The Evolution of the Trade Regime
eBook - PDF

The Evolution of the Trade Regime

Politics, Law, and Economics of the GATT and the WTO

  1. 256 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

The Evolution of the Trade Regime

Politics, Law, and Economics of the GATT and the WTO

About this book

The Evolution of the Trade Regime offers a comprehensive political-economic history of the development of the world's multilateral trade institutions, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and its successor, the World Trade Organization (WTO). While other books confine themselves to describing contemporary GATT/WTO legal rules or analyzing their economic logic, this is the first to explain the logic and development behind these rules.


The book begins by examining the institutions' rules, principles, practices, and norms from their genesis in the early postwar period to the present. It evaluates the extent to which changes in these institutional attributes have helped maintain or rebuild domestic constituencies for open markets.


The book considers these questions by looking at the political, legal, and economic foundations of the trade regime from many angles. The authors conclude that throughout most of GATT/WTO history, power politics fundamentally shaped the creation and evolution of the GATT/WTO system. Yet in recent years, many aspects of the trade regime have failed to keep pace with shifts in underlying material interests and ideas, and the challenges presented by expanding membership and preferential trade agreements.

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Yes, you can access The Evolution of the Trade Regime by John H. Barton,Judith L. Goldstein,Timothy E. Josling,Richard H. Steinberg in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Politics & International Relations & International Law. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Contents
  5. List of Illustrations, Box, and Tables
  6. Preface
  7. Chapter 1: Political Analysis of the Trade Regime
  8. Chapter 2: Creating Constituencies and Rules for Open Markets
  9. Chapter 3: The Politics of the GATT/WTO Legal System: Legislative and Judicial Processes
  10. Chapter 4: Expanding Trade Rules and Conventions: Designing New Agreements at the Border
  11. Chapter 5: Extending Trade Rules to Domestic Regulations: Developing “Behind the Border” Instruments
  12. Chapter 6: Expansion of GATT/WTO Membership and the Proliferation of Regional Groups
  13. Chapter 7: Accommodating Nonstate Actors: Representation of Interests, Ideas, and Information in a State-Centric System
  14. Chapter 8: Conclusions
  15. Bibliography
  16. Index