International contestability of markets and the visible hand. Trade regulation of state-owned enterprises between multilateral impasse and new free trade agreements

In this article, we analyze the implications of the various approaches taken by the PTAs in addressing SOEs and whether they have sufficiently established a regime that will achieve the balance sought. The article places those disciplines in the context of the current trade regimes, while considering that establishing trade rules concerning SOEs raise fundamental questions about the nature and degree of government involvement in commercial affairs and the right of other governments to inquire into such involvement. Key is the recognition that there are two goals at work simultaneously in such normative exercise. On the one hand, negotiators seek the creation of the conditions for internationally contestable markets, while simultaneously permitting domestic constituencies to maintain sufficient policy space for using SOEs to contribute to important public goals