Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
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Integration of Markets vs. Integration by AgreementsThis paper provides an analysis of the
 two channels of regional integration: integration via
 markets and integration via agreements. Given that East Asia
 and Latin America are two fertile regions where both forms
 of integrations have taken place, the authors examine the
 experiences of these two areas. There are four related
 results. First, East Asia had been integrating via markets
 long before formal agreements were in vogue in the region.
 Latin America, by contrast, has primarily used formal
 regional trade treaties as the main channel of integration.
 Second, despite the relative lack of formal regional trade
 treaties until recently, East Asia is more integrated among
 itself than Latin America. Third, from a purely economic and
 trade standpoint, the proper sequence of integrations seems
 to be first integrating via markets and subsequently via
 formal regional trade agreements. Fourth, regional trade
 agreements often serve multiple constituents. The reason why
 integrating via markets first can be helpful is because this
 can give stronger political bargaining power to the
 outward-looking economic-oriented forces within the country.
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Why Trade Facilitation Matters to AfricaThis paper reviews data and research on
 trade costs for Sub-Saharan African countries. It focuses
 on: border-related costs, transport costs, costs related to
 behind-the border issues, and the costs of compliance with
 rules of origin specific to preferential trade agreements.
 Trade costs are, on average, higher for African countries
 than for other developing countries. Using gravity-model
 estimates, the authors compute ad-valorem equivalents of
 improvements in trade indicators for a sample of African
 countries. The evidence suggests that the gains for African
 exporters from improving the trade logistics half-way to the
 level in South Africa is more important than a substantive
 cut in tariff barriers. As an example, improving logistics
 in Ethiopia half-way to the level in South Africa would be
 roughly equivalent to a 7.5 percent cut in tariffs faced by
 Ethiopian exporters.
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Economic Integration in the MaghrebThis report reviews the status of
 Maghreb countries' economic integration with the world,
 with the Arab world, and within the Maghreb itself. It
 focuses on trade in goods and services, labor and capital
 flows, financial integration and cross-border infrastructure
 integration. It discusses the potential benefits of and key
 constraints to greater integration. The focus on trade
 liberalization with the European Union (EU) provides an
 opportunity for individual Maghreb countries to lock in
 policies that would eventually help them harmonize policies
 within their own region. The same argument can be made
 regarding accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
 The Maghreb countries would reap significant additional
 benefits if, in parallel to reforms undertaken to improve
 trade liberalization with Europe, they improved conditions
 for streamlined trade among themselves. There is significant
 potential for trade in services in the financial sector,
 transportation and logistics, and communications and
 information, among other sectors. According to some studies,
 comprehensive services reforms that involve increased
 competition and regulatory streamlining would yield benefits
 that are at least twice the magnitude of those achieved
 through tariff removal alone.