In this contribution it is argued and empirical proven, complementary to the existing literature, that distance to a trading partner especially in agricultural trade does not only reflect transport costs but also different areas of cultivation. The study accounts for the described patterns by...

Recent literature has argued that, contrary to the results of a seminal paper by Rose (2004), WTO membership does promote bilateral trade, at least for developed economies and if membership includes non-formal compliance. We review the literature in order to identify open issues. We then develop...

In his seminal paper, Rose (2004) concluded from a gravity-type study of bilateral trade that the GATT/WTO does not play a strong role in encouraging trade. Rose looks at countries where the amount of trade was positive to start with (intensive margin). In this paper, we present a...

Recent literature has argued that, contrary to the results of a seminal paper by Rose (2004), WTO membership does promote bilateral trade, at least for developed economies and if membership includes non-formal compliance. We review the literature in order to identify open issues. We then develop...