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The Purpose of Trade Agreements

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  • Gene M. Grossman

Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on governments' motivations for negotiating and joining international trade agreements. I discuss both normative explanations for trade agreements and explanations based on political-economy concerns. Most of the paper focuses on the purpose of multilateral agreements, but I do discuss briefly the reasons we might see governments forming preferential or regional trade agreements that exclude some countries.

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  • Gene M. Grossman, 2016. "The Purpose of Trade Agreements," NBER Working Papers 22070, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22070
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    6. Toke S. Aidt & Facundo Albornoz & Esther Hauk, 2021. "Foreign Influence and Domestic Policy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 59(2), pages 426-487, June.
    7. Jean‐Marc Malambwe Kilolo, 2021. "Country asymmetry, trade agreements, and transfers," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 37-51, March.
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    10. Maxime Delabarre, 2021. "Interdependence Between States and Economies," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03334550, HAL.
    11. Stefan Berens & Lasha Chochua & Gerald Willmann, 2021. "The Farsighted Stability of Global Tade Policy Arrangements," CESifo Working Paper Series 9213, CESifo.
    12. Gracia-Lázaro, Carlos & Dercole, Fabio & Moreno, Yamir, 2022. "Dynamics of economic unions: An agent-based model to investigate the economic and social drivers of withdrawals," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    13. Kolcava, Dennis & Nguyen, Quynh & Bernauer, Thomas, 2019. "Does trade liberalization lead to environmental burden shifting in the global economy?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 98-112.
    14. Amelia U. Santos‐Paulino & Alisa DiCaprio & Maria V. Sokolova, 2019. "The development trinity: How regional integration impacts growth, inequality and poverty," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(7), pages 1961-1993, July.
    15. Kohler Wilhelm & Jung Benjamin, 2017. "Wie vorteilhaft ist internationaler Handel?: Ein neuer Ansatz zur Vermessung der Gewinne," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, De Gruyter, vol. 18(1), pages 32-55, April.
    16. Dengler, Benedikt, 2018. "The WTO Government Procurement Agreement as a Commitment Device: A First Appraisal," CEPR Discussion Papers 13266, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    17. David R. DeRemer, 2016. "The Principle of Reciprocity in the 21st Century," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 1613, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    18. Beckman, Jayson & Ivanic, Maros & Shaik, Saleem, 2022. "How Bilateral Trade Deals Get in the Way of Multilateral Agreements," Conference papers 333437, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    19. Collie, David R., 2019. "Trade Wars under Oligopoly: Who Wins and is Free Trade Sustainable?," Cardiff Economics Working Papers E2019/4, Cardiff University, Cardiff Business School, Economics Section.
    20. Bård Harstad, 2022. "Trade, Trees, and Contingent Trade Agreements," CESifo Working Paper Series 9596, CESifo.
    21. Bård Harstad, 2020. "Trade and Trees: How Trade Agreements Can Motivate Conservation Instead of Depletion," CESifo Working Paper Series 8569, CESifo.
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    23. Jaime DE MELO & Marcelo OLARREAGA, 2017. "Trade Related Institutions and Development," Working Papers P199, FERDI.
    24. Berens, Stefan & Chochua, Lasha & Willmann, Gerald, 2021. "The farsighted stability of global trade policy arrangements," Kiel Working Papers 2193, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    25. Nuno Limão, 2016. "Preferential Trade Agreements," NBER Working Papers 22138, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations
    • K33 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - International Law

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