Over the time a large number of reciprocal preferential trade agreements (RTAs) have been concluded among countries. Recently many studies have used gravity equations in order to estimate the effect of RTAs on trade flows between partners. These studies report very different estimates since they...

In the international trade literature there seems to be some confusion between "openness" and "protection" measures. The aim of this paper is to bring together the "state of the art" in quantifying trade policy measures, so we focus on the extent of the protection granted by policies rather than...

Over the time a large number of reciprocal preferential trade agreements (RTAs) have been concluded among countries. Recently many studies have used gravity equations in order to estimate the effect of RTAs on trade flows between partners. These studies report very different estimates since they...

Trade preferences have been used by the European Union and most developing countries can export with preferential market access under different schemes. We study the trade impact of these policies using highly disaggregated 8-digit data in a theoretically grounded gravity model framework. We...

In the international trade literature there seems to be some confusion between "openness" and "protection" measures. The aim of this paper is to bring together the "state of the art" in quantifying trade policy measures, so we focus on the extent of the protection granted by policies rather than...

The paper explores an important issue in multilateral agricultural trade negotiations, namely the approach taken to reduce tariffs, simulating possible liberalization scenarios. The analysis is based on the model of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), and on the related version 6.0...

This paper deals with the EU's trade policy with two objectives: on the one hand, we study the performance of EU's preferential agreements in granting their partners improved market access; on the other hand, we assess the extent to which domestic sectors are effectively protected. As far as the...

This paper provides a summary measure of the possible new commitments in the area of market access undertaken by the European Union and the United States, using the Trade Restrictiveness Index (TRI) as the tariff aggregator. Indicators such as the TRI, based on welfare theory, integrate economic...

The paper explores an important issue in multilateral agricultural trade negotiations, namely the approach taken to reduce tariffs, simulating possible liberalization scenarios. The analysis is based on the model of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP), and on the related version 6.0...

In the policy arena, there is a demand for "trade distortion indicators", but many of the traditional indices are difficult to compute and interpret. Recent developments in the literature have led to a new indicator: the Trade Restrictiveness Index (TRI). This paper analyzes some problems...