In a game of endogenous trade agreements, we examine whether the pursuit of free trade agreements (FTAs) affects the prospects of global free trade differently than the pursuit of customs unions (CUs). Our analysis is driven by a fundamental difference between these two types of preferential...

We critically examine the implications of the most favored nation (MFN) clause under asymmetric environmental standards. Using an oligopolistic intra-industry trade model, we show that environmentally beneficial trade diversion and higher world welfare obtain under tariff discrimination relative...

This paper briefly examines the effectiveness of photo radar, or the use of automatic camera-equipped traffic monitoring devices, in reducing road fatalities and collisions. Photo radar has become a controversial subject among the driving public, largely due to its tendency to produce...

With worldwide concern for how and where to dispose of household waste, policy-makers are increasingly looking for tools to efficiently and effectively reduce the amount of waste households produce. Using a comprehensive household-level data set involving 10,251 respondents from a cross-section...

It has long been recognized in economics that individuals can derive benefits from a resource stock without directly or indirectly utilizing that resource. Such non-use values, including existence values and bequest values, however, are often ignored in models of resource management. In this...

Households have choices when it comes to reducing waste sent to landfills: reduction of consumption or packaging, reuse of goods purchased, or recycling. In this paper, we adopt a holistic approach to the analysis of these choices as separate but related facets of households' waste management...

We develop an equilibrium theory of trade agreements in which both the degree and the nature (bilateral or multilateral) of trade liberalization are endogenously determined. To determine whether and how bilateralism matters, we also analyze a scenario where countries pursue trade liberalization...

This paper compares stable Nash equilibria of two games of trade liberalization. In the FTA game, each country can form an FTA with either one of its trade partners, or both of them, or none of them. By contrast, in the No FTA game, each country must choose either no agreement or free trade....

In a three country model with endogenous tariffs, this paper evaluates and contrasts the welfare effects of free trade agreements (FTAs) and customs unions (CUs) — the two most commonly occurring preferential trade agreements (PTAs). We show that if the external tariff of a PTA is not too...

We examine the implications of a customs union (CU) on the pattern of tariffs, welfare and the prospects for free trade when the nonmember firm has an incentive to engage in foreign direct investment (FDI). First we show that upon the formation of a bilateral CU, the non-member firm has greater...