Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-17T16:00:17.424Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Patterns of Representation in WTO Committee Chairs, 1995–2012

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2014

KENT JONES  and
YUNWEI GAI
KENT JONES*
Affiliation:
Economics Division, Babson College, Babson Park, MA
YUNWEI GAI
Affiliation:
Economics Division, Babson College, Babson Park, MA
*
*(Corresponding author) Email: kjones@babson.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper sets out to examine the pattern of WTO committee chair appointments by nationality since the WTO's founding in 1995. Chairs of the General Council (GC), subsidiary and negotiating committees play important roles in the outcome of trade negotiations and in administrative and implementation issues in Geneva. The GC selects most committee chairs, and must consider the balance of member representation and the quality of the candidates in its choices. Regression results indicate that the selection of a chair by nationality generally reflects the country's mission size in Geneva, the country's years of experience as a WTO member, and its economic interests in trade. The experience of individuals and continuity in committee leadership also appear to play important roles. Among developing countries, emerging markets (EMs) tend to have the largest proportional representation. The GC thus appears to follow a human capital model of chair selection, geographical constraints and especially development status balance considerations. Continued investments among all WTO members, but especially EM and other developing countries, in WTO representation and leadership capacity will be required in order to promote multilateral trade liberalization in the future.

Type
Review Article
Information
World Trade Review , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , July 2015 , pp. 419 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © Kent Jones and Yunwei Gai 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References

Blackhurst, R. (2001) ‘Reforming WTO Decision Making: Lessons from Singapore and Seattle’, in Gunter Deutsch, Klaus and Speyer, Bernhard (eds.), The World Trade Organization Millennium Round: Freer Trade in the Twenty-First Century, London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Das, D. (2002), ‘The Global Trading System: from Seattle to Doha’, International Journal, 57(4): 605–623.Google Scholar
Del Castillo, C. P. (2011), ‘The WTO Chairman During a Ministerial: Views from the Bench and Lessons Learned’, in Kanitz, Roberto (ed.), Managing Multialeral Trade Negotiations: The Role of the WTO Chairman, London: Cameron May.Google Scholar
Dunn, P. (2012), ‘The Role of Gender and Human Capital on the Appointment of New Corporate Directors to Boardroom Committees: Canadian Evidence’, International Business Research, 5(5): 16–25.Google Scholar
Elsig, M. (2010), ‘Principal-agent Theory and the World Trade Organization: Complex Agency and “Missing Delegation”’, European Journal of International Relations, 17(3): 495–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finger, J. M. (2001), ‘Implementing the Uruguay Round Agreements: Problems for Developing Countries’, The World Economy, 24(9): 1097–1108.Google Scholar
Finger, J. M. and Schuler, P. (2000), ‘Implementation of Uruguay Round Commitments: The Development Challenge’, The World Economy, 23(5): 511–525.Google Scholar
Gatewood, R., Field, H., and Barrick, M. (2011), Human Resource Selection, 7th edn, Mason, OH: South-Western.Google Scholar
Harbinson, S. (2011), ‘The Role of the Chairman of WTO Negotiations: A Broad Perspective – Representative, Chairman, Secretariat’, in Kanitz, R. (ed.), Managing Multilateral Trade Negotiations: The Role of the WTO Chairman, London: Cameron May.Google Scholar
Higgott, R. and Erman, E. (2010), ‘Deliberative Global Governance and the Question of Legitimacy: What Can We Learn from the WTO?’, Review of International Studies, 36: 449–470.Google Scholar
Hoekman, B. and Kostecki, M. (2009), The Political Economy of the World Trading System, 3rd edn, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ismail, F. (2009), ‘The Role of the Chair in the WTO Negotiations from the Potsdam Collapse in June 2007 to July 2008’, Journal of World Trade, 43(6): 1145–1171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jawara, F. and Kwa, A. (2004), Behind the Scenes at the WTO: The Real World of International Trade Negotiations/Lessons of Cancun, updated edn, London and New York: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Jones, K. (2010), The Doha Blues: Institutional Crisis and Reform in the WTO, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Jones, K. (forthcoming), Reconstructing the WTO for the 21st Century: An Institutional Approach, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Kahler, M. (2001), Leadership Selection in the Major Multinationals, Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics.Google Scholar
Kanitz, R. (2011), ‘Between Theory and Practice’, in Kanitz, R. (ed.), Managing Multilateral Trade Negotiations: The Role of the WTO Chairman, London: Cameron May.Google Scholar
Kanitz, R. (ed.) (2011), Managing Multilateral Trade Negotiations: The Role of the WTO Chairman, London: Cameron May.Google Scholar
Kenworthy, J. (2000), ‘“Reform” of the WTO: Basic Issues and Concerns’, Trade Trends, Washington International Trade Association, Summer/Fall, p. 2.Google Scholar
Lafer, C. (2011), ‘Preface’, in Kanitz, R. (ed.), Managing Multilateral Trade Negotiations: The Role of the WTO Chairman, London: Cameron May.Google Scholar
Laker, J. A. (2013), African Participation at the World Trade Organization: Legal and Institutional Aspects, 1995–2012, Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.Google Scholar
Lang, A. and Scott, J. (2009), ‘The Hidden World of WTO Governance’, European Journal of International Law, 20(3): 575–614.Google Scholar
Mavroidis, P. C. (2011), ‘Doha, Dohalf or Dohaha? The WTO Licks its Wounds’, Trade Law and Development, 3(2): 367–381.Google Scholar
Michalopoulos, C. (2001), Developing Countries in the WTO, Houndmills and New York: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
M'Bow, A.-M. (1978), ‘The Practice of Consensus in International Organizations’, International Social Science Journal, 30(4): 893–903.Google Scholar
Odell, J. (2005), ‘Chairing a WTO Negotiation’, Journal of International Economic Law, 8(2): 425–448.Google Scholar
Odell, J. (2009), ‘Breaking Deadlocks in International Institutional Negotiations: The WTO, Seattle and Doha’, International Studies Quarterly, 53: 273–299.Google Scholar
Padro i Miquel, and Snyder, J. M. (2006), ‘Legislative Effectiveness and Legislative Careers’, Legislative Studies Quarterly, 31(3): 347–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patel, Mayar (2007), New Faces in the Green Room: Developing Country Coalitions and Decision-Making in the WTO, GEG Working paper 2007/33, Oxford: Global Economic Governance Programme.Google Scholar
Steinberg, R. H. (2010), ‘The Hidden World of WTO Governance: A Reply to Andrew Lang and Joanne Scott’, European Journal of International Law, 20(4): 1063–1071.Google Scholar
Stewart, R. B. (2011), ‘The World Trade Organization: Multiple Dimensions of Global Administrative Law’, International Journal of Constitutional Law, 9: 556–586.Google Scholar
Tallberg, J. (2010), ‘The Power of the Chair: Formal Leadership in International Cooperation’, International Studies Quarterly, 54: 241–265.Google Scholar
VanGrasstek, C. (2008), ‘The Challenges of Trade Policymaking: Analysis, Communication and Representation’, Policy Issues in International Trade and Commodities Studies, no. 36, New York and Geneva: United Nations.Google Scholar
WTO (1996), WTO Rules of Procedure for Sessions of the Ministerial Conference and Meetings of the GC, Document WT/L/161, 25 July, Geneva: WTO.Google Scholar
WTO (1999), Final Act of the Uruguay Round of Trade Negotiations, Geneva: WTO (see The Legal Texts: The Results of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations, Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
WTO (2003), ‘Procedures for the Appointment of Directors-General’, WT/L/509.Google Scholar
WTO (2012a), ‘Current WTO chairpersons’, wto.org/English/thewto_e/secre_e/current?chairs_e.htm (accessed 7 July 2012).Google Scholar
WTO (2012b), General Council, Minutes of Meeting, 1 May 2012. WT/GC/M/136, 6 June.Google Scholar
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01/weodata/index.aspx.Google Scholar
World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators. http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/worldwide-governance-indicators. World Trade Organization, Statistical Database, Time Series. http://stat.wto.org/StatisticalProgram/WSDBStatProgramHome.aspx?Language=E.Google Scholar
World Trade Organization, Chairpersons listings, 1995–2012. http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/secre_e/current_chairs_e.htm.Google Scholar
World Trade Organization, Blue Book (later E-Directory), various years (restricted distribution).Google Scholar
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook, http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01/weodata/index.aspx.Google Scholar
World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators. http://data.worldbank.org/data-catalog/worldwide-governance-indicators. World Trade Organization, Statistical Database, Time Series. http://stat.wto.org/StatisticalProgram/WSDBStatProgramHome.aspx?Language=E.Google Scholar
World Trade Organization, Chairpersons listings, 1995–2012. http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/secre_e/current_chairs_e.htm.Google Scholar
World Trade Organization, Blue Book (later E-Directory), various years (restricted distribution).Google Scholar