Abstract: After lengthy and tough negotiations, China became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, which is widely considered as a landmark economic event in modern world history. The WTO accession marked a milestone of China’s…
This paper examines the impact of trade facilitation factors on trade flows, with a particular focus on Global Value Chains (GVCs) in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Using the structural gravity model of international and intra-national…
This chapter provides an overview of the growing influence of both labour standards and gender equality concerns in contemporary trade debates, and in particular how existing FTAs have increasingly accommodated both types of issues. In the following…
This paper analyzes the link between joining global value chains (GVCs) and firms’ environmental performance. Based on new survey data for firms in countries in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and MENA, we use propensity score matching (PSM) to…
International arbitration institutions have been requested to administer an increasing number of investment disputes. In investment arbitration, a responding state usually stipulates its standing offers to arbitrate in the bilateral investment…
Labor rights and working conditions may be affected if international trade and investment agreements are concluded between contracting parties. Some assert that these agreements advance states’ labor conditions because boosting economic activities…
The Framework Convention of Tobacco Control (hereinafter “FCTC”) is the first treaty aiming to combat the tobacco epidemic under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO). This multilateral convention seeks to pursue the highest public…
Concerns have been raised over the utilization of third-party funding in investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS). This paper aims to examine how the tribunals deal with the arguments raised by the respondents in the proceeding and evaluate whether…