Is the recent proliferation of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) in Asia a healthy development, or runs the risk of turning into an unmanageable noodle bowl in the future? The goal of this paper is to shed some light on this question. The results show that membership in the Asian RTAs considered...

Inter-regional free trade agreements (FTAs) -- notably between Asia and Latin America -- are growing in numbers and complexity. There is an absence of an agreed methodology for empirical assessments on the content of FTAs and little research. This paper proposes a framework to assess...

The signature of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement during the 10th Extraordinary Summit of the African Union (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government held on 21 March 2018, in Kigali, Rwanda, marks a decisive turn in African regional economic integration. After...

In May 2013 the ASEAN+6 countries began to negotiate the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The objective of this paper is to analyze the feasibility of constructing such a region-wide agreement and to examine ways to multilateralize it. The paper first reviews free trade...

This paper models the trade creating and trade diverting effects of the COMESA free trade agreement (FTA) and MERCOSUR over time using several theoretically consistent gravity equations. The extensive sector-specific TradeProd panel data set from 1980 to 2006 is employed throughout. From the...

This chapter suggests a rationale for a simple, scalable, and fast computational approach through the ‘Data With Direction Specification’ (DWDS) to supplement the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The specification provides a way for digitally executable...

This paper analyses the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) whose Agreement entered into force on 30 May 2019, and particularly its relationship with the World Trade Organization. It considers whether the practice of African Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) to rely on the Enabling...

This exploratory study examines the export potential of the East African Community (EAC) within the new African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the impending COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA). The research aims to determine the EAC's export potential, identify key...

In March 2018, representatives of member countries of the African Union signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. This agreement provides a framework for trade liberalization in goods and services and is expected to eventually cover all African countries. Using a...

The trade openness experienced by the world has enabled countries to develop strategies and implement policies aimed at increasing the competitiveness of their companies in international markets. Free trade agreements are the result of this policy. These agreements have grown in a very...