Selective Adaptation of WTO Transparency Norms and Local Practices in China and Japan

Abstract

This article focuses on the importance of Chinese and Japanese local practices, their regulatory infrastructure and local cultural norms related to transparency as factors in the selective adaptation of the World Trade Organization norms. International laws can acquire a variety of local meanings that require an understanding of the local history and culture in addition to knowledge of the local economy and laws. This article analyzes the selective adaptation paradigm, which allows for a determination of the extent to which noncompliance or less than full compliance can be attributed to the cultural particularities of states political factors such as the relationship between the central and local authorities. This article argues that a shift in perception of regulatory transparency norms in China and Japan has occurred, and that this shift has had important economic and political consequences internally and externally, which has brought about significant administrative law reforms and improved compliance with international norms.