Jeff Kucik | Scholars Strategy Network

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About Jeff

Dr. Kucik researches the politics of international trade. He pays particular attention to the costs and benefits of trade agreement membership. He also explores the partisan debates over trade within the United States. Dr. Kucik spent six years directing graduate programs in international affairs. He has published in a variety of peer-review academic journals as well as outlets like the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Foreign Affairs and the Hill.

Contributions | No Jargon Podcast | In the News | Publications

Contributions

Build Back Better Has a Tax Credit That Even Fiscal Conservatives and Moderates Can Back

Commentary, December 2021

In the News

Opinion: "Order Your Christmas Presents Now — Supply Delays Are Here To Stay," Jeff Kucik, The Hill, September 7, 2021.

Opinion: "The Conversation. September 3, 2021. with Don Leonard. ," Jeff Kucik (with Don Leonard), The Conversation, September 7, 2021.

Opinion: "Xinjiang Trade Restrictions Put Good Policy Ahead of Profits," Jeff Kucik, The National Interest, July 18, 2021.

Opinion: "Trade Deals Primarily Promote Stability, Not Trade," Jeff Kucik, Foreign Policy, May 5, 2021.

Opinion: "The Pandemic Is Exposing the Vulnerabilities of the U.S. Service Economy," Jeff Kucik, The Washington Post , April 22, 2020.

Publications

"How Do Prior Rulings Affect Future Disputes?" International Studies Quarterly 63, no. 4 (2019): 1122–1132.

Argues that case law increases the likelihood of early settlement. Helps explain why fifty percent of WTO cases end prior to a formal ruling.

"How Do Third Parties Affect Compliance in the Trade Regime?" (with Lauren Peritz). The Journal of Politics 83, no. 3 (2021).

Introduces new data on compliance, measured as whether losing countries make tangible domestic reforms to bring policy in line with WTO rulings. We show that compliance is significantly less likely in disputes with more third parties. Uses a variety of estimation techniques, including controlling for nonrandom selection into legal rulings, we demonstrate a robust correlation between third party participation and noncompliance. Highlights a risk of stringent enforcement and suggest that compliance problems threaten to undercut the operation of the multilateral trade regime.

"Domestic Leadership Turnover and the Durability of International Trade Commitments" (with Julia Gray). Comparative Political Studies 50, no. 17 (2017).

Argues that government turnover undermines states’ commitments to liberalization, even if they have already signed an international agreement meant to constrain their behavior. Tests this argument using data on realized trade in the presence of around 300 preferential trade agreements (PTAs) since 1970.

"Extending Trade Law Precedent" Vanderbilt Journal 53, no. 4 (2021).

Describes the role of precedent in the Appellate Body (AB) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to explain how precedent can affect compliance with the decisions of international courts and tribunals (ICs). Makes two main contributions. Shows that there can be precedent without a formal stare decisis rule. In theory the AB has a rule against binding precedent.

"Do WTO Disputes Actually Increase Trade?" (with Stephen Chaudoin and Krzysztof Pelc). International Studies Quarterly 60, no. 2 (2016): 294-306.

Provides a careful analysis of trade flows in the wake of WTO disputes. Finds that WTO disputes do not increase the respondent country's imports of the products at issue.