This paper analyses the effect of international borders and of trade agreements at international borders on subnational (i.e. regional) growth. We construct an extensive panel dataset covering 1,350 regions in 86 countries worldwide between 1950 and 2017. Our results show that international...

Gravity equations have been used for more than 50 years to estimate ex post the partial effects of trade costs on international trade flows, and the well-known - and traditionally presumed exogenous - "trade-cost elasticity" plays a central role in computing general equilibrium trade-flow and...

This paper develops a method to measure difficulties in market access over a large set of countries (both developing and developed) and industries, during the period 1980-2006. We use a micro-founded heterogeneous-consumers model to estimate the impact of national borders on global and regional...

Preferential trade agreements are meant to promote trade within the targeted region. Once such agreements are put into effect, it is interesting to investigate the impact and effectiveness in the targeted region. This paper analyzes world trade network as a graph and introduces the measure to...

This paper investigates the trade-diversion effects of regional trade agreements (RTAs), so-called “Spaghetti bowl” Phenomenon (SBP), in multilateral trade. The SBP is due to the proliferation of RTAs. Thus, I investigate the relationship between the number of RTAs concluded by a country and...

The paper studies the effects of regional integration on the incentives of members and non-members to undertake multilateral trade liberalization. Using a three-country political economy model with imperfect competition, it shows how regionalism can undermine support for multilateralism....

This timely book examines international trade and investment law at various levels of governance, including unilateral, bilateral, regional, and multilateral arrangements. The author demonstrates that the nature of international trade law is fragmented and cyclical. Whilst not always...

I evaluate in this paper the impact of free trade areas (FTAs) on the world trading system. I use an oligopolistic-political-economy model where the external tariffs of FTA members, as well as the decision to form FTAs, are endogenously determined. In this context, I show that FTAs are primarily...

The median voter approach to trade policies within a Heckscher-Ohlin framework predicts that trade policy is pro-labor; while the lobbying model based on the argument of the free rider problem predicts that trade policy is pro-capital. We test these conflicting political economy theories using...