The name is absent

Concepts of Fairness in the Global Trading System

Andrew G. Brown, Wellfleet, MA and Robert M. Stern, University of Michigan

Abstract

How are we to assess the fairness of the global trading system as embodied in the GATT/WTO?
Opinions about what constitutes fairness differ widely, and there is surely no incontrovertible yardstick.
But can we be clearer about the criteria that are appropriate and what they mean in more operational
terms?

In this paper, we first discuss why fairness is a condition of the agreements among governments that form
the global trading system. We then suggest that fairness can best be considered within the framework of
two concepts: equality of opportunity and distributive equity. We observe that the efficiency criterion is
not a primary yardstick of fairness, and though it is relevant in choosing among alternative ways of
realizing fairness, it is not without its own limitations. We thereafter discuss what equality of opportunity
and distributive equity mean when applied to the commitments that governments make in the global
trading system. For this purpose, we divide these commitments into four categories: those relating
directly to market access; those concerning supporting rules designed to prevent cheating in market access
commitments or to facilitate trade flows; those relating to procedures for the settlement of disputes or the
use of trade remedy measures; and those relating to governance of the system. (We say nothing in this
paper about the issue of fairness in the context of the last category.) Finally, we make some comments
about fairness in the Doha Development Round, first reviewing some proposals made by Stiglitz and
Charlton, and then making some observations about the central issue of market access.

Keywords: Fairness, Equality of Opportunity, Distributive Equity, Global Trading System

JEL Classification: D63, F02, F10, F13

November 25, 2005

Address correspondence to:

Andrew G. Brown

P.O. Box 1763

Wellfleet MA 02667

Ann Arbor MI 48109-1220

Tel:    508-349-0186

E-mail: [email protected]

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