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Free Trade Agreements versus Customs Unions: An Examination of East Asia

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  • Park, Innwon
  • Park, Soonchan

Abstract

The spaghetti bowl phenomenon expected from the proliferating East Asian regional trade agreements (RTAs) is worrisome. In particular, the complicated web of hub-and-spoke type of overlapping free trade agreements (FTAs) can result in high costs for verifying rules of origin (RoO). As an alternative policy option to avoid the negative effect of trade deflection, customs unions (CUs) should be examined. Most of the theoretical analyses on the formation of CUs highlight stronger positive welfare effects compared to FTAs. However, there is a lack of empirical evidence to support the second best theory of customs unions. This paper is an attempt to fill this gap by applying two methodologies, an ex-ante simulation approach and an ex-post econometric approach. We quantitatively estimate the trade effect of CUs and FTAs by adopting a Gravity regression analysis. In general, we find that a CU is a superior type of RTA to an FTA in terms of creating more intra-union trade. In addition to analyzing the trade effects of RTAs according to type, we quantitatively evaluate the welfare and output effects of CUs for East Asia (an ASEAN+3 CU and a China-Japan-Korea CU) compared to FTAs by applying a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model analysis. The East Asian CUs adopt a system of common external tariffs (CET) based on simple-averaged, import-weighted, consumption-weighted, and minimum rates. Overall, we find that the ASEAN+3 CU with the minimum CET is the most desirable type of RTA for both East Asian member countries and the world economy as a whole.

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  • Park, Innwon & Park, Soonchan, 2008. "Free Trade Agreements versus Customs Unions: An Examination of East Asia," MPRA Paper 11301, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:11301
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    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. Boldea, O. & Engwerda, J.C. & Michalak, T. & Plasmans, J.E.J. & Salmah, S., 2011. "A Simulation Study of an ASEAN Monetary Union (Replaces CentER DP 2010-100)," Other publications TiSEM e92b4cbf-8cde-4a19-83e2-8, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    3. Sunandan Ghosh, 2019. "Enlargement Decisions of Regional Trading Blocs with Asymmetric Members," Working Papers id:12992, eSocialSciences.
    4. Natalya Ketenci, 2017. "The Effect of the European Union Customs Union on the Balance of Trade in Turkey," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 52(4), pages 219-232, November.
    5. Innwon Park, 2009. "Regional Trade Agreements in East Asia: Will They Be Sustainable?," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 23(2), pages 169-194, June.
    6. Innwon Park, 2011. "Is AFTA a Desirable Regional Trade Agreement for ASEAN?," International Area Studies Review, Center for International Area Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, vol. 14(4), pages 49-72, December.
    7. Engwerda, J. & Boldea, O. & Michalak, T. & Plasmans, J. & Salmah,, 2012. "A simulation study of an ASEAN monetary union," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1870-1890.
    8. Roberto Miranda, 2012. "Central American Economic Integration - The Impact of a Customs Union with Guatemala on El Salvador’s Economy," Competence Centre on Money, Trade, Finance and Development 1208, Hochschule fuer Technik und Wirtschaft, Berlin.
    9. 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.
    10. KURTOVIC, Safet & HALILI, Blerim & MAXHUNI, Nehat & TALOVIC, Sead, 2016. "Liberalization of Trade with the EFTA Countries: Some Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina - La liberalizzazione del commercio con i paesi dell’ EFTA: evidenze dalla Bosnia e Herzegovina," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 69(3), pages 213-232.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    free trade agreements; customs unions; rules of origin; common external tariffs; Gravity; CGE; East Asia; ASEAN+3;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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