This paper presents one channel through which the creation of a Preferential Trading Arrangement (PTA) can undermine multilateral trade liberalization. Using a modified Meade model, it is shown how a PTA shrinks the export sectors in the excluded countries. This in turn leads to an expansion of...

This article discusses whether the current proliferation of preferential trade agreements - the so-called competitive liberalization - encourages evolution toward multilateral free trade. It argues that countries pursuing preferential trade initiatives are in pursuit of the economic rents...