Shimada, Stephen (2012) EU-US airplane subsidy disputes : Airbus vs. Boeing. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The core issues of this thesis are the EU-US airplane subsidy disputes, which are
market-share driven, political-economic conflicts of interest, arising from the duopoly
competition between Airbus and Boeing in the fourteen-year period from 1997 to
2011. The Airbus vs. Boeing dispute case is characterized by the complexity of the
dispute - the largest ever to go before the World Trade Organization (WTO) in
Geneva. The thesis focuses on government subsidy disputes between two big
political and economic powers – the EU and the US – through an in-depth analysis
of both sides of the arguments. With duopoly in the large commercial airplane
industry, new insight can be gained through better understanding of potential net
welfare gain or loss from having two competitive manufacturers competing against
each other in a free marketplace.
The legal issues are the core narratives of this thesis. Use of the case
study enables us to better understand how these two corporate players, markets,
and government policies make the difference in terms of economic outcomes.
Hence, it is an effective means of addressing key problems in the real world of the
large commercial airplane industry. The value added of this thesis comes from the
contribution to scholarly research and practice by placing the Airbus vs. Boeing
case study at the core of its political-economic debate on government subsidy
issues.
Therefore, the main theoretical framework of this study is state-business
relationships, which explore different approaches in the EU and the US while
recognizing that there are some differences between EU member states of Airbus.
The study explains how the Airbus vs. Boeing case will be used, - and how it will be located within the wider theoretical and disciplinary perspectives of statebusiness
relationships, based on the concepts developed by Susan Strange with
some reference to the ‘varieties of capitalism’ debate by Peter Hall and David
Soskice. The political-economic differences across the states are captured by the
concepts advanced in the ‘varieties of capitalism’ debate, while both the statebusiness
relationships and the ‘varieties of capitalism’ approach were used to
understand the individual corporate variations of Airbus and Being’s different
business models.
This study also investigates the political-economic implications of
European competition policy, and the politics associated with it. The core of the
subsidy dispute is about the relationship between the state and business in the
context of the world trading system. The World Trade Organization (WTO) plays a
critically important role by offering a dispute settlement mechanism - specifically as
to what kind, and how much, aid a state can legally give to a business enterprise.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Aircraft industry -- Subsidies, Subsidies -- Law and legislation -- United States, Subsidies -- Law and legislation -- European Economic Community countries, Aircraft industry -- United States, Aircraft industry -- European Economic Community countries, Airbus Industrie, Boeing Airplane Company
Official Date:	June 2012
Dates:	Date Event June 2012 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Politics and International Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Grant, Wyn
Extent:	xii, 253 leaves.
Language:	eng

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