"Although there has been considerable recent interest in micro-credit programs, rigorous evidence on the impacts of forming self-help groups to mobilize savings and foster social empowerment at the local level is virtually non-existent, despite a large number of programs following this pattern....

This paper examines how the stringency of environmental regulations impact international trade patterns. It explores the hypothesis that environmental regulation does not have a significant impact on trade. An econometric analysis is conducted for 24 countries ranging from highly developed to...

This study assesses the impact of adopting international food safety standards and regional harmonization of standards on global trade patterns of cereals, dried fruits and nuts. The paper develops econometric models to estimate the effect of aflatoxin standards in 15 importing countries on the...

The need for countries to facilitate trade and to reduce the transactions costs plaguing trade is receiving a lot of interest in policy circles, and in particular in the WTO, where trade facilitation has been one of the few good stories in recent multilateral negotiations. Is this interest...

Infrastructure quality is a crucial determinant of trade. To assess the importance of regional infrastructure externalities, we use detailed overland transit information from an original road network database. Gravity model simulations suggest that an ambitious but feasible road upgrade could...

This paper examines the impact of improved trade facilitation measures and institutional capacity in a set of economies in transition Europe. Our results suggest that behind-the-border barriers play an important role in determining bilateral trade flows (controlling for the effects of tariffs,...