This paper has two unique features: it deals with withdrawal from a customs union, which is a neglected aspect of international economic integration, and does so within a macroeconomic framework rather than standard general-partial equilibrium analysis. Withdrawal was in the British Labour...

In 1997, fourteen Arab countries concluded an agreement, aimed at achieving the Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) by 1.1.2007 at the latest. This paper provides a first ex-post appraisal of the GAFTA agreement’s trade effects. Based on new theoretical developments of the gravity equation,...

The paper is confined to addressing the question of whether a relationship exists between ‘economic rights’ and ‘regional integration’; confined because the title has several manifestations and interpretations. I categorically assert that there is not: regional integration is governed by...

Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) have recently become a central issue for economists and policy makers. Based on a new database developed by the World Bank on five Middle East and North African(MENA) countries at a very detailed product level, this article provides calculations of the average tariff...