On the heterogeneous trade and welfare effects of GATT/WTO membership

Gabriel Felbermayr, Mario Larch, Erdal Yalcin and Yoto Yotov

No 2166, Kiel Working Papers from Kiel Institute for the World Economy

Abstract: We build on the latest developments in the structural gravity literature to quantify the partial and general equilibrium effects of GATT/WTO membership on trade and welfare. Using an extensive database covering manufacturing trade for 186 countries over the period 1980-2016, we find that the average impact of GATT/WTO membership on trade among member counties is large, positive, and significant. We contribute to the literature by estimating country-specific estimates and find them to vary widely across the countries in our sample with poorer members benefitting more. Using these estimates, we simulate the general equilibrium effects of GATT/WTO on welfare, which are sizable and heterogeneous across members, and relatively small for non-member countries. We show that countries not experiencing positive trade effects from joining GATT/WTO can still gain in terms of welfare, due to beneficial terms-of-trade effects.

Keywords: GATT; WTO; Heterogeneous Policy Effects; Structural Gravity; Welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F1 F13 F14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-int
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Related works:
Journal Article: On the heterogeneous trade and welfare effects of GATT/WTO membership (2024)
Working Paper: On the Heterogeneous Trade and Welfare Effects of GATT/WTO Membership (2022)
Working Paper: On the Heterogenous Trade and Welfare Effects of GATT/WTO Membership (2022)
Working Paper: On the Heterogeneous Trade and Welfare Effects of GATT/WTO Membership (2020)
Working Paper: On the Heterogeneous Trade and Welfare Effects of GATT/WTO Membership (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:2166

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