Proliferation of Preferential Trade Agreements : Quantifying its Welfare Impact and Preference Erosion

Literature has frequently evaluated the proliferation of preferential trade agreement (PTAs) by counting the number of PTAs or the share of international trade covered by these agreements. But these indicators havebeen recently criticized. This article, using a Computable General Equilibrium model, attempts to quantify the economic impact of the proliferation of PTAs. Results show that the welfare impact is limited and often vanishes quickly because preferences are eroded by the proliferation of PTAs. This contrasts with the gains from non-discriminatory liberalization