IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ausecp/v64y2025i3p380-385.html

Effect of the Membership in the World Trade Organization on Income Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Sèna Kimm Gnangnon

Abstract

This note investigates empirically the effect of membership in the GATT/WTO on trade policy and income inequality in developing countries. The analysis has shown that GATT/WTO membership is associated with trade policy liberalization and lower income inequality, although the magnitudes of these effects vary across groups of countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2025. "Effect of the Membership in the World Trade Organization on Income Inequality," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(3), pages 380-385, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecp:v:64:y:2025:i:3:p:380-385
    DOI: 10.1111/1467-8454.12400
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8454.12400
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1467-8454.12400?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. François Bourguignon, 2018. "World Changes in Inequality: an Overview of Facts, Causes, Consequences, and Policies1," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 64(3), pages 345-370.
    2. Rose, Andrew K., 2004. "Do WTO members have more liberal trade policy?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 209-235, July.
    3. Baccini, Leonardo & Impullitti, Giammario & Malesky, Edmund J., 2019. "Globalization and state capitalism: Assessing Vietnam's accession to the WTO," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 75-92.
    4. Bernard Hoekman, 2020. "Trade Wars and the World Trade Organization: Causes, Consequences, and Change," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 15(1), pages 98-114, January.
    5. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    6. Chadi, Adrian & Hetschko, Clemens, 2025. "Income or leisure? On the hidden benefits of (un)employment," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    7. repec:bla:ecpoli:v:28:y:2013:i:76:p:569-612 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Beck, Nathaniel & Katz, Jonathan N., 1995. "What To Do (and Not to Do) with Time-Series Cross-Section Data," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 89(3), pages 634-647, September.
    9. Zdenek Drabek & Marc Bacchetta, 2004. "Tracing the Effects of WTO Accession on Policy‐making in Sovereign States: Preliminary Lessons from the Recent Experience of Transition Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 1083-1125, July.
    10. Andrew K. Rose, 2013. "The march of an economic idea? Protectionism isn't counter-cyclic (anymore) [Is there a consensus among economists in the 1990s?]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 28(76), pages 569-612.
    11. Svaleryd, Helena & Vlachos, Jonas, 2002. "Markets for risk and openness to trade: how are they related?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 369-395, August.
    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. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2025. "Effect of Special and Differential Treatment Flexibilities in WTO Rules on Trade Reforms, Manufactured Exports and Export Upgrading in the Least Developed Countries," EconStor Preprints 313359, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    2. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2026. "Membership in the World Trade Organization and Trade Policy Space in Developing Countries," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 37(1), pages 291-334, March.
    3. Gnangnon Sèna Kimm, 2017. "Empirical Evidence on the Impact of Multilateral Trade Liberalization on Domestic Trade Policy," Global Economy Journal, De Gruyter, vol. 17(3), pages 1-14, September.
    4. Ablam Estel Apeti & Bossoma Doriane N’doua, 2023. "The impact of timber regulations on timber and timber product trade," Post-Print hal-04262489, HAL.
    5. Andrew K. Rose, 2011. "GATT/WTO Membership and its Effect on Trade: Where Do We Stand?," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume III, chapter 18, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Apeti, Ablam Estel & N’Doua, Bossoma Doriane, 2023. "The impact of timber regulations on timber and timber product trade," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    7. Apeti, Ablam Estel & Ly, Alpha, 2024. "Power constraints and firm-level total factor productivity in developing countries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    8. Apeti, Ablam Estel & Edoh, Eyah Denise, 2024. "Economic sanctions and sovereign debt default," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    9. Hattendorff, Christian, 2014. "Natural resources, export concentration and financial development," Discussion Papers 2014/34, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    10. Ablam Estel Apeti & Bao We Wal Bambe & Jean-Louis Combes, 2025. "On the macroeconomic effects of fiscal reforms: fiscal rules and public expenditure efficiency," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 205(1), pages 19-47, October.
    11. Bruno Larue & Alan P. Ker, 2024. "Climate change, production and trade in apples," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 72(3), pages 325-346, September.
    12. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Effect of the Utilization of Non-Reciprocal Trade Preferences on Trade Policy in Beneficiary Countries," EconStor Preprints 279825, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    13. Groppo, Valeria & Piermartini, Roberta, 2014. "Trade policy uncertainty and the WTO," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2014-23, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    14. Dreher, Axel & Voigt, Stefan, 2011. "Does membership in international organizations increase governments' credibility? Testing the effects of delegating powers," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 326-348, September.
    15. Kym Anderson, 2016. "Contributions Of The Gatt/Wto To Global Economic Welfare: Empirical Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 56-92, February.
    16. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2022. "Effect of Aid for Trade flows on the Accession to the World Trade Organization," EconStor Preprints 261331, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    17. Tafese, Tevin & Lay, Jann & Tran, Van, 2025. "From fields to factories: Special economic zones, foreign direct investment, and labour markets in Vietnam," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    18. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2025. "Effect of the Multilateral Surveillance of Trade Policies on Economic Institutions, Participation in Global Value Chains and Export Upgrading in Developing Countries," EconStor Preprints 313119, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    19. Nikolova, Milena, 2019. "Switching to self-employment can be good for your health," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 664-691.
    20. Veasna Trakem & Hongzhong Fan & Dyna Sam & Sokhan Chen, 2026. "How do agricultural trade liberalization, climate variability and change, and governance quality influence food security in ASEAN?," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 18(2), pages 495-540, April.

    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:ausecp:v:64:y:2025:i:3:p:380-385. 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=0004-900X .

    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.