Do South-South Trade Agreements Increase Trade? Commodity-Level Evidence from COMESA

Do South-South Trade Agreements Increase Trade? Commodity-Level Evidence from COMESA
Author: Anna Maria Mayda
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 40
Release: 2007-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN:

South-South trade agreements are proliferating: Developing countries signed 70 new agreements between 1990 and 2003. Yet the impact of these agreements is largely unknown. This paper focuses on the static effects of South-South preferential trade agreements stemming from changes in trade patterns. Specifically, it estimates the impact of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on Uganda's imports between 1994 and 2003. Detailed import and tariff data at the 6-digit harmonized system level are used for more than 1,000 commodities. Based on a difference-in-difference estimation strategy, the paper finds that-in contrast to evidence from aggregate statistics-COMESA's preferential tariff liberalization has not considerably increased Uganda's trade with member countries, on average across sectors. The effect, however, is heterogeneous across sectors. Finally, the paper finds no evidence of trade-diversion effects.

Negotiating South-South Regional Trade Agreements

Negotiating South-South Regional Trade Agreements
Author: Gbadebo Odularu
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 166
Release: 2017-01-26
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3319455699

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of South-South regional trade issues, with a particular focus on sustainably fostering Africa’s regional trade agenda. It examines the extent to which South-South regional trade agreements (RTAs) have contributed toward enhancing regional integration and economic expansion in Africa in particular, and in the South in general. The authors recommend new conceptual frameworks, appropriate initiatives, and workable policy recipes to help South-South RTAs enhance Africa’s economic transformation trajectory. The book underscores the geo-politics, as well as the opportunities and challenges that emerging economies now represent for Africa in the context of South-South regional trade policy. Readers will learn how Africa can strengthen its regional trade game by securing and building on the positive outcomes of South-South RTAs.

Do South-South Trade Agreements Enhance Member Countries' Trade? Evaluating Implications for Development Potentials in the Context of SAARC.

Do South-South Trade Agreements Enhance Member Countries' Trade? Evaluating Implications for Development Potentials in the Context of SAARC.
Author: Swapan K. Bhattacharya
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre:
ISBN:

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the least integrated economy in the Asia-Pacific region, whose intraregional trade was only 5.6 per cent in 2006. In order to estimate potential trade of the SAARC Member Countries (SMCs), we have estimated “behind the border” and “beyond the border” constraints, which both appear to be quite significant in all SMCs. Given the level of “beyond the border” constraints, in the absence of full information on all “behind the border” constraints, the combined effect of the latter on actual exports of individual SAARC country is modeled in the gravity equation, which is estimated using the methods suggested in the literature for estimating stochastic frontier production function. Results of the stochastic frontier gravity model show that when FTA among SAARC countries becomes fully operational, smaller members will gain maximum benefits compared to larger members. The paper also analyses the synergy between trade and development goals of the SAARC countries. Since tariffs are not an important barrier in this region, emphasis should be given to liberalization of investment flows, higher technology cooperation, and cooperation in areas of education, literacy, basic health care, gender bias, favorable institutions ensuring good governance, social capital, transparency, transportation costs, infrastructure, to achieve the SAARC development goals (SDGs).

Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements

Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements
Author: Evgeny Postnikov
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2020-04-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351627368

This book examines the causes and consequences of social standards in US and EU preferential trade agreements (PTAs). PTAs are the new reality of the global trading system. Pursued by both developed and developing countries, they increasingly incorporate labor and environmental issues to prevent a race to the bottom in social regulation and counter-protectionism. Using principal-agent theory to explore why US PTAs have stricter social standards than those signed by the EU, Postnikov argues that the level of institutional insulation of trade policy executives from interest groups and legislators determines the design of social standards. In the EU, where institutional insulation is high, social standards mirror the normative preferences of the European Commission leading to a softer approach. In the US, where such insulation is low, social standards are driven by interest groups and legislators they control, resulting in a stricter approach. This book shows that both approaches can be effective but work through different causal mechanisms. To test his argument, Postnikov draws on original data collected in Brussels, Washington, Santiago, Bogota, and Seoul. This book will be of interest to all scholars and students working in the fields of international political economy and EU and US trade policy.

The Future of South-South Economic Relations

The Future of South-South Economic Relations
Author: Adil Najam
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2012-12-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1780323956

In recent years, it has become apparent that South-South economic relations are increasing, and will continue to do so. There will be more trade agreements and more trade, more economic alliances and more political alliances with economic goals, more investment flows and an increasing acknowledgement that the Global South has more to offer than it has in the past. These new economics relations have great potential, both for harm and for good. In the absence of directed policies and intentional actors, imbalances of power and growing gaps in development will persist. With the right policies in place, however, these relationships could forge a new global order with greater economic and political equality. Covering a wide range of topics, including regional trade integration in Africa, the environmental impact of increased South-South trade, the changing patterns of South-South investment, and the effect of conflict on trade in South Asia, this ground-breaking volume presents an analysis of South-South economic relations, and how they might impact and be impacted by the rest of the world.

SouthSouth Trade and Finance in the Twenty-First Century

SouthSouth Trade and Finance in the Twenty-First Century
Author: Omar Dahi
Publisher: Anthem Press
Total Pages: 255
Release: 2016-10-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1783085878

This book is a contribution to the international trade and economic development literature and is based on a decade of joint research and collaboration on South–South economic relations. Given the increasing focus on the economic power of some developing countries, for example the 2013 Human Development Report’s “Rise of the South”, it is particularly appropriate and timely. [NP] The book’s findings are based on rigorous empirical examination of South–South trade and finance and it provides an even-handed assessment from the perspective of long-term development goals rather than mainstream welfare approaches or ideological/theoretical worldview. [NP] This work directly engages with the ‘new developmentalism’ literature that has challenged the neoliberal orthodoxy and its policy approach, which focuses on liberalization, privatization, and deregulation. It also engages with literature by examining whether the increase in South–South trade facilitates or inhibits the possibilities for developmentalist economic policy in developing countries. The book shows concrete and positive results from South–South trade particularly related to industrial development and also documents how South–South trade is dominated by large developing countries and that South–South trade liberalization may be counterproductive.

South-South Trade in Asia

South-South Trade in Asia
Author: UNCTAD DITC (Trade Analysis Branch)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2010
Genre:
ISBN:

The emergence of the dynamic South and the spectacular growth of South-South trade and investment flows - now seen as a corner stone of the new trade geography - present an important window of opportunity for all countries, regardless of their level of development. South-South regional trade agreements (RTAs), including bilateral, regional and interregional free trade agreements (FTAs), form part of an array of important instruments for trade creation, investment and regional development.Policymakers in developing countries are increasingly giving priority attention to enhancing South-South trade through regional and interregional cooperation arrangements. In this context, the experience of Asia, where about 85 per cent of total South-South trade in goods is now concentrated, can be considered as of practical value and holds lessons for other developing countries and regions.The Role of Regional Trade Agreements seeks to provide policymakers and decision-makers in government and in the private sector with an indepth analysis of the dynamic trends of South-South trade in Asia and rapidly evolving RTAs in the region, including analysis of their scope and coverage, their impacts on global and regional production strategies, and assessment of their contribution to South-South trade growth in Asia.

Enhancing South-South Trade

Enhancing South-South Trade
Author: South Centre
Publisher: Centre
Total Pages: 104
Release: 1996
Genre: Developing countries
ISBN:

Policy-oriented study prepared for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) as a contribution to the Economic Agenda for Priority Action 1992-1995, and made available for the Eleventh NAM summit, Cartagena, Colombia, 18-20 Oct 1995.

Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements

Handbook of Deep Trade Agreements
Author: Aaditya Mattoo
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 768
Release: 2020-09-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1464815542

Deep trade agreements (DTAs) cover not just trade but additional policy areas, such as international flows of investment and labor and the protection of intellectual property rights and the environment. Their goal is integration beyond trade or deep integration. These agreements matter for economic development. Their rules influence how countries (and hence, the people and firms that live and operate within them) transact, invest, work, and ultimately, develop. Trade and investment regimes determine the extent of economic integration, competition rules affect economic efficiency, intellectual property rights matter for innovation, and environmental and labor rules contribute to environmental and social outcomes. This Handbook provides the tools and data needed to analyze these new dimensions of integration and to assess the content and consequences of DTAs. The Handbook and the accompanying database are the result of collaboration between experts in different policy areas from academia and other international organizations, including the International Trade Centre (ITC), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and World Trade Organization (WTO).