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Measuring World Trade Organization (WTO) Accession Commitments and their Economic Effects

Author

Listed:
  • Vicky Chemutai
  • Hubert Escaith

    (GREQAM - Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d'Aix-Marseille - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - AMU - Aix Marseille Université - ECM - École Centrale de Marseille - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This paper builds an index to measure the depth of accession commitments and estimate the impact of World Trade Organization (WTO) accession. We find that WTO accession has a positive and significant influence on an economy's trade and investment. The impact of WTO accession on the ratio of trade to gross domestic product is significantly higher than in previous studies on developing countries. Trade in services also tends to increase after accession. Moreover, greater openness does not negatively affect the trade balance of Article XII members. The results on investment, be it domestic or foreign, are also encouraging, but are not fully conclusive.

Suggested Citation

  • Vicky Chemutai & Hubert Escaith, 2017. "Measuring World Trade Organization (WTO) Accession Commitments and their Economic Effects," Post-Print hal-01658461, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01658461
    DOI: 10.1142/S1793993317500077
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bogetoft Pedersen, Peter & Diakantoni, Antonia, 2020. "Lessons learned and challenges ahead for the WTO Trade Monitoring exercise," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2020-03, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    2. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2024. "Effect of the accession to the world trade organization on commercial services exports," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 106-127.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm, 2022. "Duration of the Membership in the World Trade Organization and Aid for Trade Flows," EconStor Preprints 260562, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    6. von Kalckreuth, Ulf, 2019. "Statistical governance and FDI in emerging economies," Discussion Papers 37/2019, Deutsche Bundesbank.

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