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This study proposes an approach for quantifying two kinds of costs related to the utilisation of regional trade agreements (RTAs). The first, called the "procurement adjustment cost," represents the cost involved in meeting the rules of origin by adjusting procurement sources. The second is the additional fixed cost required to utilise RTAs, including document preparation costs for the certificates of origin. Applying our approach to Thailand's imports from China, our estimates suggest that procurement adjustment costs at the median are equivalent to 4% of the per‐unit production cost. RTA utilisation also requires an additional 27% in fixed costs. In addition, we simulate how much a reduction in these costs would enhance RTA utilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how the product mixes of Japanese manufacturing plants have been impacted by the rise of China imports over the period 1997–2014. It focuses on the way plants are embedded in their local environment mitigates this causal relationship. We find evidence that China import competition induced both product downsizing and product exit within Japanese manufacturing plants. Moreover, we find that those negative effects differ across plants according to various plant characteristics including the spatial organization of their parent firm, and the degree of their exposure to external agglomeration economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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