Dr. Omar Ramon Serrano Oswald (欧山)
Research Associate
School of Governance
Technical University of Munich
Email:
Address:
TUM School of Governance | Richard-Wagner-Straße 1, 80333 Munich
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Hello! 你好！
I am a Research Associate at the School of Governance of the Technical University of Munich. I was previously a Visiting Scholar at TUM (Munich), Fudan (Shanghai), FGV (Rio de Janeiro), ITAM (Mexico City), JNU (New Delhi) and UIBE (Beijing); Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the University of Geneva and the University of Lucerne; Guest Professor at Hunan University (湖南大学), and regular lecturer at the World Trade Institute in Bern. I am also part of the research team of the Sino-Swiss Competence Centre of the University of St. Gallen (FIM-HSG).
Over the past years I have produced fourteen publications, which include my book Domestic Sources of European Foreign Policy and numerous scholarly articles in renowned academic journals such as New Political Economy (2019 IF 3.157, 9th/95 in International Relations) and Regulation & Governance (2019 IF: 3.375, 12th/180 in Political Science) looking at China and emerging economies’ role in global economic governance (h-index: 3). I have also published several chapters in edited volumes in well known international publishers such as Cambridge University Press, Palgrave Macmillan and Springer. Besides English I have published in Portuguese (Editora UFPB) and Mandarin (Nanjing Press Company). My current research looks at agency slack in international institutions and the transformation of international trade and investment by emerging economies, especially China.
I completed my PhD in International Relations/Political Science at the Graduate Institute. Before Geneva, I obtained a MSc. in Global Politics from the London School of Economics (LSE) and a licenciatura in International Relations from ITAM University. Since 2007, I have been an associate editor for the Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs. Having lived in both sides of the Atlantic helped me learn several languages which link directly to my research interests amongst which Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Italian and Mandarin. In pursuing these interests, I learned and applied both qualitative and quantitative methodologies: combining case study analysis, interview material, with regression analysis and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).
Work Experience
07/2018 – to date
Research Associate, School of Governance, Technical University of Munich
04/2008 – to date
Associate Editor, Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs, Taiwan
06/2017 – 02/2018
Research Associate, China Competence Centre, University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland
Senior Researcher and Lecturer at the Global Studies Institute, University of Geneva, Switzerland
Senior Researcher and Lecturer, University of Lucerne, Switzerland
Visiting Scholar, Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
10/2010 – 4/2015
09/2014 – 07/2018
Visiting Scholar, Center for BRICS Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai China
09/2017 – 10/2017
Guest Professor, Hunan University (湖南大学), Hunan, China
12/2016 – 09/2018
10/2017 – 06/2018
Visiting Fellow in Global Transformations, Bavarian School of Public Policy (HfP), Technical University of Munich
07/2014 – 08/2014
04/2014 – 05/2014
Visiting Scholar ITAM University, Mexico City, Mexico
01/2014 – 02/2014
Visiting Scholar, Centre for International Trade and Development (CITD) Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
06/2013 – 10/2013
Visiting Scholar, University of International Business & Economics (UIBE), Beijing, China
Education
Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies. Geneva, Switzerland
Topic: ‘The Domestic Sources of European Foreign Policy: Defence and Enlargement’
Advisor: Cédric Dupont. Readers: Urs Luterbacher and Frank Schimmelfennig
2005-2011
PhD
2004-2005
MSc.
London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE. London, UK
Dissertation: ‘Two-Level Games, Regional Integration and Referenda Strategy. Austria, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland: a Case Study’
Advisor: Mathias Koenig-Archibugi
ITAM University. Mexico City, Mexico
Dissertation: ‘The Internal Effects of EU Conditionality on Turkey’
Advisor: Stephan Sberro
1997-2003
Lic.
2008 – to date
Mandarin
Mandarin Courses. Geneva, Switzerland & Beijing China
University of Geneva, Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) & private tutor
Projects
Selected Publications
New!! Special Issue
Power Transitions and the Rise of the Regulatory State: Global Market Governance in Flux
Regulation & Governance (2020)
Edited by Sandra Lavenex, Omar Serrano and Tim Büthe
Analyzing the consequences of the ongoing power transition in the world economy through the prism of the regulatory state, this special issue emphasizes the interplay of domestic and international politics that fuels or inhibits the creation of regulatory capacity and capability and thus emerging countries' transition from rule- takers to rule-makers in global markets.
New!!
Regulation & Governance (2020)
Omar Ramon Serrano Oswald and Mira Burri
This article analyzes the domestic drivers of regulatory state formation in India and Brazil and its consequences for the global rules governing pharmaceutical patents. We look into two key domestic regulatory initiatives: India’s Section 3(d) and Brazil´s prior consent requirement. These case studies provide two key insights. Firstly, the transition towards regulatory states in emerging countries is a bulky road and does not progress in linear ways. Secondly, once regulatory capacity and capability have been solidified, domestic policy innovations can become internationally influential. This needs not work through the traditional channels of multilateralism, but can also occur horizontally through policy-diffusion to other jurisdictions.
New!! Book Chapter
TRIPS Implementation in Developing Countries: Likely scenarios to 2025
In: The Shifting Landscape of Global Trade Governance
Eds. Manfred Elsig, Michael Hahn and Gabriele Spilker
Cambridge University Press, 2019
This chapter sketches future scenarios of TRIPS implementation in developing countries by looking at past experience, current trends and by comparing historical and cross-country patterns. The chapter focuses on the three largest emerging economies -Brazil, India and China (BICs), since they are those with the highest potential to shape the intellectual property regime.
Teaming Up? China, India and Brazil and the Issue of Benefit-Sharing from Genetic Resource Use
Valbona Muzaka & Omar Serrano (2019)
In this article, we focus on an area that has not been systematically addressed but is of crucial importance to China, India and Brazil: The global governance of genetic resources. All three countries are rich in biodiversity and, ever since biotechnology promised to turn DNA into gold, have been significant players in the regime complex that governs genetic resources. Shortcomings notwithstanding, the establishment of a new access and benefit-sharing regime constitutes a rare instance where emerging countries have succeeded in becoming rule-makers of sorts. We analyse the ways in which these three countries have sought to pursue their interests in this area.
The New Architects: Brazil, China and Innovation in Multilateral Development Lending
Omar Serrano (2018)
Recent academic works have shed light upon the motives and negotiation dynamics leading to the creation of the New Development Bank (NDB) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). We know less about their day-to-day activities and if (and if so why) they are being innovative in the field of multilateral development lending. This article evaluates novelty in the two banks. It uncovers and suggests an explanation to the puzzle of why the NDB appears more innovative (in terms of institutional design, staffing and lending policy guidelines) than the AIIB by exploring the cases of China and Brazil.
Tomas CasasiKlett & Omar Serrano (2018)
Tomas Casas i Klett (China Competence Center, FIM-HSG University of St. Gallen, Switzerland) and Omar Serrano Oswald (University of Geneva, Switzerland) show how FTAs are used by the BRI as stepping-stones for multilateralism. They propose that China’s FTAs are part of a long- term multilateral approach with the potential to be included in the institutional infrastructure of the BRI. By developing a BRI Initiatives Dynamic Evaluation Framework, they emphasize that initiatives under BRI will be subject to decision and evaluation mechanisms that transcend China proper. This means that rather than being static, FTAs are dynamic. The key element in this iteration is the FTA upgrade, which includes trade impact analyses, business agent surveys, utilization rates, and signaling effects. The Sino–Swiss FTA is evaluated as a case study.
Special Issue:
EU and US regulatory power under strain? Emerging countries and the limits of external governance
Edited by Sandra Lavenex and Omar Serrano (2017)
The EU and the US are at the origin of most international institutions and rules for both trade and finance, and both have long exported their preferred policies to the rest of the world. Today, this hegemonic position is increasingly challenged by the rise of new centres of economic power such as China, India and Brazil. This introductory article introduces the ‘supply-and-demand model of regulatory power’ guiding this Special Issue and, drawing on the latter’s contributions, illustrates the interplay between EU/US regulatory outreach and emerging economies’ domestic politics in explaining the embracement or rejection of EU/US trade-related agendas.
Rising Economies in the International Patent Regime: From Rule‐Breakers to Rule‐Changers and Rule‐Makers
Morin, JF, O. Serrano, M. Burri, S. Bannerman (2017)
Rising economies face a crucial dilemma when establishing their position on international patent law. Should they translate their increasing economic strength into political power to further developing countries’ interests in lower levels of international patent protection? Or, anticipating a rising domestic interest in stronger international patent protection, should they adopt a position that favours maximal patent protection? Drawing on multiple case studies using a most-similar system design, we argue that rising economies, after having been coerced into adopting more stringent patent standards, tend to display ambivalent positions, trapped in bureaucratic politics and caught between conflicting domestic constituencies. We find that the recent proliferation of international institutions and the expansion of transnational networks have contributed to fragmentation and polarisation in domestic patent politics.
Exporting Intellectual Property Rights to Emerging Countries: EU and US Approaches Compared
Ivo Krizic & Omar Serrano (2017)
This article focuses on the EU’s and the US’s relationship with Brazil, India and China (BIC) in the area of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). The comparison of EU and US approaches yields the interplay between hierarchical (coercive) and horizontal (network-based) strategies used by both sides to advance a maximalist IP agenda vis-à-vis the BIC. We furthermore find the EU taking inspiration (i.e. ‘learning’) from the US in the process of strengthening its external IP policy. Switching the angle to the ‘demand-side’ of emerging countries, China comes out as the most accommodative among the BIC in terms of aligning its IP (especially patent) legislation and enforcement practices with standards promoted by the EU and the US. India and Brazil, on the other hand, have shown more signs of contestation, not only in domestic implementation but also in terms of opposing and seeking alternatives to EU- and US-induced global IP norms
This paper looks at the insertion of China and India in the contested and highly legalised regime of intellectual property rights (IP). In doing so it pays particular attention at two dimensions, the internal adoption of this regime and external endorsement/contestation of international IP norms. Much has been written about whether emerging countries will challenge or support the maintenance of an open rules-based multilateral trade system. In this context, the differentiated integration of these two countries in the IP regime is notable. Domestically, China despite much criticism for widespread IP infringement has followed a maximalist interpretation of TRIPS. India, on the contrary has followed other emerging countries in pursuing a more critical, minimalist understanding. These positions have also been visible at the multilateral arena.
Omar Serrano, Nanjing Press Company (2015)
本章研究的目标是构建欧盟外交政策对国内政治进程和民意的影响同时通过这一研究对通过推进内部改革以实现地区安全的欧盟政策进行 评估 本章聚焦决策者和民意安全关注的不协调状况在对外交政 策相关问题来自国内选区的关注中也出现了类似的情况这些都不断 对过去十年中的"宽容共识"进行着侵蚀 在许多欧盟成员国(MS)内部都存在着对于扩大"四个自由" (资本劳动力商品和服务) 的反对声音， 力而后者是欧盟扩大和新睦邻战略的主要推动。
Book: The Domestic Sources of European Foreign Policy
Omar Serrano, Amsterdam University Press (2014)
This timely study considers the challenges of developing a foreign policy for a union of 27 states while taking national political processes into account. Serrano analyses the relevance of domestic political processes for the EU's common policies and examines the democratic deficit in the EU foreign policy, thereby highlighting what is unique about it and reflecting on its possible evolution. As the EU continues to face difficulties in formulating common policies, this volume offers a unique insight into the complexities of enhancing the EU's common policies by assessing domestic political debates and the role of actors who legitimise or constrain support for common policies
Recent Activities
Recent Activities
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September 2020: bidt Sprint Review, Project: Learning from the “Frontrunner”? A Multidisciplinary Analysis of the Chinese Social Credit System and its Impact on Germany, Munich, Germany
Photo credit: Klaus D. Wolf
Photo credit: Klaus D. Wolf
Photo credit: Klaus D. Wolf
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October 2019: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung and Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization Workshop on the Role of Economic Diplomacy Today, Istanbul, Turkey
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September 2019: Munich Politics Network 2019. Panel on the future of global economic governance, Munich, Germany
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September 2019: Interview with CGTN on Angela Merkel´s trip to China
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June 2019: Interview with Deutsche Welle on Chinese investments in Germany
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November 2018: Munich Politics Network 2018 on Disruptive Politics and Technology
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September 2018: Evaluation of the Sino-Swiss FTA. A research-based assessment of the Sino-Swiss trade agreement. Behind this work is a team of academics of the Sino-Swiss Competence Center (SSCC) from the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, Nanjing University, and the University of St.Gallen (HSG). Kantonsratssaal St. Gallen, Switzerland
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May 2018: Presentation at the closing ceremony of the Shanghai Forum, Shanghai, China
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May 2018. Shanghai Forum Roundtable: The role of multilateral development banks in Asia and Emerging Countries post 2008 crisis. From left to right (bottom to top), Prof. Dr. Luciano Coutinho (former president of the Brazilian development bank BNDES), Prof. Dr. Justin Yifu Lin (former World Bank Chief Economist and Senior Vice President), Prof. Dr. L.C. Bresser-Pereira (former Finance Minister of Brazil), Mmakgoshi Lekhethe (Executive director of the AfDB), Dr. Joachim von Amsberg (Vice-President of the AIIB), Dr. Ronaldo Lemus (Columbia University), Lucas Dib (NYU Shanghai), Sergio Suchodolski (Director of Strategy, NDB), Farid Masmoudi (formerly ISDB), Dr. Omar Serrano (Technical University of Munich). Shanghai, China
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November 2017: Emerging Economies Forum and China Society of Emerging Economies Annual Conference, Guangzhou, China
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September 2017: Symposium on New Development Assistance (NDA). Emerging Economies (EEs) and the New Landscape of Development Assistance. Organised by Fudan University and the London School of Economics, Shanghai, China
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September 2017: Second International Symposium on Development and Governance in the BRICS, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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July 2017: Final ESRC conference: Rising Powers and Interdependent Futures. University of Manchester
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July 2017: Roundtable The Belt and Road Initiative in the Current Trade and Integration Context organised by ICTSD and CCIEE, Geneva, Switzerland
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May 2017: Signing Ceremony Sino-Swiss Competence Center. HSG-FIM and UIBE, Beijing, China
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May 2017: Launching of Sino-Swiss Competence Center. University of St. Gallen and UIBE, Beijing, China
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November 2016: Presentation at CASS Forum, G-20 from Hangzhou to Hamburg, Guangzhou, China
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November 2016: Best Paper Award Ceremony (Second Prize) from the China Society of Emerging Economies, Guangzhou, China
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November 2016: Joint workshop University of Geneva- Fudan. Emerging Powers and New Development Institutions. The AIIB and the NDB, Geneva, Switzerland
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September 2016: CEBRI Workshop What's New for Brazil in the New Development Bank. Rio de Janeiro Brazil
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August 2016: ICTSD Workshop on G-20 Trade and Investment Outcomes. Beijing, China
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July 2016: Participation and presentation at the Think - 20 Summit (T-20) Building New Global Relationships. Beijing, China
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July 2016: Visit to the Shanghai Institute of International Studies (SIIS). Discussion with Prof. Liu Zongyi from the Institute for World Economic Studies on China-India cooperation in the framework of BRICS, India’s perspective of the “One Belt and One Road” Initiative and economic integration in the Asia-Pacific
About Me
Fluent in English, Spanish, German, French and Portuguese; intermediate Mandarin (over 1000 characters) and Italian
International Political Economy
Emerging Countries (focus on China)
International Organizations
Global Governance
Regulatory Politics
European Foreign Policy
EXPERTISE
