The failure of declining trade-related costs to be reflected in estimates of the standard gravity model of bilateral trade might be called the ""missing globalization puzzle."" This puzzle is most apparent in the estimated distance coefficients found in the literature, which show no evidence of...

The popular impression that Africa has not integrated into world trade, as suggested by the evolution in simple indicators, has been called into question recently by more formal analysis. This paper refines and generalizes this analysis, but lends support to the popular view of disintegration....

This paper furnishes robust evidence that the GATT/WTO has had a powerful and positive impact on trade. The impact has, however, been uneven. GATT/WTO membership for industrial countries has been associated with a large increase in imports estimated at about 40 percent of world trade. The same...

Les Perspectives de l'economie mondiale (PEM) presentent des analyses de l'evolution economique mondiale a court et moyen termes, preparees par les principaux economistes du FMI. Elles constituent une ressource respectee, centrale et fiable d'informations fouillees et equilibrees, permettant aux...

This paper examines the theory underpinning the design of optimal tariffs in a developing economy, and the experience of implementation of tariff reforms. A central issue is whether and when a case can be made for a uniform tariff structure. While theory advocates a differentiated tariff...