In light of Kazakhstan's interest to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), this paper investigates the impact of the WTO accession on trade flows by using a standard gravity model. It argues that accession to the WTO involves a short run benefit from further reducing tariff and non-tariff...

This paper analyzes the role of retaliation in trade agreements. It shows that, in the presence of private information, retaliation can always be used to increase the welfare derived from such agreements by the participating governments. In particular, it is shown that retaliation is a necessary...