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The impact of FTAs on MENA trade

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The present work analyses the impact of free trade agreements (FTAs) on the improvement of trade flows for ten Middle East and North African Countries (MENA) for the period 1990-2010. An extended gravity model is estimated to analyse the average and individual impact of six FTAs (four North-South-FTAs and three South- South-FTAs) on exports and imports of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. The trade effect of the customs union between Turkey and the EU is also analysed. With the aim of obtaining more information about the real impact of the agreement, the analysis is undertaken not only for aggregated trade but also for trade in industrial products and trade in agricultural products separately. In this way, the fact that the text of such agreements distinguishes between industrial and non-industrial products to establish schedules of liberalization is taken into account. The findings indicate that the Euromed FTA has a positive and significant impact on exports from the EU to MENA countries but not the other way around. The only agreement that has a positive and significant impact on both imports and exports is the customs union between the EU and Turkey.

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  • María Dolores Parra Robles & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Celestino Suárez Burguet, 2012. "The impact of FTAs on MENA trade," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 217, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:got:iaidps:217
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    1. Claudio Candia Campano & Medardo Aguirre González & Lilliam Antón López & Javier Beltrán Valdebenito, 2018. "A gravity model of trade for Nicaraguan agricultural exports," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 37(74), pages 391-428, July.
    2. Tamini, Lota D. & Chebbi, Houssem Eddine & Abbassi, Abdessalem, 2016. "Trade performance and potential of North African countries: An application of a stochastic frontier gravity model," AGRODEP working papers 33, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    3. Mustafa Kahveci, 2019. "From Spring to Winter? An Analysis of "Arab Spring" Impacts on Turkey and Mena Region Foreign Trade with Gravity Approach," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(12), pages 1320-1334, December.
    4. Lina S. Jaber & Katharina E. Diehl & Shadi K. Hamadeh, 2016. "Livestock and food security in the Arab region: policy framework," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 8(5), pages 899-908, October.
    5. Claudio Candia Campano & Medardo Aguirre González & Lilliam Antón López & Javier Beltrán Valdebenito, 2018. "A gravity model of trade for Nicaraguan agricultural exports," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 37(74), pages 391-428, July.
    6. Thorvaldur Gylfason & Inmaculada Martínez-Zarzoso & Per Magnus Wijkman, 2012. "How Free Trade Can Help Convert the 'Arab Spring' into Permanent Peace and Democracy," CESifo Working Paper Series 3882, CESifo.
    7. Thorvaldur Gylfason & Inmaculada Mart�nez-Zarzoso & Per Magnus Wijkman, 2015. "Can free trade help convert the 'Arab Spring' into permanent peace and democracy?," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 247-270, June.

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    Keywords

    Free Trade Agreements; International Trade; Mediterranean integration; MENA countries; Gravity Equation; Panel Data;
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