Regionalism in Standards: Good or Bad for Trade?

Chen, Maggie Xiaoyang; Mattoo, Aaditya

doi:10.2139/ssrn.963210

Cited by 63 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Taking this as his point of departure, Baller (2007) sets out a model in which MRAs reduce fixed exporting costs because they do not force local firms to invest in testing and certification procedures that are equivalent to those abroad, which is required under harmonisation. As a result, his model predicts a larger export‐promoting impact from MRAs than alignment, a finding that is widely anticipated in the policy literature, at least as a matter of degree (Baldwin, 2000; Maskus and Wilson, 2001; Chen and Mattoo, 2008). 3…”

Section: Relation To Prior Literaturementioning

confidence: 70%

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The Impacts of Alignment with Global Product Standards on Exports of Firms in Developing Countries

Maskus

2009

World Economy

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Complying with global standards and technical norms can be costly, making them potential impediments to trade, but it can also expand export opportunities. Two policies available to governments are alignment of domestic technical regulations with international standards and entry into mutual recognition agreements (MRAs). We study the effects of such decisions on the volume of exports to developed markets by firms in developing countries, using data from a World Bank firm-level survey of awareness of global product norms. Both standards alignment and MRAs are associated with more exports to developed countries, but only MRAs significantly promote exports. This finding is consistent with theoretical predictions that MRAs should reduce the fixed costs of exporting more than standards alignment, permitting more firms to enter export markets in higher volumes. Governments in developing countries hoping to encourage exports may wish to favour the negotiation of mutual recognition of testing and certification procedures with major trading partners as a more affirmative avenue to expanding international sales. Copyright 2009 The Authors. Journal compilation 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

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Section: Relation To Prior Literaturementioning

confidence: 70%

“…Chen and Mattoo (2008) examined the effects of regional harmonisation within the European Union. In their empirical analysis they employed a data panel covering imports from 28 OECD and 14 developing countries at the three‐digit level of manufacturing industries between 1986 and 2001.…”

Section: Relation To Prior Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

The Impacts of Alignment with Global Product Standards on Exports of Firms in Developing Countries

Maskus

2009

World Economy

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“…Regarding the role of EU directives in trade, Chen and Mattoo (2008) find that such agreements increase trade among EU members but not necessarily with non‐members. The authors used a detailed panel dataset that identifies the industries influenced by each Directive to concluded that developing countries may be the worst affected as their firms are likely to be less prepared to comply with stricter standards.…”

Section: Product Standards Harmonisation and The Electronic Sectormentioning

confidence: 96%

Beyond the Information Technology Agreement: Harmonisation of Standards and Trade in Electronics

2010

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Product standards can have a dual impact on costs and, thus, on trade. They can impose costs on exporters as it may be necessary to adapt products for specific markets (cost effect). In contrast, standards can reduce exporters’ information costs as they convey information on product characteristics (informational effect). Using a new World Bank database of European standards for electronic products, we examine the net impact of internationally harmonised European standards on European Union imports. We find that European Union standards for electronic products that are harmonised to international standards have a significant and a positive net effect on trade. The results suggest that efforts to promote trade in electronic products could be complemented by steps to promote standards harmonisation. This might include, for example, restarting talks to extend the WTO’s Information Technology Agreement to commitments to harmonise national standards in electronic products.

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“…Rules of origin and protection against abusive trade remedies are important aspects of any conventional free trade agreement, but the kinds of trade restrictions and distortions they are aimed at eliminating or reducing, mainly tariffs and subsidies, are now pretty much under control. They are, to paraphrase Pascal Lamy, “20th century issues” (Chen & Mattoo, 2004, p. 2). The new 21st century frontier of trade liberalization is the reduction of regulatory obstacles to transborder trade.…”

Section: Trade Liberalization With and Without Rule‐making Capabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Governing the North American Free Trade Area: International Rule Making and Delegation in NAFTA, the SPP, and Beyond

Bélanger

2010

Latin American Policy

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The North American free trade area appears to have reached an impasse. Deprived of adequate rule‐making mechanisms, it is facing an institutional deficit that hinders its competitivenes, but any form of European‐style supranationalism has unequivocally been ruled out as a conceivable way to administer the economic zone created more than 15 years ago by the North American Free Trade Agreement. Should, therefore, North Americans abandon any prospect of deeper economic integration and even expect a relative decline in free trade in the region? Not necessarily, because supranationalism is not in any way a necessary condition for effective international rule making. The key ingredient for effective international rule making is not the external delegation of authority, but rather the level of domestic executive autonomy states are able to pool and coordinate through often sophisticated, but not necessarily legally binding, international institutions. On this account, this article evaluates the potential of the recent Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America (SPP) and concludes that it amalgamates enough executive autonomy to constitute a basis for the establishment of a nontreaty, international rule‐making body. After looking at examples of international rule‐making bodies to which the United States is a party and that share key institutional features of the SPP, the article suggests paths by which the three governments could upgrade the SPP design in such a way as to provide the North American free trade area with the flexible rule‐making capability it needs. La zona de libre comercio de Norteamérica parece haber llegado a un callejón sin salida. A falta de los mecanismos adecuados para crear organismos reglamentarios, enfrenta un déficit institucional que entorpece su competitividad. Sin embargo, cualquier forma de supra‐nacionalismo al estilo europeo ha quedado sin duda descartada como una alternativa viable para administrar la zona económica creada hace más de quince años por el TLCAN. ¿Deberían entonces los miembros de Norte América abandonar cualquier esperanza de una integración más profunda, y hasta esperar una contracción del libre comercio en la región? No necesariamente, ya que el supranacionalismo no es de ninguna manera condición necesaria para la generación eficaz de mecanismos reglamentarios. El principal ingrediente para instaurar un organismo reglamentario eficaz, no depende de la delegación de autoridad a un ente externo, sino del nivel de autonomía del poder ejecutivo que los estados estén dispuestos a obtener y coordinar mediante instituciones muchas veces sofisticadas, aunque no necesariamente con poder de obligatoriedad jurídica. Al respecto, este artículo evalúa el potencial de la reciente Alianza para la Seguridad y la Prosperidad de América del Norte (ASPAN), y concluye que dicha institución amalgama la suficiente autonomía del poder ejecutivo como para constituir el fundamento, sin tener que formalizarlo en un tratado, de un cuerpo reglamentario a nivel internacional. Luego de cons...

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Regionalism in Standards: Good or Bad for Trade?

Cited by 63 publications

References 75 publications

The Impacts of Alignment with Global Product Standards on Exports of Firms in Developing Countries

The Impacts of Alignment with Global Product Standards on Exports of Firms in Developing Countries

Beyond the Information Technology Agreement: Harmonisation of Standards and Trade in Electronics

Governing the North American Free Trade Area: International Rule Making and Delegation in NAFTA, the SPP, and Beyond

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