Economic integration of the African continent rests on two pillars: the ratification of an ambitious trade agreement and massive investment in transportation infrastructure. Leveraging a newly created city-level database on African exporters' transport times, transport route optimization and...

This paper explores the economic impacts of preferential trade agreements, focusing on the provisions they contain, beyond phasing out tariffs. Clustering 278 preferential trade agreements based on 906 provisions grouped into 18 policy areas, three clusters are obtained for which a trade...

This paper explores the economic impacts of preferential trade agreements, focusing on the provisions they contain, beyond phasing out tariffs. Clustering 278 preferential trade agreements based on 906 provisions grouped into 18 policy areas, three clusters are obtained for which a trade...

This paper explores the economic impacts of preferential trade agreements, conditional on their level of ambition. We cluster 278 agreements, encompassing 910 provisions over 18 policy areas and estimate the trade elasticity for the different clusters. We then use these elasticities in a series...

Geography, economic size, or common history, help predicting signed regional trade agreements (RTAs). However, not all signed RTAs are “natural” according to economic determinants. En-dogeneity and general equilibrium effects of RTAS are the two mechanisms addressed in this paper. We...

In this paper we approach the determinants of value added location across European countries, from the recent developments to the 2035 horizon. In the first part of the paper, using detailed trade data, we show how competitiveness, demand and export composition have shaped the market shares of...

Taking a 2035 horizon, we examine how world energy consumption and emission patterns will be shaped by the changing demand and technological capabilities of different regions. We combine a convergence model fitting three production factors (capital, labour and energy) and two factor-specific...

China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 to improve connectivity and cooperation on a transcontinental scale. This study, by a team of World Bank Group economists led by Michele Ruta, analyzes the economics of the initiative. It assesses the connectivity gaps between economies along...

"China proposed the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013 to improve connectivity and cooperation on a transcontinental scale. This study, by a team of World Bank Group economists led by Michele Ruta, analyzes the economics of the initiative. It assesses the connectivity gaps between economies along...