This paper appraises the likely effects of the EPA agreement the EAC is about to sign with the EU. Customs data are used to estimate the revenue and welfare effects of finalizing an EPA agreement. The estimates show that because of exemptions, estimates from the usual approach of relying on...

The “distance effect” measuring the elasticity of trade flows to distance has been found to be rising since the early 1970s in a host of studies based on the gravity model, leading observers to call it the “distance puzzle”. However, this puzzle is regularly challenged by new...

The outcome of the 15th conference of the Parties to the UNFCC showed a shift from a top-down approach with a collective target favoring environmental objectives to a bottom-up accord favoring political feasibility, with no meaningful binding agreement in sight, as the global climate regime and...

This paper revisits the celebrated conflict that lasted close to two decades and pitted the EU against the US and against MFN suppliers of bananas. It starts by recalling the major turning points in the dispute and argues that the EU-US conflict could largely be explained by the changing...

Using an “event analysis”, this paper complements the cross-country approach to the study of fiscal correlates of growth. Data on fiscal expenditures and growth for a database of 140 countries (118 developing countries) over 1972-2005 are reorganized around turning points providing a summary...

The outcome of the 15th conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Copenhagen showed a shift from a top-down approach with a collective target favoring environmental objectives to a bottom-up accord favoring political feasibility. There is no meaningful binding agreement in sight, also because...

In spite of improved performance during the last decade, the MENA region has had a disappointing performance compared to other middle income countries. The paper surveys underlying causes by constructing micro and macro indicators and comparing performance with other countries. Lower growth and...

The paper surveys the state of knowledge about the trade-related environmental consequences of a country’s development strategy along three channels: (i) direct trade-environment linkages (overexploitation of natural resources and trade-related transport costs);(ii) ’virtual trade’ in...

Les tensions dans le système commercial international grandissent, non seulement à cause des pressions protectionnistes suite à la grande récession de 2008, dont les séquelles sont encore bien présentes, mais également en raison d’une tendance à plus long terme, à savoir la mise à...

The outcome of the 15th conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Copenhagen showed a shift from a top-down approach with a collective target favoring environmental objectives to a bottom-up accord favoring political feasibility. There is no meaningful binding agreement in sight, also because...