Under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), international trade has increased significantly — and tariffs have declined equally dramatically — over the past 70 years (see Figures 1 and 2). It comes as no surprise that this growth in trade has been accompanied by...

The spread of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in Southeast Asia has ignited a debate about their impact on business, and ways to avoid raising the business costs from the Asian 'noodle bowl' effect. This paper undertakes a comparative and firm-level analysis of the impact of RTAs in Indonesia,...

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are under scrutiny for their engagement in production networks following recent emphasis on increasing intra-regional trade, rebalancing, and inclusive growth in Asia. Using a data set covering 5,900 firms in...

This paper analyses the link between commercial policies and exports through a comparative analysis of the Asian giants - the People's Republic of China (PRC) and India. While the PRC has surged ahead of India to dominate world manufactured exports, India has acquired competitive capabilities in...

This paper explores the economic implications of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) - Asia's largest trade agreement - on India and Sri Lanka. The findings from existing model-based studies suggest that India, as an insider economy, will potentially gain from the RCEP while...