Deadline: June 2, 2017
The World Trade Organization is calling for papers from young economists from all over the world willing to partake in the 2017 WTO Essay Award competition. The award aims to promote high-quality research on trade policy and international trade co-operation and to reinforce the relationship between the WTO and the academic community. The paper must address issues related to trade policy and international trade co-operation. Co-authors are also encouraged to partake.
The World Trade Organisation is an organization for trade opening. It is a forum for governments to negotiate trade agreements. It is a place for them to settle trade disputes. It operates a system of trade rules. Essentially, the WTO is a place where member governments try to sort out the trade problems they face with each other. The WTO was born out of negotiations, and everything the WTO does is the result of negotiations. The bulk of the WTO’s current work comes from the 1986–94 negotiations called the Uruguay Round and earlier negotiations under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO is run by its member governments. All major decisions are made by the membership as a whole, either by ministers (who usually meet at least once every two years) or by their ambassadors or delegates (who meet regularly in Geneva).
Benefits
- The annual WTO Essay Award provides a prize of CHF 5,000 to the author(s) of the winning essay. In the case of a co-authored paper, the prize will be equally divided among the authors;
- The winning paper will be officially announced at the annual meeting of the European Trade Study Group (ETSG), which is the largest conference specializing in international trade. The award ceremony will take place in September 2017 in Florence, Italy;
- The winning author(s) will receive funding to attend the meeting.
Eligibility
- The paper must address issues related to trade policy and international trade co-operation;
- The author(s) of the paper must possess or be engaged in the completion of a PhD degree and, if over 30 years of age, be no more than two years past a PhD defence;
- In the case of co-authored papers, this requirement shall apply to all authors;
- In addition, to be considered for the award, essays cannot exceed 15,000 words.
Application Process
All submissions should be sent to [email protected]. Submissions should include as separate attachments in PDF format:
- the essay
- the CV of the author(s), specifying (i) current affiliation(s), (ii) the academic institution awarding the PhD, (iii) the year (or the expected year) of the PhD, (iv) the date of birth of the author(s).
The Economic Research and Statistics Division of the WTO Secretariat will shortlist eligible papers by June 16, 2017 and the selection panel will take a final decision by July 14, 2017. Only the author(s) of short-listed essays will be notified.
For more information, visit WTO Essay Award.
