This paper maps out Rules of Origin (RoO) in regional trade agreements (RTAs) around the world, and observes that the restrictiveness and complexity of RoO are driven by factors specific to each RTA, including economy size and level of development. Given the powerful political economy forces...

Regional trade agreements (RTAs) have proliferated over the past decade around the world to cover nearly half of global trade. The number of RTAs notified to the WTO is approaching 200, while the total number of RTAs around the world exceeds 300. The global RTA spree has forged a veritable...

The Americas have been a key driver of regional trade agreements (RTAs) since the 1990s. This study considers the effect of these agreements on trade liberalization, and the lessons that this offers for other parts of the world, notably Asia. It finds broad geographical coverage of RTAs in the...

The theory and practice of economic integration have traditionally focussed on aspects of resource allocation. Except for the debate on optimal currency areas in the 1960s, which did not significantly influence regional integration efforts at the time, there has been relatively little analytical...

Despite the growing political priority given to making trade work for the majority in Latin America, a notable gap exists in the knowledge about the distributive impacts of trade integration. This study attempts to fill this gap: it surveys the most recent contributions to the mainstream trade...

The Internet roared to the scene in Latin America and it is transforming the way Latin Americans interact, shop, bank, and spend their time. The Internet is changing regional consumption patterns, the landscape of regional companies, and the region's economic prospects. Disruptive digital...

Digitally deliverable services play a growing role in export-driven production in the FEALAC region, but digitally deliverable services from Latin America are used only to a limited extent by producers in Asia, and vice versa. However, this disguises the fast growth in Latin American-Asian...

According to the Washington Consensus, developing countries' growth would benefit from reductions in barriers to trade. However, the empirical basis for judging trade reforms is weak. Econometrics are mostly ad hoc; results are typically not judged against models; policies are poorly measured; and...