This paper constructs new measures of regional trading arrangement (RTA) membership based on the degree of integration and implementation. We find that RTAs create intra-bloc trade regardless of their type and that more integrated RTAs generate greater total trade creation

In this study, we use extreme bounds analysis to test the robustness of the hypothesis that regional trading arrangements (RTAs) are trade creating. Extreme bounds analysis provides a more rigorous test of specification uncertainty than traditional econometric theory by incorporating prior...

In this paper, we examine the impacts of broad and regional integration on long-run economic development.We construct cross-country measures of regional integration that account for both the magnitude and the endogeneity of individual regional integration agreements. We then include our regional...

In this article, we investigate the impact of regional trading arrangements (RTAs) on the environment. We propose an empirical model where RTAs, trade, growth and environmental quality are interrelated. As a result, an RTA in our model can impact the environment either directly or indirectly via...