Extensive research has demonstrated the existence of large potential welfare gains from trade facilitation - measures to reduce the overall costs of the international movement of goods. From an equity perspective an important question is how those benefits are distributed across and within...

The world and regional economies have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. The combined effects of the pandemic and global and national lockdowns have caused havoc in the countries of South and South-West Asia (SSWA), with their trade severely impacted. This paper investigates the subregion's...

South Asia could unleash its full potentials, provided, it improves the infrastructure facilities, which are at present not sufficient to meet the growing demand of the region. The renewed and shared agenda of the South Asian regional cooperation should aim to reduce both intra- and inter-...

Regardless of the occasional dissenting voices, free trade is now being embraced by many of the nations of the world. South Asian countries joined the global consensus for frictionless trade by forming regional trade blocs under the banner of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation...

Relation between trade, inequality and poverty within countries is not beyond controversy. Under free trade and competitive conditions, trade promotes growth, and growth reduces poverty. In general, trade liberalisation has long been seen as an important element of an effective and sound...

This working paper introduces the concept of bilateral asymmetries in international merchandise trade statistics (IMTS), i.e. the discrepancies that can be seen in reported bilateral trade flows between trading partners. Such discrepancies mean that the value of exports reported by one country...