This paper examines the issue of measuring logistics costs from an applied trade policy research perspective, as well as identifying logistics-intensive sectors. It focuses on currently available data at the macro-and firm-levels. This paper has two main aims. First, it provides a first overview...

The authors present a new database of minimum distance road routes connecting 138 cities in 27 countries across Europe and Central Asia. They use it to show that improved road network quality is robustly associated with higher intraregional trade flows. Gravity model simulations suggest that an...

The author uses a new database of EU product standards in the textiles, clothing, and footwear sectors to present the first empirical evidence that international standards harmonization is associated with increased partner country export variety. A 10 percentage point increase in the proportion...

This paper reviews recent progress and indicators of trade facilitation in member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The findings show that import and export costs vary considerably in the member countries, from very low to moderately high levels. Tariff and non-tariff...

This paper uses a novel dataset on US food import refusals to show that reputation is an important factor in the enforcement of sanitary and phyto-sanitary (SPS) measures. The strongest reputation effect comes from a country's own history of compliance in relation to a particular product. The...

With diminishing tariffs, the focus of trade policy makers and analysts is logically turning towards non-tariff barriers (NTBs), but there much remains to be done. It is well-know that tackling NTBs poses many challenges for the analyst because of their diverse and complex nature, and the lack...

The Mano River Union of Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is turning 40. The MRU was founded in October 1973 with the principal aim of advancing economic development through trade integration. The organisation largely ceased activities during the civil wars that engulfed its...

For simplicitly, the recommendations listed below assume that there will be one regional FTA (as shown in the attached note, the same results can be achieved by a regional set of bilateral FTAs, but at higher costs and greater uncertainty). They focus on five countries (Albania,...

There are three well-known observations about the current regional trade policy of Europe. The first one is the central role played by the European Union in the worldwide spreading of regional agreements. The second is the new policy of signing bilateral deep regional trade agreements. The third...