The role of NAFTA and returns to scale in export duration

While exports within NAFTA face a lower hazard, its onset has increased the hazard of exporting between the members, though intra-NAFTA exports still enjoy a lower hazard. There are differences in the timing of the effect of NAFTA across the three members. Unlike the effect on Canadian exports, the effect on Mexican and U.S. exports is persistent. Exports of increasing-returns-to-scale manufacturing products faced the highest hazard across all three members. The effect of NAFTA on the hazard of exporting each of the three returns to scale type of products is exporter specific with no uniform patterns.