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Regionalism in Standards: Good or Bad for Trade?

Author

Listed:
  • Maggie X. Chen

    (Department of Economics/Institute for International Economic Policy, George Washington University)

  • Aaditya Mattoo

    (World Bank)

Abstract

Regional agreements on standards have been largely ignored by economists and blessed by multilateral trade rules. Using a constructed panel data that identifies the different types of agreements at the industry level, we find that such agreements increase the trade between participating countries but not necessarily with the rest of the world. Harmonization of standards may reduce the exports of excluded countries, especially in markets that have raised the stringency of standards. Mutual Recognition Agreements are more uniformly trade promoting unless they contain restrictive rules of origin, in which case intraregional trade increases at the expense of imports from other countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Maggie X. Chen & Aaditya Mattoo, 2008. "Regionalism in Standards: Good or Bad for Trade?," Working Papers 2009-14, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
  • Handle: RePEc:gwi:wpaper:2009-14
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    regionalism; standard; harmonization; MRA; rules of origin;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations

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