"Product standards can have a dual impact on production and trade costs. Standards may impose additional costs on exporters as it may be necessary to adapt products for specific markets (cost-effect). In contrast, standards can reduce exporters' information costs if they convey information on...

The authors present a new database of minimum distance road routes connecting 138 cities in 27 countries across Europe and Central Asia. They use it to show that improved road network quality is robustly associated with higher intraregional trade flows. Gravity model simulations suggest that an...

"Product standards can have a dual impact on production and trade costs. Standards may impose additional costs on exporters as it may be necessary to adapt products for specific markets (cost-effect). In contrast, standards can reduce exporters' information costs if they convey information on...

The effects of varying regulatory standards on trade in agricultural products are at the forefront of policy debate. This paper employs a gravity model to estimate the impact of changes in aflatoxin standards on trade flows of groundnut products using trade data for Europe and Africa during...

Implementation of the European Union's new aflatoxin standards will reduce African exports to Europe of nuts, cereals, and dried fruits, products highly sensitive to the aflatoxin standards. The EU standards would reduce health risks by only about 1.4 deaths per billion a year but would cut...

The application of product regulations and standards is becoming increasingly contentious as an implicit nontariff barrier to trade. This overview of the policy debate and methodological issues surrounding product standards and technical barriers to trade proposes concrete steps to move forward...

Product standards can have a dual impact on production and trade costs. Standards may impose additional costs on exporters as it may be necessary to adapt products for specific markets (cost-effect). In contrast, standards can reduce exporters' information costs if they convey information on...