This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Regionalism in the Nineties: What Effect on Trade?

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Soloaga, Isidro
Winters, L. Alan
Abstract

The paper applies a gravity model to 1980-1996 annual non-fuel imports data for 58 countries to quantify the effects of recently created or revamped PTAs on trade. We modify the usual gravity equation to identify separate effects of PTAs on intra-bloc trade, members' total imports and their total exports. We also innovate by formally testing the significance of changes in the estimated coefficients before and after blocs' formation. Our estimations show no indication that the 'new wave' of regionalism boosted intra-bloc trade significantly. Regarding trade diversion, we found convincing evidence of it only for EU and EFTA (and for the same blocs also, we observed exports diversion, which would be consistent with their imposing a welfare cost on the ROW). Trade liberalization efforts in Latin America had a positive impact on bloc members' imports (ANDEAN, CACM, LAIA and MERCOSUR), although MERCOSUR's exports decreased in the last part of the sample.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP2183.asp
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 2183.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Jun 1999
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:2183

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Centre for Economic Policy Research, 53--56 Great Sutton Street, London EC1V 0DG
Phone: 44 - 20 - 7183 8801
Fax: 44 - 20 - 7183 8820

Order Information:
Email:

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().

Related research
Keywords: European Integration; Gravity Model; Regional Integration; Trade Diversion;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Foroutan, Faezeh, 1998. "Does membership in a regional preferential trade arrangement make a country more or less protectionist?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1898, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  2. Thoumi, Francisco E., 1989. "Bilateral trade flows and economic integration in Latin America and the Caribbean," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 421-429, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Bayoumi, Tamim & Eichengreen, Barry, 1995. "Is Regionalism Simply a Diversion? Evidence from the Evolution of the EC and EFTA," CEPR Discussion Papers 1294, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Aitken, Norman D, 1973. "The Effect of the EEC and EFTA on European Trade: A Temporal Cross-Section Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(5), pages 881-92, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Bhagwati, J. & Panagariya, A., 1996. "Preferential Trading Areas and Multilateralism: Strangers, Friends or Foes?," Discussion Papers 1996_09, Columbia University, Department of Economics.
  6. repec:fth:coluec:9596-04 is not listed on IDEAS
  7. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H, 1989. "The Generalized Gravity Equation, Monopolistic Competition, and the Factor-Proportions Theory in International Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 143-53, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Caroline L. Freund & John McLaren, 1999. "On the dynamics of trade diversion: evidence from four trade blocs," International Finance Discussion Papers 637, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  9. Yeats, Alexander J, 1998. "Does Mercosur's Trade Performance Raise Concerns about the Effects of Regional Trade Arrangements?," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-28, January.
  10. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H, 1985. "The Gravity Equation in International Trade: Some Microeconomic Foundations and Empirical Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(3), pages 474-81, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Faezeh Foroutan, 1998. "Does Membership in a Regional Preferential Trade Arrangement Make a Country More or Less Protectionist?," The World Economy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 21(3), pages 305-335, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Laszlo Matyas, 1997. "Proper Econometric Specification of the Gravity Model," The World Economy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 20(3), pages 363-368, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Anderson, James E, 1979. "A Theoretical Foundation for the Gravity Equation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 106-16, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Wang, Z.K. & Winters, L.A., 1992. "The Trading Potential of Eastern Europe," Discussion Papers 92-21, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Fidrmuc, Jan & Fidrmuc, Jarko, 2000. "Disintegration and Trade," CEPR Discussion Papers 2641, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  2. Rodolphe Blavy, 2001. "Trade in the Mashreq: An Empirical Examination," IMF Working Papers 01/163, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  3. Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Felicitas Nowak-Lehmann, 2003. "Augmented Gravity Model: An Empirical Application to Mercosur-European Union Trade Flows," Journal of Applied Economics, Universidad del CEMA, vol. 0, pages 291-316, November. [Downloadable!]
  4. Borgatti, Lisa, 2007. "Pacific Islands' Bilateral Trade: The Role of Remoteness and of Transport Costs," Working Papers UNU-WIDER Research Paper , World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  5. Feng Zhu & Enzo Croce & V. Hugo Juan-Ramon, 2004. "Performance of Western Hemisphere Trading Blocs: A Cost-Corrected Gravity Approach," IMF Working Papers 04/109, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  6. Matías Berthelon, 2004. "Growth Effects of Regional Integration Agreements," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 278, Central Bank of Chile. [Downloadable!]
  7. Fidrmuc, J. & Fidrmuc, J., 2000. "Integration, disintegration and trade in Europe : evolution of trade relations during the 1990s," Discussion Paper 12, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Luca David Opromolla & Alfonso Irarrazabal, 2005. "Trade Reforms in a Global Competition Model: the Case of Chile," International Trade 0508007, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  9. Chang-Soo Lee & Soon-Chan Park, 2002. "An Examination of the Formation of Natural Trading Blocs in East Asia," Macroeconomics Working Papers 337, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  10. Felicitas Nowak-Lehmann D. & Dierk Herzer & Sebastian Vollmer, 2005. "The Free Trade Agreement between Chile and the EU: Its Potential Impact on Chile´s Export Industry," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 125, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Claus-Friedrich Laaser & Klaus Schrader, 2002. "European Integration and Changing Trade Patterns: The Case of the Baltic States," Kiel Working Papers 1088, Kiel Institute for the World Economy. [Downloadable!]
  12. Limao, Nuno & Venables, Anthony J., 1999. "Infrastructure, geographical disadvantage, and transport costs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2257, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  13. Roberta De Santis & Claudio Vicarelli, 2007. "The “deeper” and the “wider” EU strategies of trade integration.An empirical evaluation of EU Common Commercial Policy effects," ISAE Working Papers 79, ISAE - Institute for Studies and Economic Analyses - (Rome, ITALY). [Downloadable!]
  14. Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Felicitas Nowak-Lehmann D., 2003. "Augmented gravity model: An empirical application to Mercosur- European trade flows," International Trade 0309019, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  15. Felicitas Nowak-Lehmann Danzinger & Dierk Herzer & Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso & Sebastian Vollmer, 2005. "The Impact of a Customs Union between Turkey and the EU on Turkey's Exports to the EU," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 483, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Olivier Cadot & Jaime de Melo & Antoni Estevadeordal & Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann & Bolormaa Tumurchudur, 2002. "Assessing the effect of NAFTA's rules of origin," Research Unit Working Papers 0306, Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquee, INRA. [Downloadable!]
  17. Henry Overman & Stephen Redding & Anthony J. Venables, 2001. "The Economic Geography of Trade, Production, and Income: A Survey of Empirics," CEP Discussion Papers dp0508, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS is also providing many rankings, for example of authors and institutions.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-25.


This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.