Mireya Solis
American University (Washington, DC 20016-8200)
FO-50116-10
Fellowships for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan
Research Programs
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[Grant products]
Totals:
$50,400 (approved)
$50,400 (awarded)
Grant period:
9/1/2010 – 8/31/2011
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Japan's Preferential Trade Agreements: Implications for Domestic Liberalization and Regional Integration in East Asia
Japan's ever-growing free trade agreements (FTAs) pose fundamental questions: Will these trade deals finally open the Japanese market? Can Japan deliver cohesive trade integration in East Asia? To assess the domestic determinants of Japanese FTA quality (dependent variable), I employ two independent variables: 1) lobbying incentives for societal actors in preferential trading, 2) centralization of government trade policy. I make a contribution to existing literature by highlighting the ways in which FTAs create a set of distinctive challenges and opportunities that do not arise in MFN multilateral liberalization; and by elucidating the impact of centralized trade policy institutions for the prospects of market opening. I also offer new insights to the political economy of Japan by analyzing the shifting balance of power between Executive and Legislative, and changing lobbying patterns with the fragmentation of powerful umbrella associations.
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