The idea that some features of the multilateral trading system create incentives for countries to join preferential trade agreements (PTAs) is among the first and most influential explanations for the wave of regionalism in the last decades. Until recently, only a few empirical studies have...

In particular, the ability to export on time is crucial to explain comparative advantage in intermediate goods. These findings underscore the importance of investing in infrastructure and fostering trade facilitation to boost a country's participation in production networks. Furthermore, we...

This paper sheds light on the restrictive nature of rules of origin (ROO) and on the role of diagonal cumulation in mitigating the protectionist content of ROO. Empirical evidence suggests that diagonal cumulation has beneficial effects on trade - particularly among spoke countries. We show that...

type="main" xml:id="twec12139-abs-0001" <title type="main">Abstract</title> <p>This paper is designed to help both the beneficiary governments and donors of aid for trade identify countries that are under-performing in trade and which are receiving less aid for trade than their global performance might otherwise suggest is...</p>