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Title: | The Intensity of Trade Creation and Trade Diversion in COMESA, ECCAS and ECOWAS: A Comparative Analysis |
Author: | Musila, Jacob Wanjala |
Year: | 2005 |
Periodical: | Journal of African Economies |
Volume: | 14 |
Issue: | 1 |
Period: | March |
Pages: | 117-141 |
Language: | English |
Geographic terms: | Subsaharan Africa Africa |
Subjects: | international trade COMESA Communauté Économique des Etats de l'Afrique Centrale ECOWAS Inter-African Relations Economics and Trade |
External link: | https://jae.oxfordjournals.org/content/14/1/117.full.pdf |
Abstract: | The Economic Commission for Africa has argued that regional integration can help developing countries to diversify their economies and reverse deindustrialization and marginalization. However, several studies have advanced dissenting opinions about the impact of regional trade agreements. This paper uses the gravity model to estimate the intensity of trade creation and trade diversion in COMESA (Economic Market for Eastern and Southern Africa), ECCAS (Economic Community of Central African States) and ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States). Using annual data for the years 1991-1998, the paper finds that the intensity of trade creation or diversion varies from region to region and from period to period. The empirical results suggest that the intensity of trade creation is higher in ECOWAS, followed by COMESA. The trade creation effect in ECCAS is not collaborated empirically. The estimated results also suggest that the trade diversion effects are weak in the three regional organizations. The results reinforce the idea that size factors (level of GNP and population) and resistance factors (distance and language) play an important role in the determination of the flow of international trade. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract, edited] |