North, South, East, West:  What's best?  Modern RTAs and Their Implications for the Stability of Trade Policy

Cernat, Lucian; Laird, Sam

doi:10.2139/ssrn.456941

Cited by 12 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…Mounting evidence suggests that trade liberalization and the ability of much of Asia to respond flexibly to world demand – the establishment of intra‐regional supply chains since the 1980s and of inter‐regional ones since the late 1990s – is the best explanation for the spectacular growth of South‐South trade of recent (World Trade Organization, 2004; Cernat and Laird, 2003). The development of regional and subregional trade agreements (RTAs) in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Baltic states, the Balkan countries, the Middle East, North Africa, the Pacific islands, South Asia and Southeast Asia may have an impact on South‐South trade expansion but performance comparisons between RTAs, bilateral trade agreements (BTAs), free trade agreements (FTAs) or other developed‐developing country trade and investment integration arrangements are very difficult, given their singular scope, content, history, and extra‐economic objectives.…”

Section: A New Geography Of Trade and Investmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is South‐South trade the answer to alleviating poverty?

Agatiello¹

2007

Management Decision

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PurposeSouth‐South trade is the fastest growing segment of world trade in the last two decades. This paper aims at demonstrating that it is a unique opportunity and a sound development tool for developing countries.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes the statistical and empirical evidence from a macroeconomic and microeconomic viewpoint, and discusses the policy options developing country governments face to promote South‐South trade and investment.FindingsNot all regions, countries, products and services fare equally in the current state of play. That South‐South trade expands at a much faster pace than other trade, although it is subject to higher barriers and higher distance‐related costs, suggests that addressing trade facilitation issues is of the essence for future progress, including major investments in trade‐related infrastructure, like the modernization of air and water ports, roads, transport and customs services.Practical implicationsSouth‐South trade expansion is a market‐driven development – mostly resulting from the widespread operation of international supply chains of the South – that may be enhanced by government intervention but seldom spearheaded by it in the long run.Originality/valueThe “natural” next questions are whether South‐South trade can be an alternative to North‐South trade, whether the learning process for international trading is enhanced or retarded by it, and whether the proliferation of PTAs is strangulating progress in rules‐based multilateralism, the first‐best choice according to mainstream economic theory. Even more important in development terms is whether South‐South trade can help bring developing countries, small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and the poor into the export process or, rather, it is a distraction from the real targets. This paper suggests there are robust answers to these queries already.

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Section: A New Geography Of Trade and Investmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is South‐South trade the answer to alleviating poverty?

Agatiello¹

2007

Management Decision

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“…In the absence of multilateral reforms, bilateral and regional initiatives may be desirable, although these impose costs on non-members. 2 For a discussion, see Cernat and Laird (2003) and Abugattas (2004).…”

Section: No 347 2005mentioning

confidence: 99%