The issues of zero trade observations and the validity of the log linear transformation of the gravity equation have generated a number of debates in the literature with differing claims about the most suitable estimation technique. To produce unbiased and consistent estimates for policy making,...

This paper investigates the causes of rejections of African exports at the EU border as a barrier in accessing EU markets. Our results indicate that natural geographical hurdle, poor trade-related infrastructure, inefficient border procedure and a lack of technical personnel increase the...

The integration of developing countries into the world trading system is an important development mechanism to reduce poverty in these countries. Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) have recently spread in terms of quantity and type. Some of these, like the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs)...

We examine the impact of two important non-tariff measures presumed to simultaneously affect firms’ decisions to export to the European Union (EU). As a novelty to the literature, we analyse the impacts of EU pesticide standards on African exports alongside a complementary non-tariff measure...

Adopting a gravity framework and using data from 2010 to 2012 for 74 countries, we investigate whether the intensity of GlobalGAP standard adoption has a positive impact on EU banana import values. Intensity is measured by using number of GlobalGAP certified producers and hectares harvested...

GlobalGAP is an important private standard in food sector. However, geographic diffusion of GlobalGAP is uneven across the world. We use a panel from 2008 to 2012 for 170 FAO member countries to analyze GlobalGAP diffusion in the agricultural sector as a whole as well as in the crops subsector....

Non-tariff measures such as food safety standards are used to achieve the non-trade objective of protecting consumers' health and safety. However, they can also be used as a trade protection tool to drive a price wedge between domestic and foreign producers. This study investigates the...

In der Diskussion über die Fortführung der Gemeinsamen Agrarpolitik nach 2014 spielen die entkoppelten Direktzahlungen eine dominierende Rolle. Während sich die Debatte innerhalb der EU vor allem um die langfristige Begründung solcher Direktzahlungen dreht, steht aus Sicht der...

Supermarkets are gaining ground in the agri-food systems of many developing countries. While recent research has analyzed income effects in the small farm sector, impacts on productivity and efficiency have hardly been studied. We use a meta-frontier approach and combine this with propensity...

Large chocolate manufacturers have committed themselves to only using certifiedcocoa beans and some governments want to increase the share of certified cocoaproducts consumed in their countries. Thus, Voluntary Sustainability Standards(VSSs) become quasi-mandatory for cocoa producers and...