This paper aims to show that fairness in trade calls for relaxing existing WTO rules to include a greater liberalisation of labour migration. After having addressed several objections to global egalitarianism, it will argue, first, that the world’s rich and the world’s poor participate in a same multilateral trading system whose point is primarily to reduce trade barriers, and hence to establish global economic competitions, in order to raise their standards of living; second, that these competitions are (...) subject to requirements of formal and substantive fairness; and, third, that the substantive fairness of the competitions that are taking place in the field of trade in goods is likely to require a greater liberalisation of labour migration, especially low-skilled labour from developing countries. (shrink)

This paper seeks to find possibilities forreconciliation of the implementation of theprecautionary principle and the promotion ofinternational trade of genetically modified organisms,based on the assumption that a sustainabledevelopment is a right objective to strive for. Itstarts with an explanation of the background and therole of the precautionary principle, and describes inwhat way measures based on the precautionary principlecan easily lead to the creation of trade barriers. Thearticle then examines to what extent the WTO (WorldTrade Organisation) Agreements allow theimplementation (...) of the precautionary principle. Inaddition, structural conflicts between the perceptionof the precautionary principle and the concept oftrade liberalisation will be evoked. The last sectionof the paper analyses to what extent the WTO rulesprovide possibilities to avoid or solve theseconflicts in order to attempt to answer the mainquestion: are the precautionary principle and theinternational trade of genetically modified organismsreconcilable? (shrink)

This article examines Risse and Wollner’s discussion and rejection of several strategies a) in favour of developed countries subsidising their producers, and b) against the relocation of firms operating on their territory. It argues that their critical review of these strategies remains incomplete and therefore not decisive. It starts by bringing into relief two blind spots in their moral assessment of subsidies. The first concerns the imperfect nature of the general duties of global justice they focus on; the second concerns (...) their understanding of the relation between these duties and duties of social justice. While addressing these two difficulties, it presents another possible strategy in support of subsidies, which Risse and Wollner fail to examine: the ‘equal citizenship’ strategy. This strategy is mobilised again in an assessment of Risse and Wollner’s treatment of relocations. In this context, some doubts are raised about the remedy Risse and Wollner prescribe to overcome both social injustices and exploitative relocations ― namely, the domestic redistribution by governments of the gains of international trade. It is argued that such a redistribution is both insufficient to combat social exclusion and threatened by the very practice of trade liberalisation that Risse and Wollner seek to defend. (shrink)

n spite of their divergences, global justice thinkers tend to agree that fairness in international trade requires the removal of trade barriers and hence of protectionist measures, especially on the part of rich countries. Behind this agreement, we find different kinds of considerations, some of which related to the idea that trade liberalisation is not genuinely, or at least not wrongfully, harming members of rich countries. My main purpose in this paper is to examine this (...) idea in more detail and to show that it faces several difficulties which invite us to reconsider the moral acceptability of at least some protectionist policies. (shrink)

IntroductionInternational trade in digitally deliverable services has been developing rapidly in recent years, especially during pandemics. However, the growth rate and scale differ among regions and countries. To promote the growth and bridge the divide of global trade in digitally deliverable services, we provide feasible policy suggestions in this paper.MethodsBased on panel data of 33 countries' digitally deliverable service trade from 2005 to 2020, this study analyzes the development trends and influencing factors of international trade (...) in digital-global service trade.ResultsThe development of digitally deliverable services in developed countries is far ahead, while in emerging economies such as China and India, it is growing at a high speed. Digital infrastructure; human capital; and science, technology, and innovation capacity have a significant impact on the digitally deliverable trade of countries with the level of STI playing the most important influence. Further, heterogeneity analysis shows that human capital and STI capacity are more sensitive to the digitally deliverable trade of middle-income countries than to the impact of high-income countries, and the contribution of population in middle-income countries is more pronounced.ConclusionAs the proportion of digital trade in global trade continues to increase, the role of digital service trade in countries' sustainable development is becoming more prominent. To cope with such opportunities and challenges, countries, especially developing countries, should actively increase digital infrastructure construction, improve talent training, vigorously develop digital technology, and enhance their innovation capacity. (shrink)

The question this article addresses is how the WTO supports and deals with digital trade. The article then analyzes how existing WTO agreements have dealt with digital trade. The article also addresses recent trade agreements particularly the USMCA.

The measure proposed here, the ratio of the price reported in a given trade to the average world price for that commodity, is based on the average world price for a given commodity reported for all trades between the U.S. and all other countries for a given period. This new measure can be used to enable government agencies to identify trades between U.S. firms or individuals and their counterparts in other countries which are designed to further prohibited activities such (...) as money laundering or tax avoidance. This measure would also enable the U.S. government to monitor trade flows more accurately, facilitating more analysis of trade imbalances between countries and tracking trade in strategie materials, for example, weapons. Use of this new measure could enable naive buyers and seIlers of goods, for example, those situated in remote or underdeveloped markets, to know what their counterparts in more central and informed countries are paying or being paid for comparable goods, and hence to become more informed as trading partners. (shrink)

In this paper the structuralist approach of theory reconstruction is applied to International Trade Theory. In the basic element the universal laws of the theory are stated and the general concepts are defined in terms of three sets and seven functions. Ricardo’s Theory of Comparative Advantage and the Factor Proportions Theory by Heckscher and Ohlin are reconstructed as specialisations of the basic element. Two intratheoretical constraints are formulated in order to ensure the consistency of the theory. A number (...) of empirical studies are shown to be paradigmatic, successful or questionable applications of International Trade Theory. The reconstruction allows the assessment of the theory from a metatheoretical angle and illuminates the logical interdependencies of its components. (shrink)

The interpretive strategy of this article is to identify the joint stock company as an independent unit of analysis in Adam Smith's theory of international political economy. Such companies, in Smith's view, had corrupted and captured many European and non-European governments and undermined their societies' ability to engage in peaceful transnational affairs and equitable self-rule. In contrast with Smith's well-known concerns about the rise of commerce in modern Europe in his four-stage account of social development-- which were outweighed, in (...) his view, by the many material benefits and personal liberties brought about by the eclipse of feudalism--his narrative of globalization offers a trenchantly critical appraisal of commercial practices that ultimately undermine many of the gains that the initial rise of modern commerce once made possible. Even in his rare moments of optimism about the future of global relations, Smith remained deeply ambivalent about globalization. (shrink)

This paper examines the implications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the World Trade Organization’s agreement governing trade in health-related services, for health policy and healthcare reform in the United States. The paper describes the nature and scope of US obligations under the GATS, the ways in which the trade agreement intersects with domestic health policy, and the institutional factors that mediate trade-offs between health and trade policy. The analysis suggests that (...) the GATS provisions on market access, national treatment and domestic regulation, which are designed to eliminate ‘regulatory barriers’ to global trade in health services, limit the range of options that state and federal regulators and legislative bodies can employ to regulate the health sector and implement healthcare reforms. As such, the paper identifies the broader social and ethical implications of free trade policy. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Ever since an intense theoretical debate over a decade ago, the concept of heterogeneity has had a well-established place within poststructuralist Discourse Theory. It captures the interactions between the heart of the space of representation and its margins, between excluded excess and manifest presence; and conceptualizes particularities, differential remainders, and discursive exteriority. The analytical implications of heterogeneity remain underexploited, however. This contribution makes the case that one way to operationalize the notion of heterogeneity in empirical research is by tracing (...) its strategic effects. Since heterogeneity constitutes ‘the primary terrain within which homogeneizing logics operate’, heterogeneous dynamics like the ‘incorporation of new demands’ and ‘the exclusion of others who were previously present’ affect and shape the availability and feasibility of political strategies. This contribution first provides an extensive definition of heterogeneity drawing on the original debate that gave the concept prominence. An approach that captures and explains the strategic effects of heterogeneity is then developed through the integration of heterogeneity into the logics framework. Finally, this approach is illustrated through an exploration of the politics of international trade. (shrink)

In this book, Christian Barry and Sanjay G. Reddy propose ways in which the international trading system can support poor countries in promoting the well-being of their peoples.

In recent decades a growing number of analytic political philosophers have started to pay attention to the ethics or morality of international economic integration. In this paper we offer an overview of the normative questions related to international trade. The paper has eight parts and focuses on these topics starting from a conceptual definition of trade: the legal, institutional and governance dimensions of international economic exchange and related ethical questions; the idea that trade has (...) distributive effects within participating countries; the distinction between the ethics of production and consumption; two specific international markets, the market for natural resources and that for weapons. (shrink)

In this chapter Nathalie Sigot argues that Bentham’s interest in international trade lies in the consideration of the redistributive effects of trade and its consequences on happiness for one’s society. Sigot demonstrates that Bentham’s view on international trade changed between 1786 and 1821, when the principle of the limitation of industry by capital disappeared from his writings. Sigot explains how Bentham’s approach is driven by a focus on security and on a calculus of gains and (...) losses in terms of happiness. (shrink)

This paper presents preliminary results of a survey experiment examining the effects of international illegality on public support for proposed public policies. It adds three specific dimensions to the existing literature. First, it tests whether the effects of international illegality differ depending on the international regime whose rules are violated, testing the effects of violations of both human rights and trade regimes. Second, it tests how far the involvement of international courts vary these effects. And (...) third, it examines these questions using parallel studies with UK and US respondents to test the robustness and generalisability of the relations identified. Results confirm that, across both jurisdictions, illegality under either trade or human rights regimes, and with or without the additional involvement of an international court, have a statistically significant negative effect of public support for a policy. They further identify a greater negative effect where an international court has confirmed this illegality, although this result is statistically significant in only one case. They do not identify any statistically significant difference in the support depressing effect of illegality under the trade regime compared to the human rights regime. (shrink)

The indisputable success of the European integration project also prompted other regions of the world to follow suit. On the other side of coin, these regional blocs cultivated free trade within but remained protectionist vis-àvis the outside, thereby impeding the progress of the multilateral trade system. But also the soaring number of WTO member states accompanied by their incompatible interests, its ambitious agenda spanning over 20 diverse issues and, in particular, the single undertaking approach emerged as the Doha’s (...) Round “stumbling blocks”. The utter dismay over the Doha’s Round deadlock has provoked countries to opt for alternative for a outside the WTO in their endeavor to expedite far-reaching trade liberalization. Besides the vast economic growth in Asia and the rise of international production networks, this urge for deeper integration represents one of the central root causes for the most recent wave of PTAs which has been gathering force over the course of the 21st century and increasingly puts the WTO’s raison d’être under critical scrutiny. (shrink)

The current philosophical debate on just international trade has moved away from purely idealistic theorizing into the direction of non-ideal theory. At the same time most philosophical thought on just trade is still rather idealistic and the main argument of the paper is that some philosophical reasoning about international trade justice should be more realistic. The paper develops in three steps. In a first step I will give a short overview over normative questions that arise (...) with respect to international trade. I will then highlight a proposal brought forward by Leif Wenar, because he is aware of the realist challenge and tries to counter it. In a second step I will discuss why it is important to integrate a realist perspective into philosophical considerations of international trade justice. Trade agreements are embedded in political contexts that influence the normative perspective one should take on trade justice. This leads to the third part of the article, where I will explore how a realist approach can go along with more idealistic perspectives, which leads to a weakly realist perspective on trade justice. (shrink)

This book examines the labour standards provisions in a number of Regional and Bilateral Trade Agreements, and assesses the potential of using the relevant clauses in these trade agreements as a benchmark for a multilateral approach. Based on the lessons learned from the Regional model, the book proposes a Global Labour and Trade Framework Agreement (GLTFA) combined with a joint ILO/WTO enforcement mechanism to resolve the contentious issue of the link between the CLS and international (...) class='Hi'>trade. The history of the linkage between the Core Labour Standards (CLS) and international trade dates back roughly 150 years, and has recently become one of the most vexing issues facing policy-makers. At the heart of the debate is the question whether or not trade sanctions should be imposed on countries that do not respect the CLS as embodied in multilateral conventions administered by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Concretely, this would entail inserting a social clause in the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, and would trigger the imposition of sanctions on those countries that do not adhere to the CLS. Kofi Addo is a policy advisor to the Board of Governors of the International Baccalaureate Organisation. He holds a PhD in law from the University of Bern, Switzerland.. (shrink)

This article identifies the main issues of justice that arise in international trade and critically evaluates contemporary philosophical debates over how to understand them. I focus on three central questions of distributive justice, as applied to trade. What is it about trade that makes it a subject of justice? Which aspects of the international trading system should our principles of justice regulate? What do duties of justice or fairness in trade demand? I show how (...) debates over these questions turn not only on empirical disagreements specific to trade but also on deeper and more general disputes in moral and political philosophy. I argue that trade is a domain in which diverse moral concerns complexly intersect and that a satisfying account of it must do justice to this complexity by itself exhibiting substantial pluralism. (shrink)

The Faculty of Law at Masaryk University in Brno, the Czech Re- public, offers several fields of studies, one of them being the three-year Bachelor’s degree programme of International Trade Law. This programme includes two semesters of English for specific purposes which the students take in their first year of studies. However, as the programme is offered as a part time study, there are only 10 lessons of English taught within two days per semester. Preparing a course which (...) would develop the students’ language abilities and skills in the international trade law environment appears to be rather challenging under such conditions. In the paper I would like to share the ideas and experience from re- designing the syllabus for this course of English for international trade law. I describe the process from the original syllabus to a new one in which the teaching situation and students’ needs are taken into account. The course in- tends to include both product and process oriented goals and helps to improve general professional needs. In order to cover the field specific vocabulary, language practice and soft skills development within the above mentioned limited time frame, the students need to work both before and after the classes. The course is going to be piloted this year and we expect further modifications after its evaluation. (shrink)

In his important recent book, Aaron James has defended a principle ? Collective Due Care ? for determining when a form of economic integration is morally objectionable because it causes unjustified harm (including unemployment, wage suppression and diminished working conditions). This essay argues that Collective Due Care would yield implausible judgements about trade practices and would be too indeterminate to play the practical role for which it is intended.

The annual production of hazardous wastes which was less than 10 million metric tonnes in the 1940s is now in excess of 320 million metric tonnes. These wastes are, in the main, by-products of industrial processes that have contributed significantly to the economic development of many countries which, in turn, has led to lifestyles that also generate hazardous wastes. The phenomenal increase in the generation of hazardous wastes coupled with various barriers to local disposal has led to the thriving (...) class='Hi'>international trade in these environmentally hazardous substances. This paper examines the nature of the international trade in hazardous wastes and the ethical issues associated with such business activity. (shrink)

This essay examines the structure of the international trade regime. Following John Rawls, it asserts that "justice is the first virtue of social institutions." This leads to the question: Is the trade regime just?

Megaregional trade negotiations have become the subject of heated debate, above all in the context of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. In this article, I argue that the justice of the global order suffers from its institutional fragmentation into regime complexes. From a republican perspective, which aspires to non-domination as a guiding principles and idea of global justice, regime complexes raise specific and important challenges in that they open the door to specific forms (...) of domination. I thereby challenge a more optimistic outlook in regime complexes, which paints a positive normative picture of regime complexes, arguing that they enable the enhancement of democracy beyond the state and, consequently, have the potential to reduce the democratic deficit in global governance. By drawing attention to how regime complexes reinforce domination-related injustice, this article contributes an original perspective on megaregionals and to exploring the implications of global justice as non-domination. (shrink)

One Road One Belt has made a drastic change not only to the lives of people but also to their minds and future prospective. This initiative has connected not only countries but has consolidated trading patterns. It has not only impacted physical trade but has also boosted the e-commerce of China. Therefore, this study has tried to find the major patterns of trading across the globe and digital commerce considering the factors of production. China, being the cheapest country for (...) manufacturing, has excelled in the e-commerce as well. The targeted population for this study was contractors, marketers, logistic service providers, and engineers. The sample size in this study was 329. Data collection was done through a survey developed on the Likert scale. The software used for the data analysis was Smart-PLS for structural equation modeling. Findings of the study show that factors of production and international trade have an impact on e-commerce. Moreover, the foreign policy and international relations have also been found to have a significant role in e-commerce. (shrink)

The debate over international trade has long pitted “free trade” advocates against those who argue that particular reasons support trade restraints. The newest argument is that open trade leads to a “race to the bottom” in the regulation of health, safety, welfare, and especially labor and environmental concerns, harming the nation’s citizens and undermining national sovereignty. One predicate for this argument – that trade increases competitive pressure on domestic industry – is accurate. That, in (...) turn, will raise the cost of some national policies that otherwise would win political approval. But the remainder of the race to the bottom argument rests on assumptions about regulation, the political process, and trade that do not stand up to examination. While responses to increased international competition will vary, the effects of such competition will generally be consistent with any meaningful notion of sovereignty and also will improve national welfare judged by common economic norms.Le débat sur le commerce international a longtemps opposé les défenseurs du libre échange à ceux qui soutiennent qu’il existe des raisons particulières en faveur de barrières à l’échange. L’argument le plus récent est que le libre échange conduit à une course au “nivellement par le bas” au niveau de la réglementation de la santé, de la sécurité, du bienêtre, et plus particulièrement dans les domaines du travail et de l’environnement. Selon ses tenants, elle aurait pour conséquence de léser les citoyens de la nation et d’affaiblir la souveraineté nationale.Un présupposé de cet argument – selon lequel le commerce accroît la pression concurrentielle subie par l’industrie nationale – est fondé. A son tour cela entraînera une augmentation du coût de certaines politiques nationales qui auraient par ailleurs obtenu un assentiment politique.Mais le reste de l’argumentation du nivellement par le bas repose sur des hypothèses à propos de la réglementation, du processus politique, et du commerce qui ne résistent pas à un examen critique.Bien que les réactions à une concurrence internationale accrue varient, les effets d’une telle concurrence seront généralement cohérents avec toute notion pertinente de souveraineté et amélioreront le bien-être national tel que jugé par les normes économiques standard. (shrink)

Public Health Science and practice expanded during the course of the 20th century. Initially focused on controlling infectious disease through basic public health programs regulating water, sanitation and food, by 1988 the Institute of Medicine broadly declared that “public health is what we, as a society, do collectively to. assure the conditions for people to be healthy.” Commensurate with this definition, public health practitioners and policymakers today work on ;in enormous range of issues. The 2002 policy agenda of the American (...) Public Health Association reflects positions on genomics’ role in public health; national health and safety standards for child care programs; sodium in Americans’ diets; the health and safety of emergency rescue workers; and war in Central Asia and the Persian Gulf. (shrink)

This article identifies the main issues of justice that arise in international trade and critically evaluates contemporary philosophical debates over how to understand them. I focus on three central questions of distributive justice, as applied to trade. What is it about trade that makes it a subject of justice? Which aspects of the international trading system should our principles of justice regulate? What do duties of justice or fairness in trade demand? I show how (...) debates over these questions turn not only on empirical disagreements specific to trade but also on deeper and more general disputes in moral and political philosophy. I argue that trade is a domain in which diverse moral concerns complexly intersect and that a satisfying account of it must do justice to this complexity by itself exhibiting substantial pluralism. (shrink)

The pursuit of economic opportunity has frequently put transnational manufacturing enterprises in the spotlight, accused of contributing to, if not causing, economic hardship, social deprivation, unsustainable growth, labour exploitation, resource plundering and ecological degradation in home and host countries. A substantial part of international trade now consists of intra-firm sales, or commercial transactions between units of the same business corporation, within or beyond the national borders of the parent company. Known as transfer pricing and viewed as a legitimate (...) business opportunity by transnational corporations, it is often used to misrepresent financial success and evade taxation. This has recently instigated many fiscal agencies and governments to take more draconian measures than ever before to protect national financial interests. However, while the fiscal legality of transfer pricing practices is now carefully scrutinized, the heightened interest in its tax aspects has neglected the considerable ethical issues it entails. Unethical transfer pricing behaviour consumes scarce resources, causes costs but does not create value. This paper identifies and discusses some of these ethical issues and assesses their implications for the internalisation of trade, the design of transfer pricing systems, and international tax rules. Opportunities for future research are also outlined. (shrink)

A theory of customary international law -- Case studies -- A theory of international agreements -- Human rights -- International trade -- A theory of international rhetoric -- International law and moral obligation -- Liberal democracy and cosmopolitan duty.

We attempt to understand the personal incentives that motivate corporate insiders to engage in unethical behavior such as delayed trade disclosure. Delayed disclosure affects corporate transparency and other shareholders in the firm potentially suffer investment losses because they are unaware of insiders’ activities. Using archival data from the 300 largest Australian firms between 2007 and 2011, the results show that risk factors such as insider age and tenure and wealth effects in the form of insider shareholdings affect the likelihood (...) of delayed reporting. Governance positions such as committee membership mitigate this behavior. Our study highlights the importance of considering individual insider’s wealth and risk factors. The self-monitoring role of governance positions is also indicative of the effectiveness of internal corporate governance in the prevention of illegal insider behavior. (shrink)

Several nation states have reasons to halt the import of genetically modified organisms. The current international trend towards a regime of free trade makes such bans problematic. Whether a nation state is deemed justified in banning a certain product is strongly connected to discussions about what are acceptable criteria for proof of risk. The determination of these criteria hinges upon considerations of individual and national autonomy. This paper compares two different points of view in the debate: the WTO (...) opposed to the UN. A distinction between internal and external autonomy explains the differences in approach between the UN and the WTO. The conclusion is reached that adequate respect for autonomy requires a certain amount of flexibility in the criteria for proof of risk. (shrink)

Through the benefits of trade openness, diversification, and economic competitiveness, the UAE was successful in its economic endeavors by creating economic winners and protecting those who have been hurt by the embrace of globalization. The country also paid special attention to the issues of wealth distribution and fairness in the allocation of economic resources (inclusive globalization). The most important lesson from UAE’s economic growth is that strong formal institutions with sound vision designed to propel economic development are keys for (...) success. (shrink)

This article reviews the practices and differing sets of attitudes North Americans have taken with respect to fairness in international trade and proposes a set of common considerations for ongoing debates about these matters. After reviewing the asymmetrical relations between Canada, the United States, and Mexico and the impact of multilateral trade agreements on bilateral trade between these countries, the article looks at four typical normative views with respect to trade held by North Americans. These (...) views variously emphasize concerns for protectionism, liberal fair play, distributive justice, and dissent in the name of the environment or the working classes. Acknowledging that the debates over what is fair are not likely to be easily resolved, we call for open political processes that allow these debates to proceed, and we identify five common points of reference that might usefully inform these debates. These comprise (1) respect for flexibility, (2) the importance of institutions, (3) greater attention to the commutative justice principles for fair exchanges and corresponding guarantees so that all countries possess basic power to bargain on their own behalf, (4) the need to find fitting balance between local, national, regional, and international trade, and (5) more concern for the ways false pricing and abusive transfer pricing distort international trading relations. (shrink)

COVID-19 knows no boundaries, but political responses to it certainly do. Much has been made about how the pandemic has revealed the Hobbesian nature of political power, but this picture of politics occludes from vision the interdependent nature of our current international order. In particular, it overlooks the fact that much of the goods, services, capital, and people that societies rely on in order to function are sourced from outside the domestic state. And, conversely, it overlooks the extent to (...) which the policy responses taken in one state have considerable effects on the options available, and the outcomes suffered, in other jurisdictions. This paper seeks to correct this oversight, by highlighting two duties that states bear towards one another in the context of this crisis, by virtue of their participation in international trade relationships. Trade grounds duties of justice between trade partners by making them dependent upon one another in order to realize their respective duties of domestic justice. This dependence, in turn, grounds a duty of stability, and a duty of accountability. Having explained and argued for these two duties, the paper discusses the implications of taking these two duties seriously in the context of states’ policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis. (shrink)

Termination in international contracts is considered a harsh sanction that harms international trade for each breach of contract or its provisions. The interest of international trade is fulfilled in maintaining and completing performance of contract, even if with a breach rectifiable by remedy. The termination destroys the contract and results in returning goods after their dispatch in addition to the accompanying new freight and insurance expenses and administrative and health procedures necessary for the entry and (...) exit of goods and to pay then refund the price. Moreover, the goods are exposed again to damage and perishing risks. Furthermore, the international sale contract is inherently associated with other international contracts such as goods transport contract, insurance contract and documentary credit through which the price is paid. If the sale contract is terminated, its effect will apply to all other associated contracts, if not performed, which produces many issues and hardships. (shrink)

L’émergence des marchés en Europe de l’Est, en Asie et celle du cyber-espace ne se fait pas avec la rapidité que beaucoup d’observateurs voudraient. La lenteur de ce développement provient de l’environnement institutionnel : les systèmes législatifs ne soutiennent pas les droits de propriété privée et ne font pas plus respecter les contrats. Ainsi, beaucoup soutiennent que les Etats doivent intensifier leurs efforts pour établir un droit commercial. En réalité, il faut réclamer un désengagement de l’Etat dans le droit commercial. (...) Tout au long de l’histoire, le recours efficace de l’activité commerciale est toujours provenu d’un système polycentrique de droit coutumier avec des querelles résolues par le biais de cours de commerce ou d’arbitrage eux-mêmes appuyés par des sanctions d’ostracisme imposées de façon privée, et il en est de même pour le droit commercial international aujourd’hui. Nous proposons une description des institutions et des processus du droit commercial international, suivie de discutions sur la nécessité d’un droit polycentrique et des caractéristiques du droit coutumier. Finalement, nous expliquons pourquoi nous devrions compter sur un système de droit coutumier polycentrique sans Etat pour l’émergence récente des marchés.The emergence of markets in Eastern Europe, Asia, and cyberspace is no occurring as rapidly as many observers would like. Slow development is a function of the institutional environment: legal systems do not support private property rights or enforce contracts. Thus, many contend that states must step up their efforts to establish commercial law. In reality, less state involvement in commercial law is called for. Throughout history effective recourse for commercial activity has been produced through a polycentric system of customary law with disputes resolved through merchant courts or arbitration backed by privately imposed ostracism sanctions, and the same is true for international commercial law today. A description of the institutions and processes of international commercial law is provided, followed by discussions of the desirability of polycentric law and the characteristics of customary law. Finally, an explanation is provided for why a stateless system of polycentric customary law should be relied upon in modern emerging markets. (shrink)

Extensive research has been carried out on the “Belt and Road” initiative, most of it focusing on geographical economy and international trade. However, there is a lack of research on the carbon emissions efficiency of the countries along the “Belt and Road,” especially regarding the impact of freight trade. To address this research gap, this paper first employs a metafrontier nonradial directional distance function to measure the carbon emission efficiency of 32 countries along the “Belt and Road” (...) from 1990 to 2014. It then examines the role of freight trade. Our main research findings are as follows. Firstly, the carbon emission efficiency of the countries along the “Belt and Road” is generally low. Among them, Russia and Central Asia are mainly due to the large between-group gap in carbon emission efficiency, while Southeast Asia, Western Asia and North Africa, East Asia, South Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe are mainly due to the large within-group gap. Secondly, freight trade promotes carbon emission efficiency, but it will aggravate the gap between the contemporaneous technology and the group technology. Freight trade mainly promotes the contemporaneous carbon emission efficiency and group-frontier carbon emission efficiency of low fossil energy dependent countries, and the metafrontier carbon emission efficiency of high fossil energy dependent countries. Thirdly, foreign direct investment has a significant negative effect on a host country’s ITCEI and GTCEI, and it will decrease the gap between the group technology and the metafrontier technology. However, freight trade can effectively prevent the entry of FDI, thereby indirectly improving carbon emission efficiency and reducing carbon emission gap. (shrink)