was closed, but also of the suffocatingpower of British appeasement policy and the very determinedbelief of the Foreign Office in the centrality of achievingcloser relations with the United States in this dark preludeto war. ^* The author would like to thank the British Academy for awardinga Small Research Grant to complete this article.     

Cross-border corporate ownership and capital market integration in Europe: evidence from portfolio and industrial holdings

The level and determinants of cross-border holdings are evaluatedusing data on the ownership structures of 711 MSCI index companiesin 16 European countries. The level of foreign ownership inthe 16 countries is significant, but spread unevenly, with USfinancial institutions controlling the majority of foreign stakes.Countries' borders, rather than company size ranges are themain lines of discrimination between high and low levels offoreign corporate ownership. Major factors influencing the intensityof cross-border links include the proximity of investors tothe destination of capital, and corporate governance. From theperspective of international corporate ownership, the levelof capital market integration in Europe is low and the conceptof the pan-European company remains a long way from being realised.Implications are drawn for future research and integration policy.