Product specialization in international trade : a further investigation

In an influential paper, Schott [Schott. Peter K. (2004). “Across-product versus within-product specialization in international trade.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 119 (2): 647–678] makes two empirical observations about U.S. imports. (1) The United States is increasingly sourcing the same product (however narrowly defined) from both developed and developing countries. That is, ‘across-product specialization’ has been decreasing. (2) The unit values of these multiple-sourced products are positively and significantly correlated with the capital and skill abundance of exporters and with the capital–labor ratios used by exporters. That is, endowments-driven ‘within-product specialization’ has been increasing. We show that both these observations extend to the imports of Brazil, India and Japan. However, our main finding is that observation (1) is largely driven by two factors. First, China is the dominant low-wage exporter of multiple-sourced products. Second, the most developed countries remain the primary exporters of multiple-sourced products. The U.S. case is the most extreme of our four importers: When China is deleted from the U.S. import data there is no trend in across-product specialization and rich exporters are increasing their trade share of multiple-sourced products. Since deleting China has no theoretical justification, these results must be viewed not as a contradiction of Schott's work but as a way of deepening our understanding of his empirical results.

Where is a corporation's "centre of main interests" in international insolvency?

The international community has long sought the appropriate means by which insolvencies involving several jurisdictions should be conducted. Central to the solution proposed is the view that jurisdictions should primarily co-operate with the proceeding underway in a company's "centre of main interests". This concept will be of increasing importance to Australia with the passing of the Cross Border Insolvency Act 2008 , which enacts domestically the provisions of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Model Law on Cross Border Insolvency. This article examines how this concept was intended to operate, the actual provisions of the relevant Instruments together with how it has been judicially interpreted. It will be shown that while some certainties concerning the operation of this concept have been achieved, determining this actual location remains surrounded with considerable vagueness. This article proceeds to suggest the most appropriate interpretation of this "centre of main interests" concept.

Has international trade in saving improved US economic welfare?

Over the past decade international policy-makers have perceived the current account deficit of the world's largest foreign borrower economy, the United States, as a threat to global economic and financial stability. Yet, by bridging the US domestic saving-investment gap, capital inflow that matched the huge US current account deficit also enabled a faster rate of domestic capital accumulation than home saving alone would have permitted. Consistent with the theory of international capital movements, this study identifies and compares the respective contributions of domestic and foreign saving to US gross domestic product per worker over the two decades prior to the onset of the US banking crisis. By revealing that foreign borrowing contributed significantly to raising US output and hence living standards over this period, it adds a new dimension to the debate about global imbalances.

Theorising international trade unionism

This paper uses neo-functionalist and institutionalist theories of geo-political integration to develop a theory of international trade unionism. In brief, the theory asserts that the type of international ‘context’ in which international trade unions operate presupposes the types of ‘imperatives’ that will dominate their interests and concerns. These imperatives are taken to operate along one of three dimensions – industrial, political and ideological, and are seen as evolving in accordance with the ‘logic of spill-over’ in global and sub-global integration processes. Using this interpretation the discussion provides reasons as to why ideological imperatives have historically dominated international trade union thinking, the only significant exception being regional trade unions operating in Europe, which have evolved beyond the ideological to embrace industrial and political imperatives in their modes of organisation and operation.

The 2007 outbreak of equine influenza in Australia: lessons learned for international trade in horses

In August 2007 Australia experienced its first outbreak of equine influenza. The disease occurred first in a quarantine station for imported horses near Sydney and subsequently escaped into the general horse population. After an extensive campaign the disease was eradicated and Australia is again recognised as free of this disease. Equine influenza was then, and is now, recognised to be the major disease risk associated with live horse imports into Australia and measures designed to mitigate this risk formed the basis of the quarantine protocols then in place. Subsequent investigations into the cause of the outbreak identified failures in compliance with these quarantine requirements as a contributing factor. It is also likely that the immunity of horses vaccinated as part of the import protocol was less than optimal, and that this had a significant role to play in the escape of the disease from quarantine.

The creation of international commercial law: Sovereignty felled?

The creation of international commercial law presents an interesting paradox for proponents of sovereignty in international law. Indeed, it could be argued that the creation of international commercial law is the vanishing point of sovereignty in that nation states are becoming increasingly less important in the creation of international commercial law with the growth of regional organizations, non-state actors, and international arbitration. This is spurred on by the march of globalization and the consequent need for international commercial law. The term "harmonization" will be used as a surrogate to discuss the creation of international commercial law, as it is the primary means by which international commercial law is created. This article seeks to chart this trend and show that nation states are being marginalized and will become significantly less relevant as more and more international legal instruments are created. In Part II, I paint the landscape against which the process is evolving; in Part III, I will demonstrate the growing role of regional endeavors at harmonization; and in Part IV, I will attempt to draw broad themes that establish that nation states will increasingly have a secondary role in the creation of international commercial law.

New trends in the making of international commercial law

This paper analyzes trends in the making of international commercial law including the impetus for generating conventions, the growth of regional conventions, and soft law.There has never been a better time to be an international commercial law scholar. After decades of being held hostage to state-centered ideas, international commercial law has finally broken through to become more solution oriented. Increasingly, nation states are becoming less important in the creation of international commercial law with the growth of regional organizations, non-state actors, and international arbitration. This is spurred on by the march of globalization and the need for international commercial law. The term "harmonization will be used as a surrogate to discuss the creation of international commercial law as it is the primary means by which international commercial law is created. This article seeks to explore two preponderant trends that have become visible in the making of international commercial law. In Part I, I shall describe the background. In Parts II and III, I will highlight the growing role of regional endeavors at harmonization, and the rise of non-binding instruments.

The role of endowments, technology and size in international trade: new evidence from product-level data

Using product-level trade data, we empirically investigate the export patterns of more than 150 countries in their exports to the USA, Brazil, India, and Japan. We document strong evidence that exporters specialize according to their relative factor endowments, technology, and economic size. More developed, capital abundant countries are found to export products of higher unit values and a wider range of products to developed, emerging and developing markets. More developed, economically larger, and technologically advanced countries are also the major exporters of new products, spanninga wide range of product categories with high unit values. Our findings provide important insights into the macro phenomenon that a large proportion of the global trade takes place among developed economies, and that the latter are also major exporters to developing markets.

Advantage Australia

Globalisation is now one of the most important influences on the provision of legal services - Australian legal service providers are well placed to take advantage of the internationalisation of legal services - no room for complacency - advantages must be exploited - competitors monitored.

Receiving bankruptcy law into Vietnam

With assistance from foreign donors, countries in developing East Asia are rapidly replacing bureaucratic regulations with statutory norms mainly derived from international trade protocol (eg, WTO and AHA). Using imported legal norms, Vietnam enacted a Law on Business Bankruptcy (LBB) (Luat Pha San Doanh Nghiep) in 1993. By any measure, the [*2] transplanted bankruptcy principles have failed to take root. During the East Asian Economic Crisis (1997-2001) when non-performing business loans dramatically increased, cases heard by the bankruptcy courts in Vietnam declined. This article investigates the ways Vietnamese ideological, cultural and structural conditions have influenced the reception of the LBE. It is concluded that legal transfers are shaped more by political, economic and legal interactions, than by 'chance and prestige'.

Harmonisation and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods

After many years of negotiation, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG”) came into force in 1988. Today, 62 states have adopted the CISG. Together these countries account for over two-thirds of all world trade.2 On this basis alone, the CISG is an outstanding success in the legal harmonisation of the law governing the international sale of goods. However, the CISG has its critics and much comment has been made on the failure of the CISG to achieve its goal of promoting international trade through a body of uniform rules.The primary motivation driving the push for a harmonised law on the international sale of goods is economic: a harmonised law makes it easier and more efficient for the business person to sell and buy goods across state borders. However, the engine driving the push for harmonisation is political and cultural; and the task of creating the harmonised law belongs to the diplomat.3 A study of the CISG demonstrates that the political and cultural demands on the diplomat also act as shackles that restrain the achievement of a harmonised law.This paper will consider the CISG and discuss the constraints on treaty making as a mechanism for legal harmonisation. Part one discusses the constraints faced when creating a uniform text.Part two discusses the problems with the text of the CISG that result from the negotiation process. Finally, part three discusses the constraints faced in maintaining the uniformity of the CISG.