Patterns of representation in WTO committee chairs: 1995-2012

This paper sets out to examine the pattern of WTO committee chair appointments by nationality since the WTO’s founding in 1995, focusing on appointments made by the WTO General Council.  The issue of representation in WTO governance emerged from developing country dissatisfaction with agenda-setting by large developed countries, decision making through green room meetings and what they perceived as disappointing Uruguay Round outcomes. In the hierarchy of WTO committees, the Director-General and chairs of the Ministerial Conference, the General Council, and special subsidiary negotiating committees tend to play crucial roles in the outcome of trade negotiations.  Chairs of standing committees subsidiary to the General Council, and to the Goods and Services Councils, also play a significant role in administrative and implementation issues in Geneva.  The General Council selects most committee chairs, and must consider the balance of member representation and the quality of the candidates in its choices.  Regression techniques include OLS, Poisson and Negative Binomial methods, as well as probit analysis of the probability of chair appointment.  Regression results indicate that the selection of a chair by nationality generally reflects the country’s mission size in Geneva, the country’s years of experience as a WTO member, and its economic interests in trade.  Personal attributes and experience of individuals, as well as continuity in committee leadership, also appear to play important roles.   Among developing countries, emerging markets tend to have the largest proportional representation.  The General Council appears to follow a human capital model of chair selection, constrained by geographical and especially development status balance considerations.