Regional Integration and Technology Diffusion : The Case of the North America Free Trade Agreement

Schiff, Maurice ; Wang, Yanling

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: POLITICAL ISSUES;    ECONOMIC ISSUES;    TECHNOLOGY DIFFUSION;    FREE TRADE AREAS;    DATA SOURCES;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3132
RP-ID  :  WPS3132

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The literature on regional integrationagreements (RIAs) is vast and deals with political,economic, and political economy issues. The literature onthe economics of RIAs deals mostly with static effects, andconcludes that these effects are, in general, ambiguous. Sofar there has been no empirical analysis of the dynamiceffects of RIAs based on their impact on technologydiffusion from partner and nonpartner countries. Schiff andWang's paper is a first attempt in this direction. Theauthors examine the impact of the North America Free TradeAgreement (NAFTA) on total factor productivity in Mexicothrough its impact on trade-related technology transfersfrom OECD countries. They estimate trade-related technologydiffusion by using a measure of trade-related foreignresearch and development (R&D). Foreign R&D isconstructed based on industry-specific R&D in the OECD,OECD-Mexico trade patterns, and input-output relations inMexico. The authors find that: Mexico's trade with itsNAFTA partners had a large and significant impact onMexico's total factor productivity, while trade withthe rest of the OECD did not. Simulating the impact of NAFTAhas led to a permanent increase in total factor productivityin Mexico's manufacturing sector of between 5.5 percentand 7.5 percent and to some convergence with the economiesof Canada and the United States.