RCEP投资章节中东道国规制权研究

2022年1月生效的《全面区域经济伙伴关系协定》标志着全球最大自由贸易区的建立。其中的投资章节产生于国际投资规则调整和重塑时期,借鉴了东道国—投资者利益平衡的改革经验,在东道国规制权上体现出从“限制规制权”到“优化规制权”的转变。这在国际投资规则上对于调和发展中国家和发达国家之间的发展需求,推动可持续发展,以及平衡东道国主权和投资者权益具有重要意义。     

两岸投资争端解决机制的制度创新及其完善

投资争端解决机制是《海峡两岸投资保障和促进协议》（简称《两岸投资协议》）中体现两岸特色的重要制度创新之一。相较于传统双边投资协议中的投资争端解决机制而言，两岸投资争端解决机制除了引入两岸私人投资争端解决方式，还规定了投资者与投资所在地一方投资争端的协调、协处和调解等多元化机制，实现了单方规定的协议化和国际实践的两岸化，从而有效降低了两岸投资争端的“泛政治化”风险。未来，应进一步完善两岸投资补偿争端的调解程序，确保调解协议的法律约束力和执行力。     

国际投资争端解决机制与WTO争端解决机制的比较研究——以仲裁为出发点

随着国际社会间投资活动的日益增多,随之而产生的争端也与日俱增。妥善处理这些争端是维护国际投资市场的重要保证。"解决投资争议国际中心"(ICSID),专门用于解决私人投资者与东道国之间的投资争议,解决的方法包括仲裁和调解。在WTO争端解决机制里,普通仲裁程序并非一种辅助性工具,而是与专家组程序并举的、可作为专家组程序替代选择的一种争端解决手段。     

东亚一体化视角下的《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》:守成与创新北大核心CSSCI

2020年底,东盟10国和中、日、韩、澳、新西兰共15国正式签署《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》。通过分析该协定与东亚其他经贸安排所呈现的"东亚特色"的异同,可以发现该协定在保持传统的同时,又有一些创新。从内容上看,《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》延续了注重市场开放的规则重点,但拓展了议题的广度和深度。协定延续了"东盟方式"中决策遵循协调一致的原则,但又具有"硬性区域主义"的特征,建立了相关的监督执行、补偿和争端解决机制;从过程来看,该协定坚持"东盟中心性",但却实现了部分的历史性突破;从前景来看,该协定与东亚其他经贸安排面临的挑战相似。概言之,它是介于传统与现代、东亚特色和欧式制度主义的经济安排;既契合了东亚实际,又对新型自贸协定的新动向有所关照。     

投资法庭机制的改革模式评析

投资者与国家争端解决机制发挥着越来越重要的作用,但其自身仍然存在着一些制度性和技术性缺陷,因此各国纷纷对投资者与国家争端解决机制进行改革。现行投资者与国家争端解决机制主要存在三种改革模式——以美国为代表的渐进式改革、以德国为代表的系统式改革和以南非为代表的范例式改革。由于渐进式改革及范例式改革分别过于保守和激进,对中国的借鉴意义不大,因此本文着重对投资法庭机制的优劣及对中国的借鉴意义进行分析。     

浅析WTO法中关于善意原则的适用

善意原则(good faith)作为国际法基本原则之一,在世界贸易组织(WTO)争端解决机制(DSB)之中具有广泛的适用性。本文在对善意原则进行释义阐述及法律定性后,将结合DSB的代表性案例,讨论在GATT1994、ASPS以及保障措施协定中善意原则具体适用,探讨善意原则的适用对今后WTO法所产生的意义。     

拜登政府经济政策对美欧关系的影响

拜登执政后对美国的内外政策进行了调整，其经济政策以民族主义为底色、扩张性政策为特色，虽然具体政策和措施与前任有所不同，但“美国优先”的本质并未改变。《通胀削减法案》是拜登政府迄今推出的一项力度最大、国际争议也最大的经济政策，因其具有歧视性和保护主义而受到欧盟的强烈质疑和反对，导致美欧产生严重贸易分歧。虽然双方试图通过谈判解决争端，但无论双方互动的最终结果如何，《通胀削减法案》事实上已使得乌克兰危机背景下的美欧伙伴关系出现“裂痕”。     

北极海域的大陆架划界问题——法律争议与中国对策

北极海域大陆架划界问题是影响北极区域法律秩序发展方向的中心议题。北极海域大陆架划界问题产生法律争议的根本原因在于,《联合国海洋法公约》体系下有关大陆架划界的法律规则在北极地区无条件直接适用,这是北极争端产生的核心因素,对北极地区的地缘政治形势和整体法律地位造成全局性的影响。但《公约》有关200海里外大陆架划界规则的全新制度设计以及北极区域的法制架构现状,使北极地区成为国际法规制的一大盲区,客观上为少数北极国家假借《公约》大幅"圈占"北极公地提供了制度上的便利。因此,中国需要从整体上增强自身在北极事务中的法律实践与应对能力,并抓住北极地区大陆架问题中的重点内容,即200海里外大陆架划界部分确定相应的应对策略,多管齐下,维护自身的北极权益。     

东亚一体化视角下的《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》:守成与创新

2020年底,东盟10国和中、日、韩、澳、新西兰共15国正式签署《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》。通过分析该协定与东亚其他经贸安排所呈现的"东亚特色"的异同,可以发现该协定在保持传统的同时,又有一些创新。从内容上看,《区域全面经济伙伴关系协定》延续了注重市场开放的规则重点,但拓展了议题的广度和深度。协定延续了"东盟方式"中决策遵循协调一致的原则,但又具有"硬性区域主义"的特征,建立了相关的监督执行、补偿和争端解决机制;从过程来看,该协定坚持"东盟中心性",但却实现了部分的历史性突破;从前景来看,该协定与东亚其他经贸安排面临的挑战相似。概言之,它是介于传统与现代、东亚特色和欧式制度主义的经济安排;既契合了东亚实际,又对新型自贸协定的新动向有所关照。     

拜登政府的全球气候变化领导政策与中国应对

美国的气候治理政策长期呈现周期性变化特点。围绕气候问题,拜登政府强调引领清洁能源革命和重回气候治理,重视国内清洁能源发展、气候议题科学化塑造、气候治理多边主义,希望在继承奥巴马政府时期气候政策的基础上,全面提升美国的气候治理领导力。在国内,拜登政府欲依托科技创新、刺激需求、投资基础设施等措施使清洁能源融入美国经济进程;在气候外交方面,美国将推动相关问题在国家安全和外交事务中的主流化。拜登政府设计了“团结应对策略”,将盟友、峰会外交、经贸合作、对外援助和投资、技术标准、区域合作等内容融入其中,并突出气候变化与安全、人权的相关性。在对华气候政策方面,拜登政府将对中国实施限制性气候合作策略。虽然中美合作有助于实现《巴黎协定》的“2摄氏度”目标,也有助于全球低碳经济良性发展,但在气候治理领导权、全球低碳标准领域,中、美两国仍存在竞争。     

Negotiating chile's entry to nafta: trade and investment issues

In December 1994, the United States, Canada, and Mexico agreed in principle to extend the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to Chile at the Summit of the Americas. This paper examines Chile's accession to NAFTA with special reference to key issues in the negotiations. It discusses the rationale for extending NAFTA to Chile from the U.S. and Chilean perspectives. The study also examines how NAFTA negotiators may address issues such as trade and investment rules, technical standards, dispute settlement obligations, intellectual property rights, phase-in periods, and labor and environmental standards.     

《两岸投保协议》背景下台胞投资保护立法的完善

近20年来，祖国大陆先后出台一系列保护台胞投资的法律法规，这些立法切实保护了台商在大陆投资的合法权益，有效地鼓励了台商投资的积极性。但是，随着两岸关系的发展和大陆投资环境的变化，《台胞投资保护法》及其《实施细则》的部分条文已不太适应当前两岸关系的需要。2012年8月《两岸投保协议》签署后这一问题更加凸显。因此，大陆方面应以落实《两岸投保协议》为契机，加快台胞投资保护立法的修订工作，协调其与《两岸投保协议》的关系，为台商在大陆的投资发展提供更加良好、宽松的法律环境。     

Feature review Corruption eruption: Development and the international community

Abstract

‘Tied’ or ‘in-kind’ international food aid has been criticised as an implicit form of export subsidy that governments use to circumvent export subsidy restrictions. In addition to displacing agricultural exports, food aid is less efficient than untied aid and depresses local agricultural production in recipient countries. I argue that tied food aid is not protected by the Uruguay Round Agreement on Agriculture and could consequently be challenged under the World Trade Organization's dispute settlement mechanism as a prohibited or actionable subsidy contrary to the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (scm) Agreement. As the USA is both the largest donor of international food aid and most consistently ties its food aid to domestic agricultural producers, this paper focuses on US policy to describe the challenge that might be advanced under the scm Agreement.     

Policy responses to capital inflows: lessons from mexico

This paper has two basic objectives. The first is to examine the impact large inflows of foreign capital have on the economies of developing countries. This is important because international investment in many “emerging” markets has increased rapidly, particularly since 1990. The second objective is to explain Mexico's recent (1994-95) currency and financial crisis and to assess the role large capital inflows (and outflows) played in these events. In general, the paper concludes that the Mexican crisis was a direct outgrowth of the large inflows of foreign portfolio investment that followed the announcement of the NAFTA in early 1990. But while these capital inflows served as the catalyst, the policy responses adopted by the Mexican authorities to deal with these flows bear the ultimate responsibility for the crisis. Accordingly, this paper reviews the most common alternatives for redressing the effects of capital inflows on the recipient's economy and balance of payments, and uses Mexico's recent experience to draw general lessons for countries that encounter similar situations in the future.     

Public administration implications of the north american free trade agreement

The emerging North American trade bloc presents both challenges and opportunities for Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Free trade among disparate partners is a complex undertaking. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) will bring important benefits to all three countries, but it will also raise many important issues. The sharp differences in wage rates, worker productivity, and education levels among the partners has fueled fears of job losses on both sides of the border. Disparity among NAFTA nations on labor practices, health and occupational safety laws and regulations are also sources of conflict. Effective dispute resolution mechanisms must exist for both the trade and non-trade issues. Practical guidance, in this regard, can come from the experience of the Canadian Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) and the European Economic Community (EEC; European Union since 1993). New political and administration mechanisms will be required to deal with each of these challenging issues.     

The US--Caribbean apparel connection and the politics of 'NAFTA parity'

This article utilises a 'commodity chains' approach in order to examine the growth in the role of Caribbean offshore assembly operations in the North American apparel production complex. It specifically focuses on the recently enacted Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA), which was designed to address the diversionary consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in terms of apparel-related investment in the Caribbean. In the process, it highlights the domestic coalition of forces within the USA which have been actively pushing for NAFTA parity for the Caribbean since 1993. In particular, it notes that contradictions within this NAFTA parity coalition account for the skewed nature of the CBTPA, as it was eventually passed. For this reason it is ultimately argued that, while this legislation is likely to enhance regional integration and further the competitiveness of US apparel firms, any developmental consequences accruing to the Caribbean from this package are likely to be fairly limited, given the restrictive nature of the legislation as well as the competitive logic of the export processing zones (EPZs) in which Caribbean apparel assembly is invariably located.     

Overview of economy-wide nafta models

In the recent debate about the costs and benefits of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), both proponents and opponents used the empirical results of several economic models to support their arguments. Most of the quantitative estimates were provided by computable general equilibrium (CGE) models, which are part of the growing literature known as applied general equilibrium.

The CGE model is a powerful tool that can make important contributions to policy debates. Compared to other approaches, CGE models rest on a relatively more solid theoretical foundation. However, the numerical analysis has to be interpreted properly. Quantitative estimates are highly tentative and contingent on the assumptions of the models. Thus, estimates should not be interpreted as predictions but rather as providing some indication of the direction of the various economic changes induced by a certain policy change.

This paper provides an overview of the CGE approach, and of its application to NAFTA. After outlining how a CGE model works, it reviews some of the quantitative results of CGE models used to assess the impact of NAFTA. The paper is intended for an audience not trained in economics.     

Symmetrical Solutions,Asymmetrical Realities: Beyond the Politics of Paralysis?

The historic significance of the Good Friday Agreement and its role in ending organized political violence is acknowledged at the outset. The article then goes on to probe the roots of the political paralysis built into the architecture of the Agreement that are predicated on a misplaced political and cultural symmetry between the “two communities.” It is suggested that the institutionalized relationship between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. facilitates a cross-party, populist, socio-economic consensus among the nationalist and unionist political parties on the welfare state, taxation and maintaining the massive British subvention to the region. This in turn allows them to concentrate on a divisive culturalist politics, i.e., on antagonistic forms of cultural and identity politics over such issues as flags, parades, and the legacy of the “Troubles” which spills over into gridlock into many areas of regional administration. The article argues for a much broader understanding of culture and identity rooted in the different, if overlapping and interdependent, material realities of both communities while challenging the idea of two cultures/identities as fixed, mutually exclusive, non-negotiable and mutually antagonistic. It then focuses on the importance of Belfast as a key arena which will determine the long-term prospects of an alternative and more constructive form of politics, and enable a fuller recognition of the fundamental asymmetries and inter-dependence between the “two communities.” In the long run, this involves re-defining and reconstructing what is meant by the “Union” and a “United Ireland.”     

The new business environment of latin america and the caribbean

Latin America and the Caribbean Region experienced dramatic changes in the 1990s. Politically, all but one country, are governed by a democratically elected government. Economically, import substitution industrialization policies (ISI) followed in the past, were replaced by liberalization programs aimed at reducing inflationary pressures and creating a competitive environment.

The significant increase in capital flows to Latin America in one single year, 1990, buried the 1980s as the “lost decade,” and the successful implementation of privatization programs region-wide prompted to affirm that the 1990s might constitute the “Latin America's decade.” Where does the euphoria come from? Is there any implicit promise to be derived from such international capital flows? Will the pattern be sustained? Has Latin America begun a new era? Are unfolding events on defiance of fundamentals?

These and many other questions can be raised regarding the spectacular transformation of Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly when analysts still debate about the Mexican crisis of 1994, investors eagerly pursue the agenda of a second privatization wave, experts around the world get fascinated with the high-tech push found in Latin America, bankers apply Latin American lessons to deal with the currency crisis in Asia, and casual observers recognize the value-creation process added by Latin American entrepreneurs who challenge the most adverse circumstances. Indeed, Latin America and the Caribbean is a land full of promises and contrasts, where there exists a head to head competition between globalization and nationalism, the haves and the have-nots, capitalism and communism, literature and high-technology, markets and governments, East and West, North and South, myth and reality, and … “despair and hope.”

There is no question, however, that Latin America and the Caribbean, being she a detached wide-land, is a region of great opportunity. Since the external debt crisis of 1982 and its aftermath, democracy, open markets, economic reform and privatization have blended to offer great expectations and opportunities for business and investment in the region. The new vision strongly questioned the status quo to render a new business environment to open the doors and light up the roads of the upcoming millennium.

It is the purpose of the International Journal of Public Administration to offer to its readers, for the very first time, a special issue devoted entirely to the discussion of the new business environment of Latin America and the Caribbean. We are, therefore, grateful to all the authors who generously are sharing with us the findings from their scholarly research. Given the far reaching consequences of their contributions, we, as guest editors of this special issue, had no other choice but to incorporate the fruits yielded by this symposium of thirty-seven papers in four issues in one single volume. The papers have been sorted according to the following four focal points: Privatization of State Owned Enterprises; Mexico; Economic, Financial and Foreign Investment Issues; and Economic Integration, Trade and Cultural Issues.

Part I of this special issue on “The New Latin American Business Environment” looks at one element of the broad economic strategy followed by most Latin American countries: Privatization of State Owned Enterprises. The role of governments is to provide the framework that will allow the private sector to create wealth. Notwithstanding, this partnership between the public and private sectors must ensure the inclusion of the poorer sections of the population. In many ways, the long-term sustainability of these economic programs will largely depend on this. The ten papers selected for this part, provide insight on how this phenomenon is affecting different Latin American countries.

The first paper by Shamsul Haque argues that there is a need to analyze the social consequences of privatization programs. Further research is needed to identify the main advocates and beneficiaries of privatization programs. According to the author, “critical economic conditions have not improved significantly after privatization, and in many instances, the conditions have deteriorated.” About fifty percent of Latin America's population of 470 million people live under poverty.

The late Sister Martin Byrne (1) documents in her paper, “Cananea Consolidated Copper Company from Nationalization to Privatization: 1972-1991 ,” the problems of ownership and management faced by La Cananea, a Mexican copper mine. Sister Byrne argues that “The Cananea mines were profitable under entrepreneurial and MNC ownership, but proved to be a financial drain on the government during the paraestatal period.”

The third paper by Garcia and Dyner, examined the reform and regulation of electricity in Columbia. According to the authors, the regulatory framework adopted by the government is going to determine the success of these programs. Furthermore, “the challenge is the change of public intervention in the sector, so that it regulates, supports, and supervises the decentralized activities of the firms, and liberates resources to be invested in other areas.”

Walter and Gonzalez provide interesting philosophical arguments on technology and human resources management derived from the cases of privatized companies in Argentina. The authors consider two variants, “systemic modernization and revamping of existing teams” to invite a reopening of the old debate on technological blending. They argue, however, that “to compete you do not necessarily need to ‘ be on the frontier.’”

Joan B. Anderson examines, the “Privatization, Efficiency and Market Failure: Transforming Ecuador's Public Sector,” privatization in Ecuador through the shift experienced by development theory with respect to the role of the public sector. In this paper the author points out that “while careful privatization can be positive, privatizing monopolies like the electric utility and/or quasi-public goods like highways are likely to be detrimental to long run economic development.”

Doshi identifies the successes and failures of the privatization program in Mexico by analyzing the cases of Mexicana Airlines, Aeromexico and Telmex. The author argues that even though the government was able to sell a number of state owned enterprises, a “successful” privatization program required appropriate macroeconomic policies and defining the role of foreign investment in economic development. One can argue then, that even though the size of the state is shrinking, its role is becoming more important.

The article by Vetter and Zanetta analyze also the case of Argentina. The authors argue that in order to consolidate the economic reforms implemented by the national government, provincial reform has to take place. A number of important lessons were identified.

John M. Kirk and Julia Sagebien present, in “Cuba's Market Rapprochement: Private Sector Reform - Public Sector Style,” the highlights of Cuba's process of transition towards a market economy by analyzing the conditions that lead to a market opening as well as the ends, the means and the actors of the ensuing process of economic reform.

Walter T. Molano contributes a paper, “The Lessons of Privatization,” based on his book The Logic of Privatization: The Case of Telecommunications in the Southern Cone of Latin America by looking at privatization as a process that may end up in varied outcomes as seen from microeconomic-, macroeconomic-, and political perspectives of analysis.

The focal point of Part II is Mexico. It is very clear that since the beginning of the decade, Mexico has made major efforts to transform its economy in order to play a more significant role in the global economy. Different attempts have been undertaken leading to: first, address the aftermath of the debt crisis of 1982; second, modernize and open the economy through a structural change that have included, among other programs, privatization, deregulation, fiscal deficit reduction, and trade liberalization: and third, change the political landscape.

Ephraim Clark models, in his “Agency Conflict and the Signaling Snafu in the Mexican Peso Crisis of 1994,” the conflict as a government held option to default and introduce signaling by assuming that the Mexican government had monopolistic information on the economy's true situation. The author argues that “if steps had been taken in late 1993 and early 1994, the crisis element of the adjustment could probably have been avoided.”

Blaine's article examines the role of foreign capital in economic development. By studying the Mexican case, the author answers a number ofvery important questions: How are once protected markets going to react to a large inflow of foreign capital? How did Mexican authorities deal with these inflows? What are some of the lessons that could be derived from the Mexican experience?

Hazera's paper discusses the history and legal basis of Mexican financial groups. On the basis of various stock market and financial statement data, an examination is also made of the groups’ evolution from 1991 to 1994.

Eugene M. Salorio and Thomas L. Brewer consider, in “Expanding the Levels of Analysis of FDI for Improved Understanding of Policy issues: The Case of Mexico,” both macro-, and micro-level shifts of analysis which mutually complement one another, and yield, for example, a “components profile” of disaggregated national level FDI flows which depends on the type of the project. The authors identify far reaching implications for public policy that may be extrapolated from the case of Mexico to the new business environment faced by the Latin American countries.

Francis A. Lees suggests also, from another angle, that the crisis of December 1994 could have been avoided because the financial disequilibrium was clearly evident by mid-1994 just be looking at Mexico's GDP and balance of payments.

C. Bulent Aybar, Riad A. Ajami, and Marca M. Bear provide a comparative study of the recent experiences of Mexico and Turkey. The authors identify common elements in the development and eruption of the crises to conclude that “under capital mobility strong internal and external shocks may lead to explosive crises … even though overall macroeconomic balances are sound.”

James P. D’Mello shows in “An Analysis of Mergers and Acquisitions in Mexico: 1985-1996,” that the Mexican crisis has led to an escalation of corporate restructuring such as mergers, acquisitions and joint-ventures.

Jiawen Yang joins the current debate on the causes of the recent Mexican financial crisis by arguing that “capital inflows that are not well absorbed by the private sector will cause financial instability under a fixed exchange rate regime.”

Part III of the new business environment of Latin America and the Caribbean includes ten papers on Foreign Investment, Economic and Financial issues which add significantly to the understanding of the overall transformation carried out in recent years by this region of the world.

Christopher Korth and Ajay Samant, and Craig A. Peterson andK. C. O’Shaughnessy recognize, respectively in the following two papers, “American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) from Latin America: An Opportunity for American Investors.” and “Financial Investment Via ADRs in Mexico and South America,” the usefulness of ADRs for operationalizing international diversification.

Juan Espana surveys the literature on models and tools currently used to predict exchange rate movements, and aims to suggest market solutions, economic policy measures and institutional arrangements to currency crises. The author analyzes the origin and evolution of the 1994 Mexican Peso crisis, its contagion effects on other Latin American economies, and the measures taken by the affected countries to manage the crisis.

Prakash L. Dheeriya and Mahendra Raj provide, in “An Investigation in Exchange Rate Behavior of Emerging Countries,” insights on the role that exchange rate risk plays by identifying similarities and differences through international comparisons.

Kumar's paper examines the important role of foreign direct investment in promoting economic development. The emphasis here is on the transfer of technology through foreign direct investment.

Neupert and Montoya study the characteristics of’ Japanese foreign investment in Latin America, with a focus on Brazil and Mexico. The authors looked at the preferred modes of entry and the post-entry performance of these subsidiaries.

Thomas M. Fullerton, Jr. shows, in “Currency Movements and International Border Crossings,” through two ARIMAmodels that “northbound bridge traffic to El Paso is nonrandom and follows fairly well defined patterns each year.”

Trevor Campbell makes, in “A Note on the Current and Capital Accounts Compilation of Barbados under the Fourth and Fifth IMFEditions,” a comparison with respect to the composition and structure of the current and capital accounts of Barbados.

Janet Kelly and Alexeis Perera argue, in “Antitrust Policy in a Hostile Environment: Institutional Building in Venezuela's Procompetencia,” that the theories of bureaucracy in Latin America generally stress institutional weakness, political volatility and the politicized nature of government agencies which motivated, in Venezuela, the creation of the anti-monopoly agency called “Procompetencia.”

G. Scott Erickson and Andrea Nhuch recommend in ‘The Latin American Business Environment: Patent Protection Issues” a general hybrid system to deal with patent rights issues.

Finally, Part IV deals with a blend of Trade, Economic Integration and Cultural issues. Since much of the world still tends to view Latin America and the Caribbean in terms of stereotypes, it seems appropriate to end this special issue on the new business environment of the region with a group of papers that revisits the rich mosaic of Latin America, and permits appreciate her new reality.

Isaac Cohen argues, in “Hispanics and Foreign Policy.” that though the primacy of economics in Hemispheric relations provides an opportunity for Hispanic businesses, yet this community will have to act deliberately to benefit from the opportunities that are emerging.

Eva Kras contributes, in “The Viable Future of Mexico and Latin America: A New Business Paradigm,” with a South looking North approach for doing business that challenges the traditional view of business relations.

Guillermo Duenas argues, in “Cultural Aspects in the Integration of the Americas,” that managing cultural integration successfully requires a process of “intercultural learning.”

Andres A. Thompson, Francisco B. Tancredi and Marcos Kisil introduce, in “New Partnerships for Social Development: Business and the Third Sector,” the novel argument that corporate philanthropy can make the difference in social development because grantmaking is still the least frequent used strategy in Latin America and the Caribbean region.

Chris Robertson, Pol Herrmann and Kevin Duffy measure, in “Exploring Perceptions of Technology Between the United States and Ecuador,” perceptions of technology on the basis of the typology of motivators and inhibitors of technological growth.

Melissa H. Birch argues, in “Mercosur: The Road to Economic Integration in the Southern Cone,” that Mercosur represents, in contrast to the historical record of economic integration in the region, an adaptation to the contemporary political climate.

Wu and Longley discuss the rationale for extending NAFTA to Chile. Their study examines also how NAFTA negotiators may address issues such as trade and investment rules, intellectual property rights, and labor and environmental standards among other things.

Roger Kashlak and Srinath Beldona identify, in “Partner Reciprocity, Telecommunications Flows and Balance of Trade Patterns Between the United States and Latin America,” partner reciprocity as the issue at the core of the international long-distance industry.

Ines Bustillo extends, in “Overview of Economic-wide NAFTA Models” computable general equilibrium models to the case of NAFTA.

We hope that this special issue is informative and interesting to business-decision makers, regulatory policy makers, and students concerned with gaining an understanding of the ongoing transformation of Latin American and the Caribbean.

Finally, we are again most grateful to the contributors of articles for making this special issue possible. We would also like to thank Jack Rabin, editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Public Administration, for trusting us the delicate mission of providing to the readers a fresh view of the new business environment of Latin America and the Caribbean.