Applied general equilibrium (AGE) analysis is often found to under-predict the increases in trade and economic growth that result from trade liberalization. One potential reason is that conventional AGE models ignore the strong correlations that exist between firm productivity, on the one hand,...

As manufacturing tariffs have fallen worldwide, the focus of free trade agreements has shifted towards other issues, including: rules governing foreign investment, e-commerce regulations, trade in services, harmonization of technical standards, sanitary and phyto-sanitary regulations, and the...