Task Force on the Development Dimensions of Global Economic Governance
Task Force on the Development Dimensions of Global Economic Governance
by Joseph Stiglitz
This is a grant to produce four papers:
The first paper will evaluate the adequacy of the current international financial architecture, including the international system of financial regulation and whether it contributes or not to preventing and better managing financial crises. Based on this diagnosis, which will emphasize the perspective of developing countries, the paper will make proposals on how the governance of the global financial architecture could be reformed to help ensure financial stability.
The second paper will be divided in four parts: (1) the historical origins of the current world trading system, including the breakdown of multilateralism in the 1930s; the failed creation of the ITO, of which only GATT survived; a brief analysis of developments in GATT and, particularly, the environment surrounding the Uruguay Round negotiations; (2) The substance of the trade agenda under WTO from the point of view of developing countries; (3) the functioning of WTO mechanisms, as reflected both in the ordinary functioning of its major bodies and the different ministerial meetings; and (4) the major challenges facing WTO, including in particular a firm incorporation of a development agenda, that in a significant sense redresses the imbalances of the Uruguay Round process, and the management of the problems faced by the proliferation of bilateral agreements.
The third paper will address the main analytical issues raised by the intellectual property rights (IPR) regime. It will elaborate on the nature of knowledge as a public good and the static and dynamic effects of introducing exclusionary rights, particularly for follow-on innovation and for countries with different levels of social and economic development. The analysis will focus on the different roles that IPRs may play with regard to innovation depending on the economic and technological context in which they apply, and how their costs and benefits may vary in developed and developing countries.
The fourth paper will cover the evolution of foreign direct investment (FDI) and the growing role of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in the world economy. This includes a review of the growth of FDI and of the role of MNEs world trade, in research and development and in technology transfer. It will also take into account the growing role of emerging economies not only as host but also as home countries for these enterprises.
