Challenged in Geneva: WTO Litigation Experience and the Design of Preferential Trade Agreements

Wüthrich, Simon; Elsig, Manfred (2021). Challenged in Geneva: WTO Litigation Experience and the Design of Preferential Trade Agreements. Business and Politics, 23(3), pp. 344-363. Cambridge University Press 10.1017/bap.2020.20

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What explains the design of international institutions? Existing research has largely neglected how experience in cooperation in one set of international institutions impacts on design choices made by states in other globally-oriented institutions. We contribute to this evolving debate by analyzing spillovers in experience in international trade. We argue that countries' track record of interaction in multilateral trade disputes affects the design of their preferential trade agreements (PTAs). If a country participates in a complaint against a prospective PTA partner at the World Trade Organization (WTO), the challenge in Geneva alerts the defendant's import-competing industries with respect to potential challenges under the planned PTA. As a result, these industries exert pressure on their government to preserve leeway under the future treaty, leading to increased flexibility and a lower level of enforcement in the PTA. We find support for our hypotheses in an empirical analysis of 347 PTAs concluded post 1990.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

02 Faculty of Law > Department of Economic Law > World Trade Institute
10 Strategic Research Centers > World Trade Institute

UniBE Contributor:

Elsig, Manfred

Subjects:

300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 380 Commerce, communications & transportation
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 320 Political science
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 340 Law

ISSN:

1469-3569

Publisher:

Cambridge University Press

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pablo Rahul Das

Date Deposited:

29 Mar 2021 10:12

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:47

Publisher DOI:

10.1017/bap.2020.20

Related URLs:

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/152485

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