This paper studies the role of reduced barriers to international trade from two dimensions: (i) the implementation of Free Trade Agreements and (ii) declining "border effects". Our empirical estimates suggest that diminished border effects accounts for the bulk of the increase in international...

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...

I use panel data of sales by the foreign subsidiaries of the U.S. MNCs to examine whether trading blocs create more or less FDI and the impacts on FDI of the extended market size created by forming blocs. By employing a region-fixed effects model, I find that countries forming trading blocs...

This paper uses a gravity model to assess the impact of deeper integration through Regional Economic Communities (RECs) on foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The analysis includes panel data on 25 host and 35 source countries in SSA over the period 2001-2012. Employing...

The rapid rise in global fragmentation — foreign investment, global supply chains, and ‘production sharing — is fundamentally reshaping the multilateral trading system. This paper uses a simple economic modeling framework to understand how the global fragmentation phenomenon may reshape...

The rapid rise in global fragmentation - foreign investment, global supply chains, and 'production sharing' - is fundamentally reshaping the multilateral trading system. This paper uses a simple economic modeling framework to understand how the global fragmentation phenomenon may reshape the...

The slow progress and modest achievements of regional integration in South Asia have generated a huge amount of skepticism about its role as an effective strategy of growth. The present study, however, argues that there is need to forge deeper integration within the region. It examines the...

The recent increase in foreign capital flows into developing countries has coincided with a new wave of regional trade agreements involving both developed and developing countries. This paper investigates the effect of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a prime example of this new...

This paper analyzes the effects of the formation of a regional trade agreement on the level and nature of multinational firm activity. We examine aggregate data that captures the response of U.S. multinational firms to the formation of the ASEAN free trade agreement. Observed patterns guide the...

This report presents the results of the study performed as part of the EDB project “System of Indicators of Eurasian Integration” (SIEI). The study concerns the measurement and analysis of the long-term dynamics of integration processesin the post-Soviet space. It covers eleven CIS countries...