scholarly journals Promoting sustainable development through trade? EU trade agreements and global value chains

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Arlo Poletti ◽  
Daniela Sicurelli ◽  
Aydin B. Yildirim
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Labor Cost ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Sustainable development provisions have become an integral part of the European Union's (EU's) ‘new generation’ trade agreements. Yet, a growing number of empirical works show that their design varies significantly, even in the trade agreements signed with countries at similar (low) levels of development. We contend that this variation can be accounted for by discussing how the growing integration of the EU economy with specific developing countries across global value chains (GVCs) affects the domestic politics of regulatory export in the EU. European firms that operate within GVCs rely on imports of inputs produced in low-labor cost countries. These firms tend to oppose the export of those regulatory burdens that generate an increase in their imports' variable costs. The political mobilization of these actors weakens domestic coalitions supporting regulatory export strategies, which explains why the EU adopts a more lenient approach over the inclusion of sustainable development provisions in Preferential Trade Agreement negotiations with some developing countries.

scholarly journals Having the cake and eating it too: the benefits of decoupling Australia’s trade governance in Europe after Brexit and beyond

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Treisman ◽  
Giovanni Di Lieto
Keyword(s):  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Best Interest ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Trade And Investment ◽  
The Eu

The process towards Brexit will impact on the entire global trading system and significantly influence the global value chains that rely on ease of trade and investment within a single European market. In light of this process, Australia with its high levels of international economic integration and interdependency of trade and investment to and from the European region, now faces a stark challenge in forging an economic position that best suits its national interests. This paper analyses the possible implications of Brexit on Australia’s economic governance position, with specific regard to the global value chains that rely on ease of trade and investments in the European single market. The exploration relies on empirical analysis that distinguishes between and disaggregates data on Australian trade and investment with the UK and the rest of the European Union. This analysis indicates that it is in Australia’s best interest is to prioritise a preferential partnership with the EU over a new free trade agreement with the UK. However, in order to maximise Australia’s position, the paper argues that, under the present political climate and technical difficulties, a multi-pronged and decoupled approach of concerted unilateralism with the UK and preferential bilateralism with the EU is best placed to enhance Australia’s geo-economic role in Europe in the post-Brexit era.

scholarly journals Transformation of global value chains in Russia and the Baltics amid Covid-19: prospects for regionalization and implications for economic policy

Baltic Region ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 128-146
Author(s):  
Y. V. Simachev ◽  
A. A. Fedyunina ◽  
Y. V. Averyanova
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
Economic Relations ◽  
New Generation ◽  
The Eu

Although Russia and the Baltics have historically been economic partners, the economic relations between them are tense today. Nearly stagnating bilateral trade contributes little to the development of either side. The Baltics-Russian bilateral trade conducted within global value chains (GVC) and operations of multinational companies is much more resistant to geopolitical and economic shocks than traditional international trade. In particular, the accession of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania to the EU and NATO in 2004 and the introduction of reciprocal EU-Russia sanctions in 2014 did not curb GVC activities between Russia and the Baltics. The article discusses factors in the transformation of the Baltics-Russian GVCs amid COVID-19. The research aims to prove regionalisation as a viable prospect for the transformation of global value chains in Russia and the Baltics. In the medium term, regionalisation is possible as (1) part of global trends towards GVC transformation in the industries in which Russia and the Baltics traditionally specialise; (2) as a response to the long-term structural challenges faced by Russia and the Baltics in creating a new generation of internationally competitive firms; (3) as a result of companies tackling the effects of the pandemic against the background of historically stable relationships; (4) as a product of strong social contacts and soft power. GVC regionalisation will be driven by individual companies, regional (local) governments, and Russian-Baltic cross-border cooperation initiatives. Finally, repercussions for Russian and Baltic politics are discussed alongside GVC regionalisation benefits for all the parties involved.

AN ANALYSIS OF THE EU’S INVESTMENT POLICY AFTER CETA: EFFECTS ON THE BULGARIAN ECONOMY

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikolay Marin ◽  
◽  
Mariya Paskaleva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Bilateral Trade ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Investment Policy ◽  
National Parliaments ◽  
Total Employment ◽  
Investment Protection ◽  
New Generation

In this paper we analyze the changes of the EU’s investment policy provoked by the mixed trade agreements. The EU’s investment policy has turned towards attaining bilateral trade agreements. One of these “new-generation” agreements is the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). It is in a process of being ratified by the national parliaments of the EU members. This study is focused on the general characteristics of CETA and the eventual problems posed by its regulatory and wide-ranging nature. We prove that the significance of this agreement pertains not only to the economic influence, that it will have on the European and Canadian economies, but CETA is also the first trade agreement to have been negotiated with a focus on investment protection and a change in the EU’s investment policy. The current study reveals the influence arising from the conclusion of CETA on the Bulgarian economy with an emphasis on electronic industry, machinery industry and manufacturing. We estimate both – the direct and indirect effects on Bulgaria’s exports, imports, value added and employment. In order to estimate the influence, we apply the multi-regional input-output model. It is proved that CETA will have a low but positive impact on the Bulgarian economy. After constructing different scenarios of development, we prove that the influence of CETA on the Bulgarian economy will amount to 0.010% GDP. The average total employment will be increased by more than 172 jobs in Bulgaria, which in turn, relative to the labor market, represents less than 0.01% of the total employment.

The Governance of Global Agri-food Value Chains, Standards, and Development

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Swinnen ◽  
Rob Kuijpers
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Gender Effects ◽  
Growth Potential ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Food Standards ◽  
Institutional Spillovers ◽  
And Gender

Understanding the development implications of agri-food standards and global value chains is crucial, as they are a fundamental component of developing countries’ growth potential and could increase rural incomes and reduce poverty, but at the same time they present serious challenges and could lead to further marginalization of the poor. This chapter reviews some of the implications of the spread of stringent standards associated with global value chains for developing countries and global poverty reduction. The chapter focuses on five aspects: the interaction between standards and value chain governance; the effects on agricultural productivity and smallholder welfare; farm-level and institutional spillovers; labor market and gender effects; and the interaction between liberalization policies and value chains.

Regional Trade Agreements with Global Value Chains

FEDS Notes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
François de Soyres ◽  
◽  
Julien Maire ◽  
Guillaume Sublet ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Regional Trade Agreements ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Regional Trade ◽  
The World

This FEDS Note looks at the effect of Regional Trade Agreements on trade between the agreement zone and the rest of the world. Global Value Chains are associated with an increase in outflow. Hence, RTAs can be a stumbling block for multilateralism.

scholarly journals Trade Agreements and Global Value Chains: New Evidence from China’s Belt and Road Initiative

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1353 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Peng ◽  
Lili Kang ◽  
Taoxiong Liu ◽  
Jia Cheng ◽  
Luxiao Ren
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Direct Investment ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Spillover Effects ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
Global Value Chains ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Value Chains ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Belt And Road

This paper investigates the relationship between China’s trade agreements (TAs) and partner countries’ upgrade in global value chains (GVCs). We focus on the experience of China and relate China’s TAs with one belt and one road (OBOR) initiative. A structural equation model (SEM) is applied on a dataset including 216 countries and regions to identify the direct and indirect effects of China’s TAs and OBOR initiative on its export, outwards foreign direct investment (OFDI) and partner economy’ GVCs upgrade over the period 2010–2015. We find that China’s TA partner countries are more likely to be included in the OBOR initiative than those non-TA partner countries. The positive effects of China’s TAs and OBOR initiative on China’s export, outwards foreign direct investment (OFDI) and partner countries’ upgrade in GVCs differ across country groups at the different locations of GVCs. Both vertical and horizontal spillover effects exist in China’s TAs. Therefore, the partner countries at low end and middle of GVCs might benefit more from TAs with China than those richer countries at the high end of GVCs.

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