IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/inteco/v178y2024ics2110701724000076.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The firm-level costs of utilizing free trade agreements

Author

Listed:
  • Legge, Stefan
  • Lukaszuk, Piotr

Abstract

The number of free trade agreements (FTAs) has surged in recent years. In order to benefit from lower import duties, firms must apply for preferential customs treatment and comply with rules of origin requirements. This is costly and explains why preference utilization rates are typically far below 100 percent. Analyzing Switzerland’s wide FTA network based on a novel data set on all import transactions, our findings shed light on how sourcing requirements affect FTA utilization. Using a revealed preference criterion, we identify a fixed cost component of the utilization which firms avoid especially for urgent shipments. We also find limited evidence of learning effects and provide well-identified estimates of the restrictive effects of rules of origin.

Suggested Citation

  • Legge, Stefan & Lukaszuk, Piotr, 2024. "The firm-level costs of utilizing free trade agreements," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:inteco:v:178:y:2024:i:c:s2110701724000076
    DOI: 10.1016/j.inteco.2024.100484
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2110701724000076
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.inteco.2024.100484?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Miriam Manchin, 2006. "Preference Utilisation and Tariff Reduction in EU Imports from ACP Countries," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(9), pages 1243-1266, September.
    2. Nilsson, Lars & Dotter, Caroline, 2012. "Small flows, compliance costs and trade preferences: The case of EU imports from African LDCs," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 6, pages 1-29.
    3. Cesar A. Hidalgo & Ricardo Hausmann, 2009. "The Building Blocks of Economic Complexity," Papers 0909.3890, arXiv.org.
    4. Mary Amiti & John Romalis, 2007. "Will the Doha Round Lead to Preference Erosion?," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 54(2), pages 338-384, June.
    5. Patricia Augier & Michael Gasiorek & Charles Lai Tong, 2005. "The impact of rules of origin on trade flows [‘Rules of origin and the EU-Med partnership: the case of textiles’]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 20(43), pages 568-624.
    6. Takahashi, Katsuhide & Urata, Shujiro, 2010. "On the Use of FTAs by Japanese Firms: Further Evidence," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 1-15, April.
    7. Kamal Saggi & Andrey Stoyanov & Halis Murat Yildiz, 2018. "Do Free Trade Agreements Affect Tariffs of Nonmember Countries? A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Kamal Saggi (ed.), Economic Analysis of the Rules and Regulations of the World Trade Organization, chapter 11, pages 238-280, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Daisuke Hiratsuka & Kohei Shiino & Seiya Sukegawa, 2013. "Who Uses Free Trade Agreements?," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 245-264, September.
    9. Dani Rodrik, 2018. "What Do Trade Agreements Really Do?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 32(2), pages 73-90, Spring.
    10. Nilsson, Lars & Preillon, Nicolas, 2018. "EU exports, preferences utilisation and duty savings by Member State, sector and partner country," DG TRADE Chief Economist Notes 2018-2, Directorate General for Trade, European Commission.
    11. Hayakawa, Kazunobu, 2014. "Impact of diagonal cumulation rule on FTA utilization: Evidence from bilateral and multilateral FTAs between Japan and Thailand," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 1-16.
    12. Joseph Francois & Bernard Hoekman & Miriam Manchin, 2006. "Preference Erosion and Multilateral Trade Liberalization," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 20(2), pages 197-216.
    13. Jean‐Christophe Bureau & Raja Chakir & Jacques Gallezot, 2007. "The Utilisation of Trade Preferences for Developing Countries in the Agri‐food Sector," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 175-198, June.
    14. repec:oup:ecpoli:v:20:y:2005:i:43:p:567-624 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Kim, Hansung & Lee, Hyun-Hoon, 2014. "Determinants on utilization of the Korea–ASEAN free trade agreement: margin effect, scale effect, and ROO effect," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 499-515, July.
    16. Kim , Hansung Daniel & Cho , Mee Jin, 2010. "Impact of Rules of Origin on FTA Utilization in Korean FTAs," Working Papers 10-8, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy.
    17. Hayakawa, Kazunobu, 2011. "Measuring fixed costs for firms’ use of a free trade agreement: Threshold regression approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 113(3), pages 301-303.
    18. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Teti, Feodora & Yalcin, Erdal, 2019. "Rules of origin and the profitability of trade deflection," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    19. Demidova, Svetlana & Krishna, Kala, 2008. "Firm heterogeneity and firm behavior with conditional policies," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 122-128, February.
    20. A. Colin Cameron & Douglas L. Miller, 2015. "A Practitioner’s Guide to Cluster-Robust Inference," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 317-372.
    21. Bo E. Honoré & Martin Weidner, 2020. "Moment Conditions for Dynamic Panel Logit Models with Fixed Effects," CeMMAP working papers CWP38/20, Centre for Microdata Methods and Practice, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    22. Giovanni Maggi & Ralph Ossa, 2021. "The Political Economy of Deep Integration," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 19-38, August.
    23. Brunelin, Stephanie & De Melo, Jaime & Portugal-Perez, Alberto, 2019. "How Much Market Access? A Case Study of Jordan's Exports to the EU," World Trade Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(3), pages 431-449, July.
    24. Zhaohui Niu & Chang Liu & Saileshsingh Gunessee & Chris Milner, 2018. "Non-tariff and overall protection: evidence across countries and over time," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 154(4), pages 675-703, November.
    25. László Halpern & Miklós Koren & Adam Szeidl, 2015. "Imported Inputs and Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(12), pages 3660-3703, December.
    26. Hayakawa Kazunobu, 2015. "Impacts of FTA Utilization on Firm Performance," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(3), pages 1325-1352, July.
    27. Demidova, Svetlana & Kee, Hiau Looi & Krishna, Kala, 2012. "Do trade policy differences induce sorting? Theory and evidence from Bangladeshi apparel exporters," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 247-261.
    28. Wignaraja, Ganeshan, 2014. "The determinants of FTA use in Southeast Asia: A firm-level analysis," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 32-45.
    29. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    30. Keck, Alexander & Lendle, Andreas, 2012. "New evidence on preference utilization," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2012-12, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    31. Simon J Evenett, 2019. "Protectionism, state discrimination, and international business since the onset of the Global Financial Crisis," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 2(1), pages 9-36, March.
    32. Kala Krishna & Carlos Salamanca & Yuta Suzuki & Christian Volpe Martincus, 2021. "Learning to Use Trade Agreements," NBER Working Papers 29319, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Saggi, Kamal & Wong, Woan Foong & Yildiz, Halis Murat, 2019. "Should the WTO require free trade agreements to eliminate internal tariffs?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 316-330.
    34. Kazunobu Hayakawa, 2015. "Does firm size matter in exporting and using FTA schemes?," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(7), pages 883-905, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lukaszuk, Piotr & Legge, Stefan, 2019. "Which Factors Determine the Utilization of Preferential Tariff Rates?," VfS Annual Conference 2019 (Leipzig): 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall - Democracy and Market Economy 203639, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Nuttawut Laksanapanyakul & Taiyo Yoshimi, 2021. "Tariff scheme choice," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 157(2), pages 323-346, May.
    3. Kuo‐I Chang & Kazunobu Hayakawa & Nuttawut Laksanapanyakul & Dionisius Narjoko & Ju Hyun Pyun & Francis Quimba, 2022. "Determinants of regional trade agreement utilisation: Evidence from multiple import countries in Asia," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 1713-1736, June.
    4. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Nuttawut, Laksanapanyakul & Shiino, Kohei, 2013. "Some practical guidance for the computation of free trade agreement utilization rates," IDE Discussion Papers 438, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    5. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Laksanapanyakul, Nuttawut & Yoshimi, Taiyo, 2023. "Firm-level Utilization Rates of Regional Trade Agreements: Importers’ Perspective," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. HAYAKAWA Kazunobu & URATA Shujiro & YOSHIMI Taiyo, 2017. "Choosing Between Multiple Preferential Tariff Schemes: Evidence from Japan's imports," Discussion papers 17002, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    7. Kazunobu Hayakawa, 2020. "Production Networks and Utilization of Free Trade Agreements by Japanese Subsidiaries in ASEAN," Public Policy Review, Policy Research Institute, Ministry of Finance Japan, vol. 16(1), pages 121-134, February.
    8. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Fukunari Kimura & Nuttawut Laksanapanyakul, 2018. "Measuring the usage of preferential tariffs in the world," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 154(4), pages 705-723, November.
    9. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Yang, Chih-Hai, 2013. "How do free trade agreements change import prices? : firm-level evidence from China's imports from ASEAN," IDE Discussion Papers 436, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    10. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Kim, HanSung & Yoshimi, Taiyo, 2015. "FTA in international finance : impacts of exchange rates on FTA utilization," IDE Discussion Papers 494, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    11. Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm & Iyer, Harish, 2021. "Effect of Aid for Trade and Foreign Direct Investment Inflows on the Utilization of Unilateral Trade Preferences offered by the QUAD countries," EconStor Preprints 238211, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    12. Naoto JINJI & Kazunobu HAYAKAWA & Nuttawut LAKSANAPANYAKUL & Toshiyuki MATSUURA & Taiyo YOSHIMI, 2020. "A New Approach for Quantifying the Costs of Utilizing Regional Trade Agreements," Discussion papers e-19-010, Graduate School of Economics , Kyoto University.
    13. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Nuttawut Laksanapanyakul & Hiroshi Mukunoki & Shujiro Urata, 2016. "Impact of Free Trade Agreement Utilisation on Import Prices," Working Papers DP-2016-24, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    14. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Kim, Han-Sung & Yoshimi, Taiyo, 2017. "Exchange rate and utilization of free trade agreements: Focus on rules of origin," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 93-108.
    15. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Yoshimi, Taiyo, 2016. "Gravity with multiple tariff schemes," IDE Discussion Papers 614, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    16. Hayakawa, Kazunobu, 2014. "Impact of diagonal cumulation rule on FTA utilization: Evidence from bilateral and multilateral FTAs between Japan and Thailand," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 1-16.
    17. Chang, Kuo-I & Hayakawa, Kazunobu, 2012. "Selection and utilization of the early harvest list : evidence from the Free Trade Agreement between China and Taiwan," IDE Discussion Papers 365, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    18. HAYAKAWA Kazunobu & JINJI Naoto & MATSUURA Toshiyuki & YOSHIMI Taiyo, 2019. "Costs of Utilizing Regional Trade Agreements," Discussion papers 19054, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    19. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Nuttawut Laksanapanyakul, 2017. "Impacts of common rules of origin on FTA utilization," International Economics and Economic Policy, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 75-90, January.
    20. Hayakawa Kazunobu, 2015. "Impacts of FTA Utilization on Firm Performance," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(3), pages 1325-1352, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    FTA; Tariffs; Trade policy; Utilization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:inteco:v:178:y:2024:i:c:s2110701724000076. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/21107017 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.