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Regional Trade Agreements

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  • Caroline Freund
  • Emanuel Ornelas

Abstract

This paper reviews the theoretical and the empirical literature on regionalism. The formation of regional trade agreements has been, by far, the most popular form of reciprocal trade liberalization in the last fifteen years. The discriminatory character of these agreements has raised three main concerns: that trade diversion would be rampant, because special interest groups would induce governments to form the most distortionary agreements; that broader external trade liberalization would stall or reverse; and that multilateralism could be undermined. Theoretically, all of these concerns are legitimate, although there are also several theoretical arguments that oppose them. Empirically, neither widespread trade diversion nor stalled external liberalization have materialized, while the undermining of multilateralism has not been properly tested. There are also several aspects of regionalism that have received too little attention from researchers, but which are central to understanding its causes and consequences.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Centre for Economic Performance, LSE in its series CEP Discussion Papers with number dp0961.

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Date of creation: Dec 2009
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Handle: RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp0961

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Web page: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/series.asp?prog=CEP

Related research

Keywords: regionalism; trade creation; trade diversion; external tariffs; trade liberalization;

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References

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  1. Kyle Bagwell & Robert W. Staiger, 1997. "An Economic Theory of GATT," NBER Working Papers 6049, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  2. Pabo Sanguinetti & Alok Bohara & Kishore Guatanabe, 2003. "Trade Diverion and Declinning Tariffs: Evidence from MERCOSUR," Department of Economics Working Papers 003, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
  3. Foley, C. Fritz & Antras, Pol, 2009. "Regional Trade Integration and Multinational Firm Strategies," Scholarly Articles 3374522, Harvard University Department of Economics.
  4. Abrego, Lisandro & Riezman, Raymond & Whalley, John, 2006. "How often are propositions on the effects of regional trade agreements theoretical curiosa?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 59-78, January.
  5. Mark Melatos & Alan Woodland, 2009. "Common External Tariff Choice in Core Customs Unions," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(SI), pages 292-303, 05.
  6. Bond, Eric W. & Riezman, Raymond G. & Syropoulos, Constantinos, 2004. "A strategic and welfare theoretic analysis of free trade areas," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 1-27, October.
  7. Karacaovali, Baybars & Limão, Nuno, 2005. "The Clash of Liberalizations: Preferential vs. Multilateral Trade Liberalization in the European Union," CEPR Discussion Papers 4973, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  8. Kemp, Murray C. & Wan, Henry Jr., 1976. "An elementary proposition concerning the formation of customs unions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 95-97, February.
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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Bianka Dettmer, 2012. "The European Union's service directive: Contrasting ex ante estimates with empirical evidence," Jena Economic Research Papers 2012-019, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Max-Planck-Institute of Economics.
  2. Marco Fugazza & Frédéric Robert-Nicoud, 2010. "The 'Emulator Effect' of the Uruguay Round on US Regionalism," CEP Discussion Papers dp0973, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
  3. Karacaovali, Baybars & Limao, Nuno, 2005. "The clash of liberalizations : preferential versus multilateral trade liberalization in the European Union," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3493, The World Bank.
  4. Fugazza, Marco & Nicita, Alessandro, 2011. "Measuring preferential market access," MPRA Paper 38565, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  5. Jeffrey H. Bergstrand & Peter Egger, 2011. "What Determines BITs?," CESifo Working Paper Series 3514, CESifo Group Munich.
  6. Hector Calvo-Pardo & Caroline Freund & Emanuel Ornelas, 2009. "The ASEAN Free Trade Agreement: Impact on Trade Flows and External Trade Barriers," CEP Discussion Papers dp0930, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
  7. Baier, Scott L; Bergstrand, Jeffery H; Mariutto, Roland., 2010. "The Growth of Bilateralism," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 12, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
  8. Kawai, Masahiro & Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2011. "Asian FTAs: Trends, prospects and challenges," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 1-22, February.
  9. Moser, Christoph & Rose, Andrew K, 2011. "Who Benefits from Regional Trade Agreements? The View from the Stock Market," CEPR Discussion Papers 8566, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  10. Sami Bensassi & José de Sousa & Joachim Jarreau, 2013. "Preferential Trade Agreements Proliferation: Sorting out the Effects," Working Papers 2013-04, CEPII research center.
  11. Pedro J. Martinez Edo, 2011. "Reciprocal liberalization: Bilateral, plurilateral or multilateral?," STUDIES IN TRADE AND INVESTMENT, United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
  12. Ornelas, Emanuel, 2012. "Preferential Trade Agreements and the Labor Market," CEPR Discussion Papers 8805, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  13. Marco Fugazza & Frédéric Robert-Nicoud, 2011. "The ‘Emulator Effect’ Of The Uruguay Round On United States Regionalism," UNCTAD Blue Series Papers 52, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
  14. Wainio, John & Gehlhar, Mark J. & Dyck, John H., 2011. "Selected Trade Agreements and Implications for U.S. Agriculture," Economic Research Report 102754, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

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