IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/worlde/v45y2022i5p1501-1527.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The impact of free trade agreements on Middle East and North Africa exports of intermediate and final goods

Author

Listed:
  • Adriana Cardozo
  • Inmaculada Martínez‐Zarzoso
  • Paula L. Vogler

Abstract

This paper is the first to analyse the impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) and the harmonisation of rules of origin (RoO) on Middle East and North African (MENA) countries’ exports differentiating between final and intermediate goods for a global sample of trade partners. Data on exports from four MENA countries (Egypt, Jordan, Morocco and Tunisia) to 61 destinations over the period 1995–2016 are used to estimate a structural gravity model applying a Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML) estimator. Moreover, the paper estimates the effect of the progressive adoption of the Pan‐European‐Mediterranean RoO. Results show that FTAs have been overall successful in increasing MENA exports. This is particularly true for FTAs that eliminate protection on agricultural products. In contrast to the existing literature, we find that the agreements concluded with European countries raise MENA exports, whereas no significant impact is found for the application of the Pan‐European RoO.

Suggested Citation

  • Adriana Cardozo & Inmaculada Martínez‐Zarzoso & Paula L. Vogler, 2022. "The impact of free trade agreements on Middle East and North Africa exports of intermediate and final goods," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(5), pages 1501-1527, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:45:y:2022:i:5:p:1501-1527
    DOI: 10.1111/twec.13214
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.13214
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/twec.13214?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Péridy, Nicolas & Abedini, Javad, 2008. "The Greater Arab Free Trade Area(GAFTA): an Estimation of Its Trade Effects," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 23, pages 848-872.
    2. Thomas Chaney, 2008. "Distorted Gravity: The Intensive and Extensive Margins of International Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(4), pages 1707-1721, September.
    3. Mario Larch & Joschka Wanner & Yoto V. Yotov & Thomas Zylkin, 2017. "The Currency Union Effect: A PPML Re-assessment with High-Dimensional Fixed Effects," CESifo Working Paper Series 6464, CESifo.
    4. Athukorala, Prema-chandra & Yamashita, Nobuaki, 2006. "Production fragmentation and trade integration: East Asia in a global context," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 233-256, December.
    5. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    6. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/6apm7lruv088iagm4rv2c33jtg is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Sami Bensassi & Laura Márquez-Ramos & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso, 2012. "Economic Integration and the Two Margins of Trade: The Impact of the Barcelona Process on North African Countries' Exports," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 21(2), pages 228-265, March.
    8. Busse, Matthias & Gröning, Steffen, 2012. "Assessing the Impact of Trade Liberalization: The Case of Jordan," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 27, pages 466-486.
    9. M. D. Parra & I. Martinez-Zarzoso & C. Suárez-Burguet, 2016. "The impact of FTAs on MENA trade in agricultural and industrial products," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(25), pages 2341-2353, May.
    10. Mustapha Rouis & Steven R. Tabor, 2013. "Regional Economic Integration in the Middle East and North Africa : Beyond Trade Reform," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 12220, December.
    11. Thomas Chaney, 2008. "Distorted Gravity: The Intensive and Extensive Margins of International Trade," SciencePo Working papers hal-03579844, HAL.
    12. Baier, Scott L. & Bergstrand, Jeffrey H. & Clance, Matthew W., 2018. "Heterogeneous effects of economic integration agreements," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 587-608.
    13. Thomas Chaney, 2008. "Distorted Gravity: The Intensive and Extensive Margins of International Trade," Post-Print hal-03579844, HAL.
    14. Wood,Christina A. & Yang,Judy, 2016. "MENA export performance and specialization -- the role of financial sector development and governance," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7616, The World Bank.
    15. Egger, Peter H. & Lassmann, Andrea, 2012. "The language effect in international trade: A meta-analysis," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 116(2), pages 221-224.
    16. Baldwin, Richard, 2007. "Trade Effects of the Euro: a Comparison of Estimators," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 22, pages 780-818.
    17. Mustapha Rouis, 2013. "Regional Economic Integration in the Middle East and North Africa," World Bank Publications - Reports 20566, The World Bank Group.
    18. Magee Christopher S, 2003. "Endogenous Preferential Trade Agreements: An Empirical Analysis," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-19, December.
    19. Baier, Scott L. & Bergstrand, Jeffrey H., 2007. "Do free trade agreements actually increase members' international trade?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 72-95, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cardozo, Adriana R. & Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Vogler, Paula L., 2020. "The impact of FTAs on MENA exports of intermediate and final goods," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 402, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    2. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry, 2014. "Gravity Equations: Workhorse,Toolkit, and Cookbook," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 131-195, Elsevier.
    3. Claudio Candia Campano & Medardo Aguirre González & Lilliam Antón López & Javier Beltrán Valdebenito, 2018. "A gravity model of trade for Nicaraguan agricultural exports," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 37(74), pages 391-428, July.
    4. Tamini, Lota D. & Chebbi, Houssem Eddine & Abbassi, Abdessalem, 2016. "Trade performance and potential of North African countries: An application of a stochastic frontier gravity model," AGRODEP working papers 33, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Rod Falvey & Neil Foster-McGregor, 2022. "The breadth of preferential trade agreements and the margins of exports," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 158(1), pages 181-251, February.
    6. Adu, Raymond & Litsios, Ioannis & Baimbridge, Mark, 2022. "ECOWAS single currency: Prospective effects on trade," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    7. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/dambferfb7dfprc9m01g1j1k2 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H. & Cray, Stephen R. & Gervais, Antoine, 2023. "Increasing marginal costs, firm heterogeneity, and the gains from “deep” international trade agreements," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    9. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/dambferfb7dfprc9m01g1j1k2 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Claudio Candia Campano & Medardo Aguirre González & Lilliam Antón López & Javier Beltrán Valdebenito, 2018. "A gravity model of trade for Nicaraguan agricultural exports," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 37(74), pages 391-428, July.
    11. Jeffrey H. Bergstrand & Stephen R. Cray & Antoine Gervais, 2023. "Increasing Marginal Costs, Firm Heterogeneity,and the Gains from "Deep" International Trade Agreements," Cahiers de recherche 23-01, Departement d'économique de l'École de gestion à l'Université de Sherbrooke.
    12. Faqin Lin & Wenshou Yan & Xiaosong Wang, 2017. "The impact of Africa-China's diplomatic visits on bilateral trade," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 64(3), pages 310-326, July.
    13. Carl Gaigné & Lota D. Tamini, 2021. "Environmental Taxation and Import Demand for Environmental Goods: Theory and Evidence from the European Union," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 78(2), pages 307-352, February.
    14. Natalie Chen & Dennis Novy, 2022. "Gravity and Heterogeneous Trade Cost Elasticities," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(644), pages 1349-1377.
    15. Jordi Paniagua & Cristina Villó & Maria Escrivà-Beltran, 2022. "Cross-Border Higher Education: The Expansion of International Branch Campuses," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 63(6), pages 1037-1057, September.
    16. Heid, Benedikt & Larch, Mario, 2016. "Gravity with unemployment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 70-85.
    17. Rahel Aichele, 2013. "Trade, Climate Policy and Carbon Leakage - Theory and Empirical Evidence," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 49.
    18. Lee, Hyun-Hoon & Park, Donghyun & Wang, Jing, 2013. "Different types of firms, different types of products, and their dynamics: An anatomy of China's imports," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 62-77.
    19. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H. & Larch, Mario & Yotov, Yoto V., 2015. "Economic integration agreements, border effects, and distance elasticities in the gravity equation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 307-327.
    20. Soonchan Park & Innwon Park, 2023. "Firm size‐specific trade effects of regional trade agreements: Estimating extensive and intensive margins of trade," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 82-112, March.
    21. Bosello, Francesco & Eboli, Fabio & Parrado, Ramiro & Nunes, Paulo A.L.D. & Ding, Helen & Rosa, Renato, 2011. "The economic assessment of changes in ecosystem services: an application of the CGE methodology," Conference papers 332065, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    22. Rebecca Freeman & Samuel Pienknagura, 2019. "Are all trade agreements equal? The role of distance in shaping the effect of economic integration agreements on trade flows," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 155(2), pages 257-285, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:45:y:2022:i:5:p:1501-1527. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0378-5920 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.