Since its inception in 1995, more than 330 disputes have been raised under the WTO Dispute Settlement System. The major players in world trade the EU and the USA are also the busiest users of this instrument. After looking at links between economic integration and WTO involvement and a survey of...

This paper surveys the theoretical and empirical research on the efficient assignment of policy tasks to different levels of government and applies the results on the delimitation of competences within the European Union. The main results are: (i) A precise derivation of an optimal degree of...