We test the relationship between the size of regional trade agreements (RTA) and openness by using a gravity equation … with multilateral trade factors. Our sample includes eleven RTAs, seven with constant membership and four with expanding … membership. Regional trade bias declines with the size of the club; three of the four expanding RTAs have already surpassed their …

trade that historically have been addressed largely separately: the (partial) effects on trade of economic integration … of economic integration agreements (EIAs) on members’ trade may be biased upward owing to inadequate control for … intranational trade); we find evidence of this bias using a properly specified gravity equation. Second, our novel methodology …