IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/worlde/v46y2023i2p396-414.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Regional integration and non‐tariff barriers to Intra‐Sub‐Saharan Africa trade

Author

Listed:
  • Ebo Turkson
  • Abena D. Oduro
  • Priscilla Twumasi Baffour
  • Peter Quartey

Abstract

The paper assesses the ex‐post trade effect of sub‐regional trade agreements (RTAs), financial integration and other non‐tariff barriers on intra‐regional trade involving 43 Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. The objective is to find out if RTAs within SSA had increased trade flows to inform current efforts of establishing a successful continental free trade area in SSA. Estimating a gravity model augmented with measures of trade agreements and financial integration, the paper made use of bilateral trade flows and key gravity covariates from CEPII database over the period 1960–2015. After controlling for the endogeneity of the trade agreement dummy, multilateral price resistance and zero‐valued trade flows, we find RTAs within SSA and especially among Economic Community of West African States and Southern Africa Development Community members to have had a positive and significant impact on bilateral trade. Financially integrated trading partners also traded more, while we also found distance, landlockedness, common currency and colonial link to have an impact on trade costs and bilateral trade flows within SSA. The results indicate the need to focus on policies to expand and integrate regional markets in SSA by removing impediments to trade and improving on trade facilitation measures to significantly improve trade performance under the newly established African Continental Free Trade Area.

Suggested Citation

  • Ebo Turkson & Abena D. Oduro & Priscilla Twumasi Baffour & Peter Quartey, 2023. "Regional integration and non‐tariff barriers to Intra‐Sub‐Saharan Africa trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 396-414, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:46:y:2023:i:2:p:396-414
    DOI: 10.1111/twec.13365
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/twec.13365
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/twec.13365?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. Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1998. "The Regionalization of the World Economy," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number fran98-1, March.
    2. M Ayhan Kose & Eswar Prasad & Kenneth Rogoff & Shang-Jin Wei, 2009. "Financial Globalization: A Reappraisal," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 56(1), pages 8-62, April.
    3. Martijn Burger & Frank van Oort & Gert-Jan Linders, 2009. "On the Specification of the Gravity Model of Trade: Zeros, Excess Zeros and Zero-inflated Estimation," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(2), pages 167-190.
    4. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry & Ries, John, 2010. "The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 1-14, May.
    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. Jean-François Arvis & Yann Duval & Ben Shepherd & Chorthip Utoktham, 2012. "Trade Costs in the Developing World:1995 – 2010," Working Papers 12112, Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), an initiative of UNESCAP and IDRC, Canada..
    7. Dennis Novy, 2013. "Gravity Redux: Measuring International Trade Costs With Panel Data," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 51(1), pages 101-121, January.
    8. Yongzheng Yang & Mr. Sanjeev Gupta, 2005. "Regional Trade Arrangements in Africa: Past Performance and the Way Forward," IMF Working Papers 2005/036, International Monetary Fund.
    9. Festus Ebo Turkson, 2012. "Using Observable Trade Data to Measure Bilateral Trade Costs in Sub-Saharan Africa," Discussion Papers 12/06, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    10. Lucian Cernat, 2001. "ASSESSING REGIONAL TRADE ARRANGEMENTS: ARE SOUTH–SOUTH RTAs MORE TRADE DIVERTING?," International Trade 0109001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Trefler, Daniel, 1993. "Trade Liberalization and the Theory of Endogenous Protection: An Econometric Study of U.S. Import Policy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(1), pages 138-160, February.
    12. Baier, Scott L. & Bergstrand, Jeffrey H., 2009. "Estimating the effects of free trade agreements on international trade flows using matching econometrics," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 63-76, February.
    13. Coulibaly, Souleymane, 2009. "Evaluating the Trade Effect of Developing Regional Trade Agreements: a Semi-parametric Approach," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 24, pages 709-743.
    14. Mamit Deme, 1995. "The impact of ECOWAS on intraregional trade flows: An empirical investigation," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 23(3), pages 113-129, March.
    15. Jan Willem Gunning, 2001. "Trade Blocs: Relevant for Africa?," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 10(3), pages 311-335.
    16. Jennifer Mbabazi, & Chris Milner, & Oliver Morrissey, 2006. "Trade Openness, Trade Costs and Growth: Why Sub-Saharan Africa Performs Poorly," Discussion Papers 06/08, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    17. 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.
    18. Njinkeu, Dominique & S. Wilson, John & Powo Fosso, Bruno, 2008. "Expanding Trade within Africa: The Impact of Trade Facilitation," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4790, The World Bank.
    19. Jeffrey A. Frankel & Shang-Jin Wei, 1998. "Regionalization of World Trade and Currencies: Economics and Politics," NBER Chapters, in: The Regionalization of the World Economy, pages 189-226, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Afesorgbor, S.K. & van Bergeijk, P.A.G., 2011. "Multi-membership and the effectiveness of regional trade agreements in Western and Southern Africa," ISS Working Papers - General Series 22781, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    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. Festus Ebo Turkson, 2012. "Trade Agreements and Bilateral Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa: Estimating the Trade Effects of the EU-ACP PTA and RTAs," Discussion Papers 12/07, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    2. Sylvanus Kwaku Afesorgbor, 2013. "Revisiting the Effectiveness of African Economic Integration. A Meta-Analytic Review and Comparative Estimation Methods," Economics Working Papers 2013-13, Department of Economics and Business Economics, Aarhus University.
    3. Festus Ebo Turkson, 2012. "Using Observable Trade Data to Measure Bilateral Trade Costs in Sub-Saharan Africa," Discussion Papers 12/06, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    4. Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku & van Bergeijk, Peter A.G., 2011. "Multi-membership and effectiveness of regional trade agreements in Western and Southern Africa: a comparative study of ECOWAS and SADC," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 1, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    5. Zongo, Amara, 2021. "The impact of services trade restrictiveness on food trade," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 71-94.
    6. Piermartini, Roberta & Yotov, Yoto, 2016. "Estimating Trade Policy Effects with Structural Gravity," School of Economics Working Paper Series 2016-10, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University.
    7. Kere, Safilidin & Zongo, Amara, 2023. "Digital technologies and intra-African trade," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 359-383.
    8. Jean-Marc Siroën & Aycil Yucer, 2012. "The impact of MERCOSUR on trade of Brazilian states," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 148(3), pages 553-582, September.
    9. Léopold BIARDEAU & Anne BORING, 2017. "L’impact de l’aide au développement sur les flux commerciaux entre pays donateurs et pays récipiendaires," Working Paper 464d860e-562e-4ae7-98f5-1, Agence française de développement.
    10. Tamaş Anca, 2020. "Why should the gravity model be taught in business education?," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 422-433, July.
    11. Fabien Candau & Geoffroy Guepie & Reine Kouakou, 2018. "In Gravity no Veritas: Dubious Trade Elasticiy and Weak Effects of Regional Trade Agreements in Africa," Working Papers hal-02625930, HAL.
    12. Jin, Seung Ha, 2013. "The Effect of South Korean FTAs on Trade: Country-level and Industry-level Analyses," Master's Theses and Plan B Papers 149430, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    13. (ed.), 0. "Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16053.
    14. Felix Barbalet & Jared Greenville & Wayne Crook & Paul Gretton & Robert Breunig, 2015. "Exploring the Links between Bilateral and Regional Trade Agreements and Merchandise Trade," Asia and the Pacific Policy Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 467-484, September.
    15. Marie M Stack & Rob Ackrill & Martin Bliss, 2019. "Sugar trade and the role of historical colonial linkages," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 46(1), pages 79-108.
    16. Maria Cipollina & Luca De Benedictis & Luca Salvatici & Claudio Vicarelli, 2016. "Policy Measurement And Multilateral Resistance In Gravity Models," Working Papers LuissLab 16130, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, LUISS Guido Carli.
    17. Yoke Fong Kong & Richard Kneller, 2016. "Measuring the Impact of China's Export Growth on its Asian Neighbours," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 195-220, February.
    18. Christian Elleby & Wusheng Yu & Qian Yu, 2018. "The Chinese Export Displacement Effect Revisited," IFRO Working Paper 2018/02, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    19. Quintieri, Beniamino & Stamato, Giovanni, 2023. "Are preferential agreements beneficial to EU trade? New evidence from the EU-South Korea treaty," Working Paper Series 2822, European Central Bank.
    20. Festus Ebo Turkson, 2011. "Logistics and Bilateral Exports in Developing Countries: A Multiplicative Form Estimation of the Logistics Augmented Gravity Equation," Discussion Papers 11/06, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.

    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:46:y:2023:i:2:p:396-414. 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.