The majority of African countries implemented import liberalisation in the 1990s. This paper explores factors that may explain the pattern of protection and of tariff reform. We consider political economy explanations, motivated specifically by the Grossman and Helpman (1994) model of protection...

In the 1980’s and 1990’s many African countries liberalised their trade policy, although since the mid 1990s there are countries that did not alter tariffs. This allows us to analyse the effects of trade liberalisation on the change in imports using Difference-in-Differences techniques that...

Current arrangements under the Lomé Convention have given African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries preferential access to EU markets, but the legality of this non- reciprocal arrangement has been challenged by the World Trade Organisation. The European Union has proposed replacing these...