Abstract / Summary:
The current round of multilateral trade negotiations in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) seems to have stalled. Observers and researchers have noted that part of the reason is that the economic gains to be made from the current round of negotiations are relatively low after the previous eight rounds of GATT and WTO negotiations. However, these claims are made based on economic gains from trade liberalization through their impact on import and export flows. However, political gains from trade agreements, associated with problems of credibility, signalling, and insurance can have a very significant economic value that has been neglected by current studies and analysis. The objective of this project is to provide an estimate of the economic importance of those political gains from trade agreements.
