Concepts of Fairness in the Global Trading System

Short Description
How are we to assess the fairness of the global trading system as embodied in the … the global trading system. We then suggest that fairness can best be …

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RESEARCH SEMINAR IN INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1220
Discussion Paper No. 544
Concepts of Fairness in the Global Trading System
Andrew G. Brown
Wellfleet, MA
and
Robert M. Stern
University of Michigan
November 25, 2005
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Concepts of Fairness in the Global Trading System
Andrew G. Brown, Wellfleet, MA and Robert M. Stern, University of Michigan
Abstract
How are we to assess the fairness of the global trading system as embodied in the GATT/WTO? Opinions about what constitutes fairness differ widely, and there is surely no incontrovertible yardstick. But can we be clearer about the criteria that are appropriate and what they mean in more operational terms?
In this paper, we first discuss why fairness is a condition of the agreements among governments that form the global trading system. We then suggest that fairness can best be considered within the framework of two concepts: equality of opportunity and distributive equity. We observe that the efficiency criterion is not a primary yardstick of fairness, and though it is relevant in choosing among alternative ways of realizing fairness, it is not without its own limitations. We thereafter discuss what equality of opportunity and distributive equity mean when applied to the commitments that governments make in the global trading system. For this purpose, we divide these commitments into four categories: those relating directly to market access; those concerning supporting rules designed to prevent cheating in market access…