Does regionalism affect trade liberalization toward non-members ?

"This paper examines the effect of regionalism on unilateral trade liberalization using industry-level data on applied most-favored nation tariffs and bilateral preferences for ten Latin American countries from 1990 to 2001. The findings show that preferential tariff reduction in a given sector...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Estevadeordal, Antoni
Corporate Author: World Bank
Other Authors: Freund, Caroline L., Ornelas, Emanuel
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: [Washington, D.C] World Bank 2008
Series:Policy research working paper
Subjects:
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Collection: World Bank E-Library Archive - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
Description
Summary:"This paper examines the effect of regionalism on unilateral trade liberalization using industry-level data on applied most-favored nation tariffs and bilateral preferences for ten Latin American countries from 1990 to 2001. The findings show that preferential tariff reduction in a given sector leads to a reduction in the external (most-favored nation) tariff in that sector. External liberalization is greater if preferences are granted to important suppliers. However, these "complementarity effects" of preferential liberalization on external liberalization do not arise in customs unions. Overall, the results suggest that concerns about a negative effect of preferential liberalization on external trade liberalization are unfounded. "--World Bank web site
Item Description:Includes bibliographical references. - Title from PDF file as viewed on 5/12/2009