In 1995 the seven South Asian countries-Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka-initiated a multilateral framework for regionwide integration under the South Asian Preferential Trade Agreement (SAPTA). In a recent initiative, members agreed that SAPTA would begin...

Unlike earlier analysts, who have focused on U.S. objectives, the authors focus here on what 11 Latin American countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela) stand to gain from a preferential removal of U.S. trade barriers - that...

Standard theory says that a country's welfare is unaffected by being excluded from a small regional trade agreement. But for most products,"small"countries and regional trade agreements do have some measure of market power. Such market power can arise if (1) supply is geographically concentrated;...

The authors empirically assess regional integration and liberalization scenarios impact on Indonesia and other Pacific Rim economies, including the complete Uruguay Round, further global liberalization and the creation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) or Asia-Pacific...

For over three decades, Sub-Saharan African countries have had an interest in regional integration initiatives to accelerate their industrialization and growth. With the help of a more comprehensive database on intra-African trade than was previously available, the author examines a proposal to...

The Czech and Slovak Customs Union (CSCU), which came into effect in January 1993, differs from regular regional trading arrangements as its goal was to minimize the economic cost of a decline in economic ties between its members rather than to set in motion the mechanism of integration. The...

A few years ago, many western companies were eager to consider investing in Eastern Europe and, more recently, in South Asia, where ongoing reform, large domestic markets, and cheap but qualified labor are transforming the region into a potentially fierce competitor for foreign direct investment...

The authors estimate that the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA), the EU-MERCOSUR agreement, and multilateral trade policy changes will all be beneficial for Brazil. The Brazilian government strategy of simultaneously negotiating the FTAA and the EU-MERCOSUR agreement, while supporting...

The author examines the development of foreign trade institutions and policies in Central European countries invited to negotiate their accession to the European Union. With the dismantling of state trading, conditions of market access have been dramatically liberalized. However, except for...

The main objective of trade reform is to make markets more competitive and, by introducing competition among previously protected domestic firms, to change the behavior and performance of firms. Efficiency gains are achieved through increased productivity - more efficient use of resources - and...