NAFTA as a Model of Development
The Benefits and Costs of Merging High- and Low-Wage Areas
Published on 10. August 1995
Book
Hardback
216 pages
978-0-7914-2569-5 (ISBN)
Description
Examines whether NAFTA will produce increased or decreased wages in the regional trading blocs emerging in Europe, North America, and East Asia as a result of its uniting of high and low wage areas and identifies the winners and losers in various labor markets.
This book discusses the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in terms of its implications for job creation, reduced tariffs, and increased investment. Although the regional trading blocs merging in Europe, North America, and East Asia differ strikingly, there is one basic feature common to each-the formation of regional trading blocs involves a uniting of high- and low-wage areas. The authors address this issue directly, questioning whether NAFTA will promote upward or downward convergence of compensation rates, unit labor costs, and benefit levels. Equally important, they consider whether this trading arrangement will promote economic growth, investment, and efficiency. Viewpoints from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and from the business and labor communities are included.
This book discusses the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in terms of its implications for job creation, reduced tariffs, and increased investment. Although the regional trading blocs merging in Europe, North America, and East Asia differ strikingly, there is one basic feature common to each-the formation of regional trading blocs involves a uniting of high- and low-wage areas. The authors address this issue directly, questioning whether NAFTA will promote upward or downward convergence of compensation rates, unit labor costs, and benefit levels. Equally important, they consider whether this trading arrangement will promote economic growth, investment, and efficiency. Viewpoints from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico and from the business and labor communities are included.
Reviews / Votes
"Appropriate for general audiences as well as for classes in economic development, political economy, and North American integration, this book could also be useful for courses in international economics because it describes so many important theoretical concerns. Most appealing is the explicit attention paid to NAFTA as the first major attempt at freer trade and investment between countries at such widely different stages of development." - Sarah Stevens, St. Lawrence University"The book provides an excellent introduction to the debate of economic integration and its benefits as a model for development. It supplies a good overview of both negative and positive reactions to NAFTA, with about a third of the contributors in favor, a third neutral, and a third against. It is an evenhanded compilation of views on the subject by academics, business, and labor." - Gilbert R. Winham, Dalhousie University
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Albany, NY
United States
Target group
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Weight
463 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7914-2569-5 (9780791425695)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Richard S. Belous is Vice President and Chief Economist at the National Planning Association and Adjunct Professor at George Washington University. Jonathan Lemco is Executive Director of the International Center for Family Enterprise, a Senior Fellow at the National Planning Association, and Adjunct Professor for Political Science at Johns Hopkins University-SAIS.
Content
Foreword
by Malcolm R. Lovell, Jr., Dieter Dettke, and Paul H.Boeker
Acknowledgments
About the Editors
About the Authors
NAFTA as a Model of Development: The Benefits and Costs of Merging High- and Low-Wage Areas
by Richard S. Belous and Jonathan Lemco
Editors
Part I. Setting the Stage
1. The NAFTA Development Model of Combining High- and Low-Wage Areas: An Introduction
by Richard S. Belous and Jonathan Lemco
Part II. Implications of the NAFTA for Wages and Investment
2. The NAFTA and Wage Convergence: A Case of Winners and Losers
by Clark W. Reynolds
3. The NAFTA, a Social Charter, and Economic Growth
by Harley Shaiken
4. The NAFTA's Winners and Losers: A Focus on Investment
by Isaac Cohen
5. The NAFTA and Downward Wage Pressure
by Richard Rothstein
6. Dynamic Integration, Foreign Investment, and Open Regionalism in the NAFTA and the Americas
by Van R. Whiting, Jr.
Part III. Implications of the NAFTA for Development
7. Expanding the NAFTA? From Early Pan-Americanism to Hemispheric Economic Integration
by Joseph Grunwald
8. The NAFTA and Developing Countries
by Sidney Weintraub
9. Dynamic Gains from Intra-regional Trade in Latin America
by Rudolf M. Buitelaar
Part IV. Mexican Perspectives
10. A Critical View of a NAFTA Including Mexico
by Adolfo Aguilar Zinser
11. The NAFTA: A Mexican Search for Development
by Gustavo del Castillo V.
12. Mexican Economic Development and the NAFTA
by Daniel Szabo
13. Mexico's Interests and the NAFTA
by Jorge Bustamante
Part V. Canadian Perspectives
14. Canada's Interests and the NAFTA
by Ronald Wonnacott
15. The Development Impact of the NAFTA: A Canadian Perspective
by Ann Weston
Part VI. Industry and Labor Perspectives
16. Global Trends and the Impact on Business in Latin America in the 1990s
by John D. Tessier
17. A Labor Perspective on the NAFTA
by William C. Doherty
18. The Sector Advisory Process and the NAFTA
by Eugene W. Zeltmann
19. Trade Liberalization and Mexico
by Juan de Nigris
Part VII. Regional Trading Blocs, Social Policies, and Cross-Border Constituencies
20. Can the EC Social Charter Be a Model for the NAFTA?
by Reiner Hoffmann
21. The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations and the NAFTA
by Cathryn L. Thorup
Index
by Malcolm R. Lovell, Jr., Dieter Dettke, and Paul H.Boeker
Acknowledgments
About the Editors
About the Authors
NAFTA as a Model of Development: The Benefits and Costs of Merging High- and Low-Wage Areas
by Richard S. Belous and Jonathan Lemco
Editors
Part I. Setting the Stage
1. The NAFTA Development Model of Combining High- and Low-Wage Areas: An Introduction
by Richard S. Belous and Jonathan Lemco
Part II. Implications of the NAFTA for Wages and Investment
2. The NAFTA and Wage Convergence: A Case of Winners and Losers
by Clark W. Reynolds
3. The NAFTA, a Social Charter, and Economic Growth
by Harley Shaiken
4. The NAFTA's Winners and Losers: A Focus on Investment
by Isaac Cohen
5. The NAFTA and Downward Wage Pressure
by Richard Rothstein
6. Dynamic Integration, Foreign Investment, and Open Regionalism in the NAFTA and the Americas
by Van R. Whiting, Jr.
Part III. Implications of the NAFTA for Development
7. Expanding the NAFTA? From Early Pan-Americanism to Hemispheric Economic Integration
by Joseph Grunwald
8. The NAFTA and Developing Countries
by Sidney Weintraub
9. Dynamic Gains from Intra-regional Trade in Latin America
by Rudolf M. Buitelaar
Part IV. Mexican Perspectives
10. A Critical View of a NAFTA Including Mexico
by Adolfo Aguilar Zinser
11. The NAFTA: A Mexican Search for Development
by Gustavo del Castillo V.
12. Mexican Economic Development and the NAFTA
by Daniel Szabo
13. Mexico's Interests and the NAFTA
by Jorge Bustamante
Part V. Canadian Perspectives
14. Canada's Interests and the NAFTA
by Ronald Wonnacott
15. The Development Impact of the NAFTA: A Canadian Perspective
by Ann Weston
Part VI. Industry and Labor Perspectives
16. Global Trends and the Impact on Business in Latin America in the 1990s
by John D. Tessier
17. A Labor Perspective on the NAFTA
by William C. Doherty
18. The Sector Advisory Process and the NAFTA
by Eugene W. Zeltmann
19. Trade Liberalization and Mexico
by Juan de Nigris
Part VII. Regional Trading Blocs, Social Policies, and Cross-Border Constituencies
20. Can the EC Social Charter Be a Model for the NAFTA?
by Reiner Hoffmann
21. The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations and the NAFTA
by Cathryn L. Thorup
Index