We evaluate the potential dynamic effects of MERCOSUR on the Argentinean economy. Two approaches, already used with other regional integration agreements, are applied for measuring medium and long-term effects. Special care has been taken in separating intra from extra zone effects. All...

The increase in global trade and the ongoing erosion of trade barriers makes the analysis of trade patterns one of the key areas in international economics. Much of the post-war expansion of trade took the form of intra-industry trade (IIT). This paper presents a simple geometric tool to analyse...

This study offers an empirical microlevel analysis of the pass-through effects of the East African Community Common External Tariff on consumer prices in Kenya. Using data from the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Surveys conducted in 2005 and 2015, this research employs a fixed-effects model...

We apply a simple method to study the relative quality of Chinese versus European products exported in the clothing sector after the end of the Multi-Fiber Arrangement. Based on the model of Foster et al., (2008), we interpret the change in relative export prices and quantities sold in narrowly...

When the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) formally adopted the principle of “open regionalism” (OR) in its trade liberalization in 1991, many were optimistic that this approach suggested the bloc as a stepping stone toward global free trade. This optimistic view was reinforced by the...

Price undertakings are alternatives to imposing anti-dumping duties. In the past, almost half of EU anti-dumping measures were price undertakings. This has drastically changed in recent years. We identify four reasons for the decreasing relevance of price undertakings. First, prior to the...

As manufacturing tariffs have fallen worldwide, the focus of free trade agreements has shifted towards other issues, including: rules governing foreign investment, e-commerce regulations, trade in services, harmonization of technical standards, sanitary and phyto-sanitary regulations, and the...

This paper focuses on the effect of output subsidies in an economic union in the context of a third-market model where there are two countries which produce a homogeneous good consumed in a third country. We study the importance of cost asymmetry between firms in different countries, and the...

This paper contributes to analysis of the extent to which multilateral trading agreements reached under GATT can liberalize the world economy. Its main conclusion is that free trade is not sustainable if production is fixed exogenously and utility is non-transferable. If production is fixed and...

Adherents to the “natural trading partner” hypothesis argue that forming a PTA is more likely to raise welfare if member countries already trade disproportionately with each other. Opponents of the hypothesis claim that the opposite is true: welfare is likely to be higher if member countries...