These three Working Papers look at NAFTA after four years. In Part I, the authors examine NAFTA's impact on trade and investment in North America; in Part II, its impact on jobs and employment; and in Part III, its impact on environmental issues. They conclude that NAFTA is an important agreement that, together with the Uruguay Round accord, will influence patterns of trade and investment in the future. To date, NAFTA has had only a modest direct impact on patterns of trade, investment, jobs, and income. NAFTA side agreements have led to changes in environmental protection policy and in the protection and enforcement of labor rights. However, these results are also modest, and it is too early to determine any longer-term impact. The conclusion of these papers is that NAFTA was not the beginning of economic integration in North America, but rather was a response to powerful forces of change that began in the mid-1980s.
Soloway, Julie A., "Assessing NAFTA - Part III: NAFTA and the Environment" (1998). Faculty Working Papers. 35.