Do Comparative Advantage, H-O Model, and Ice-berg Partial Equilibrium Model Explain Intra-COMESA Trade for Kenya?

The paper is part of the dissertation and discusses the implication of international trade theories to intra-COMESA trade using Kenya as a case study. Kenya trades with more than 16countries in the COMESA region (Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eswatini, Libya, Malawi, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe), thus the analysis. The paper employs the desk review method of research. The study used trade facilitation to measure trade costs. Therefore, the theoretical discussion referred to variables measuring trade costs: trade facilitation (authorized economic operator, single window), distance, common language, and adjacency. International trade theories are used to explain why countries trade beyond national borders. The analysis shows that one theory is insufficient to explain the volume of trade between countries; thus, different theories are explored to explain why countries engage in trade. The paper shows that while comparative advantage is the major theory in international trade, factor intensities and trade costs which determine the volume of international trade are explained by H-O model and Ice-berg partial equilibrium model thus no one theory can exclusively explain trade flows. Similarly, intra-COMESA trade can bet explained by classical and neo-classical theories of international trade.