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This study analyzes the impacts of further tariff reductions resulting from the proliferation of regional trade agreements on wage inequality between skilled and unskilled workers in Chile in the 2000s. I match panel data on industry-level effective tariff rates and other industry variables calculated from plant-level microdata to pooled individual cross-section data from national household surveys at the industry level. Based on this unique data set, I estimate the impacts of effective tariffs on workers' wages directly in one stage. I find that a reduction in effective tariffs on final goods leads to an increase in industry wage and skill premiums. Moreover, the impact on the industry skill premiums is larger for skilled workers employed in large-sized firms. Therefore, the findings indicate that increased import competition due to reductions in output tariffs leads to skill upgrading within industries, thereby increasing demand for skilled workers. The results are robust to the possible endogeneity of effective tariffs and the inclusion of industry-level productivity.

espanolResumen: En este articulo estimamos, mediante un modelo de gravedad, el efecto de los Acuerdos Comerciales Regionales (ACR) en las exportaciones bilaterales, y realizamos un cuidadoso analisis de sensibilidad, considerando diferentes metodos y especificaciones. Los ACR presentan, por lo general, un efecto positivo considerable. Este impacto se reduce substancialmente al incluir efectos fijos pais variables en el tiempo y efectos fijos individuales. No obstante, el efecto de los ACR es consistente a traves de los metodos y especificaciones aplicados. Cuando el impacto de los ACR es calculado para cada acuerdo en particular, los coeficientes presentan una alta variabilidad. La mayoria de ACR presenta un impacto positivo. Otros presentan resultados no significativos o negativos. Para una mayor robustez de los resultados, los impactos de los ACR particulares fueron estimados con efectos fijos invariables en tiempo, y tambien con efectos fijos variables en el tiempo bajo el metodo de PPML. Asi, el 38,2% de los ACR son positivos y significativos en ambas especificaciones. A su vez, los efectos de creacion de comercio tienden a prevalecer sobre los efectos de desviacion del comercio. EnglishAbstract: We estimate the effect of RTAs on bilateral exports by means of a gravity model analyzing its sensitivity to different specifications and methods. RTAs generate a sizable positive effect. However, shifting to country-pair and time-varying fixed effects systematically reduces coefficients. Nevertheless, the RTA effect is consistent across methods and specifications. The RTA effect attributable to particular trade agreements displays high variability. While most RTAs increase trade, others present non-significant or negative results. We apply robustness checks to individual RTA estimates by presenting PPML time-invariant fixed effects and next to these, country-pair and time-varying fixed effects estimates. Thus, 38.2% of RTAs are positive and significant in both specifications. RTAs trade creation effects tend to prevail over trade diversion effects.

This study investigates the effect of regional trade agreements (RTAs)—including preferential and free trade agreements, customs unions, and common markets—on bilateral tourism flows. We explore these effects using a panel gravity data set of 163 destination countries, 171 source countries, and 13,589 country-pairs from 1995 to 2015. This is the first large cross-country study to undertake such an integrated analysis using the gravity framework. Results show that all types of RTAs have a positive and significant effect on bilateral tourism flows. The overall indicator of RTAs that captures the combined effect of all types of RTAs on bilateral tourism flows is also positive and significant, on average, as well as when different regions are separately evaluated. These findings underscore the importance of strong economic integration in fostering international tourism flows. Policies aimed at improving a country’s economic integration with other countries can help promote international tourism flows.

Over the past 30 years the world trade has undergone significant changes due to a combination of factors, including the establishment of the WTO and the rules of the multilateral trading system, the emergence of a network of regional trade agreements as well as deeper forms of integration, the increasing role of developing countries. This paper analyzes the reasons for the changes that have taken place, as well as current challenges that contribute to the slowdown of global trade. They include the accumulation of structural problems leading to the current crisis of the multilateral trade system and, in particular, the transition of trade conflicts to a new stage. Along with the direct effects generated as a result of the imposition of protectionist measures, the significance of indirect effects is growing against the background of the current events - there is a growing trade and political uncertainty affecting international trade flows. It is unlikely that global trade growth will recover soon, due to structural problems that need to be resolved multilaterally. Small positive effects are possible in case of gradual de-escalation of trade conflicts, but the current outcomes do not allow to draw certain conclusions.

This paper provides new, global evidence on the relationship between trade liberalization and deforestation. Using event studies around the enactment of regional trade agreements (RTAs) on ...

This paper studies the impact of European regional trade agreements on European export patterns. Using a simple fixed effects estimation method, it appears that only the extensive margin is positively affected by trade agreements, while the impact on total exports and on the intensive margin is insignificant. This finding breaks down, however, if one distinguishes between individual European countries. There appears to be substantial heterogeneity across European Union member states. Moreover, the impact on the extensive margin can be explained by the inclusion of various trade-related aspects in trade agreements, which deepen the effective trade integration between the European Union and its trading partners. Finally, using a composite indicator capturing the intensity of trade integration across twelve recent European trade agreements, we cannot conclude that more comprehensive trade agreements enhance exports more.

Regional trade agreements are undergoing many changes. Notably, the trajectory of China’s trade agreements has been affected by the unique US-China Phase One agreement, and these agreements extend beyond free trade agreements (FTAs). China’s trade agreements represent a different path forward from that mapped out by deep FTAs (e.g., the CPTPP) in respect of the future of trade law. This paper analyses two crucial but underexplored questions: What are the approaches behind deep FTAs and China’s trade agreements? How can we assess trade agreements (particularly China’s trade agreements)? The article critically reviews China’s trade agreements and deep FTAs. Based on in-depth comparative study, it argues that China’s trade agreements adopt an early harvest approach, which contrasts starkly with the regulatory plowing approach found in deep FTAs. It further proposes a tripartite theoretical framework with six indicators to assess trade agreements in terms of their impacts on domestic regulation. It theorizes about three crucial variables of trade agreements: (i) breadth (regulatory outreach) with two indicators (WTO-plus and WTO-beyond rules); (ii) depth (regulatory density) with two indicators (regulatory cooperation and coherence, and domestic law changes); and (iii) strength (rule use intensity) with two indicators (state-to-state dispute settlement (SSDS) rules, and SSDS coverage). This framework provides key insights into the significant heterogeneity and rationales behind trade agreements. It is critical to the in-depth analysis of evolving trade agreements and their implications, and supports the thorough assessment of the merits of different agreements in future research.

Chile is recognized as a highly centralized country, the literature in general and organizations such as the OECD identify Chile with a strong economic dependence on a few regions, where in addition, the OECD itself points out that this centralization and concentration limits Chile's capacity for increase. The main objective of the following research is to analyze the degree of incidence of macroeconomic, social, territorial and political variables that influence the foreign trade of the political-administrative regions of Chile with the World. Evaluating the impact of trade liberalization policies on the development of productive activity in the political-administrative regions of Chile. Regarding the methodology, a formulation of a commercial gravity model will be carried out applying the analysis methodology of panel data, considering for this the regionalized import and export figures, extracted from the customs databases, comprised between the years 2010 and 2019 and information from different national and foreign data sources published as open sources. Thus, it seeks to obtain a regional econometric analysis instrument that identifies the main variables that influence the flow of regional trade in Chile, and consequently measure the degree of territorial deconcentrating achieved from the international trade of Chile's regions as a percentage.

The massive expansion of world trade has been one of the most important occurrences in postwar economic history. In comparison to the rest of the world, Indian trade increased slowly but steadily from 1950 to 1980. The Indian government began a series of reforms in mid-1991 to liberalize and globalize the Indian economy. Since1991, India's economy has pursued a liberalization program. International trade is a critical strategic tool for a country's economic success. As a result, India has shifted away from inward-looking economic policies in order to compete in the global economy (Ratna & Kallummal, 2013). The current article focuses on India's new strategic participation in international trade through free trade agreements (FTAs) and regional trade agreements (RTAs).

Since the foundation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the quantity of the Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) to establish the Free Trade Areas (FTAs) has been consistently on the surge.

Background: One of the most compelling arguments for regional trade and integration in Africa is that the African market is the most fragmented in the world, with only 16% of trade being within the continent. Furthermore, with 14 regional economic communities (RECs), the scale of integrated trading compared to the magnitude of trade is cause for concern. Africa could soon witness an important milestone on its path towards increased regional trade and improved integration with the implementation of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) involving 26 countries. However, addressing overlapping memberships of the RECs and streamlining regulations, customs and border procedures can be a lengthy process. Aim: In the meantime, this study aims to identify specific intra-regional trade opportunities among African countries to inform a more targeted approach to regional trade. Methods: This article uses a unique approach based on the Decision Support Model (DSM) to identify intra-regional trade opportunities between the TFTA countries, taking into account each country’s import demand and export supply. Results: We determined 334 such opportunities among the 26 countries, of which 232 (almost 70%) are newly recognised as not being exploited. Conclusion: This economic potential calls for policymakers to take a more proactive approach in their actions and recommendations by targeting these trade opportunities.

In the progressively globalising world, wine trade is changing shape. In recent decades, major wine producers have suffered a remarkable drop in their domestic wine consumption, while New World wine producers have increased their production potential and induced new demand in foreign markets. These changes have been accompanied by a geographical relocation of wine consumption and trade. The aim of our paper is to analyse the effect of cultural-geographical proximity, free trade and the role of linguistic similarity on bilateral wine trade in the world major wine producer countries, employing balanced panel gravity model. Regression results suggest that larger countries export more wine, while transport costs increase in line with geographical distance, especially for landlocked trading partners. Moreover, global wine export costs are lower if trading partners are culturally similar; have the same religion or both are members of the WTO or have regional trade agreements.

The socialist contribution to the creation of the European Economic Community has long been overlooked and misunderstood. Existing scholarship emphasises short-term considerations in explaining why the French Socialist and German Social Democratic Parties supported a European Common Market in 1956–7. This article offers a new perspective by placing these parties’ decisions within a longer context of socialist views on free trade, tariffs and regional economic organisation. Based on fresh archival materials, this article explores how socialist proposals for securing an economic peace after the First World War continued to influence socialist policies on European economic integration in the 1950s.

While most studies conclude that Vietnam would have benefited greatly from the now suspended Trans-Pacific Partnership, the country nevertheless stands to gain from participation in other still promising regional frameworks, including the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific. This paper analyzes how Vietnam's economy is likely to be affected by these regional frameworks. We apply a static CGE model, incorporating the effects of capital accumulation, labor supply changes, and productivity growth stemming from trade liberalization. We also analyze “middle income trap” scenarios, in which Vietnam's growth factors fall below the full-potential level and draw policy implications.

The paper aims to investigate the impact of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and common commercial policy (CCP) on export performances of Visegrad group of countries (The Visegrad Four, V-4: Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) preceding and following the EU accession. The V-4, before becoming the EU members, have participated actively in regionalism, signing free trade agreements and customs unions which often also resulted in the extended economic integration. But since the EU accession in 2004, all RTAs of the new members were no longer valid as these countries became the parties of the CCP of the EU. To analyse whether CCP was beneficial on the export performances of the V-4 countries, we estimate the augmented gravity model by employing Poisson pseudo-maximum-likelihood (PPML) estimator for time periods before and after the EU accession, in 1999-2003 and 2004-2013, respectively.

This chapter analyzes the level of trade openness in the emerging Balkans, recent changes in its export competitiveness, trade composition, and trade pattern with the EU and the rest of the world. More precisely, it examines the beneficial effects of trade liberalization, intraregional trade, and trade relations in the region with the EU. Then, Chapter 4 assesses the influence of the intraregional integration on the economy, recent trends in the export and import structures and effectiveness of the MoU trade liberalization initiative and CEFTA 2006 trade cooperation as well as compares CEFTA members by the trade integration index. Moreover, the chapter employs two indicators: trade intensity and trade propensity to explore whether trade between CEFTA 2006 members and EU is more or less than the CEFTA 2006 region does on average.

This chapter analyses how Aid for Trade (AfT) is contributing to fostering business connections and intra-regional trade in Nigeria, and its regional neighbors within West Africa, with particular reference on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It examines the challenges and opportunities of aid for trade for road infrastructure in the ECOWAS region. It investigates the opportunities that AfT brings to enhance regional economic integration in ECOWAS, especially through building road interconnectivity and therefore, strengthening its economic infrastructure capacities. It also examines how and whether AfT is meeting its objective of helping developing countries, especially those in ECOWAS, to minimize trade costs, improve efficiency of road infrastructures, facilitate trade and maximize the benefits from trade liberalization.

The Asia-pacific region is the area with vast development accompanied by subtle evolution worldwide under frequently changeable global economic circumstance. The development of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in this area is most complicated and comprehensive. The interactive influence of economic growth and trade liberalization, and of the combination and differentiation, has grandly contributed the development of RTAs in the process of regional integration in this area, which has formed the strong driving force of the regional economic integration. On the basis of characteristics of the evolution in the course of Asia-pacific regional economic integration, this paper has analyzed the driving mechanism of the integration evolution and future development direction, then put forward some corresponding countermeasures.

In contrast to the rapid integration of the world economy, many regional trade agreements (RTAs) have also emerged since the early 1990s. This seeming contradiction has encouraged scholars and policy makers to explore the true effects of RTAs, including both regional and global trade relationships. This paper defines synthesized trade resistance and decomposes it into natural and artificial factors. Here, we separate the influence of geographical distance, economic volume, overall increases in transportation and labor costs and use the expectation maximization algorithm to optimize the parameters and quantify the trade purity indicator, which describes the true global trade environment and relationships among countries. This indicates that although global and most regional trade relations gradually deteriorated during the period 2007-2017, RTAs generate trade relations among members, especially contributing to the relative prosperity of EU and NAFTA countries. In addition, we apply the network to reflect the purity of the trade relations among countries. The effects of RTAs can be analyzed by comparing typical trade unions and trade communities, which are presented using an empirical network structure. This analysis shows that the community structure is quite consistent with some trade unions, and the representative RTAs constitute the core structure of international trade network. However, the role of trade unions has weakened, and multilateral trade liberalization has accelerated in the past decade. This means that more countries have recently tended to expand their trading partners outside of these unions rather than limit their trading activities to RTAs., 23 pages,18 figures

An issue often raised by economists concerns the consistency of trade-related incentive mechanisms in IEAs with the legal framework of the WTO (Limao, 2007, pp. 849-850, Ederington, 2010, pp. 92-93, 97, Das, 2015, pp. 24-25 and many others). Their argument is that trade sanctions such as border-tax adjustments (BTAs) and plurilateral types of regional trade integration are by their very nature discriminatory and, hence, they would violate the common status of Most-Favored Nation (MFN) treatment stipulated by GATT Art. I and para. 1 of GATS Art. II. This clause according to which any trade advantage granted by a WTO member to another country shall be provided to any other WTO member, constitutes the principles of reciprocity and non-discrimination for multilateral trade liberalization within the WTO (UNESCAP, 2008, pp. 217-218).

Countries were involved in regional trade agreements (RTAs) long before the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was established in 1947. In recent years, however, RTAs have proliferated, particularly in Africa. In this article, we examine the various reasons why African countries have chosen to engage in these agreements, particularly in light of the fact that they do not seem to be ‘trade creating’ in nature. As Jacob Viner made it popular in the 1950s, not all trade agreements lead to higher economic welfare for the nations engaging in them. In the case of African countries where there is a limited degree of variation in the goods that are produced, and infrastructure and trading systems are designed for intercontinental rather than intra-continental trade, RTAs may not necessarily lead to greater welfare. Our examination of RTAs does not yield a strong positive result that they are welfare-enhancing exercises. A greater care needs to be taken for future RTAs.

This essay examines the challenges and opportunities for regional trade lawmaking in the U.S.-Africa relationship. On the eve of the conclusion of an African continental free trade agreement, the U.S. trade law relationship with the continent remains focused on regional groups. Questions remain as to whether the existing trade law regime offers the flexibility necessary to accommodate alternative models to free trade agreements that may best serve the needs of African and U.S. constituencies. The essay proceeds in four parts. First, I sketch the current state of play in U.S.-Africa trade relations. Next, I outline how the U.S. and African approaches to trade lawmaking have differed. I then turn to two sets of challenges—one domestic and one international—that may impede innovation in developing a U.S.-Africa trade law relationship consistent with African interests. Finally, the essay concludes with an exploration of possible alternatives and issues not yet considered in the transcontinental dialogue on trade.

A globalizalodo vilaggazdasagban a vezető bortermelő orszagok egyre jelentősebb borkereskedelmet bonyolitanak le egymas kozott. Mig Europaban a fogyasztok egyre kevesebb bort vasarolnak, addig Amerikaban es Azsiaban a bor iranti kereslet folyamatosan bővul: a borkereskedelem foldrajzi atrendeződese zajlik. A kulturalis hasonlosag es a foldrajzi tavolsag kereskedelemre gyakorolt hatasat gyakran a kereskedelemelmeletek gravitacios modelljevel elemzik. E tanulmany azt vizsgalja, hogy a fő borexportalo orszagok kozotti foldrajzi tavolsag, kulturalis hasonlosag es szabadkereskedelem milyen hatassal van a nemzetkozi borkereskedelemre, annak koltsegeire. A regresszios becsles eredmenyei alatamasztjak, hogy a borkereskedelem koltsegei alacsonyabbak, ha a kereskedelmi partnerek kulturalisan hasonlok, foldrajzilag kozel helyezkednek el egymashoz, vagy van tengeri kikotőjuk, tagjai a WTO-nak, illetve ha kotottek egymassal regionalis kereskedelmi megallapodast. Ezenkivul megallapithato, hogy az angolszasz, a latin-amerikai es az europai kulturalis klaszterek elsősorban egymassal kereskednek. A kutatas szamos kulturalis valtozo alkalmazasaval es tobb okonometriai modell, illetve becslesi eljaras nagymintas tesztelesevel gazdagitja a szakirodalmat. ____ In a globalizing world, major wine-producing countries export considerable quantities to the global wine market and turn over a notable trade, but in what happens European wine regions differ markedly from the New World. Here major wine producers suffered a remarkable fall in domestic wine consumption in recent decades, while New World wine producers increased their production potential and generated new foreign demand. The changes have been joined by geographical relocation of wine consumption and exports. The gravity equation can be derived from demand-side or supply-side theory-consistent estimation methods that suggest relationships between the size of the economies, geographical distances, cultural similarities, and size of their trade. The paper analyses the effects of cultural and geographical proximity, free trade, and linguistic similarity on bilateral trade in the main wine-producing countries, using a cross-section gravity model for 2012. The results suggest that larger countries export more wine, while transport costs rise in line with geographical distance and are higher for landlocked trading partners. Wine export costs are lower if trading partners are culturally similar, share a dominant religion, or are both WTO members with regional trade agreements. Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, Latin American and Latin European countries mainly trade wines within their groups. The paper looks to extend the number of trading partners, investigate the effect of language clusters, and confirm that the results are robust by different econometric methodologies.

This paper assesses how regional trade agreements (RTAs) impact on growth volatility for a sample of 170 countries over the period 1978–2012. Notwithstanding concerns that trade openness through RTAs might heighten exposure to shocks, RTAs through enhanced policy credibility, improved policy coordination and reduced risk of conflicts can also ease growth volatility. Empirical estimations suggest the benefits outweigh the costs as RTAs are consistently associated with lower growth volatility. In addition, smaller economies benefit more from the reduced growth volatility associated with RTAs than larger ones. The nature of the RTA also matters as shallow agreements such as partial-scope preferential trade agreements do not appear to have a significant effect on growth volatility, whereas free trade areas and customs unions do. Finally, in investigating the drivers of RTAs, the regression results confirm that countries that are more prone to shocks are more likely to join an RTA, in particular with countries with relatively less volatile growth.

This article argues that the global financial crisis has weakened institutional support for financial liberalization in regional trade agreements and increased transaction costs in the financial services sector. Due to the lack of cooperation among international economic organizations, regional trade agreements, such as the TPP and TTIP, are at odds with international financial policies such as Basel III. This article analyzes the design of regional trade agreements and finds shortcomings — a proliferation of micro-prudential carve-outs, an absence of a macro-prudential perspective, and a fragmentary FTA dispute settlement. I argue that these shortcomings erode not only trade liberalization, but also international regulatory cooperation in financial services. This article brings together issues in international trade and finance that have been examined separately and calls for cooperation among international economic organizations.

With the likely demise of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism as of December 11, 2019, the question arises as to whether regional trade agreement (RTA) dispute settlement mechanisms such as those in the recent US-Mexico-Canada Agreement can provide an acceptable alternative. The paper concludes that the answer is "no," largely because most such mechanisms can be blocked by respondents simply by their refusal to appoint panelists.

Trade has played a critical role in global poverty reduction. In harnessing the potential of trade, some of the most successful countries have developed strong trade relationships with their neighbors. However, many South Asian countries have trade regimes that often offset the positive impact of geography and proximity. This report documents systematically the gaps between current and potential trade in South Asia and addresses important specific barriers that have held trade back. These barriers include tariffs and paratariffs, real and perceived nontariff barriers, connectivity costs, and the broader trust deficit. This policy-focused report unpacks these critical barriers to effective trade integration in South Asia through four in-depth studies that produce new, detailed, on-the-ground knowledge. Three of the studies are based on extensive stakeholder consultations. Two also rely on tailored surveys. The fourth study, on tariffs, benefits from new data on paratariffs. The report also marshals new evidence showing how trading regimes in South Asia discriminate against each other. Given the South Asian context, incremental, yet concrete steps aimed at tapping the potential of deeper integration are appropriate. The report has been drafted in this spirit. It offers precise, actionable policy recommendations that could help achieve measurable progress in key areas of trade and integration that would be to the advantage of all countries in the region.

This article studies the growth effects of regional trade agreements (RTAs), taking into account the World Trade Organization (WTO) participation of RTA members. Assuming smaller preference margins of RTAs for WTO members than for nonmembers, I show in a model a stronger growth effect of RTAs for non-WTO members than the effect for WTO members. Based on a comprehensive set of 270 RTAs and a large panel data set over the period of 1960–2007, the regression results show that RTAs promote growth for non-WTO members, while their growth effect is weaker and often insignificantly different from zero for WTO members. This implies that, so far, the complementarity between the two approaches of trade liberalization in promoting economic growth is limited.

This paper documents participation of special interest groups in negotiations of the Canada–US Free Trade Agreement. Using data on the tariff reduction schedules mandated by the agreement, it shows that industries represented by strong lobby groups were faced with more favorable tariff reduction paths in both countries: phase-out periods were longer at home and shorter in the partner country. This result provides evidence on the involvement of industry lobbying in negotiation of regional trade agreements and suggests that countries negotiating trade agreements are responsive to the interests of lobbying groups from across the border. Both results provide important implications for the political economy theory of trade agreements.

In West Africa, recorded intra-regional trade is small but informal cross-border trade (ICBT) is pervasive, despite regional integration schemes intended to promote official trade. We argue that ICBT must be understood in light of two features of West African national boundaries: divergent economic policies between neighboring countries and the ease with which informal operators can ship goods across borders. We focus on two ICBT clusters: Senegal–The Gambia and Nigeria–Benin–Togo. Nigeria and Senegal have protected their domestic industries with high import barriers, whereas Benin, Togo and The Gambia have maintained lower import taxation. These differential trade policies, together with high mobility of goods and people across borders, lead to widespread smuggling, with goods imported legally in low-tax countries and re-exported unofficially to countries with higher import duties.

Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have been advocated as one way of securing trade liberalization by the IMF and World Bank. The study uses the gravity model of bilateral trade flows to empirically investigate the effects of RTAs on intra-regional trade on a set of 46 Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries during 1995–2011 period. Our results indicate that three of the four selected RTAs have positive and statistically significant effect on the trade among the sub-Saharan African countries. Other included variables including distance, common language, shared border, shared colonial links, and common currency are found to be important determinants of trade among SSA countries.

Contents: Regional Integration and Poverty: Introduction, Dirk Willem te Velde. Part 1 Regional Integration and Poverty: Conceptual Issues and Evidence So Far: Regional integration, trade, foreign direct investment and migration, Dirk Willem te Velde, Sheila Page and Oliver Morrissey Trade , FDI, migration and poverty, Dirk Willem te Velde, Sheila Page and Oliver Morrissey Regional Integration and Poverty: towards a conceptual framework, Dirk Willem te Velde, Sheila Page and Oliver Morrissey. Part 2 Describing and Monitoring Regional Integration: Investment-related provisions in regional trade agreements, Dirk Willem te Velde and Miatta Fahnbulleh. Part 3 Case Studies of Bolivia and Tanzania: Regional integration and poverty: the case of Bolivia, Osvaldo Nina and Lykke E Andersen Regional integration and poverty: the case of Tanzania, Josaphat Kweka and Phillip Gaspar Mboya Regional integration and poverty: conclusions, Dirk Willem te Velde Index.

In the last ten years, while GATT and (later) WTO were actively advocating the doctrine of free trade, the world witnessed unprecedented formation of regional trading blocs. Focusing on the prospects and challenges of the free trade area of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the question of regional trade integration, the book also combines in-depth theoretical and empirical analysis with leading edge discussion of institutional and policy issues from a variety of African economies. This text makes a timely contribution not only to our understanding of the prospects and challenges of regional trading arrangements in Africa but also to the paradigm of regional trade integration in developing countries. Systematically structured, with thematically linked chapters and rigorous referencing, it is an essential guide for an international audience of academics, researchers, students and practitioners in International Trade, International Economics, Development Finance and Development Economics.

Numerous WTO members pursue regional economic integration with both other members and non-WTO-members. The resulting derogation from the most-favoured-nation principle needs to be justified in accordance with the relevant WTO provisions. Regional integration in the service sector is expressly allowed between WTO and non-WTO members pursuant to GATS Article V. In the absence of clear regulation, it has been questioned whether the same is true for regional trade agreements (RTAs) covering trade in goods. Providing a comprehensive interpretation, this paper argues that neither GATT Article XXIV nor the Enabling Clause require the WTO membership of all the parties to an RTA.

The scope of recent regional trade agreements (RTAs) has become much broader than before by the inclusion of nonconventional provisions such as those on competition policy and intellectual property rights protection. This paper empirically examines the extent to which those nonconventional provisions in RTAs enhance international trade between RTA member countries by estimating a gravity equation with detailed information on the contents of RTAs. We find that the provision for competition policy has the largest effect on international trade, followed by the government procurement provision. These two provisions have significant and positive impacts on intensive margin intensive margin (trade values per variety) and extensive margin (number of varieties traded)

The aim of this study is to investigate the motives and effects of mega-regional trade agreements on the multilateral trading system using the example of Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). Multilateralism and regionalism, although opposite trends, coexist simultaneously. While many arguments can be given for both approaches one has to recognize that the number of regional trade agreements is increasing and that regionalism is becoming a prevailing trend. The response to the regional trade agreements, especially mega-regionals, will mostly depend upon the effect on the third countries’ trade interests. Since it is expected that, over time, many of the currently excluded emerging economies will become a part of some mega-regional agreement, it is not likely that new global standards and rules will be created on a strictly regional but rather on multilateral level.