Congratulations to new AGRODEP member Dr. Evans S. Osabuohien and his co-authors, who were recently awarded the 2012 FLACSO-WTO Chairs Award for Young Professors and Researchers. Their paper, “More Trade, More Protection: Insights and Implications of the Unending Contradiction”, examines the divergence between countries' national interests and international trade protocols (full abstract below). It was originally selected for the GTA-CEPR-ACET Joint Call for Papers on Analyses of Contemporary Protectionism in April 2012 and was subsequently presented at the Global Trade Alert (GTA) and the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) conference in June 2012. Dr. Osabuohien and his co-authors received first place in the FLACSO-WTO Chairs Award in December. The award recognizes and rewards creative, pro-active, and soundly argued works on developing countries and the World Trade Organization. The FLACSO–WTO Chairs Award is primarily intended for young professors and researchers on international trade from various perspectives such as law, economics, and political science.
Authors
Dr. Evans S. OSABUOHIEN joined AGRODEP in November 2012 as part of the 2012 Special Call for Members. He is a lecturer in Dept. of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. He is also currently an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Research Fellow at German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, Germany. Dr. Osabuohien holds B.Sc, M.Sc and Ph.D in Economics. His research focus includes international economics and institutional economics and development .
Uchenna R. EFOBI is a Doctoral candidate and a lecturer in the School of Business, Covenant University. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant. His research focuses on institutions and financial economics.
Ms. Ibukun BEECROFT is a Doctoral Student and a Dept. of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. She holds B.Sc Economics from Covenant University and M.Sc Finance and Development from SOAS, University of London, UK. Before joining Covenant University she worked in the Office for National Statistics, London, United Kingdom and Zenith Bank Plc Lagos, Nigeria. Her research interests include public finance and international trade and economic development.
Abstract
Despite the stance of the WTO and various Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs), elements of trade protectionism remain prevalent. This could be understood by the divergence between countries’ national interests and international trade protocols, which was reverberated during the recent global financial crises. However, the contradiction has taken new turn following new protectionist instruments. Furthermore, the implication of these instruments on developing countries economy is prevalent. Thus, this study explores the likelihood to engage in trade protection and the implication on developing country, focussing on Africa. The study observes that in the first quarter of 2012 alone, the number of protective measures amounts to 67, with bail out and trade defence accounting for as much as 74%. Similarly, from 2009 to 2011, trade defence mechanisms and bailout accounted for 25% of the protective measures; while tariff and non-tariff are also frequently used, jointly constituting about 28.11%. The study reveals that a country’s level of economic development is not a fundamental determining factor with regards to its tendency to engage in trade protectionism. However, the study establishes, among others, that as a country’s institutional quality improves, the less the tendency of being involved in protectionism. Paradoxically, the more a country’s trade integration, the higher its tendency towards protectionism, which might be alluded to the fact that when a country trades more, it has more interest to protect as major complainants of trade cases are also major traders. The study reveals that a country’s per capita income growth was significantly and adversely affected by the contemporary protectionism. It impacts negatively on trade balance; however, such impact was essentially significant for African countries.