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Assessing the impact of the EU-sponsored trade liberalization in the MENA countries

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  • Hagemejer, Jan
  • Cieslik, Andrzej

Abstract

The EU-sponsored Barcelona conference in 1995 set the ambitious goal of creating the Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Area (EUROMED) that would include the European Union and the MENA countries by 2010. The intermediate steps towards building the EUROMED have involved bilateral “vertical” trade liberalization between the EU and the particular MENA countries as well as “horizontal” trade liberalization among themselves. In this paper we evaluate empirically the effects of the new EU Association Agreements with the MENA countries using the augmented gravity equations derived from a variety of neoclassical and new trade theory models and panel data for the period 1980-2004. We find that while these agreements increased significantly imports of the MENA countries from the EU they had no positive impact on their exports to the EU which can be attributed to the asymmetry in trade liberalization between the EU and the MENA countries.

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  • Hagemejer, Jan & Cieslik, Andrzej, 2009. "Assessing the impact of the EU-sponsored trade liberalization in the MENA countries," MPRA Paper 17721, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:17721
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    1. Cardozo, Adriana R. & Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Vogler, Paula L., 2020. "The impact of FTAs on MENA exports of intermediate and final goods," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 402, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    2. David C. Francis & Helena Schweiger, 2017. "Not so different from non-traders," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 25(2), pages 185-238, April.
    3. María Dolores Parra Robles & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Celestino Suárez Burguet, 2012. "The impact of FTAs on MENA trade," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 217, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Shaista Alam, 2015. "The Effect of Preferential Trade Agreements on Pakistan’s Export Performance," Discussion Papers 2015-10, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    5. Sekkat, Khalid, 2012. "Manufactured Exports and FDI in Southern Mediterranean Countries: Evolution, determinants and prospects," CEPS Papers 6849, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    6. M. D. Parra & I. Martinez-Zarzoso & C. Suárez-Burguet, 2016. "The impact of FTAs on MENA trade in agricultural and industrial products," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(25), pages 2341-2353, May.
    7. Ascani, Andrea & Crescenzi, Riccardo & Iammarino, Simona, 2016. "What drives European multinationals to the EU neighbouring countries? A mixed methods analysis of Italian investment strategies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64862, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Lucke, Bernd & Zotti, Jacopo, 2016. "Macroeconomic effects of the Barcelona Initiative," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 837-854.
    9. Mohamed Ismail Sabry, 2022. "Arab-German Trade and Institutions: The Effect of Good Governance on Arab Exports to Germany," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(5), pages 2400-2437, October.
    10. Fiankor, Dela-Dem Doe & Ehrich, Malte & Brümmer, Bernhard, 2016. "EU-African Regional Trade Agreements as a Development Tool to Reduce EU Border Rejections," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 244352, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    11. elmallah, mariam, 2014. "The Euro-Med Free Trade Area: An Empirical Assessment of the main Trade Agreements' Effects," MPRA Paper 57448, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. P. Montalbano & S. Nenci, 2014. "Assessing the trade impact of the European Neighbourhood Policy on the EU-MED Free Trade Area," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(7), pages 730-740, March.
    13. Alberto Behar & Laia Cirera-i-Crivillé, 2013. "Does it Matter Who You Sign With? Comparing the Impacts of North–South and South–South Trade Agreements on Bilateral Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 765-782, September.
    14. Mustafa Kahveci, 2019. "From Spring to Winter? An Analysis of "Arab Spring" Impacts on Turkey and Mena Region Foreign Trade with Gravity Approach," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(12), pages 1320-1334, December.
    15. Ahmad A. Al-Majali & Radi M. Adayleh, 2018. "International Competitiveness in Services in Some Middle East and North Africa Countries Using Gravity Model," International Review of Management and Marketing, Econjournals, vol. 8(2), pages 53-62.
    16. Harb Georges & Shady Nora Abou, 2016. "Arab Trade Dynamics after the Implementation of the Pan Arab Free Trade Area (1998–2012)," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-29, April.
    17. Mathias Juust & Priit Vahter & Urmas Varblane, 2017. "The Trade Effects Of The Eu-South Korea Free Trade Agreement In The Automotive Industry," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 105, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    bilateral trade; gravity equation; preferential trade liberalization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F11 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Neoclassical Models of Trade
    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation

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