IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pje/journl/article29wini.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Did the WTO Promote Growth, Trade and Foreign Direct Investment in South Asia?

Author

Listed:
  • Syed Hasanat SHAH
  • Hafsa HASNAT*
  • Sarath DELPACHITRA***

Abstract

Many developing countries joined the WTO with the hope that using the platform will boost trade and thus will catch-up on the developed countries. South Asian countries were the founding member of the WTO and there were great expectations from the WTO in the region. Therefore, it is important to check whether joining the WTO has any impact on trade in South Asia or not? Using fixed effect simultaneous equation model in this paper, we examined the impact of the WTO on key macro-economic variables, i.e., export, import, FDI and growth in South Asia. Based on the empirical evidence, the paper concludes that the impact of joining the WTO on key macroeconomic variables in South Asia is not up to the mark. Joining the WTO did not contribute to any of the main macroeconomic variables of the region, i.e., imports, GDP and FDI. Interesting, the WTO did not play any role in promoting exports in the region either. This shows that the WTO membership is not a guarantee for economic success. The findings of the paper also suggest that rather than relying on an organization erected to support the policy initiative of developed countries, such as the WTO, the developing countries in South Asia need well designed reforms at home to boost their economic performance and promote trade.

Suggested Citation

  • Syed Hasanat SHAH & Hafsa HASNAT* & Sarath DELPACHITRA***, 2019. "Did the WTO Promote Growth, Trade and Foreign Direct Investment in South Asia?," Pakistan Journal of Applied Economics, Applied Economics Research Centre, vol. 29(2), pages 165-179.
    • Handle: RePEc:pje:journl:article29wini
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.aerc.edu.pk/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Paper-888-HASNAT-SHAH-I-1.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ng, Linda F. Y. & Tuan, Chyau, 2003. "Location decisions of manufacturing FDI in China: implications of China's WTO accession," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 51-72, February.
    2. Kenny, Charles & Williams, David, 2001. "What Do We Know About Economic Growth? Or, Why Don't We Know Very Much?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-22, January.
    3. Keck, Alexander & Low, Patrick, 2004. "Special and differential treatment in the WTO: Why, when and how?," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2004-03, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    4. Arnold, Lutz G., 2007. "Existence of Equilibrium in Models of International Trade with Perfect or Imperfect Competition," University of Regensburg Working Papers in Business, Economics and Management Information Systems 424, University of Regensburg, Department of Economics.
    5. Tang, Man-Keung & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2009. "The value of making commitments externally: Evidence from WTO accessions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 216-229, July.
    6. Jagdish N. Bhagwati, 1978. "Appendix to "Foreign Trade Regimes and Economic Development: Anatomy and Consequences of Exchange Control Regimes"," NBER Chapters, in: Foreign Trade Regimes and Economic Development: Anatomy and Consequences of Exchange Control Regimes, pages 219-221, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Edward J. Balistreri & Zoryana Olekseyuk & David G. Tarr, 2017. "Privatisation and the unusual case of Belarusian accession to the WTO," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(12), pages 2564-2591, December.
    8. Dani Rodrik, 1998. "Has Globalization Gone Too Far?," Challenge, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 81-94, March.
    9. Gregory Mankiw, N. & Swagel, Phillip, 2006. "The politics and economics of offshore outsourcing," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 1027-1056, July.
    10. Ahmad Shah Mobariz, 2016. "WTO Accession of Afghanistan," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 17(1), pages 46-72, March.
    11. Syed Hasanat Shah & Hafsa Hasnat & Mohsin Hasnain Ahmad, 2016. "The Effects of the Human Cost of Terror on National Income, Private Consumption and Investment in Pakistan," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 17(2), pages 216-235, September.
    12. Michael Tomz & Judith L. Goldstein & Douglas Rivers, 2007. "Do We Really Know That the WTO Increases Trade? Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 97(5), pages 2005-2018, December.
    13. J. Mutti & R. Sampson & B. Yeung, 2000. "The effects of the Uruguay round: empirical evidence from U.S. industry," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 18(1), pages 59-69, January.
    14. Xuepeng Liu, 2009. "GATT/WTO Promotes Trade Strongly: Sample Selection and Model Specification," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(3), pages 428-446, August.
    15. Joseph Francois & Hans Van Meijl & Frank Van Tongeren, 2005. "Trade liberalization in the Doha Development Round [Trade in Manufactures, the Outcome of the Uruguay Round and Developing Country Interests]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 20(42), pages 350-391.
    16. Julian Donaubauer & Birgit E. Meyer & Peter Nunnenkamp, 2016. "A New Global Index of Infrastructure: Construction, Rankings and Applications," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 236-259, February.
    17. Robert W. Staiger & Kyle Bagwell, 1999. "An Economic Theory of GATT," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(1), pages 215-248, March.
    18. Dan Fuller & Doris Geide-stevenson, 2003. "Consensus Among Economists: Revisited," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(4), pages 369-387, December.
    19. Peter Egger, 2005. "Alternative Techniques for Estimation of Cross‐Section Gravity Models," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(5), pages 881-891, November.
    20. Marion Jansen, 2010. "Developing countries, standards and the WTO," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 163-185.
    21. repec:zbw:bofitp:2017_002 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Jagdish N. Bhagwati, 1978. "Foreign Trade Regimes and Economic Development: Anatomy and Consequences of Exchange Control Regimes," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number bhag78-1, March.
    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. Hasanat Shah, Syed & Hasnat, Hafsa & li, Junjiang, 2010. "Pre and post WTO analysis of south Asian economies: evidence from panel data estimation," MPRA Paper 35634, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2011.
    2. Emanuel Ornelas, 2016. "Special and Differential Treatment for Developing Countries," CESifo Working Paper Series 5823, CESifo.
    3. Lourenço S. Paz & Magnus Reis & André Filipe Zago Azevedo, 2024. "New Evidence on WTO Membership After the Uruguay Round: An Analysis at the Sectoral Level," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 1-39, February.
    4. Dutt, Pushan, 2020. "The WTO is not passé," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    5. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Duration of membership in the world trade organization and investment-oriented remittances inflows," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 258-277.
    6. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2022. "Duration of WTO Membership and Investment-Oriented Remittances Flows," EconStor Preprints 251274, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    7. Emanuel Ornelas & Marcos Ritel, 2020. "The not‐so‐generalised effects of the Generalized System of Preferences," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(7), pages 1809-1840, July.
    8. Eromenko, Igor, 2010. "Accession to the WTO. Computable General Equilibrium Analysis: the Case of Ukraine. Part I," MPRA Paper 67476, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Xuepeng Liu, 2016. "Trade Agreements and Economic Growth," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 82(4), pages 1374-1401, April.
    10. Eromenko, Igor, 2011. "Accession to the WTO. Computable General Equilibrium Analysis: the Case of Ukraine," MPRA Paper 67535, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Eicher, Theo S. & Henn, Christian, 2011. "In search of WTO trade effects: Preferential trade agreements promote trade strongly, but unevenly," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 137-153, March.
    12. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2023. "Effect of the duration of membership in the GATT/WTO on economic growth volatility," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 448-467.
    13. David J. Kuenzel, 2019. "Do trade flows respond to nudges? Evidence from the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Mechanism," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 735-764, August.
    14. Sèna Kimm Gnangnon, 2023. "Effect of the duration of membership in the GATT/WTO on human development in developed and developing countries," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 50(4), pages 943-983, November.
    15. Aliyev, Khatai, 2014. "Expected Macroeconomic Impacts of the Accession to WTO on Azerbaijan Economy: Empirical Analysis," MPRA Paper 55096, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Maggi, Giovanni, 2014. "International Trade Agreements," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 317-390, Elsevier.
    17. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2021. "WTO membership, the membership duration and the utilization of non-reciprocal trade preferences offered by the QUAD Countries," EconStor Preprints 247265, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    18. Tarlok Singh, 2010. "Does International Trade Cause Economic Growth? A Survey," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(11), pages 1517-1564, November.
    19. Iamsiraroj, Sasi, 2016. "The foreign direct investment–economic growth nexus," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 116-133.
    20. Stanley Black, 1984. "The Relationship between Exchange Rate Policy and Monetary Policy in Ten Industrial Countries," NBER Chapters, in: Exchange Rate Theory and Practice, pages 499-516, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    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:pje:journl:article29wini. 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: Samina Khalil (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aekarpk.html .

    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.