North-South standards harmonization and international trade

Anne-Célia Disdier, Lionel Fontagné and Olivier Cadot

No 6710, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Recent years have seen a surge in economic integration agreements (EIAs) and the development of non-tariff measures (NTMs). As a consequence, a growing number of EIAs include provisions on NTMs. However, little attention has been given in the literature to the effects of NTM liberalization in the context of EIAs. In this paper, we focus on provisions for technical regulations and analyze whether the North-South harmonization of technical barriers affects international trade. Using a gravity equation, it tests whether, as a result of the deep integration associated with standards provisions included in the EIA, the Southern partners'trade expands with the North, but at the expense of their trade with non-bloc Southern partners. Empirical results provide strong support for this conjecture. Moreover, harmonization on the basis of regional standards negatively impacts the exports of developing countries to the North.

Keywords: Free Trade; Trade Law; Emerging Markets; Trade and Regional Integration; Trade Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-11-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-int
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Journal Article: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2015)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2015)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2015)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2015)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2012)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2012)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2012)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2012)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2012)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2012)
Working Paper: North-South Standards Harmonization and International Trade (2012)
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