2011-03-18
Multi-membership and the effectiveness of regional trade agreements in Western and Southern Africa
Publication
Publication
A comparative study of ECOWAS and SADC
ISS Working Paper Series / General Series , Volume 520 p. 1- 38
Using a gravity model for 35 countries and the years 1995-2006 we estimate the impact of regional trade agreements in Africa (in particular ECOWAS and SADC) and compare this to the a benchmark of North South trade integration (Europe’s preferential trade agreement). We find that • ECOWAS and SADC membership significantly increases bilateral trade flows (and by more than for example preferential trade agreements with the EU do), • SADC membership has a stronger impact compared to ECOWAS and • that the impact of multi-membership critically depends on the characteristics of the overlapping RTA. We find a positive impact if an additional membership complements the integration process of the original RTA: overlapping memberships had a significant positive effect on bilateral trade within the ECOWAS bloc but it is insignificant for SADC.
Additional Metadata | |
---|---|
, , , , , , , | |
International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University (ISS) | |
hdl.handle.net/1765/22781 | |
ISS Working Papers - General Series | |
ISS Working Paper Series / General Series | |
Organisation | International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University (ISS) |
Afesorgbor, S. K., & van Bergeijk, P. (2011). Multi-membership and the effectiveness of regional trade agreements in Western and Southern Africa. ISS Working Paper Series / General Series (Vol. 520, pp. 1–38). Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/22781 |