Our research team concentrate on economic and legal issues of the world trade system and carries out relevant theoretic and empirical researches. Previous researches in general take either exclusively economics or legal perspectives to deal with the ...
Our research team concentrate on economic and legal issues of the world trade system and carries out relevant theoretic and empirical researches. Previous researches in general take either exclusively economics or legal perspectives to deal with the issues; however, our research team pursues interdisciplinary approaches based on both economics and legal methodologies. Our team not only predicts future forms of rapidly changing world trade order but analyzes current system and legal order based applying theories and empirical tools.
The medium or long term goal of the team is to building up its research capacity to become a think tank. It sets an ultimate goal of providing a desirable model of the world trade system, which can effectively respond to such "risks" as spread of trade disputes and maintain sustainable momentum for self-evolution. Under the general research topic titled "Trade negotiations, increasing disputes and response", our team specifically delves into the following four research areas: (1) Repeated mechanism design and bargaining theory under imperfect information; (2) dispute settlement mechanism and preferential trade agreements; (3) legal and empirical analyses of the world trade system; and (4) green trade barriers.
Over the past three years, our team has achieved remarkable progress and obtained several notable outcomes. Some of them include an economic theory paper published in Econometrica, a journal of top authority in the field of economics, an interdisciplinary and empirical paper relating to that theory published in a SSCI journal, six "A" level research papers, two "C" level research papers, and a book containing many other research results of our team members. In addition, we have established an extensive and high-quality international network for research collaborations and academic activities, and, utilizing the network, it has successfully held a top-notch international seminar in the third program year. Also, the team manager has been invited to join in writing the international trade order part of Elsevier Publisher's handbook series, which is appraised for providing worldwide academic foundation. Moreover, we have made several trade policy advices, and assisted and educated young scholars, producing one master degree student, and one Ph. D. student, who was subsequently employed by a national research institute.
Our team is extending research capacity and trying to more actively address currently emerging trade policy issues, including regional integration strategies for Korea-China FTA, ongoing TPP and RCEP and many others. We also plan to strengthen co-works among the team members in order to link their expanding research capacity and progressively advancing research results.
Based on the first three years' achievements, we are preparing for a merge with another research team based in Yonsei University with a view to collaborate on the two teams' common research area, "International Trade, Technological progress, and Standards" (Research topic 1). Meanwhile, we will also continue to independently work on extended research topics of "World Trade Order" (Research Topic 2) and "New Technology and Standards of Developing Countries and Standards Governance" (Research Topic 3). We plan to continuously publish and present at the advanced research level as well as contribute to policy-relevant issues, and intensify interdisciplinary collaborations, assisting and encouraging participations from the next generation young scholars. We will keep on pursuing our ultimate goal of becoming a high-level think tank, specializing in international economic order and standards based on interdisciplinary approaches. Our progress will contribute to solidifying the academic and theoretic foundation for Korean society to advance and better interact with the rapidly changing world economic environment.