Flexibility in the WTO: Navigating the Dynamics of Multilateralism Using Grounded Theory

This paper explores conflicting national perspectives and evolution of World Trade Organisation (WTO) through a flexible systems approach. It explores international trade system’s conflicting thesis antithesis of global trade regimes/regional trade agreements vis-a-vis national perspective/interest. The multilateral trade framework acts as a facilitator for equal trade norms for all, accidentally creating a barrier for several developing and less developed nations to participate in the “free trade regime”. Literary evidence suggests these nations participate in the regional trade agreements (RTAs) which may not be very beneficial for the nations participating in it. Adding to the damage, these countries distance themselves from WTO, heading for another dent on their economy. In the era of globalisation appearing like a “Zero Sum Game” for economies and therefore, a system in an institutional framework essentially desires “flexibility” and change with changing times. When an organisation gets nudged by the diverse views of its members and detects belligerence and discontent among member nations, it is time for organisational change, a change in the current institutional paradigm towards organisational flexibility. To explore these conflicting perspectives, the grounded theory methodology has been used in this study. The research design is exploratory in nature. Using judgemental and snowball sampling of international experts in the area of multilateral trade and international trade negotiations, the thematic coding paradigm has been drawn. The process has been iterated, and cross-validation has been done with the literature after deploying grounded theory methodology. Subsequent, open, axial, and selective coding has been performed and data triangulation for validation of themes has been done. In addressing the dominant theme evolved from the study, the institutional crevice within the global trading system requires a comprehensive approach. This begins with reinstating conducive conditions for negotiating global trade liberalisation and facilitating consensus among WTO member countries with modernised regulatory framework and augments its global decision-making.