Trade monitoring
Actual and perceived effects of offshoring on economic insecurity: The role of labour market regimes
Despite broad public concern with the effect of firms’ offshoring behaviour on economic insecurity, there is scant research. Most analysis over the past 20 years – widely acknowledged as a period of rapid globalization – has focused on the impact of offshoring on workers depending on whether they are “skilled” or “unskilled”. The main research question has been the relative contribution of trade versus technological change to the rise in wage inequality in many industrialized countries. In this chapter we seek to broaden our understanding of the effect of offshoring on economic insecurity and also to connect the question of economic insecurity to national labour market institutions and to workers’ perceptions of globalization. We shift the focus to the effect of offshoring on the labour share of income rather than on its relative impact on high- and low-skilled workers. The labour share (or one minus the capital share) is affected by firm-level changes in productivity, labour demand and the distribution of value added. It is useful to capture profits and wages in the measure of economic security, since offshoring is driven by the corporations’ pursuit of higher profits and greater flexibility. Moreover, the labour share comprises workers’ earnings and employment, and analysis of the impact of offshoring on economic insecurity should include both.
Joining the WTO
Yemen joined the WTO in June 2014, raising the WTO membership to 160. In December, the General Council adopted the accession terms of Seychelles, clearing the way for the country to join the WTO in April 2015. A number of other aspiring members made progress with their accessions. The WTO strengthened its technical assistance programme for acceding governments.
Introduction
The Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM) was first established on a trial basis by the GATT contracting parties in April 1989. The Mechanism became a permanent feature of the World Trade Organization under the Marrakesh Agreement which established the WTO in January 1995.
Conclusions
Over the last few decades, services have become the backbone of the global economy and the most dynamic component of international trade. Services are increasingly easier to trade thanks in large part to digitalization. From online education to virtual law firms, technology is penetrating all services sectors, transforming services traditionally delivered face-to-face into remotely tradable services. Trade, long dominated by the exchange of goods, increasingly involves services, transforming the global economy in the process.