The focus of this paper is the political economy of integration in the framework of the Customs Union and Single Economic Space. Clearly, Russia is a dominant power in this project, and her political interests may outweigh economic ones. However, neither Belarus nor Kazakhstan is forcefully...

The focus of this paper is the political economy of integration in the framework of the Customs Union and Single Economic Space. Clearly, Russia is a dominant power in this project, and her political interests may outweigh economic ones. However, neither Belarus nor Kazakhstan is forcefully...

The economies of Canada and the United States, closely linked for many years, began a formal process of tighter integration with the Canada–United States Free Trade Agreement (1989) and North American Free Trade Agreement (1994). Due to the ease of border crossing, American and Canadian...

Due to low bargaining power and scarce resources, small developing states face severe disadvantages in international negotiations and may benefit from bloc formation and intra-bloc migration. Policies are examined in a model where a bloc’s size and welfare impact are determined by...

In the postwar era, economic interaction and integration among Western European countries has grown rapidly. We examine whether those close and growing linkages have led to inter-country income convergence in Western Europe during 1960-2000. We find clear empirical evidence of convergence. This...

The objective of this paper is to examine the effects of political asymmetries on a FTA and a CU. I have shown that either a higher lobbying sensitivity to the foreign firm or a more susceptibility of politicians to lobbying are sufficient to lead to a higher tariff protection at the individual...

Public opinion, lobbying and elections have important effects on the formation of trade policy in democracies. This paper attempts to explain how lobbying expenditures can influence the outcome of an election fought over trade policy. Voters are assumed to own both capital and labour. The...

This short paper explores the complementarity between foreign aid and foreign direct investment (FDI). Recent studies on aid concluded that aid should come to an end or be reduced with a radical modification of the terms and conditions and FDI and trade should replace aid as the engine of...

This paper discusses the challenges confronting developing countries seeking to use WTO negotiations to promote their economic growth and performance. Progress will require that major stakeholders within countries perceive the overall package to be beneficial. A number of possible focal points...

This study examines the dynamic effects of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) on the countries within the Western Hemisphere. The analysis uses an intertemporal, global, multi-sector general equilibrium model which takes into account changes in saving-investment, capital accumulation, and...