Kamala Dawar

Negotiation or Litigation? The Curiously Evolving Governance of the WTO

This inter-disciplinary volume focuses on the economic and legal challenges confronting globalisation and the evolution of the global system. The Law and Economics of Globalisation discusses the hotly debated topic of globalisation from a wide set of perspectives of law, economics and international political economy.

Does the World Trade Organization Government Procurement Agreement Deliver What It Promises

The revised World Trade Organization (WTO) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), which came into force on April 6, 2014, provides a limited number of WTO Members with a framework for ensuring that the tenders scheduled under the Appendix to WTO GPA are conducted in a competitive, non-discriminatory, and transparent manner satisfying the conditions on integrity. The purpose of this paper is to analyze empirically whether the WTO GPA is effective in promoting non-discriminant, open, transparent, competitive and efficient government procurement. To study this question, we make use of the micro-level data set released recently by the European Union (EU) covering more than 3 million tenders conducted in the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland and Macedonia during the years 2006-2015. We have four major results. First, the likelihood that the contract is awarded to a foreign firm is significantly higher when the contract is covered by the WTO GPA. Second, number of bidders are significantly higher in WTO GPA covered procurements. Third, we find that corruption risk is lower in WTO GPA covered tenders. We use two measures to assess corruption risk: procurements that receive only one bid, and the connection strength of a winning firm in the network of suppliers. We find that single bid procurement is significantly lower in tenders covered by the WTO GPA. Additionally, we conclude that the WTO GPA provides the opportunity for less connected firms to win contracts. Finally, we find that the WTO GPA does not have a significant effect of procurement costs.

Government Procurement in the WTO: A Case for Greater Integration

This article assesses the regulation of government procurement in the WTO, specifically under the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA), the General Agreement on Tariffs in Trade (GATT), the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM). It compares these findings from leading regional trade agreements (RTAs) with government procurement regulation, most notably the North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

The evolution of EU public procurement rules and its interface with WTO: SME promotion and policy space

This chapter examines the evolution of the EU public procurement directives and their interface with the EU’s obligations under the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (WTO GPA). The analysis indicates that the EU’s directives have evolved through reform, to meet its changing environment and policy objectives. However, it also suggests that while the EU was a pioneer party to the WTO’s plurilateral agreement on government procurement, not all of its new horizontal policy statements, such as towards small and medium enterprises, appear to be fully compatible with its commitments under the WTO GPA and enshrined in its Appendix to the Agreement. Consequently, while the EU has identified new initiatives to promote or protect SMEs, in order to be fully compliant with its international obligations they may not be able to meet their objectives effectively.

Establishing Consumers as Equivalent Players in Competition Policy

Competition is good for consumers. In markets where firms have to compete to persuade consumers to buy their products, consumer welfare is increased through greater choice and lower prices. In a competitive market, supply and demand determines the price and output of a good or service rather than the dominant behaviour of any one firm or the collusive behaviour of a group of firms.