Developing Countries, Dispute Settlement, and the Advisory Centre on WTO Law

41 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2016

See all articles by Chad P. Bown

Chad P. Bown

Peterson Institute for International Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Rachel McCulloch

Brandeis University - Department of Economics; Brandeis University - International Business School

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Date Written: January 1, 2010

Abstract

Critical appraisals of the current and potential benefits from developing country engagement in the World Trade Organization (WTO) focus mainly on the Doha Round of negotiations. This paper examines developing country participation in the WTO dispute settlement system to enforce foreign market access rights already negotiated in earlier multilateral rounds. The dispute data from 1995 through 2008 reveal three notable trends: developing countries? sustained rate of self-enforcement actions despite declining use of the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) by developed countries, developing countries? increased use of the DSU to self-enforce their access to the markets of developing as well as developed country markets, and the prevalence of disputes targeting highly observable causes of lost foreign market access, such as antidumping, countervailing duties, and safeguards. The paper also examines potential impacts of the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (ACWL) into the WTO system in 2001. A close look at the data reveals evidence on at least three channels through which the ACWL may be enhancing developing countries' ability to self-enforce foreign market access: increased initiation of sole-complainant cases, more extensive pursuit of the DSU legal process for any given case, and initiation of disputes over smaller values of lost trade.

Keywords: Debt Markets, World Trade Organization, Trade Law, Emerging Markets, Country Strategy & Performance

Suggested Citation

Bown, Chad P. and McCulloch, Rachel, Developing Countries, Dispute Settlement, and the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (January 1, 2010). World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 5168, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1533686

Chad P. Bown (Contact Author)

Peterson Institute for International Economics ( email )

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Washington, DC 20036
United States

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

London
United Kingdom

Rachel McCulloch

Brandeis University - Department of Economics ( email )

Mailstop 021
Waltham, MA 02454-9110
United States
781-736-2245 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://people.brandeis.edu/~rmccullo/

Brandeis University - International Business School ( email )

Mailstop 021
Waltham, MA 02454-9110
United States
781-736-2245 (Phone)
781-736-2269 (Fax)

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