IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v37y2009i3p595-606.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

National Trade Policies and Smuggling in Africa: The Case of The Gambia and Senegal

Author

Listed:
  • Golub, Stephen S.
  • Mbaye, Ahmadou Aly

Abstract

Summary Much of inter-regional trade in Africa is unrecorded and consists of smuggling. The Gambia is almost wholly enclosed within Senegal, yet official trade statistics show almost no trade between the two countries, failing to capture large-scale smuggling. Smuggling reflects pre-colonial traditional trading relationships, the artificial nature of borders created in the colonial era, and the disparities in trade policies between the two countries following independence, inducing large cross-border price differentials for goods. This paper documents the magnitude of trade protection in the two countries, the resulting price differences, and estimates the volume of smuggling.

Suggested Citation

  • Golub, Stephen S. & Mbaye, Ahmadou Aly, 2009. "National Trade Policies and Smuggling in Africa: The Case of The Gambia and Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 595-606, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:3:p:595-606
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305-750X(08)00223-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yongzheng Yang & Mr. Sanjeev Gupta, 2005. "Regional Trade Arrangements in Africa: Past Performance and the Way Forward," IMF Working Papers 2005/036, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Jagdish Bhagwati & Bent Hansen, 1973. "A Theoretical Analysis of Smuggling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(2), pages 172-187.
    3. Alan Deardorff & Wolfgang Stolper, 1990. "Effects of smuggling under african conditions: A factual, institutional and analytic discussion," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 126(1), pages 116-141, March.
    4. O'Connell, Stephen A, 1992. "Uniform Commercial Policy, Illegal Trade, and the Real Exchange Rate: A Theoretical Analysis," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 6(3), pages 459-479, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peyton Michael Ferrier, 2021. "Detecting origin fraud with trade data: the case of U.S. honey imports," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(1), pages 222-245, January.
    2. Cristina Mitaritonna & Sami Bensassi & Joachim Jarreau, 2017. "Regional Integration and Informal Trade in Africa: Evidence from Benin's Borders," Working Papers 2017-21, CEPII research center.
    3. Bensassi, Sami & Jarreau, Joachim, 2019. "Price discrimination in bribe payments: Evidence from informal cross-border trade in West Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 462-480.
    4. João Loureiro & Evaldo Baptista, 2021. "A single currency for the Economic Community of West Africa? An economic assessment," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 89(4), pages 608-634, December.
    5. Zamani, Omid & Pelikan, Janine & Schott, Johanna, "undated". "EU exports of livestock products to West Africa: An analysis of dairy and poultry trade data," Thünen Working Paper 309676, Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (vTI), Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries.
    6. Stephen S. Golub & Janet Ceglowski & Ahmadou Aly Mbaye & Varun Prasad, 2018. "Can Africa compete with China in manufacturing? The role of relative unit labour costs," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 1508-1528, June.
    7. Sami Bensassi & Joachim Jarreau, 2019. "Price discrimination in bribe payments: Evidence from informal cross-border trade in West Africa," Post-Print hal-02390008, HAL.
    8. Resnick, Danielle & Diatta, Ampa Dogui, 2025. "Senegal at a crossroads: Prioritizing large-scale food fortification under financial uncertainty," IFPRI discussion papers 2363, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Victor Chidubem Iwuoha, 2022. "Global Oil Crisis and Early COVID-19 Strategic Containment Responses in Africa: The Nigerian Experience," India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, , vol. 78(1), pages 47-67, March.
    10. Sami Bensassi & Joachim Jarreau & Cristina Mitaritonna, 2017. "Trade barriers and informality of trade: evidence from Benin's borders," Working Papers DT/2017/11, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    11. Ahmadou Aly Mbaye & Stephen Golub & Anastasia Vasilyeva, 2019. "Senegal’s International Competitiveness and Employment Creation for Women and Youth. The Product Space Analysis and Fieldwork Findings," Working Papers idrcdprusenegal, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    12. Howson, Cynthia, 2013. "Adverse Incorporation and Microfinance among Cross-Border Traders in Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 199-208.
    13. Kubo, Koji, 2016. "Myanmar's cross-border trade with China : beyond informal trade," IDE Discussion Papers 625, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    14. repec:hal:cdiwps:hal-04391362 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Gardner, Leigh, 2015. "The curious incident of the franc in the Gambia: exchange rate instability and imperial monetary systems in the 1920s," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(3), pages 291-314, December.
    16. Ahmadou Aly Mbaye & Nancy Benjamin & Stephen Golub & Jean-Jacques Ekomie, 2014. "The Urban Informal Sector in Francophone Africa: Large Versus Small Enterprises in Benin, Burkina Faso and Senegal," Working Papers 201405, University of Cape Town, Development Policy Research Unit.
    17. Ahmadou Aly Mbaye & Nancy Benjamin, 2012. "The Informal Sector in Francophone Africa : Firm Size, Productivity, and Institutions [Les entreprises informelles de l'Afrique de l'ouest francophone : Taille, productivité et institutions]," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 9364.

    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. Berger, Helge & Nitsch, Volker, 2008. "Gotcha! A Profile of Smuggling in International Trade," Conference papers 331735, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    2. Jade Siu, 2020. "Formalising informal cross-border trade: Evidence from One-Stop-Border-Posts in Uganda," Discussion Papers 20-08, Department of Economics, University of Birmingham.
    3. Andreas Buehn & Mohammad Reza Farzanegan, 2012. "Smuggling around the world: evidence from a structural equation model," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(23), pages 3047-3064, August.
    4. de Melo, Jaime & Roland-Holst, David & Haddad, Mona, 1992. "Tax evasion and tax reform in a low income economy : general equilibrium estimates for Madagascar," Policy Research Working Paper Series 918, The World Bank.
    5. Bruno Larue & Sébastien Pouliot & Christos Constantatos, 2009. "Exports to Smuggle and Smuggling Technologies," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 476-493, August.
    6. Scott Fausti, 1999. "Production uncertainty, enforcement, and smuggling: a stochastic model," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 279-308.
    7. Yeong-Her Yeh, 2000. "On tariffs and smuggling," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 6(3), pages 578-580, August.
    8. Festus Ebo Turkson, 2012. "Trade Agreements and Bilateral Trade in Sub-Saharan Africa: Estimating the Trade Effects of the EU-ACP PTA and RTAs," Discussion Papers 12/07, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    9. Langhammer, Rolf J. & Hiemenz, Ulrich, 1990. "Regional integration among developing countries: opportunities, obstacles and options," Open Access Publications from Kiel Institute for the World Economy 416, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    10. Husam Rjoub & Mehmet Aga & Ahmad Abu Alrub & Murad Bein, 2017. "Financial Reforms and Determinants of FDI: Evidence from Landlocked Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa," Economies, MDPI, vol. 5(1), pages 1-12, January.
    11. M. Govinda Rao & R. Kavita Rao, 2005. "Trends and Issues in Tax Policy and Reform in India," India Policy Forum, Global Economy and Development Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 2(1), pages 55-122.
    12. Koopmann, Georg & Hoekstra, Ruth, 2010. "Aid for trade and the political economy of trade liberalization," HWWI Research Papers 2-22, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI).
    13. Lisa Borgatti, 2011. "Economic Integration in Sub-Saharan Africa," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume I, chapter 20, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    14. Anna Maria Mayda & Chad Steinberg, 2009. "Do South-South trade agreements increase trade? Commodity-level evidence from COMESA," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 42(4), pages 1361-1389, November.
    15. Vedran Recher, 2019. "Tobacco smuggling in the Western Balkan region: Exploring habits, attitudes, and predictors of illegal tobacco demand," Working Papers 1901, The Institute of Economics, Zagreb.
    16. Farzanegan, Mohammad Reza, 2009. "Illegal trade in the Iranian economy: Evidence from a structural model," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 489-507, December.
    17. Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku & van Bergeijk, Peter A.G., 2011. "Multi-membership and effectiveness of regional trade agreements in Western and Southern Africa: a comparative study of ECOWAS and SADC," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Berlin 2011 1, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    18. Nasreen Nawaz, 2022. "An Optimal Control Of Smuggling," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(01), pages 1-54, March.
    19. Reshad N. Ahsan, 2017. "Does Corruption Attenuate The Effect Of Red Tape On Exports?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(3), pages 1192-1212, July.
    20. Anne-Célia Disdier & Lionel Fontagné & Olivier Cadot, 2015. "North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 29(2), pages 327-352.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    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:eee:wdevel:v:37:y:2009:i:3:p:595-606. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    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.