Good governance and preferential trade: evidence from the Swiss generalized system of preferences

Christian Ritzel, Andreas Kohler and Stefan Mann ()

International Journal of Social Economics, 2018, vol. 45, issue 2, 259-274

Abstract: Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to determine if the institutional quality of developing countries (DCs) and least-developed countries (LDCs) contributes to a significant increase in the utilization rate of the Swiss generalized system of preferences in the agro-food sector. Design/methodology/approach - The authors use state of the art regression techniques accounting for zero values to identify if the institutional quality – separately depicted by the Worldwide Governance Indicators, the Index of Economic Freedom and the Human Development Index – can contribute in overcoming non-tariff barriers (NTBs) to trade. Findings - The institutional quality exerts a consistent positive effect on the level of utilization of trade preferences. Research limitations/implications - Swiss food trade represents, of course, only a very small share of world trade, therefore it would be worthwhile to extend the analysis to other countries and sectors. Practical implications - Industrialized countries’ development policies should more strongly focus on capacity building in DCs and LDCs to strengthen trade-related institutions. Originality/value - The study focuses on an often underemphasized element in international trade relations – the role of the institutional quality in overcoming NTBs to trade.

Keywords: Good governance; Agro-food trade; Generalized system of preferences; Utilizing trade preferences (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.110 ... d&utm_campaign=repec (application/pdf)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ijsepp:ijse-11-2016-0331

DOI: 10.1108/IJSE-11-2016-0331

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Social Economics is currently edited by Professor Terence Garrett

More articles in International Journal of Social Economics from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().