WTO成员方会利用最惠国待遇条款“搭便车”吗——基于中国参与多边贸易谈判的实证研究

Will WTO Member Countries Make Use of the MFN Clause to be “Free-Rider”——Empirical Study Based on China's Participation in Multilateral Trade negotiations

将中国2004年对外贸易数据及2004-2007年MFN平均税率数据匹配至HS02分类标准下的1139种商品,利用OLS和工具变量法实证分析了WTO成员方在多边谈判中"搭便车"行为对MFN税率的影响。研究发现,在中国参加的多边谈判中确实存在成员方"搭便车"现象;"搭便车"行为对MFN税率存在微弱的积极影响。据此,本文在提出积极参加多边谈判的同时,注重区域及双边谈判的政策建议,减少单纯对多边谈判的依赖进而避免目前由于谈判无效率引起的扭曲现象。

This article matches China＇s foreign trade data in 2004 and the 2004-2007 average MFN rate data to the 1139 kinds of goodsclassification under standards HSO2,and uses OLS and instrumental variables in the empirical analysis of the impact of ＂free rider＂ behavior of the Member States on the MFN rates in multilateral negotiations. The study findsthat member states ＂free-rider＂ phenom- enon exists in China＇s participation in multilateral negotiations; ＂free rider＂ behav- ior has weak positive impact on MFN rates. Accordingly, this paper advises thatChina should keep active attitude in multilateral negotiations, pay attention to regional agreements and bilateral negotiations policy to reduce reliance on multilat- eral negotiations and avoid distortions caused by the current inefficiency of the negotiations .