This paper evaluates the role of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) in the context of global value chains. Given the interconnectedness of trade and investment, preferential trade agreements not only contribute to participation and value capture by eliminating traditional trade barriers, they...

Almost immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, its newly independent states started reaching out to their neighbors in an attempt to join in the already established alliances and regional groupings of states. Moreover, they sought to recreate some sort of an interstate economic union...

Trade costs associated with institutional failures and political risks, continue to serve as a big barrier to regional and international trade. Despite this strong impediment, limited work has been done to investigate the effect of weak institutions and type of political regime on bilateral...

Domestic laws on the African continent have been considered inadequate to attract the investment needed for development and economic growth. A crucial catalyst in attracting investment on the continent is law reform. The formulation of legislation has twofold effects: firstly, it is perceived to...

The journey to harness corruption in SADC states remains a challenge even after decades of preaching effects of corruption. Corruption derails success and development, and its costs are borne by the citizens. Corruption is found in the award of contracts, promotion of staff, dispensation of...

This paper examines the history of regional integration in Africa, what has motivated it, the different initiatives that African governments have pursued, the nature of the integration process, and the current challenges. Regional integration is seen as a rational response to the difficulties...

The establishment of a Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) which would combine the members of three existing regional economic communities, i.e. the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), was...

In May 2013 the ASEAN 6 countries began to negotiate the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). The objective of this paper is to analyze the feasibility of constructing such a region-wide agreement and to examine ways to multilateralize it. The paper first reviews free trade...

This chapter suggests a rationale for a simple, scalable, and fast computational approach through the ‘Data With Direction Specification’ (DWDS) to supplement the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The specification provides a way for digitally executable...

Regional economic integration agreements are considered to be important policy mechanisms to address regional developmental asymmetries. The Asian reality is characterized by developmental asymmetries across countries on the one hand and a lack of comprehensive pan-Asian formal regional economic...