Two issues stand out in this conversation. The first concerns the unfinished business of the global fight against the scourge of poverty, which impacts one region more than most: Africa. At the same time, a key pre-requisite for economic performance - affordable and efficient public...

This paper addresses the role of bilateral free trade agreements in U.S. trade policy and how their increased use has affected the multilateral trade system. It also considers the effects of bilateral trade deals on developing countries in terms of power bargaining and movement toward reciprocal...

Trade costs associated with institutional failures and political risks, continue to serve as a big barrier to regional and international trade. Despite this strong impediment, limited work has been done to investigate the effect of weak institutions and type of political regime on bilateral...

Trade is a tool to increase human welfare and development, but is increasingly being harnessed also to achieve broad environmental and social sustainability. This paper evaluates the modern relationship between trade and distribution of wealth, on the one hand, and trade and sustainable...

This paper evaluates the role of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) in the context of global value chains. Given the interconnectedness of trade and investment, preferential trade agreements not only contribute to participation and value capture by eliminating traditional trade barriers, they...

If South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are to become constructively engaged in the next attempt by World Trade Organization (WTO) members to liberalize trade multilaterally, they need to be convinced that there will be sufficient gains from trade reform to warrant the inevitable costs of...

We provide a synthesis of the theoretical models that study the use of escape clauses, also known as safeguards, in multilateral and preferential trade agreements. We consider models that explain this type of flexibility based on economic efficiency, political economy shocks, and...

With the globalisation of the world economy, the multiplication of international agreements and the ever expending scope and depth of issues addressed, trade negotiations are representing new challenges from which developing countries are not immune. Besides their own regional integration...

We investigate the long-term effects of export opportunities to a large destination market on multinational affiliates and domestic firms in a low-income host country. The US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement reduced US import tariffs on exports from Vietnam. Tariff reductions led to entry of...