This paper examines various implications of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs), namely Customs Unions (CUs) and Free Trade Areas (FTAs), in the context of a multi-country general equilibrium model based on comparative advantage considerations. We calibrate the model to represent countries with symmetric endowments, and compare the impact of those agreements with free trade and a non-cooperati...

The empirical “gravity” equation is extremely successful in explaining bilateral trade. This paper shows how a multi-country model of specialization and costly trade (i.e. a microfounded gravity model) can be applied to explain empirical exchange rate puzzles. One such puzzle is the fact that nominal exchange rates are enormously volatile, but that this volatility does not appear to affect infl...

Measures to actively facilitate trade are increasingly seen as essential to assist developing countries in expanding trade and benefiting from globalisation. Although often viewed as narrowly concerned with the ease and speed of Customs procedures, even greater trade cost reductions and trade and welfare benefits may be reaped from a broader view of trade facilitation (TF) that incorporates tra...

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in currency :union:s internationally. The formation of currency :union: in Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has drawn much attention of Islamic countries. This paper aims to investigate the effect of currency :union: formation for trade among 49 Islamic countries over the period 1990-2012 by OCA and Augmented Gravity Model (AGM). T...

Iran-China relations are deeply rooted in history and have been enhanced recently with bilateral cooperation in the areas of energy, arms sales, trade, political cooperation and cultural ties. The objective of this paper is to analyze the role of international outsourcing in form of trading intermediate products on bilateral trade relations between Iran and China. As an empirical work, we h...

Introduction: Over the past fifteen years, there has been a dramatic rise in the number and range of regional or preferential trade agreements (PTAs). 1 There is evidence to suggest that market driven regional trading blocs are emerging in the European neighbourhood, the Americas and East Asia. The US is actively pursuing FTA in the Americas and East and South-East Asia. The European Union (EU)...

Introduction We are both former Directors ofthe Bureau ofEconomics at the Federal Trade Commission, and have studied, lectured and written on the economics of the pharmaceutical industry for many years. As such, we feel obliged to submit these comments to the Commission because, in our judgment, both the Pfizer-Wyeth and Merck-Schering Plough mergers will further retard the rate of pharmaceutic...

The purpose of this paper to identify and analyze the effects of existing trade networks on bilateral trade volumes in the Western Hemisphere using two empirical specifications of the gravity model of international trade. The evidence suggests the trade behavior within the Western Hemisphere is highly influenced by relationships resulting from different types of linkages (i.e., networks). These...