Recent Regional Agreements: Why So Many, So Fast, So Different and Where Are They Headed?

The contributions in this volume examine CETA, TTIP, and TiSA as prime examples of ‘mega-regional’ agreements that are central to a new orientation in international economic law in general and EU external economic relations in particular. While concentrating on CETA, TTIP, and TiSA as the main EU instruments in the worldwide turn to regional and mega-regional agreements, the book places these initiatives in the broader context of other mega-regional projects such as TPP. In the first two chapters, this book examines main motivations for negotiating mega-regional agreements and changing conceptions of international economic law. In nine further contributions, international experts examine sectoral issues such as the trade, investment, and dispute settlement disciplines envisaged in these ‘mega-regional’ agreements. Moreover, the progress made in intellectual property protection, the problems associated with data protection, disciplines on financial services, human rights, labour and environmental standards, issues of transparency and legitimacy, and the relationship between CETA, TTIP, and TiSA on the one hand and EU law on the other are analysed. Finally, four short contributions discuss fundamental questions surrounding these mega-regional agreements from an economic, a political science, and a legal perspective. The last chapter of this volume summarizes principal conclusions presented in the chapters of the book and highlights themes that recur in them.

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Endogenous Preferential Trade Agreements: An Empirical Analysis

Contributions in Economic Analysis & Policy ◽

10.2202/1538-0645.1166 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 49

Author(s):

Christopher S Magee

Keyword(s):

Political Economy ◽

Empirical Analysis ◽

Bilateral Trade ◽

Trade Agreement ◽

Trade Agreements ◽

Preferential Trade Agreements ◽

The Political ◽

Preferential Trade ◽

Trading Partners ◽

Regional Agreements

Abstract This paper provides one of the first assessments of the hypothesis that two countries are more likely to form a preferential trade agreement (PTA) if they are already major trading partners. The paper also tests a number of predictions from the political economy literature about which countries are expected to form regional agreements. The results show that countries are more likely to be preferential trading partners if they have significant bilateral trade, are similar in size, and are both democracies. Finally, the paper measures the effect of preferential agreements on trade volumes while, unlike previous studies, treating PTA formation as endogenous.

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