a r t i c l e i n f o This paper presents both analytics and numerical simulation results relevant to proposals for carbon motivated regional trade agreements summarized in Dong and Whalley (2010). Unlike traditional regional trade agreements, by lowing tariffs on participant's low carbon emission goods and setting penalties on outsiders to force them to join such agreements, carbon motivated r...

The number of preferential trading arrangements (PTAs) approved under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) has increased significantly, from just one in 1949 to more than 100 today. In fact, PTAs such as the European Union and North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have more power than the United Nations. In a 1995 study, the WTO Secretar...

Gravity equations have been widely used to infer trade  ow effects of various institutional arrangements. We show that estimated gravity equations do not have a theoretical foundation. This implies both that estimation suffers from omitted variables bias and that comparative statics analysis is unfounded. We develop a method that (i) consistently and efŽ ciently estimates a theoretical gravity...

This paper examines interbrand competition between a domestic and a foreign manufacturer who market their products through intermediaries. The contracts manufacturers o¤er these intermediaries are endogenous. In equilibrium contracts may specify exclusive territories (ET), depending on the degree of substitutability between products and the level and degree of transparency of trade barriers. Tr...

IN 1995 when the WTO was established, it seemed to be final confirmation of the success of a system that had managed multilateral trade relations since 1947. It provided an institutional framework within which governments were not only able to negotiate reductions in trade barriers but also to bind themselves to rules of conduct that, in principle, were both universal and nondiscriminatory. Abo...

One of the most enduring points of confl ict in the global political economy is whether international economic rules and regulations should accommodate diversity or encourage harmonization of regulatory institutions. The logic of diff erentiation is that optimal regulatory design diff ers according to national needs and conditions. The logic of harmonization, in contrast, is that the transactio...