IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/57448.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Euro-Med Free Trade Area: An Empirical Assessment of the main Trade Agreements' Effects

Author

Listed:
  • elmallah, mariam

Abstract

This paper provides an assessment of the effects of the main trade agreements implemented in the Euro-Mediterranean region. The empirical analysis in this paper is based on a gravity model for a panel of 14 countries (7 South Mediterranean, 4 EU member states in addition to USA and Japan) for the time span 1991 till 2012. The trade agreements of interest are the Pan-Arab Free Trade Agreement (PAFTA), the Agadir Agreement and the Association Agreements (AAs) signed between the EU and the South Mediterranean countries (SMCs) and are considered the main building blocks for the Euro-Med Free Trade Area. Results show a positive and significant effect of both the PAFTA and the Agadir Agreement on the exports of their signatories. Differently, signing the AAs seems to have no significant impact on the exports of the countries on average as well as the exports of the majority of the SMCs in specific. However, there is a positive and significant impact of the AAs on the exports of the EU member states. When analyzing the behavior of the single countries, emerges a positive impact of PAFTA on the exports of Egypt and Morocco, a negative impact on Tunisia and insignificant impact on Algeria and Jordan. The Agadir Agreement benefited both Egypt and Morocco, leaving no significant effects on both Tunisia and Jordan. Finally, signing the AAs had a positive impact on Egypt, Morocco and Turkey, a negative impact on Algeria and Jordan, and insignificant impact on the exports of both Israel and Tunisia. These results imply the success of the intra-regional integration efforts, unlike the outcome of the inter-regional AAs. The current design of the AAs seems to have asymmetric outcome on its signatories. The persistence of this problem can hinder the path towards a mutually beneficial and fully fledged Euro-Med Free Trade Area.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:57448
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/57448/1/MPRA_paper_57448.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/57648/1/MPRA_paper_57448.pdf
    File Function: revised version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Péridy, Nicolas & Abedini, Javad, 2008. "The Greater Arab Free Trade Area(GAFTA): an Estimation of Its Trade Effects," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 23, pages 848-872.
    2. M. Hashem Pesaran & Yongcheol Shin & Richard J. Smith, 2001. "Bounds testing approaches to the analysis of level relationships," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 289-326.
    3. Cies´lik, Andrzej & Hagemejer, Jan, 2009. "Assessing the Impact of the EU-sponsored Trade Liberalization in the MENA Countries," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 24, pages 343-368.
    4. Juan Ruiz & Josep M. Vilarrubia, 2007. "The wise use of dummies in gravity models: export potentials in the Euromed region," Working Papers 0720, Banco de España.
    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. Abdelaaziz Aït Ali & Karim EL Aynaoui & Karim El Mokri & Sara Mokaddem, 2015. "Rethinking the Mediterranean Strategic Agenda in an Evolving Environment," Policy notes & Policy briefs 1525, Policy Center for the New South.
    2. Shaker, Saber Adly, 2017. "الأبعاد الثقافية للتجارة الدولية: حالة دول إتفاقية أغادير [The Cultural Dimensions of International Trade: The Case of AGADIR Agreement countries]," MPRA Paper 81761, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2017.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. M. D. Parra & I. Martínez-Zarzoso & C. Suárez-Burguet, 2013. "The impact of FTAs on MENA trade in industrial and agricultural products," Working Papers 13-05, Asociación Española de Economía y Finanzas Internacionales.
    4. Sekkat, Khalid, 2012. "Manufactured Exports and FDI in Southern Mediterranean Countries: Evolution, determinants and prospects," CEPS Papers 6849, Centre for European Policy Studies.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Eric Tremolada Álvarez (editor), 2013. "Repensando la integración y las integraciones," Books, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Facultad de Finanzas, Gobierno y Relaciones Internacionales, edition 1, volume 1, number 85, June.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Karasoy, Alper, 2022. "Is innovative technology a solution to Japan's long-run energy insecurity? Dynamic evidence from the linear and nonlinear methods," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    11. Bloch, Harry & Rafiq, Shuddhasattwa & Salim, Ruhul, 2015. "Economic growth with coal, oil and renewable energy consumption in China: Prospects for fuel substitution," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 104-115.
    12. Villanthenkodath, Muhammed Ashiq & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar, 2021. "Does economic growth respond to electricity consumption asymmetrically in Bangladesh? The implication for environmental sustainability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    13. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Hoang, Thi Hong Van & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar & Roubaud, David, 2017. "Energy consumption, financial development and economic growth in India: New evidence from a nonlinear and asymmetric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 199-212.
    14. Nasreen, Samia & Anwar, Sofia & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2017. "Financial stability, energy consumption and environmental quality: Evidence from South Asian economies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 1105-1122.
    15. Muhammad Shafiullah & Ravinthirakumaran Navaratnam, 2016. "Do Bangladesh and Sri Lanka Enjoy Export-Led Growth? A Comparison of Two Small South Asian Economies," South Asia Economic Journal, Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka, vol. 17(1), pages 114-132, March.
    16. Garrod Brian & Almeida António & Machado Luiz, 2023. "Modelling of nonlinear asymmetric effects of changes in tourism on economic growth in an autonomous small-island economy," European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Sciendo, vol. 13(2), pages 154-172, December.
    17. Zheng, Li & Abbasi, Kashif Raza & Salem, Sultan & Irfan, Muhammad & Alvarado, Rafael & Lv, Kangjuan, 2022. "How technological innovation and institutional quality affect sectoral energy consumption in Pakistan? Fresh policy insights from novel econometric approach," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    18. Muhammad Shahbaz & Vassilios G. Papavassiliou & Amine Lahiani & David Roubaud, 2023. "Are we moving towards decarbonisation of the global economy? Lessons from the distant past to the present," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(3), pages 2620-2634, July.
    19. Egbichi Comfort & Abuh Ojamaliya & Okafor Victoria & Godwin Abigail & Adedoyin Oluwapelumi, 2018. "Dynamic Impact of Energy Consumption on the Growth of Nigeria Economy (1986-2016): Evidence from Symmetrical Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 8(2), pages 188-195.
    20. Ghosh, Soumya Kanti & Nath, Hiranya K., 2023. "What determines private and household savings in India?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 639-651.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Empirical Studies of Trade; Economic Integration;

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:pra:mprapa:57448. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.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.