The asymmetric liberalisation of the trade of textile and agricultural products within the World Trade Organisation: the case of the countries of the South

On November 10th, 2017, Applied Economics I department professor and Hegoa member Efren Areskurrinaga Mirandona, defended his thesis titled “La liberalización asimétrica del comercio de productos textiles y agrícolas en la Organización Mundial del Comercio: el caso de los países del Sur (The asymetric liberalisation of the trade of textile and agricultural products within the World Trade Organisation: the case of the countries of the South)” and co-directed by Mikel Zurbano Irizar and Elena Martinez Tola.

The thesis analyses the evolution in the regulatory norms of international trade of textile and agricultural products in the frame of the WTO and its consequences on the export behaviour of the economies of the South. The work shows that this regulation has been asymmetric, favouring countries from the North and thwarting countries from the South, thus provoking as a major consequence that countries from the South have experienced a limited advancement in their export as well as a significant growth in their imports. All this has hindered the possibilities of growth and wellbeing of their economies and populations.