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The Impact of Trade Agreements on Consumer Welfare—Evidence from the EU Common External Trade Policy

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  • Giuseppe Berlingieri
  • Holger Breinlich
  • Swati Dhingra

Abstract

This paper estimates the consumer welfare impact of the new generation of trade agreements implemented by the European Union between 1993 and 2013. We decompose the overall effect into contributions of changes in prices, quality and variety. Estimating trade elasticities for narrow product categories of EU imports, we infer quality from data on imported values and volumes. For the EU as a whole, we find that trade agreements increased quality by 7% on average but did not affect prices or variety. This translates into a cumulative reduction in the consumer price index of 0.24% over our sample period. We also find a high degree of impact heterogeneity across EU countries, trading partners, and the type of trade agreement, with high-income EU countries seeing much stronger quality increases and larger overall consumer benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Giuseppe Berlingieri & Holger Breinlich & Swati Dhingra, 2018. "The Impact of Trade Agreements on Consumer Welfare—Evidence from the EU Common External Trade Policy," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 16(6), pages 1881-1928.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:16:y:2018:i:6:p:1881-1928.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvx053
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    Cited by:

    1. Holger Breinlich & Elsa Leromain & Dennis Novy & Thomas Sampson, 2019. "Exchange rates and consumer prices: evidence from Brexit," CEP Discussion Papers dp1667, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. Jaimovich, Esteban & Madzharova, Boryana & Merella, Vincenzo, 2023. "Inside the white box: Unpacking the determinants of quality and vertical specialization," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    3. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Gröschl, Jasmin & Heiland, Inga, 2022. "Complex Europe: Quantifying the cost of disintegration," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. Malgouyres, Clément & Mayer, Thierry & Mazet-Sonilhac, Clément, 2021. "Technology-induced trade shocks? Evidence from broadband expansion in France," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    5. Hinnerk Gnutzmann & Arevik Gnutzmann-Mkrtchyan & Tobias Korn, 2021. "Consequences of FTA Withdrawal: Evidence from "Uxit"," CESifo Working Paper Series 8859, CESifo.
    6. Holger Breinlich & Elsa Leromain & Dennis Novy & Thomas Sampson, 2022. "The Brexit Vote, Inflation And U.K. Living Standards," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 63(1), pages 63-93, February.
    7. Arribas, Iván & Bensassi, Sami & Tortosa-Ausina, Emili, 2020. "Trade integration in the European Union: Openness, interconnectedness, and distance," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    8. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/4b7tooefh48jlq7oktt0tbn8om is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Philipp Imhof, 2021. "Switzerland's system of free trade agreements: Assessing the impact on imported goods," Aussenwirtschaft, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science, Swiss Institute for International Economics and Applied Economics Research, vol. 71(01), pages 35-72, December.
    10. Lim, Eun Son & Breuer, Janice Boucher, 2019. "Free trade agreements and market integration: Evidence from South Korea," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 241-256.
    11. Luis Marcelo Florensa & Pedro Esteban Moncarz, 2020. "Trade integration strategies and welfare. A comparative study of six selected Latin-American countries," Asociación Argentina de Economía Política: Working Papers 4377, Asociación Argentina de Economía Política.
    12. Huria, Sugandha, 2020. "Gains from Free Trade Agreements: A Theoretical Analysis," MPRA Paper 109815, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4b7tooefh48jlq7oktt0tbn8om is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Benz, Sebastian & Johannesson, Louise, 2019. "Job characteristics, job transitions and services trade: Evidence from the EU Labour Force Survey," Conference papers 333093, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    15. Gnutzmann, Hinnerk & Gnutzmann-Mkrtchyan, Arevik & Korn, Tobias, 2021. "Consequences of FTA Withdrawal: Evidence from 'Uxit'," Hannover Economic Papers (HEP) dp-681, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Fakultät.
    16. Amadeo Navarro Zapata & María Arrazola & José Hevia, 2023. "Technological intensity in manufacturing trade between ASEAN and the EU: challenges and opportunities," Asia Europe Journal, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 23-42, March.
    17. Andreas Dür & Christoph Moser & Gabriele Spilker, 2020. "The political economy of the European Union," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 561-572, July.

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