Liberalization and regulation of the movement of service suppliers: Comparing the provisions for labour mobility in the General Agreement on Trade Services, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the European Union.

摘要

This thesis explores the relationship between liberalization and regulation with regard to labour mobility. To do so, it first situates labour mobility historically within the international trade agenda for the period 1918 to 1951. It does this to demonstrate how international labour mobility had its roots in politically sensitive domestic employment concerns as well as in international trade matters related to investment.; From there, labour mobility or ‘movement of service suppliers’ is identified as an important services trade issue in the contemporary period. It is demonstrated not only that the movement of service suppliers is required by multinational corporations to be competitive in trade in services, but also that this movement is a development issue particularly as it relates to foreign direct investment, technology transfer, and remittances. It is further demonstrated that the movement of service suppliers raises sensitive domestic regulatory issues concerning immigration, labour market development, and accreditation.; The thesis then examines the provisions for movement of service suppliers within the General Agreement on Trade in Services (CATS). It is demonstrated that the developed developing country tensions surrounding these provisions were temporarily resolved during the negotiations by largely carving out regulatory concerns at the same time that accommodation between liberalization and regulation were pursued both formally and informally from within the agreement. As the comparison with the EU shows, this accommodation has integrative effects.; The discussion of Chapter 16 of the North American Free Trade Agreements (NAFTA) shows that despite the narrow economic objectives to which the NAFTA aspires as well as its weak institutional arrangements, the provisions for temporary entry in Chapter 16 try to account for regulatory concerns. In comparison with the EU, it is shown that providing rough policy accommodation between liberalization and regulation through Chapter 16 produces integrative effects.; In examining the post Uruguay Round phase and the current round of GATS services negotiations, it is shown that a policy nexus is developing between trade policy-makers and regulatory officials who manage the temporary entry of service suppliers.; Finally, this thesis concludes by putting the policy accommodation required of services trade liberalization in the context of the post World War II trading system. In explaining the development of trade policy for goods, it points to the necessity of direct policy accommodation for services trade between liberalization and regulation. In the case of movement of service suppliers, it identifies developing country participation and integration as products of this accommodation which will require future attention.