Market Growth, Structural Change, and the Gains from the Uruguay Round

Market growth and structural changes will affect the results of quantitative analyses of the Uruguay Round. Rapid economic growth in Asia and relatively deeper cuts in protection in that region, result in larger proportionate welfare gains in the year 2005 than in the year 1992. We also find that changing comparative advantage and shifts in global demand result in substantial changes in the restrictive effects of the bilateral quotas on textiles and apparel. Accounting for the factors associated with market growth and structural change adds 30% to our estimates of global welfare gains from the Uruguay Round