• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.139-158
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• 2023

Purpose - The study of co-movements between stock markets is a crucial area of finance and has recently received much interest in a variety of studies, especially in international finance. Stock market co-movements are a major phenomenon in financial markets, but they are not necessarily independent of the real market. Several studies support the idea that bilateral trade linkages significantly impact stock market correlations. Motivated by this perspective, this study investigates whether real market integration due to trade agreements brings about financial market integration in terms of stock market co-movement. Design/methodology - Over the 10 free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by the United States, using a dynamic conditional correlations (DCC) multivariate GARCH (MGRACH) model, we empirically measure the degree of integration by finding DCCs between the US market and the partner country's market. We then track how these correlations evolve over time and compare the results before and after trade agreements. Findings - According to the empirical results, there are positive return spillover effects from the US market to eight counterpart equity markets, except Jordan, Morocco, and Singapore. Especially Mexico, Canada, and Chile have large return spillover effects at the 1% significance level. All partner countries of FTAs generally have positive correlations with the US over the entire period, but the size and variance are somewhat different by country. Meanwhile, not all countries that signed trade agreements with the United States showed the same pattern of stock market co-movement after the agreement. Korea, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Peru, and Singapore show increasing DCC patterns after trade agreements with the US. However, Canada, Australia, Bahrain, Jordan, and Morocco do not show different patterns before and after trade agreements in DCCs. These countries generally have the characteristic of relatively lower or higher co-movements in stock markets with the US before the signing of the FTAs. Originality/value - To our knowledge, few studies have directly examined the linkages between trade agreements and stock markets. Our approach is novel as it considers the problem of conditional heteroscedasticity and visualizes the change of correlations with time variations. Moreover, analyzing several trade agreements based on the United States enables the results of cross-country pairs to be compared. Hence, this study provides information on the degree of stock market integration with countries with which the United States has trade agreements, while simultaneously allowing us to track whether there have been changes in stock market integration patterns before and after trade agreements.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.82-100
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• 2020

Purpose - This paper attempts to compare five free trade agreements with gender chapters ratified by Chile and Canada and derives lessons for Korea in terms of gender-aware trade policy. While Chile and Canada have three and two FTAs with gender chapter respectively, Korea has none so far, although it has already ratified an FTA with the two countries. Design/methodology - This study first investigates all the gender-provisions with the gender chapters, conducts a comparative analysis on the five chapters as well as a case study of one target FTA's implementation and achievements, and finally suggests policy implications for Korea's trade administration as well as trade-related agencies. Findings - According to the analysis, there are three phases in terms of advancement in gender-related trade policy. As Chile is in phase two and Canada is in phase three, Korea remains in phase one. It has a ministry related to gender within the government, but not within the OMT. It has statistics on female business, but not of women traders. It has a few gender-related provisions in its FTAs, but not a gender chapter. In this sense, new mandates related to gender-aware trade policy for OMT, KITA, and KOTRA should be provided to realize the concrete economic benefits resulting from empowering women traders and policies promoting them. Originality/value - Existing studies only focus on introducing gender-related international commitments and Korea's participation in them. This paper is the first attempt to compare actual gender chapters of five FTAs ratified by two countries with the most advanced gender chapters in the world. To gain benefits from the positive gender impact of trade agreements, negotiating and signing gender responsive FTA with future partners is one of the most efficient, as well as inclusive, trade policies urgently needed for Korea.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.85-119
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• 2018

This paper investigates the effects of exchange rate and labor skill composition on Vietnam's trade balance with her twenty main trading partners. Using balanced panel data from 2000 to 2016, the authors analyze Vietnam's total trade balance and the trade balance which is disaggregated based on labor skill sophistication. Three main findings are presented. Firstly, exchange rate has a positive effect on Vietnam's trade balance, but the small value of estimated coefficient indicates that its effect is limited. Secondly, Vietnam's trade balance of the high labor-skill produced and medium-skill white collar labor-produced goods is worsened when VND (Vietnamese Dong) depreciates. Thirdly, moving up the labor skill ladder and promoting the none-price competitiveness of the high labor-skill produced and medium-skilled white collar labor-produced goods can improve Vietnam's total trade balance, while promoting the low-skill labor-produced and medium-skill blue collar-labor produced goods can no longer contribute to Vietnam's total trade balance.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.425-457
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• 2004

This study is to approach e-Trade issues and how to settle the dispute for e-Trade according to on-line Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process. Most on-line systems operate on a limited access basis. The increasing use of the internet to do business brings to light at least important concerns to persons who engage in commerce on-line, or e-Trade. There is some concern about the limits of current internet technology to guarantee the security of e-Trade. The new technology has transformed society and is defining new years of doing business. This revolution in technology has even changed the nature of many of the goods and services that are the subjects of e-Trade. There is also concern about the limits of the legal framework to guarantee the enforcement of e-Trade. A significant issue is how the law should be adapted to reflect business practices regarding such cyberspace agreements as Web site click-on agreements, e-data interchange, and on-line sales. The principal benefits of on-line ADR should typically be faster and less expensive than traditional conciliation arbitration. The on-line ADR system has the several significances, decreasing inappropriate cost as time and burden of ADR, providing an approachable measure of relief and more efficient tool for the settle of dispute. Therefore, on-line ADR could be used as an adjunct resolution process in large class actions where each single claim is small, but varies somewhat, thus requiring some individual fact determination.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.11 no.9
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• pp.7-16
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• 2020

Purpose: Many studies show that promoting the development of trade facilitation has a positive role in stimulating the country's foreign trade. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to study the development level of trade facilitation for China's export trade. Research design, data and methodology:This study analyzes the growth trend of China's export trade volume in 2009-2019, the characteristics of China's export trade market according to the top 18 major exporting countries in 2017-2018, the structure of export commodities to understand China's economic development level, and compares the total amount of trade exported to all uses this to measure the level of trade development. On this basis, this paper selects the 2011-2018 Trade Facilitation Index and C continents to study the development trend. Based on the theory of trade facilitation, this paper constructs the Trade Facilitation Index, and hina's export trade volume for empirical research. Results: The results show that trade facilitation has a positive and significant impact on the development of China's export trade. Conclusions: Based on the analysis of the actual situations and empirical results, this paper puts forward some suggestions to promote the level of trade facilitation in order to promote the development of import and export trade.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.185-220
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• 2003

Korean Government is increasingly focusing on the Northeast Asia Business and Logistics Hub strategy to create a competitive advantage. A key element of this strategy is creating or leveraging distribution and logistics hubs that act as centres for distribution in Northeast Asia. A Northeast Asian e-Hub Policy is required for business hub and logistics hub in the Northeastern Asia. An e-Hub is an integrated, sophisticated set of e-Biz, information and e-trade facilities and services that provides access to a marketplace and exchangee the e-trade data. To study the e-Hub policy, Pan Asian e-Commerce Alliance, Korea-Japan e-Trade Hub project, and ASEM e-Trade project are considered. E-trade via cyberspace may need new methods of dispute resolution to reduce transaction costs for small value-related disputes and to erect structures that work well across national boundaries. Voluntary Mediation Councils and cyber tribunals should be encouraged by governmental sectors to continue developing private sector mechanisms to resolve e-trade disputes. Government-sponsored online cross-border dispute resolution systems may be also be useful to complement these private sector approaches. E-trade in Northeast Asia results in disputes owing to the incompleteness of e-trade law in the countries. These disputes contain disputes regarding e-trade model, central title registry, authentication body. To resolve these disputes in the Northeast Asia, a variety of electronic alternative dispute resolution bodies must be organized under cooperation of Korea, Japan, China. This study deals with the e-ADR construction in the Northeast Asia to resolve the disputes in the e-trade and to activate the e-trade in the Northeast Asia.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.117-144
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• 2009

This paper analyzes how Korea's trade intensity with major ASEAN countries changed from 2000 to 2005. For this purpose, we measured the trade intensity index, the trade complementarity index, and the special country bias index between Korea and ASEAN countries by the trade intensity index model developed by Yamazawa (1970). The OECD trade matrix was used as data. We found that Korea's trade intensity with Indonesia increased from 8.91 in 2000 to 10.88 in 2005 due to a considerable increase in Korea's special country bias with Indonesia from 9.58 in 2000 to 10.75 in 2005. Therefore Korea's special country bias with Indonesia should be enhanced further by increasing capital movements and reducing discriminatory tariffs and other import restrictions between Korea and Indonesia. It was also found that trade intensity between Korea and other ASEAN countries (i.e., Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand) shows a similar pattern of the above trade intensity between Korea and Indonesia except the trade complementarity.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.3
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• pp.243-262
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• 2023

This study provides a systematic review of smart trade contracts, examining the research trends and theoretical background of utilizing smart contracts and blockchain technology for the digitalization and automation of trade contracts. Smart trade contracts are a concept that applies the automated contract system based on blockchain to trade-related transactions. The study analyzes the technical and legal challenges and proposes solutions. The technical aspect covers the development of smart contract platforms, scalability and performance improvements of blockchain networks, and security and privacy concerns. The legal aspect addresses the legal enforceability of smart contracts, automatic execution of contract conditions, and the responsibilities and obligations of contract parties. Smart trade contracts have been found to have applications in various industries such as international trade, supply chain management, finance, insurance, and energy, contributing to the ease of trade finance, efficiency of supply chains, and business model innovation. However, challenges remain in terms of legal regulations, interaction with existing legal frameworks, and technological aspects. Further research is needed, including empirical studies, business model innovation, resolution of legal issues, security and privacy considerations, standardization and collaboration, and user experience studies to address these challenges and explore additional aspects of smart trade contracts.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.3-25
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• 2013

This paper evaluates whether the proposed FTAAP is a desirable policy option for APEC member economies and the world economy. More specifically, this paper qualitatively investigates whether the FTAAP satisfies conditions for a trade bloc to generate positive and sufficient net trade creation effect. In addition, this paper estimates the likely impact of the FTAAP by using a CGE model analysis. From the qualitative analysis based on statistical data, this paper strongly argues that the FTAAP can be a desirable regional trade bloc able to generate positive gains from freer trade. From the ex-ante scenario analysis using both static and capital accumulation CGE Models, this paper concludes that the FTAAP has great potential for improving welfare of participating APEC economies and will boost economic growth in the region. In particular, the FTAAP would be even better if it can be linked with liberalization of trade in services and enhanced trade facilitation.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.55-67
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• 2019

This study investigate the concept and type of Korea's trade governance by theories related to network governance. Korea's domestic trade policy-building system a 'network trade governance' utilizing Minister for Trade as a network administrative organization. This governance has four major rade stakeholders: G(Government), I(Industry), A(Academia), and C(Civil groups). Korea has five types of committees for internal consultation between domestic stakeholders, all G·I·A·C groups. Korea's trade governance can be if it fixes its administrative redundancy, communication formality, stakeholder exclusiveness. This topic calls for further research such as social network analysis as well as international comparison analysis.