区域贸易安排的保护性:引力模型

通过2000-2005年EU、APEC、NAFTA三个区域贸易组织双边贸易流量基于合并数据的引力模型得出结论:三个区域贸易组织的净贸易效果均为贸易转移,但区域保护程度顺次减弱。总体上,发生贸易转移的方向从以发达国家为主的区域贸易组织转移到以新兴市场国家为主或由发达国家与发展中国家共同组成的区域贸易组织。因而,对内积极推行自由贸易,对外具有很强的贸易保护倾向是各国推行区域贸易政策的显著特征。     

A time series approach to study the dynamic effects of bilateral trade agreements

International Economics and Economic Policy - In this work, the effects of 103 bilateral regional trade agreements (RTAs: partial scope agreements — PSAs — and free trade agreements...     

贸易协定之于出口增长:是激励还是阻力?

贸易协定已经成为区域贸易合作的重要方式,逐渐被各国所重视。文章从贸易协定异质性视角,构建贸易协定异质性指数,同时运用主成分分析法提取的新变量,共同探究其对2000-2014年中国出口三元边际的影响。研究发现,强制性指数对三元边际促进作用显著,说明贸易条款总体上能够降低贸易成本、促进出口。非强制性指数和制度质量指数对三元边际抑制作用显著,表明其所具有的灵活性和隐蔽性,成为抑制贸易增长的主要原因。主成分提取的新变量对三元边际的影响显著且差异各半,进一步说明贸易协定异质性的存在。明确贸易协定异质性,能够根据贸易条款执行力的不同,有重点地签订贸易协定,使其更好地服务于中国对外贸易发展。     

Welfare Implications of RTAs Within the WTO System in the Presence of FDI

We examine the welfare implications of the two major types of regional trade agreements (RTAs)—free trade agreements (FTAs) and customs unions (CUs)—within the WTO system in the presence of FDI. To do so, we analyze multilateral tariff cooperation in the context of two types of WTO regimes: a pure WTO regime without any RTAs and a modified WTO regime in which RTAs coexist with the multilateral framework. Our main finding is that in the presence of significant foreign ownership, RTAs within a multilateral system do not raise the national welfare of its members, thereby weakening the incentives of countries to form RTAs.     

Asia/Pacific Regional Trade Agreements: An empirical study

At the same time as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) have been encouraging trade liberalized, there has been a proliferation of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs). These RTAs also aim to reduce trade barriers, but they do so it in a preferential way. There is continued debate as to whether such RTAs are an effective way of achieving free trade, or if increased trade among members causes less trade with non-member countries? If RTAs increase total trade, this is known as ‘trade creation’, whereas if the extra trade occurs at the expense of non-members, this is called ‘trade diversion’. Trade creation implies improved welfare, whereas ‘trade diversion’ may adversely affect welfare. This paper examines five different RTAs using a gravity model to see if they have been trade creating or trade diverting. Annual data from 26 countries covering five RTAs in the Asia and Pacific region for the years 1980–2000 was used.The results show that the effects of the different RTAs varied remarkably. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Australian and New Zealand Closer Economic Relations (CER) fostered greater trade with trading partners and with the rest of the world. While the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Southern Cone Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) tended to be trade diverting, that is, they expanded intra-bloc trade at the expense of trade with others.     

On trade creation and regional trade agreements: does depth matter?

Regional trade agreements (RTAs) are usually classified according to their form into four broad categories: preferential arrangements, free trade agreements, customs unions and common markets. This paper investigates whether the form/depth of RTAs matters concerning their effect on trade. I use a proper specification of the gravity model with panel data on the 1960–2000 period, which specifically control for self-selection into agreements. Results show that creating any kind of RTAs providing trade preferences to their member countries significantly increases bilateral trade. Nevertheless, their average treatment effect on bilateral trade does not significantly differ according to the depth of agreements.

Protection and international stability

Summary Since World War II trade negotiations under GATT reduced tariff protection to one-eighth of its pre-war level. From the mid 1970s however, protection increased again, in particular non-tariff barriers were being used. Furthermore, strategic trade policies use subsidies and other non-border protective measures. Protection prevents the world economy from gaining full benefits from specialization combined with expansion of trade. Unlike tariffs, non-tariff barriers fragment the market and encourage a bilateral approach in negotiating trade agreements. Strategic trade policies are difficult to apply properly and may evoke retaliation. Nondiscrimination is the main principle of GATT, on which the present international trading system is based. In order to maintain it, trade negotiations under GATT will hopefully lead to international consensus on the proper use of non-tariff barriers and instruments of strategic trade policies.[/p]     

Globalization and Regionalization – Taiwan's Perspective

If Taiwan becomes a member of GATT, she can pursue the multilateral free trade agreement provided by the GATT framework. Nonetheless, regionalism is rising. Taiwan may be able to benefit from the great potential of the single European market. However, this prospect is diluted by the EC's concentration on intraregional trade and its frequent use of protectionist measures. The development of NAFTA will not have a substantial diversion effect on Taiwan, though the situation may vary from industry to industry. A Pacific free trade area should be an objective for countries in this region. However, a flexible strategy should be adopted in order to reach that goal. This is especially true for Taiwan.     

The common external tariff of a customs union: Alternative approaches

The most prominent exception to the cardinal ‘most favoured nation’ principle of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) of 1947 is in its Article XXIV relating to Customs Unions (CUs) and Free Trade Areas (FTAs). This article required, first, the general incidence of the duties and regulations of commerce imposed by members of the CU with respect to trade with non-members shall not on the whole be higher or more restrictive than those that were applicable prior to the formation of CU or FTA, and, second, that substantially all the trade among members be free. Neither requirement was very operational, because the phrases ‘general incidence’ and ‘substantially all’ being difficult legal concepts to apply. The agreement of 1994 establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) has made ‘general incidence’ precise by defining it import-weighted average of height of barriers but without offering any rationale for the definition. Now that preferential trading arrangements such as FTAs are proliferating, reform of Article XXIV is of importance. This paper describes alternative approaches to the central question of common external tariffs of a CU. Taking off from the work of Kemp and Wan who showed the existence of a common external tariff of CU that keeps the welfare of non-members unchanged while revising that of the CU as compared to the situation prior to the formation of CU, it characterizes such a tariff structure for two leading benchmark examples as consumption-weighted average of pre-union tariffs and subsidies in the member countries.     

Trade Agreements and Economic Growth

This article studies the growth effects of regional trade agreements (RTAs), taking into account the World Trade Organization (WTO) participation of RTA members. Assuming smaller preference margins of RTAs for WTO members than for nonmembers, I show in a model a stronger growth effect of RTAs for non‐WTO members than the effect for WTO members. Based on a comprehensive set of 270 RTAs and a large panel data set over the period of 1960–2007, the regression results show that RTAs promote growth for non‐WTO members, while their growth effect is weaker and often insignificantly different from zero for WTO members. This implies that, so far, the complementarity between the two approaches of trade liberalization in promoting economic growth is limited.     

The effects of regional trade agreements on FDI by its origin and type: Evidence from U.S. multinational enterprises activities

The effects of regional trade agreements (RTAs) on foreign direct investment (FDI) depend on both the origin and type of FDI. To estimate the various effects of RTAs, I differentiate between various types of FDI by using data on the sales destinations of foreign subsidiaries of U.S. multinational enterprises (MNEs), while also addressing the endogeneity of RTA formation. Consistent with the theory of MNEs, I find that RTAs reduce horizontal FDI from intra-RTA countries and increase export-platform and total FDI from extra-RTA countries. Moreover, the overall effects of RTAs are positive for extra-RTA FDI, but inconclusive for intra-RTA FDI. The results also support the effect of integrated markets’ economies of scale in inducing extra-RTA FDI.     

The impact of regional trade agreements on the quality of export products in China’s manufacturing industry

In recent years, under the risks of anti-globalization trend and uncertainty of trade war, countries have been entering into bilateral and multilateral regional trade agreements (RTAs). This study constructs both theoretical and empirical models to examine whether these RTAs can improve the quality of exported products among Chinese manufacturing enterprises, thereby expanding on a new policy research area that focuses on improving Chinese export quality or import quality of RTAs trade partners from China. The study finds that RTAs’ clause quantity (measured by clause coverage rate) and clause quality (measured by law commitment rate) play different roles. The former can generate “spaghetti bowl” effect but the latter can significantly promote export quality for Chinese manufacturers. The study also finds that RTAs can promote balanced development among the various regions in China and that a new generation of binding clauses in the “WTO-X field” with more new clauses strongly affects efforts to improve the quality of products exported to high and upper-middle income markets. We also find that for most industries, signing high-quality RTAs helps to improve export product quality, but there are no effect for some industries with laggard or special advanced technology.     

Do regional trade agreements really boost trade? Evidence from agricultural products

We evaluate the impact on trade of regional trade agreements (RTAs) using a panel data approach at the detailed product level which exploits exports to third destinations and imports from third origins as benchmarks. This method is robust to both endogeneity and heterogeneity across agreements and across products, and allows differentiation between the impacts of tariff provisions and non-tariff provisions. The analysis covers agricultural and food products for 74 country pairs linked by an agreement entered into force during the period 1998–2009. Our estimate of the mean elasticity of substitution across imports at product level is slightly below four. Counterfactual simulations suggest that RTAs have increased partners’ bilateral agricultural and food exports by 30–40 % on average, with marked heterogeneity across agreements. Also, RTAs are found to increase the probability of exporting a given product to a partner country although this impact is small. Finally, we found non-tariff provisions have no measurable trade impact.     

Do regional trade agreements really help global value chains develop? evidence from Thailand

This paper examines the firm-level nexus between exporting and importing by using firm-level data from Thai customs. We differentiate firms’ imports according to the tariff regime used (e.g. regional trade agreements (RTAs)). Our finding is that imports under RTA regimes are not considerably associated with exports. Rather, greater exports are found in firms with larger imports under the most favoured nation or other preference regimes (e.g. duty drawback for raw materials imported to produce export products). One reason for the result in RTA imports is that active RTA importers mainly target the domestic market rather than the export market. If the main market is abroad, firms tend to use other preference regimes. Thus, the other preference regimes may contribute more greatly to the development of firm-level back-and-forth international transactions than RTAs do.     

Firm size-specific trade effects of regional trade agreements: Estimating extensive and intensive margins of trade

We estimate the impacts of Korean firms’ participation in regional trade agreements (RTAs) on the extensive and intensive export margins by identifying exporting firms based on their firm size—small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large enterprises (LEs) at the 5 399 HS six-digit commodity level—and specifying characteristics of RTAs from 2004 to 2015. We apply the EK Tobit estimation technique to control zero trade and the OLS estimation with importer-product and time fixed effects to alleviate the endogeneity problem. We find that firm size, product type, and depth of RTA significantly matter. Specifically, we find that deeper RTAs with larger, developing, and closer members significantly enhance the export creation effects of SMEs and LEs. Regarding the firm size-specific effects, we find that SMEs are less sensitive to exploiting RTA participation but more sensitive to the import market size, bilateral and relative trade costs, and the RTA characteristics. LEs’ export creation is mainly driven by the intensive margin, while SMEs’ export creation is driven by extensive and intensive margins (slightly more by the extensive margin). For the product-specific effects, we find that Korea's major exportable products such as chemicals, basic metals, motor vehicles, and transport equipment generate significantly strong export creation effects for both LEs and SMEs through their participation in RTAs.     

Regional Trade Agreements in East Asia: Will They Be Sustainable?*

By assessing the sustainability of regional trade agreements (RTAs) for East Asia, we quantitatively evaluate the likely impact of proposed East Asian RTA strategies on the East Asian economies and the world economy with respect to consumption, production, volume of trade and terms of trade effects by applying a multi‐country and multi‐sector computable general equilibrium model. These strategies include: (i) the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA: a being‐left‐alone strategy); (ii) an ASEAN Hub RTA (a hub‐and‐spoke type of overlapping RTA strategy); (iii) the AFTA versus a China–Japan–Korea RTA (a duplicating or competing RTA strategy); and (iv) an ASEAN+3 RTA (an expansionary RTA strategy). We find that an expansionary ASEAN+3 RTA could be a sustainable policy option because the members’ gains would be significantly positive, with more equitably distributed gains between members than when using other strategies. The effect on world welfare would also be positive and the negative effect on nonmembers would not be very strong. More interestingly, if the East Asian countries cooperate with Pacific Basin countries to form an APEC‐level RTA, such as a free trade area of the Asia‐Pacific, the extension of the regional trade bloc might be considered a more desirable policy option than the proposed East Asian RTAs for East Asian economies, even though countries excluded from the free trade area of the Asia Pacific are worse off.     

When should developing countries use bilateral state trading?

Less developed countries can sometimes benefit by preferential trade agreements if they exercise market power. But partial preferential tariffs or quotas are illegal under GATT. We suggest three types of bilateral trade agreements which may profitably be used as legal substitutes. The most likely partners for such agreements are the East European planned economies. Terms of trade and trade structure can be improved without risking domination and dependence. Suggested negotiating strategy and tactics are outlined. Literature on experience with bilateral and state trading is considered favourable to this policy, though LDCs have up to now traded little with the smaller Soviet-type economies.     

Distortions of Sino-US and Sino-EU Safeguard Agreements： Effects on World Textile Markets

The effects of Sino‐US and Sino‐EU safeguard agreements on US, Chinese and world cotton and textile sectors are investigated using a partial equilibrium model. The effects are compared to a free trade scenario under the provisions of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing. The two safeguard agreements capping Chinese textile exports would decrease China's textile and apparel exports, production, and domestic consumption by an average 1.57, 0.63 and 0.32 percent, respectively. The safeguard agreements cause an increase in the US cotton textile price index and a slight decrease in US net textile imports and textile consumption. The agreements cause a decrease in the world cotton price and the quantity of cotton traded, but these trends reverse at safeguard expiration. The results generally support the view that the safeguard agreements forestall the effects of free trade in textiles and apparel rather than creating long lasting shifts in the textile trade.     

Regional trade liberalisation: a theoretical review of dynamic time‐path and stability issues

In recent years, the use of regional trade liberalisation arrangements (RTAs) has proliferated, while multilateral negotiations under the WTO have proceeded slowly, resulting in a debate over the roles of regional and multilateral liberalisation. This paper reviews the key theoretical contributions in the debate over RTAs, especially the recently developed themes addressing dynamic time‐path and stability issues. However, due to the variety of motivations for RTA member countries to expand trading blocs and for non‐members to seek entry, research has found few general conditions under which the formation of RTAs can become the ‘stepping stone’ or ‘stumbling block’ towards global free trade.     

Do trade and investment agreements lead to more FDI? Accounting for key provisions inside the black box

The previous literature provides a highly ambiguous picture on the impact of trade and investment agreements on FDI. Most empirical studies ignore the actual content of BITs and RTAs, treating them as “black boxes”, despite the diversity of investment provisions constituting the essence of these agreements. We overcome this serious limitation by analyzing the impact of modalities on the admission of FDI and dispute settlement mechanisms in both RTAs and BITs on bilateral FDI flows between 1978 and 2004. We find that FDI reacts positively to RTAs only if they offer liberal admission rules. Dispute settlement provisions play a minor role. While RTAs without strong investment provisions may even discourage FDI, the reactions to BITs are less discriminate with foreign investors responding favourably to the mere existence of BITs.