Economic diplomacy in Africa: the impact of regional integration versusbilateral diplomacy on bilateral trade

Sylvanus Afesorgbor

Chapter 20 in Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy, 2018, pp 326-346 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The author focuses on the impact of economic diplomacy on exports among African states. He tests whether there is evidence of a trade-off or complementary interaction between regional integration and commercial diplomacy in trade facilitation. He compares the effects of these two instruments of economic diplomacy on bilateral trade by employing a gravity model for 45 African states over the period 1980–2005. The results show that bilateral diplomatic exchange is a relatively more significant determinant of bilateral exports among African states compared to regional integration. He also finds a nuanced interaction between these two instruments of economic diplomacy: the trade-stimulating effect of diplomatic exchange is less pronounced among African countries that are already shared membership of a regional bloc. Generally, this could mean that there exists a trade-off between regional integration and commercial diplomacy in facilitating exports or a lack of complementarity between these two instruments of economic diplomacy.

Keywords: Economics and Finance; Politics and Public Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Related works:
Working Paper: Economic Diplomacy in Africa: The Impact of Regional Integration versus Bilateral Diplomacy on Bilateral Trade (2016)
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