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Zones de libre échange en forme de réseau en étoile: théorie et résultats pour Israel .
Author(s) -
Deltas George,
Desmet Klaus,
Facchini Giovanni
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
canadian journal of economics/revue canadienne d'économique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1540-5982
pISSN - 0008-4085
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-5982.2012.01722.x
Subject(s) - international trade , spoke hub distribution paradigm , free trade agreement , comparative advantage , international economics , international free trade agreement , sign (mathematics) , economics , free trade , engineering , mathematics , mathematical analysis , transport engineering
We study how the sequential formation of free trade areas affects trade flows between member countries. In a three‐country, three‐good model of comparative advantage if two countries have an FTA, and both sign a similar agreement with the third, trade between the two decreases. However, if only one of them signs an additional FTA, a hub‐ and‐spoke pattern arises, and trade between the initial members increases. Israel’s experience lends strong support to our model: trade between Israel and the EU, subject to an FTA since 1975, increased by an additional 29% after the introduction of the US‐Israel FTA in 1985.