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With Brexit done and the desire to alter U.S. trade policy in the wake of the election of President Donald Trump, both British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and President Trump were optimistic that a trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States could be swiftly negotiated. This proved not to be the case despite the efforts of both leaders. We use an Open Economy Politics lens to examine the political and economic forces at work in both the United Kingdom and the United States during the tenure of the Trump administration that led to the initiative being stillborn and why the original optimism was misplaced.

The use of electronic government procurement systems has grown in recent years. Policy makers are increasingly employing e-government procurement tools to generate competition, increase transparency, streamline procuring processes and cut red tape to improve governance. This paper examines the rationale for e-government procurement provisions in bilateral trade agreements and highlights the benefits from using electronic systems. Using the case of the EU-Vietnam trade agreement we elaborate on how electronic government procurement can be a mechanism to enhance transparency and accountability, and reduce opportunities for corruption in Vietnam.

The European Union (EU) has concluded bilateral trade agreements with Korea, Latin America, Central America and CARIFORUM states. Using the example of procurement liberalization commitments undertaken by the EU and partner countries, this article analyses how conformity between bilateral agreements and the WTO plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement is likely to promote competition and transparency, and be a stepping stone to future multilateral liberalization. It argues that liberalization through bilateral agreements will first, promote and reinforce EU's prominence in shaping future multilateral liberalization; second, fulfil EU's aspiration of playing a leading role in defining the map of 'global governance' for future multilateral liberalization.

AbstractThis article contributes to debates on the proliferation of bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), by analysing novel empirical material: the EU–India FTA negotiations, which have attracted little academic scrutiny. By elaborating on the underlying negotiating interests and strategies of the EU and India, the article examines the significance of overarching interests in ongoing negotiations and articulates the defensive and offensive interests of both parties. It presents a vision of the controversial and milieu‐shaping interests at stake, which offer an alternative theoretical explanation for the pursuit of FTAs, and highlights possible outcome scenarios.

This unique book provides an assessment of an India-EU agreement, drawing on the theory of preferential agreements, the history of India-European relations and the recent refocusing of the Indian economy. The authors explore both a broad overview of the agreement as well as a detailed examination of sensitive sectors

Purpose: The choice of Southern Europe is partly based on the observation that the sample includes a number of countries whose economies faced more severe difficulties than elsewhere in Europe. Economically they were less able to absorb the economic shock posed by COVID-19. It is also partly based on the characteristics of the pandemic. A number of countries in the sample were amongst the earliest in Europe to be hit by the pandemic and a several were harder hit in terms of both morbidity and mortality. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses evidence from World Bank enterprise surveys of a sample of firms from six countries in Southern Europe. It examines the early evidence of the effects of COVID-19 on labour markets. The economic consequences potentially cover a wide range of issues. The focus of this study is on firm level evidence of the effect on labour. The evidence and the analysis are provided at a time when the pandemic is still in progress. The authors use both traditional regression analysis and IPWRA to assess the joint effect of loans versus government support on, firstly, the change in sales revenues and, secondly, the number of weeks that the firm would expect to survive with no sales revenues. Findings: The study suggests that, despite efforts to support firms and hoard labour, there is a prospect of a significant number of firm closures with a consequent loss of employment. Temporary firm closures also represent a substantial loss of labour weeks. These are partly related to a significant number of workers subject to furloughs. The empirical findings suggest that COVID-19 cases and deaths have directly affected firm sales but government containment measures, particularly closures, have more strongly affected firms. Losses of sales were unsurprisingly related to losses of employment. Remote working has contributed to sustaining employment but online business has not affected most sectors. Research limitations/implications: The future progress of COVID-19 and government containment measures is uncertain, and the full economic consequences will probably continue to emerge after the end of the pandemic. The full extent of the impact on labour will probably not be the first of these. There are obvious advantages in seeking to learn lessons from the early stages of the pandemic but there are also obvious constraints. The full economic consequences will take longer to emerge than the pandemic itself and the full consequences for employment will take longer to be evident than many other economic effects. Practical implications: Both temporary closures and furloughs impose costs that will be borne by firms, workers and government. The effects of COVID-19 on firms differ across sectors. Adverse effects tend to be higher in hospitality, non-essential retail and travel. That many firms lack the capacity to survive further temporary closures of a similar duration to those in the earlier stages emphasises that the support provided in the near future is of critical importance to control employment losses through permanent firm closures. A long-term perspective suggests neither permanent closure nor laying off workers may be the best response to a temporary crisis in demand. A stakeholder model of the firm would often suggest that it is not an optimal for the point of view of workers or the wider economy either. Both imply a preference for labour hoarding. Social implications: The most affected are sectors with a high proportion of female workers and, in consequence, most of the countries in the sample exhibit an early decline of the already lower than average share of women in employment. Originality/value: The data used have been recently released and this is the first analysis using the data to look at the consequence on firms employment decisions during the Pandemic. The case of Southern Europe is much understudied, though one of the most dramatic as to the consequences of the pandemic. From a methodological point of view, the authors use not only traditional regression analysis, but also the matching approach to identify the effect of different policy options on labour demand by firms.

© 2019 Western Economic Association International This paper focuses on twenty-first-century-trade governance patterns within the Commonwealth (CW) countries. It uses an augmented gravity model to examine the role of governance in influencing trade and investment flows, and whether enhanced trade governance within the CW countries could potentially foster trade gains, on a both intra- and extra-CW basis. Results show a 10% reduction in the costs incurred for a good to exit a country can increase intra-CW exports by 5%. Second, contract enforcement is more efficient among CW members, and requires 20% less time compared to the world average. Third, every 1 percentage point improvement in government effectiveness triggers an increase in exports from CW, at 3.4%, compared to the rest of the world, at 2.4%. Finally, trade between CW members is three times higher when they belong to an existing regional trade agreement (F10, 011, F13).

On 31 January 2020, the UK left the European Union after 47 years of membership. This paper uses the conceptual distinction between integrative and distributive bargaining to compare the EU's and the UK's approaches in the negotiations that led to the Withdrawal Agreement, setting out the terms of the UK's exit, and the Political Declaration on the framework for the future EU–UK relationship. While it would be rational to expect both parties to adopt integrative approaches given the nature of the issues, the long history of cooperation, and the parties' mutual interest in maintaining a close relationship in the future, the comparison demonstrates that it was mainly the EU that leaned towards the integrative end of the negotiating spectrum, with extensive internal consultations, a willingness to engage in open and interest-based discussions aimed at problem-solving, and high levels of transparency, whereas the UK leaned further to the distributive end, reflecting less engagement and consultation with domestic constituents, a focus on pre-determined positions that need defending, and lower levels of transparency.