Free Trade Liberalization Research Articles

Sustainability of Farmer Producer Organisation’s – Major constraints in functioning of FPO in Tamil Nadu, India

The concept of group formation and collectivization by organizing at the regional level is very important in the era of globalization and free trade liberalization. FPOs organize small farmers for forward linkages such as collective, marketing, processing, and market-driven agriculture production, as well as backward linkages for inputs like seeds, fertilizers, credit, insurance, knowledge, and extension services. Even though FPOs are doing well, still they face lot of challenges and struggle for their sustainability. Keeping these factors in view, the current study was done to determine the constraints, that Farmers' Producers Organization (FPO) faced for sustainable functioning. The study was conducted in Pennagaram block of Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu. 100 members of FPO were selected for the study. The interview schedule is used to collect the data. Rank Based Quotient (RBQ) was used to analyse the data collected. The results showed that lack of initiatives among the FPO members with the RBQ score of 83.83 under personal constraints, lack of well-developed processing facilities with the RBQ score of 90.00 under infrastructural constraints, lack of crop insurance facilities with the RBQ score of 93.00 under economic constraints, high transportation cost with the RBQ score of 95.17 under marketing constraints, weak economic status to run the organisation with the RBQ score of 86.38 under organisational constraints and lack of timely, cheap and good quality inputs with the RBQ score of 94.00 under technical constraints were the major constraints faced by the FPO members. Initiation among the FPO members, well developed processing and marketing facilities in their villages, provision of crop insurance for affected farmers, tax exemption, inclusion of their millets production in ration shops for supply are the suggestions expressed by the FPOs for their sustainability.

Insider trading laws to counter financial crime: a comparative study of Mauritius, UK and US laws

PurposeThe rise in business activities coupled with free trade liberalisation across countries has entailed an increase in securities transaction as well as insider trading (IT). In fact, IT is characterised by the influence and usage of some prior knowledge concerning sensitive information of a corporate body which results in a financial benefit to the insider trader. The practice of IT is not only unethical but also illegal and this statement is witnessed by the mushrooming of laws across the globe categorising IT as an offence. However, the type of punishment varies in different countries depending on various factors. Consequently, the purpose of this paper is to assess the adequacy and efficiency of IT laws in the context of a developing country being Mauritius.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the research objective, the Mauritian laws on IT were compared with the corresponding laws of some developed countries like the USA and the UK. As such, a qualitative research method was adopted. In particular, the black letter approach was used to examine the relevant laws of Mauritius, UK and USA on IT. A comparative analysis was conducted concerning IT laws for each country with the view of suggesting recommendations for Mauritian stakeholders to adopt to enhance the existing legal and regulatory framework on IT.FindingsIt was found that Mauritian IT laws are largely inspired from both the US and UK corresponding legislation. However, Mauritian laws need to be strengthened by imposing some more severe penalties in terms of fines and terms of imprisonment like the USA has established. The Mauritian Financial Services Commission as the regulator also needs to play a more active role in disseminating particularities of IT laws, offences and penalties to the civil society at large.Originality/valueAt present, this study will be among the first academic writings on the efficiency of IT laws in Mauritius and also, because existing literature is quite scarce on assessing the adequacy of IT legislation in developing countries, this research aims at filling in the gap in literature. The study is carried out with the aim of combining a large amount of empirical, theoretical and factual information that can be of use to various stakeholders and not only to academics.

Globalization and Pandemics: The Case of COVID-19

This paper analyzes the impact of Globalization as one of the main reasons of the fast spread of Wuhan-COVID-2019 worldwide. We divided globalization into three large pillars how Globalization works worldwide followed by: (a.) the institutional, legal, and political approach of Globalization; (b.) the massive transportations systems and the development of information communication technologies (ICT’s); (c.) the free trade liberalization and labor mobility. Hence, the main objective of this research is to show that Globalization is the major responsible of the fast and unstoppable spread of Wuhan-COVID-2019 globally. Finally, the same research suggests a deep reform of Globalization to avoid again any massive contagious epidemic diseases to reduce its impact economically and socially.

Is Globalization Responsible of the Wuhan-COVID-19 Worldwide Crisis?

This paper analyzes the impact of Globalization as in the main reason of the fast spread of Wuhan-COVID-2019 worldwide. We divided into three large pillars how Globalization works worldwide followed by: (a.) the institutional, legal, and political approach of Globalization; (b.) the massive transportations systems and the development of information communication technologies (ICT’s); (c.) the free trade liberalization and labor mobility. Hence, the main objective of this research is to show that Globalization is the major responsible of the fast and unstoppable spread of Wuhan-COVID-2019 globally. Finally, the same research suggests a deep reform of Globalization to avoid again any massive contagious epidemic diseases to reduce its impact economically and socially.

REGIONAL TRAE BLOCS : A CASE STUDY OF THE WELFARE IMPACT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION ON INDIA AND KENYA

Some countries, including the big player in the world economy, the USA , believe that free trade liberalization based on principles of non discriminatory and multilateral bases as well as an open market will improve the welfare of many countries. However, other countries do not follow the idea of trade liberalization and hence respond by forming regional trading blocs. Therefore, the existence of such trading blocs will be examined, whether they are a 'building blocks' or a 'stumbling blocks, for sustaining the free trade liberalization. And hence, this paper focuses on three main parts: rationalization of the establishment of trading blocs; identification of the critical factors for the success of these blocs; and presentation of empirical evidence for the welfare implications of the trade diverting effects of the European Union through the analysis of two less developed countries, India and Kenya.

EU trade policy: persistent liberalisation, contentious protectionism

How has EU trade policy responded to the protracted economic crisis starting in 2008? Unlike during the Great Depression of the 1930s, politicians have not resorted to protectionist measures to try to contain the downturn. The response has been just the opposite, with the dominant discourse arguing that in times of austerity and private deleveraging, trade liberalisation is indispensable for restoring growth. Adopting a historical-institutionalist perspective, we argue that the crisis has had an asymmetric effect on the two most important subsystems of EU trade policy. On the one hand, the EU took a leap forward on the path of bilateral free trade liberalisation by starting negotiations with the US, Canada and Japan. On the other hand, proposals to continue with permissive reforms for the adoption of trade defence measures and to give the EU more leverage vis-à-vis emerging economies have been blocked. We thus conclude that EU trade policy after the crisis has shown asymmetric continuity, where the liberalisation trend has been resumed more radically while accompanying defensive reforms to ease the potential pain of liberalisation have run into a stalemate.

Price stabilization and impacts of trade liberalization in the Southeast Asian rice market

A global rice model using a partial equilibrium framework is used to investigate the impact of trade liberalization in major rice trading countries of Southeast Asia, focusing on the price stabilization mechanism that has long been adopted by governments in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. The simulation results suggest that the removal of state trading enterprises in these three countries would lower their domestic prices by as much as 34% but increase the world prices by about 20%. When free trade liberalization is realized in 2020, domestic prices decline further in Indonesia and the Philippines, leading to an increase in their imports, which are estimated to be as much as 4.5milliontons. The impact on domestic prices, however, is absorbed nearly evenly among Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Global Emission Game: On the Impact of Strategic Interactions between Countries on the Existence and the Properties of Nash Equilibria

In a context of laissez-faire, the propositions established in this paper shed light on the evolution of the problem of greenhouse gas (GHG) accumulation in the atmosphere for each type of strategic behaviour resulting from countries’ interconnection on global markets. In a framework of strong economic interdependencies, they show the potential consequences of the free trade arrangements on the environment and question the idea that free trade liberalisation should necessarily lead to an increase in countries’ welfare. This paper provides an exhaustive typology of countries’ strategic behaviours and a strong static comparative analysis with regard to the exogenous parameters of the model. Whereas some assumptions tend to be less relevant from an environmental point of view; others that are very relevant have not yet been considered in the literature. Using lattice theoretic notions, this paper generalizes the existing results of the literature and determines new equilibria not yet exploited. It thus extends the current framework of the traditional public economic theory dealing with public goods.

Wealth Versus Welfare: the British Left Between Free Trade and National Political Economy Before the First World War*

Abstract The convergence of Free trade liberalism and radicalism was a central feature of British political culture after Chartism. This article explores the emergence of alternative visions of political economy on the left in the late Victorian and Edwardian period. Against the conventional view of a shared liberal Free Trade culture, it finds a plurality of languages. An interpretation of how Labour, social democrats, socialists and Fabians understood Britain's development under Free Trade reveals an alternative spectrum of popular ideas about society and economy. In the Independent Labour Party, opposition to protectionism was linked to support for some trade regulation and a more balanced economy. It was tied to a cultural and economic critique of competitive exchange, social dislocation and commercial dependence under Free Trade capitalism. The economic critique co‐existed with political internationalism and turned Labour's position into one of socialist‐radical dualism. This is compared to nationalist and imperialist socialist positions in Britain and abroad. The movement towards national political economy provided a link between older radical notions of moral economy and co‐operation and more collectivist notions of economic order and state regulation. It marked a step in the evolution from mid Victorian popular liberalism to social democracy and from Free Trade to the welfare state.

Nicaragua in the new world (dis)order: Free trade liberalism, security and the crisis of development

Nicaragua in the new world (dis)order: Free trade liberalism, security and the crisis of development