Effects of WTO Accession on Policy-making in Sovereign States: Preliminary Lessons from the Recent Experience of Transition Countries

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Disclaimer: This is a working paper, and hence it represents research in progress. This paper represents the opinions of individual staff members or visiting scholars, and is the product of professional research. It is not meant to represent the position or opinions of the WTO or its Members, not the official position of any staff members. Any errors are the fault of the authors. Copies of working papers can be requested from the divisional secretariat by writing to: Development and Economic Research Division, World Trade Organization, Rue de Lausanne 154, CH-1211 Genève 21, Switzerland. Please request papers by number and title. Terms of use: Documents in ABSTRACT:The purpose of the paper is to discuss the effects of WTO accession on policy-making and institutional reforms in transition countries. This is done by looking at the experience of those transition countries which are already Members of the WTO. We start by examining the effect of accession on trade policy and distinguish between the effects of accession negotiations and those of autonomous policy initiatives. Other areas of domestic policymaking considered in the analysis include market access, governance, government budget, structural reforms, trade and investment arrangements with regional partners and macroeconomic management. We find that no precise blueprint of accession conditions can be ascertained, that WTO played a role, albeit not an exclusive one in the process of liberalization, that the costs of WTO Membership are not negligible, that the benefits of WTO Membership are also significant in terms of a better market access, improved governance and a recourse to better economic policies.

Political Economy of Agricultural Distortions in Transition Countries of Asia and Europe

“…For example, the applied tariffs are significantly below bound tariffs in many CEECs. This suggests that these CEECs have not been constrained by the WTO agreements (Bacchetta and Drabek 2002).…”

Credit policies for Kazakhstani agriculture

“…Moreover, heavy penalties for tax arrears made it more complicated and sometimes impossible for them to repay their creditors (Pomfret 2007). Since the level of output in agriculture fell sharply and well below the pre-1990 (pre-transition) level and remained below that level a decade later, unemployment and underemployment in agriculture reached unprecedented levels (Bacchetta and Drabek 2002). According to official statistics in the mid-1990s, one in five able-bodied agricultural workers was unemployed.…”

Kyrgyz Republic and Structural Reforms: Twenty Years of WTO Membership

“…In principle, nothing would prevent government from putting in place these norms and regulations on a unilateral basis. The role of the WTO in this process is to facilitate the introduction of effective reforms not only by reinforcing the credibility of the government's trade policies but also help introduce the policies that are based on best-practices and that must be harmonized " [Bacchetta, Drabek, 2002].…”