Recent empirical studies have estimated the trade flow effect of membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). One important, although largely untested, conclusion from this literature is that the GATT/WTO has worked well...

This study investigates the factors that impact the duration of trade relationships in U.S. fresh fruit and vegetable imports. We employ both the survival analysis (KM estimates and Cox PH model) as well as a count data model. The preliminary results indicate that SPS treatment requirements...

International trade costs are known to be large but difficult to measure. Using a microfounded gravity equation based on the framework in Novy (2011), this study estimates an indirect measure of multilateral trade costs for tradable goods in agriculture. Using production and bilateral trade data...

The Doha Trade Round maintains that a considerable effort will be given to take into account better the particular needs of developing nations. Many low-income countries argue that the flexibility to invoke a special safeguard mechanism when faced with volatile commodity markets is a necessary...

The sugar sector is one of the most heavily protected commodities in agriculture using a system of tariff rate quotas (TRQs) with a complex set of administration procedures. General equilibrium models are not suitable to analyze trade liberalization scenarios that involve numerous tariff-rate...

The degree to which countries are pursuing regional trade agreements (RTAs) has beennothing short of extraordinary. The topic of regional integration is “breeding concern”among academics and policymakers as to the intra- and extra-regional effects of theseagreements. This study constructs...

Market access has been at the core of eight negotiating rounds of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Yet, agricultural trade remains a heavily protected sector, characterized by higher tariffs relative to industrial goods, large tariff dispersions, numerous specific tariffs and...

Reciprocal trade agreements (RTAs), which grant special preferences to members, affect the pattern and volume of bilateral trade in global markets. This study uses the gravity framework and panel data depicting annual trade between 69 countries over 31 years to examine how 11 RTAs have shaped...