THE CLASH OF LIBERALIZATIONS: PREFERENTIAL VS. MULTILATERAL TRADE LIBERALIZATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
This paper considers the impact of preferential trade liberalization (PTL) on multilateral trade liberalization (MTL), focusing on the European Union. The model that we develop, which builds on Limão (2002), captures key features of the multilateral system and of recent PTAs and generates several specific predictions that we test.The following is an abridged version of this paper presented at the 15th International Conference, Istanbul, Turkey, May 2005.