Trade between developing countries, or South-South trade, has been growing rapidly in recent years following significant reductions in tariff barriers. However, significant barriers remain, and there is currently reluctance in many developing countries to undertake further reductions, with a...

The relationship between trade liberalization and informal activity has not received the attention, whether theoretical or empirical, that it may deserve. The conventional view posits that trade liberalization would cause a rise in informality. This paper uses three different data sets to assess...

The aim of this paper is to explore the patterns of trade duration across regions and to identify its determinants. Using an extended Cox model, we evaluate the effects of country and product characteristics, as well as of trade costs on the duration of trade relationships from 96 countries from...

One of the consequences of the proliferation of preferential trade agreements is that an increasing share of international trade is not subject to the most favoured nation (MFN) tariff, but enters markets through preferential access. Preferential access affects trade because, by providing some...

With diminishing tariff s, the focus of trade policy makers and analysts is logically turning towards non-tariff barriers (NTBs), but there much remains to be done. It is well-know that tackling NTBs poses many challenges for the analyst because of their diverse and complex nature, and the lack...

Using a detailed data set at the tariff line level, we find an emulator effect of multilateralism on subsequent regional trade agreements (RTAs) involving the United States. We exploit the variation in the frequency with which the United States grants immediate duty free access (IDA) to its RTA...

What are the major determinants of export performance? Does the importance of these determinants vary with export performance itself? Using quantile regression techniques this study investigates the contribution towards the performance of the external sector of linkages to international markets...

This paper explores the effect of market access on firms’ export performance and their survival on foreign markets. The data used cover all Peruvian exporting firms between 2002 and 2008, a period during which Peru was active in joining the global economy. This is done using two indices: one...

The paper presents a review of recent work both theoretical and empirical related to the impact of non-tariff measures with a focus on technical regulations. A minimalist theoretical set-up to analyse non-tariff measures is first presented. Various empirical approaches and techniques used to...

Trade in textiles and apparel is of special interest among international trade transactions. Removal of the final Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) quotas in 2005 brought about a division of textile- and apparel-exporting countries into groups of winners and losers. Turkey appeared as a...