For several years, preferential trade agreements have been oriented towards initiating a deep integration process including a “democratic” clause. The inclusion of such a clause can be interpreted as a political choice to promote democracy. However, it can also be viewed as a pre-condition...

This paper provides an ex-post assessment of the Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) to see whether RTAs have been trade creating or trade diverting. We estimate the impact of RTAs on trade flows for country pair with dyed fixed effects and time dummies. These fixed effects capture the determinants...

For several years, preferential trade agreements have been oriented towards initiating a deep integration process. As a result, treaties include clauses concerning the harmonization of regulations, policies and standards. In order to join the European Union, a future member must be a stable...

This paper explores whether countries that have a federal Constitution engage in more international trade. We identify two possible mechanisms through which political fragmentation of nation-states, namely federalism, might impact positively on trade globalization processes: domestic market...

Taking seriously the stylized fact that some countries are more risk averse than others regarding business activities, we examine the consequences on international trade and welfare. When risk is idiosyncratic to each manager's project, international differences in manager's risk-aversion...

Since the 1990s, we have seen a proliferation of bilateral trade agreements. Many of these have encompassed topics that are not directly linked to trade, such as political institutions, sustainable development, labour standards or competition policy. The European Union itself is caught up in...

Labour standards defined by the ILO in 1998 are universal but applied very differently in countries. They are much better respected in high income countries. However, the causality between labour standards and growth remains a controversial issue. The strategies of export-led growth might...

Labour standards defined by the ILO in 1998 are universal but applied very differently in countries. They are much better respected in high income countries. However, the causality between labour standards and growth remains a controversial issue. The strategies of export-led growth might...

Core labour standards defined by the ILO in 1998 are universal, but applied very differently across countries. Compliance is much higher in high income countries. However, the causality between improved labour standards and economic growth remains a controversial issue. Export-led growth...