Regional Trade Agreements

Freund, Caroline ; Ornelas, Emanuel

关键词: AD VALOREM;    AGGREGATE TRADE;    ANDEAN PACT;    APPAREL;    AVERAGE TRADE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-5314
RP-ID  :  WPS5314

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper reviews the theoretical andempirical literature on regionalism. The formation ofregional trade agreements has been, by far, the most popularform of reciprocal trade liberalization in the past 15years. The discriminatory character of these agreements hasraised three main concerns: that trade diversion would berampant, because special interest groups would inducegovernments to form the most distortionary agreements; thatbroader external trade liberalization would stall orreverse; and that multilateralism could be undermined.Theoretically, all of these concerns are legitimate,although there are also several theoretical arguments thatoppose them. Empirically, neither widespread trade diversionnor stalled external liberalization has materialized, whilethe undermining of multilateralism has not been properlytested. There are also several aspects of regionalism thathave received too little attention from researchers, butwhich are central to understanding its causes and consequences.