This paper examines the extent and pattern of global production sharing, focusing on East Asia, and probes its implications for the analysis of the determinants of trade flows. Reflecting rapid global spread of production sharing, trade in parts and components has increased at a much faster rate...

This paper documents and analyzes emerging patterns of trade and foreign direct investment in Asia with a view to informing the contemporary policy debate on multilateralizing regionalism. The key theme running through the paper is the pivotal role of global production sharing in transforming...

This paper examines trends and patterns of intra-regional FDI in South Asia, with a focus on the potential for integrating production processes among countries in the region through further trade and investment policy reforms. The empirical evidence pieced together from scattered sources...

This paper offers an empirical analysis of the proposal by some developing countries for an agricultural Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) in the World Trade Organization. It draws on political economy and market theory to demonstrate that the loss-averting domestic producer benefits that...

There is a strong presumption among economists that domestic reforms are promoted by regionalism. Yet strong empirical evidence for this proposition is lacking. The purpose of the paper is to examine in some detail both the theoretical arguments and empirical evidence on this issue, drawing on...

This paper examines the impact of the Australia-Thailand free trade agreement (TAFTA) on bilateral trade between the two countries, paying attention to the implications of rules of origins (RoO) and the utilization of tariff preferences. It is found that trade has expanded faster following TAFTA...

This paper examines patterns and determinants of trade among developing countries (South-South trade), with emphasis on the role of production sharing in global economic integration of the Southern economies. It begins with an analytical narrative of the emerging trends and patterns of...

By how much did the cost of governmental barriers to trade change over the 20th century, and how might they change by the middle of the 21st century? This paper addresses that question by first reviewing evidence on the changing extent of global trade restrictions since 1900, particularly for...

This paper addresses three questions relating to the very extensive use of the GTAP global trade protection database: Are there additional price-distorting policy instruments worthy of inclusion in the base year? What is the appropriate counterfactual set of price distortions in the year of...

Rapid economic growth in some emerging economies in recent decades has significantly increased their global economic importance. If this rapid growth continues and is strongest in resource-poor Asian economies, the growth in global demand for imports of primary products also will continue, to...