IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/14217.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Consolidation and Harmonization of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs): A Path Toward Global Free Trade

Author

Listed:
  • Park, Innwon
  • Park, Soonchan

Abstract

Some economists worry about the ‘spaghetti bowl phenomenon’ expected from proliferating regional trade agreements (RTAs). 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) and trade diversion or suppression effects. This explains why almost half of the RTAs notified to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO) are currently inactive. This research attempts to provide best practices for RTAs to enhance global free trade by mitigating these negative effects. More specifically, we quantitatively estimate the trade creation and diversion effects of harmonized and cumulated RoO (bilateral, diagonal, and full cumulation) for RTAs established under GATT Article XXIV and under the Enabling Clause by adopting a Gravity regression analysis. We find that (i) RTAs in general create trade among members and divert trade from nonmembers; (ii) RTAs should be established under the comprehensive GATT Article XXIV, rather than the piecemeal Enabling Clause; and (iii) full cumulation is the most optimal provision in terms of creating the most intra-bloc trade and diverting the least extra-bloc trade. Overall, we strongly recommend that RTAs should employ full cumulation of RoO under GATT Article XXIV. This strategy will enable regionalism to be compatible with multilateralism, to be sustainable in the long run, and finally to lead us to global free trade.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:14217
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/14217/1/MPRA_paper_14217.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Innwon Park & Soonchan Park, 2009. "Free Trade Agreements versus Customs Unions: An Examination of East Asia," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 8(2), pages 119-139, Spring.
    2. Richard E. Baldwin, 2011. "Multilateralising Regionalism: Spaghetti Bowls as Building Blocks on the Path to Global Free Trade," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume I, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Rajapatirana, Sarath, 1994. "The evolution of trade treaties and trade creation : lessons for Latin America," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1371, The World Bank.
    4. 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, November.
    5. Drusilla K. Brown & Alan V. Deardorff & Robert M Stern, 2001. "Impacts on NAFTA Members of Multilateral and Regional Trading Arrangements and Initiatives and Harmonization of NAFTA's External Tariffs," Working Papers 471, Research Seminar in International Economics, University of Michigan.
    6. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    7. Michael G. Plummer, 2007. "‘Best Practices’ in Regional Trading Agreements: An Application to Asia," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(12), pages 1771-1796, December.
    8. 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.
    9. J. M. C. Santos Silva & Silvana Tenreyro, 2006. "The Log of Gravity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 641-658, November.
    10. 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.
    11. repec:idb:brikps:16558 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Ali El-Agraa, 2002. "The UTR versus CU Formation Analysis and Article XXIV," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(9), pages 621-624.
    13. Ghosh, Sucharita & Yamarik, Steven, 2004. "Does trade creation measure up? A reexamination of the effects of regional trading arrangements," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 213-219, February.
    14. Krueger, Anne O., 1997. "Free trade agreements versus customs unions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 169-187, October.
    15. 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.
    16. Erlinda M. Medalla, 2008. "Rules of Origin : Regimes in East Asia and Recommendations for Best Practice," Trade Working Papers 22665, East Asian Bureau of Economic Research.
    17. Medalla, Erlinda M., 2008. "Rules of Origin: Regimes in East Asia and Recommendations for Best Practice," Discussion Papers DP 2008-19, Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
    18. Wonnacott, Paul & Wonnacott, Ronald, 1981. "Is Unilateral Tariff Reduction Preferable to a Customs Union? The Curious Case of the Missing Foreign Tariffs," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(4), pages 704-714, September.
    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. 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).
    2. Kim , Sangkyom & Park , Innwon & Park , Soonchan, 2013. "A Free Trade Area of Asia Pacific (FTAAP): Is It Desirable?," East Asian Economic Review, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, vol. 17(1), pages 3-25, March.
    3. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Fukunari Kimura, 2015. "How Much Do Free Trade Agreements Reduce Impediments to Trade?," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 26(4), pages 711-729, September.
    4. Blyde, Juan S. & Volpe Martincus, Christian & Molina, Danielken, 2014. "Fábricas sincronizadas: América Latina y el Caribe en la era de las Cadenas Globales de Valor," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 6668, November.
    5. Hamanaka, Shintaro, 2012. "Evolutionary paths toward a region-wide economic agreement in Asia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 383-394.
    6. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Kimura, Fukunari, 2014. "How do free trade agreements reduce tariff rates and non-tariff barriers?," IDE Discussion Papers 446, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    7. Juan S. Blyde & Christian Volpe Martincus & Danielken Molina, 2014. "Fábricas sincronizadas: América Latina y el Caribe en la era de las Cadenas Globales de Valor," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 86755 edited by Juan S. Blyde, February.

    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. 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. Patrick Georges, 2010. "Dispensing with NAFTA Rules of Origin? Some Policy Options," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(11), pages 1606-1637, November.
    3. Innwon Park & Soonchan Park, 2009. "Free Trade Agreements versus Customs Unions: An Examination of East Asia," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 8(2), pages 119-139, Spring.
    4. Bernard Hoekman & Stefano Inama, 2017. "Rules of Origin as Non-Tariff Measures: Towards Greater Regulatory Convergence," RSCAS Working Papers 2017/45, European University Institute.
    5. Hamanaka, Shintaro, 2012. "Evolutionary paths toward a region-wide economic agreement in Asia," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 383-394.
    6. Jayjit Roy, 2010. "Do Customs Union Members Engage in More Bilateral Trade than Free‐Trade Agreement Members?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 663-681, September.
    7. 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.
    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. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Olivier Cadot & Lili Yan Ing, 2016. "How Restrictive Are ASEAN's Rules of Origin?," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 15(3), pages 115-134, Fall.
    12. 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.
    13. Hiroyuki Taguchi & Aktamov Asomiddin, 2022. "Energy-Use Inefficiency and Policy Governance in Central Asian Countries," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-15, February.
    14. Raguideau-Hannotin, Léonore, 2023. "The case of financial and banking integration of Central, Eastern and South Eastern European countries: A gravity model approach," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 91-111.
    15. Knobel, Alexander & Chokaev, Bekhan, 2014. "Possible Economic Outcomes of a Trade Agreement with the European Union," EconStor Preprints 121853, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    16. Cardamone, Paola, 2007. "A Survey of the Assessments of the Effectiveness of Preferential Trade Agreements using Gravity Models," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 60(4), pages 421-473.
    17. Vincent Vicard, 2009. "On trade creation and regional trade agreements: does depth matter?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 145(2), pages 167-187, July.
    18. Michele Fratianni & Francesco Marchionne, 2012. "Trade Costs and Economic Development," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 88(2), pages 137-163, April.
    19. A. A. Alikhanov & V. Yu. Skryabina & E. V. Tarasyuk, 0. "Liberalization Trade Relationship Between The Countries: Assessment And Consequences," International Trade and Trade Policy, ФГБОУ ВО "Ð Ð¾Ñ Ñ Ð¸Ð¹Ñ ÐºÐ¸Ð¹ Ñ ÐºÐ¾Ð½Ð¾Ð¼Ð¸Ñ‡ÐµÑ ÐºÐ¸Ð¹ ÑƒÐ½Ð¸Ð²ÐµÑ€Ñ Ð¸Ñ‚ÐµÑ‚ им. Г.Ð’. Плеханова", issue 3.
    20. Low, Patrick, 2014. "Preferentialism in Trade Relations: Challenges for the World Trade Organization," ADBI Working Papers 478, Asian Development Bank Institute.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    regional trade agreements; rules of origin; cumulation; gravity; GATT Article XXIV; Enabling Clause;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:pra:mprapa:14217. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.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.