IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ari/wpaper/03.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Multilateralising Regionalism: Relaxing the Rules of Origin Or Can Those Pecs Be Flexed?

Author

Listed:
  • Patricia Augier
  • Michael Gasiorek
  • Charles Lai-Tong

    (Centre for the Analysis of Regional Integration at Sussex, Department of Economics, University of Sussex)

Abstract

In this paper we first explain why rules of origin are a necessary feature of preferential trading arrangements, but why they also serve to distort trade and can therefore be used for protectionist purposes, and why they have a powerful natural impetus towards strengthening the spaghetti bowl effect in international trade. Secondly, we then examine the impact of the relaxation of the potential constraining impact of rules of origin in the European context which was achieved through the introduction of the Pan-European Cumulation system (PECS). We provide empirical evidence at both the aggregate and sectoral level which reveals the positive impact of the relaxation of rules of origin via the introduction of “diagonal cumulation” arrangements between the EU and its’ trading partners. Thirdly, the discussion turns to a consideration of appropriate policy options designed both to minimise the spaghetti bowl effect, and to maximise the benefits from regionalism for developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Patricia Augier & Michael Gasiorek & Charles Lai-Tong, 2007. "Multilateralising Regionalism: Relaxing the Rules of Origin Or Can Those Pecs Be Flexed?," CARIS Working Papers 03, Centre for the Analysis of Regional Integration at Sussex, University of Sussex.
    • Handle: RePEc:ari:wpaper:03
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/caris/wps/cariswp03.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. José Anson & Olivier Cadot & Antoni Estevadeordal & Jaime de Melo & Akiko Suwa‐Eisenmann & Bolormaa Tumurchudur, 2005. "Rules of Origin in North–South Preferential Trading Arrangements with an Application to NAFTA," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 501-517, August.
    2. Jiandong Ju & Kala Krishna, 2005. "Firm behaviour and market access in a Free Trade Area with rules of origin," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 38(1), pages 290-308, February.
    3. repec:bla:reviec:v:9:y:2001:i:2:p:233-48 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Rod Falvey & Geoff Reed, 1998. "Economic effects of rules of origin," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 134(2), pages 209-229, June.
    5. Paul Brenton & Miriam Manchin, 2014. "Making EU Trade Agreements Work: The Role of Rules of Origin," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: INTERNATIONAL TRADE, DISTRIBUTION AND DEVELOPMENT Empirical Studies of Trade Policies, chapter 14, pages 299-313, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    7. Anne O. Krueger, 1993. "Free Trade Agreements as Protectionist Devices: Rules of Origin," NBER Working Papers 4352, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Jiandong Ju & Kala Krishna, "undated". "Market Access and Welfare Effects of Free Trade Areas without Rules of Origin," EPRU Working Paper Series 96-03, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    9. Aaditya Mattoo & Devesh Roy & Arvind Subramanian, 2003. "The Africa Growth and Opportunity Act and its Rules of Origin: Generosity Undermined?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 829-851, June.
    10. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H, 1985. "The Gravity Equation in International Trade: Some Microeconomic Foundations and Empirical Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(3), pages 474-481, August.
    11. Rod Falvey & Geoff Reed, 2002. "Rules of Origin as Commercial Policy Instruments," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 43(2), pages 393-408, May.
    12. P. J. Lloyd, 1993. "A Tariff Substitute for Rules of Origin in Free Trade Areas," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(6), pages 699-712, November.
    13. Kala Krishna, 2005. "Understanding Rules of Origin," NBER Working Papers 11150, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Laszlo Matyas, 1997. "Proper Econometric Specification of the Gravity Model," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 363-368, May.
    15. I-Hui Cheng & Howard J. Wall, 2005. "Controlling for heterogeneity in gravity models of trade and integration," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 87(Jan), pages 49-63.
    16. D Evans, 2000. "Options for Regional Integration in Southern Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 68(4), pages 293-304, December.
    17. Ms. Susan Fennell & Ms. Patricia Alonso-Gamo & Mr. Khaled Sakr, 1997. "Adjusting to New Realities: MENA, The Uruguay Round, and the EU-Mediterranean Initiative," IMF Working Papers 1997/005, International Monetary Fund.
    18. Kala Krishna & Anne Krueger, 1995. "Implementing Free Trade Areas: Rules of Origin and Hidden Protection," NBER Working Papers 4983, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Sapir, Andre, 1998. "The political economy of EC regionalism," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 42(3-5), pages 717-732, May.
    20. Hummels, David & Ishii, Jun & Yi, Kei-Mu, 2001. "The nature and growth of vertical specialization in world trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 75-96, June.
    21. Alan V. Deardorff, 2001. "International Provision of Trade Services, Trade, and Fragmentation," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(2), pages 233-248, May.
    22. Alan V. Deardorff, 2011. "Determinants of Bilateral Trade: Does Gravity Work in a Neoclassical World?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Robert M Stern (ed.), Comparative Advantage, Growth, And The Gains From Trade And Globalization A Festschrift in Honor of Alan V Deardorff, chapter 24, pages 267-293, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    23. Ronald W. Jones & Sugata Marjit, 2018. "The Role of International Fragmentation in the Development Process," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: International Trade Theory and Competitive Models Features, Values, and Criticisms, chapter 15, pages 255-261, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    24. Panagariya, Arvind & Krishna, Pravin, 2002. "On necessarily welfare-enhancing free trade areas," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 353-367, August.
    25. Rupa Duttagupta & Arvind Panagariya, 2007. "Free Trade Areas And Rules Of Origin: Economics And Politics," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 169-190, July.
    26. Stefano Inama & Lorenza Jachia, 2000. "Assessing Market Access Preferences for Mediterranean Countries in the EU Market for Industrial Goods," Working Papers 2013, Economic Research Forum, revised 05 Apr 2000.
    27. Patricia Augier & Michael Gasiorek & Charles Lai‐Tong, 2004. "Rules of Origin and the EU‐Med Partnership: The Case of Textiles," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(9), pages 1449-1473, September.
    28. Soloaga, Isidro & Winters, L. Alan, 1999. "How has regionalism in the 1990s affected trade?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2156, The World Bank.
    29. Anderson, James E, 1979. "A Theoretical Foundation for the Gravity Equation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 106-116, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Innwon Park & Soonchan Park, 2011. "Best practices for regional trade agreements," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 147(2), pages 249-268, June.
    2. Michael Fuenfzig & Pietro Maggi & Corine Besseling & Anne Winkel & Michael Flickenschild & Przemysław Kowalski & Katarzyna Sidło & Anna Malinowska & Marek Peda & Christopher Hartwell & Patricia Augier, 2021. "Ex-post Evaluation of the impact of trade chapters of the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreements with six partners: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia," Working Papers hal-03435264, HAL.
    3. Estevadeordal, Antoni & Suominen, Kati & Harris, Jeremy & López Córdova, José Ernesto, 2008. "Gatekeepers of Global Commerce: Rules of Origin and International Economic Integration," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 262, December.
    4. Patrick Georges, 2010. "Dispensing with NAFTA Rules of Origin? Some Policy Options," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(11), pages 1606-1637, November.
    5. Patrick Georges, 2009. "Dispensing with NAFTA Rules of Origin? Some Policy Options for Canada," Working Papers 0904E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
    6. Georges, Patrick & Mérette, Marcel, 2011. "Trade Diversification Away from the U.S. or North American Customs Union? A Review of Canada’s Trade Policy Options," Conference papers 332084, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    7. Antoni Estevadeordal & Kati Suominen & Jeremy Harris & José Ernesto López Córdova, 2008. "Gatekeepers of Global Commerce: Rules of Origin and International Economic Integration," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 16558, February.
    8. Sonmez, Yontem & McDonald, Scott & Walmsley, Terrie, 2011. "Augmenting the GTAP Database: Are the Data on Intra Institutional Transactions Important?," Conference papers 332085, Purdue University, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Global Trade Analysis Project.
    9. Pamela Bombarda & Elisa Gamberoni, 2013. "Firm Heterogeneity, Rules Of Origin, And Rules Of Cumulation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54(1), pages 307-328, February.
    10. Park, Innwon & Park, Soonchan, 2009. "Consolidation and Harmonization of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs): A Path Toward Global Free Trade," MPRA Paper 14217, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 23 Mar 2009.
    11. Honggue Lee, 2013. "The Effects of Preferential Rules of Origin on Trade Flows," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 29, pages 379-403.
    12. Sangkyom Kim & Innwon Park & Soonchan Park, 2013. "Trade-creating regime-wide rules of origin: a quantitative analysis," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(11), pages 1056-1061, July.
    13. repec:idb:brikps:262 is not listed 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. 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.
    2. Kala Krishna, 2005. "Understanding Rules of Origin," NBER Working Papers 11150, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Chang, Yang-Ming & Xiao, Renfeng, 2015. "Preferential trade agreements between asymmetric countries: Free trade areas (with rules of origin) vs. customs unions," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 28-43.
    4. Fabien Candau & Sébastien Jean, 2005. "What Are EU Trade Preferences Worth for Sub-Saharan Africa and Other Developing Countries?," Working Papers 2005-19, CEPII research center.
    5. Olivier Cadot & Antoni Estevadeordal & Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann, 2004. "Rules of origin as export subsidies," Research Unit Working Papers 0405, Laboratoire d'Economie Appliquee, INRA.
    6. Rupa Duttagupta & Arvind Panagariya, 2007. "Free Trade Areas And Rules Of Origin: Economics And Politics," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(2), pages 169-190, July.
    7. Wessel, Jan, 2019. "Evaluating the transport-mode-specific trade effects of different transport infrastructure types," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 42-57.
    8. Manchin, Miriam & Pelkmans-Balaoing, Annette O., 2008. "Clothes without an Emperor: Analysis of the preferential tariffs in ASEAN," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 213-223, June.
    9. David Tsirekidze, 2021. "Global supply chains, trade agreements and rules of origin," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(11), pages 3111-3140, November.
    10. Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso & Felicitas Nowak-Lehmann, 2003. "Augmented Gravity Model: An Empirical Application to Mercosur-European Union Trade Flows," Journal of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(2), pages 291-316, November.
    11. Michele Fratianni & Francesco Marchionne, 2008. "Heterogeneity In Trade Costs," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 6(48), pages 1-14.
    12. Rinaldo Brau & Anna Maria Pinna, 2013. "Movements of People for Movements of Goods?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(10), pages 1318-1332, October.
    13. Mustafizur Rahman & Wasel Bin Shadat & Narayan Chandra Das, 2006. "Trade Potential in SAFTA: An Application of Augmented Gravity Model," CPD Working Paper 61, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
    14. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:6:y:2008:i:48:p:1-14 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Celik, Levent & Karabay, Bilgehan & McLaren, John, 2020. "Fast-track authority: A hold-up interpretation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    16. Stephan Klasen & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Felicitas Nowak-Lehmann & Matthias Bruckner, 2021. "Does the designation of least developed country status promote exports?," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(2), pages 157-177, February.
    17. Céline CARRERE, 2003. "Revisiting the Effects of Regional Trading Agreements on trade flows with Proper Specification of the Gravity Model," Working Papers 200310, CERDI.
    18. Inmaculada Martinez-Zarzoso, 2003. "Gravity model: An application to trade between regional blocs," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 31(2), pages 174-187, June.
    19. Manchin, Miriam, 2005. "Preference utilization and tariff reduction in European Union imports from African, Caribbean, and Pacific countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3688, The World Bank.
    20. Michele Fratianni & Francesco Marchionne, 2011. "The Limits to Integration," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume I, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    21. Thi Hanh Vu, 2013. "International Export Flows of Vietnam :A Gravity Model Approach," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 56(1), pages 83-108.

    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:ari:wpaper:03. 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: Alvaro Herrera The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Alvaro Herrera to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/casusuk.html .

    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.