IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bpj/buspol/v15y2013i1p87-116n4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Business advocacy in Asian PTAs: a model of selective corporate lobbying with evidence from Japan

Author

Listed:
  • Solís Mireya

    (The Brookings Institution and American University, Washington, DC, USA)

Abstract

What explains the pattern of selective business interest in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) with active campaigning for and utilization of tariff preferences for some trade agreements, but not others? Under what conditions can business advocates of PTA policy mount an effective lobbying campaign to influence policy outcomes (i.e., shaping decisions on who to negotiate with and what to negotiate about)? These are important questions given that analyses of Asian PTAs frequently assign a negligible role to business interests either out of apathy or lobbying weakness. To understand the pattern of selective business lobbying for PTAs, I develop a theoretical model with three main independent variables: venue selection, preference intensity, and advocacy effectiveness, and apply it to the case of Japan to test its usefulness. My model shows that the conditions for effective business PTA campaigning are exacting: loss avoidance, high technical expertise, and influence-seeking strategies that maximize access opportunities given institutional constraints. And yet when these factors align, business interests do influence PTA outcomes. My research shows that the current trend to characterize the agency of PTA proliferation as either state-led or business-driven needs to be re-examined as it is more useful to think about state-society constellations in favor or against PTAs.

Suggested Citation

  • Solís Mireya, 2013. "Business advocacy in Asian PTAs: a model of selective corporate lobbying with evidence from Japan," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 15(1), pages 87-116, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:buspol:v:15:y:2013:i:1:p:87-116:n:4
    DOI: 10.1515/bap-2012-0045
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/bap-2012-0045
    Download Restriction: For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1515/bap-2012-0045?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gardini Gian Luca, 2006. "Government-Business Relations in the Construction of Mercosur," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-28, April.
    2. Christopher M. Dent, 2006. "New Free Trade Agreements in the Asia-Pacific," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-62791-8, December.
    3. Cornelia Woll, 2008. "Firm Interests: How Governments Shape Business Lobbying on Global Trade," Post-Print hal-02183956, HAL.
    4. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/8526 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Andrew Moravcsik, 1993. "Preferences and Power in the European Community: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist Approach," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 473-524, December.
    6. Aggarwal, Vinod K., 2001. "Corporate Market and Nonmarket Strategies in Asia: A Conceptual Framework," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 3(2), pages 89-108, August.
    7. Takahashi, Katsuhide & Urata, Shujiro, 2010. "On the Use of FTAs by Japanese Firms: Further Evidence," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, April.
    8. Aggarwal Vinod K., 2001. "Corporate Market and Nonmarket Strategies in Asia: A Conceptual Framework," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 3(2), pages 1-21, August.
    9. Putnam, Robert D., 1988. "Diplomacy and domestic politics: the logic of two-level games," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 427-460, July.
    10. Razeen Sally, 2007. "Thai Trade Policy: From Non‐discriminatory Liberalisation to FTAs," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(10), pages 1594-1620, October.
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/8526 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Manger,Mark S., 2009. "Investing in Protection," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521748704.
    13. Baldwin,Richard & Haapararanta,Pertti & Kiander,Jaakko (ed.), 1995. "Expanding Membership of the European Union," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521481342.
    14. Manger,Mark S., 2009. "Investing in Protection," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521765046.
    15. Cornelia Woll & Alvaro Artigas, 2007. "When Trade Liberalization Turns into Regulatory Reform: The Impact on Business-Government Relations in International Trade Politics," Post-Print hal-01071209, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Postigo, Antonio, 2016. "Institutional spillovers from the negotiation and formulation of East Asian free trade agreements: government-business relations in the policymaking of bilateral free trade agreements," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 115088, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Postigo, Antonio, 2016. "Institutional spillovers from the negotiation and formulation of East Asian free trade agreements: Government-business relations in the policymaking of bilateral free trade agreements," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 23(3), pages 379-417.
    3. Antonio Postigo, 2022. "Utilization of GSP schemes as a political and economic determinant of the utilization of North-South FTAs," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(5), pages 1420-1447, September.
    4. Johannes Urpelainen, 2011. "Early birds: Special interests and the strategic logic of international cooperation," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 6(2), pages 113-140, July.
    5. Leonardo Baccini & Johannes Urpelainen, 2014. "Before ratification: understanding the timing of international treaty effects on domestic policies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 50278, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. John Ravenhill, 2011. "Political economy of multilateralization in Asia," STUDIES IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT, in: Trade-led growth: A sound strategy for Asia, chapter 7, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
    7. Claude BARFIELD, 2009. "Politics of Trade in the USA and in the Obama Administration: Implications for Asian Regionalism," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 4(2), pages 227-243, December.
    8. Knobel, Alexander & Chokaev, Bekhan, 2014. "Possible Economic Outcomes of a Trade Agreement with the European Union," EconStor Preprints 121853, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    9. John Ravenhill, 2012. "The Numbers Game in Asia-Pacific Cooperation," Chapters, in: Christopher M. Dent & Jörn Dosch (ed.), The Asia-Pacific, Regionalism and the Global System, chapter 5, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Soo Yeon Kim & Gabriele Spilker, 2019. "Global value chains and the political economy of WTO disputes," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 239-260, June.
    11. Aydin B. Yildirim & J. Tyson Chatagnier & Arlo Poletti & Dirk De Bièvre, 2018. "The internationalization of production and the politics of compliance in WTO disputes," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 49-75, March.
    12. Mireya Sol�s & Saori N. Katada, 2015. "Unlikely Pivotal States in Competitive Free Trade Agreement Diffusion: The Effect of Japan's Trans-Pacific Partnership Participation on Asia-Pacific Regional Integration," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 155-177, April.
    13. Soo Yeon Kim, 2021. "Investment commitments in PTAs and MNCS in partner countries," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 415-442, November.
    14. Iain Osgood & Yilang Feng, 2018. "Intellectual property provisions and support for US trade agreements," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 421-455, September.
    15. Damian Raess & Andreas Dür & Dora Sari, 2018. "Protecting labor rights in preferential trade agreements: The role of trade unions, left governments, and skilled labor," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 143-162, June.
    16. Hiroshi Mukunoki, 2017. "The welfare effect of a free trade agreement in the presence of foreign direct investment and rules of origin," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 733-759, September.
    17. Beyers, Jan, 1998. "Where does supranationalism come from? Ideas floating through the working groups of the Council of the European Union," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 2, November.
    18. Jieun Lee & Iain Osgood, 2018. "Exports, Jobs, Growth! Congressional Hearings on US Trade Agreements," Working Papers 667, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    19. Ferdi De Ville & Gabriel Siles-Brügge, 2019. "The Impact of Brexit on EU Trade Policy," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 7(3), pages 7-18.
    20. Postigo, Antonio, 2014. "Liberalisation and Protection under Overlapping Free Trade Agreements: Dynamic Interplay between Free Trade Agreements and Investment," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 37(11), pages 1612-1633.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bpj:buspol:v:15:y:2013:i:1:p:87-116:n:4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.degruyter.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.