AbstractThe notion that the EU is a trade power is central to studies of the Union's international presence. Credible threats to withhold access to Europe's markets are said to provide the Union with leverage in respect of other trade partners. This article queries the continuing ability of the European Union to act effectively this way. The current Doha malaise is a symptom of deeper changes in the international trade system. As emerging markets become more affluent and participate in foreign direct investment, their interest in market access per se become less important relative to other areas of regulation.
AbstractThe business potential of blockchain technology in global value chains (GVCs) includes the creation of permanent records of information, to facilitate specifications regulation, to mitigate risk using smart contracts and through full, transparent transaction traceability at reduced costs. Blockchain as a general-purpose technology (GPT) thus has the potential to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of value creation for firm specific advantages owned and/or controlled by multinational enterprises (MNE), yet adoption of blockchain is uneven. This study adopts a micro-foundational lens to explain the non-adoption of blockchain technology in multinational enterprises' (MNE) global value chains (GVC), emphasizing the influence of the technology, organization and environment (TOE) influences on the technology acceptance (TAM) for blockchain, due to the impact on managers' perception of blockchain's usefulness and ease of use. The empirical results are based on a multiple-case study research design, that collected interview data from supply chain managers in small, medium, and large-sized manufacturing MNEs that participate in global value chains that differ in their governance patterns. The results identified fifteen different drivers of the non-adoption of blockchain technology across the technological, organizational and external environments of the MNE. The results of the study allow a parsimonious model of blockchain technology non-adoption that is aligned with the digital technology adoption literature using a TOE–TAM approach.
How do multilateral institutions influence the strategic choices and actions of international managers? This paper addresses the question by exploring the impact of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) decision-making process on multinational enterprises (MNEs). We discuss the three phases of the WTO decision-making lifecycle - the formulation of trade rules, the implementation of those rules, and the enforcement of the rules – and propose a strategic adjustment framework for understanding how companies alter their strategies and structures in response to the WTO's rules and operations. We argue that the increased relevance of multilateral rules and enforcement mechanisms – embodied in the WTO - is an important influence on MNE strategies and structures because of the increasing embeddedness of the WTO in national levels of regulation. We illustrate this through examples taken from the pharmaceutical, textiles and sugar industries sectors that have witnessed substantial multilateral regulation.
