Intra-Arab Trade: Is it too Little?

Author/Editor:

Tarik Yousef ; Hassan Al-Atrash

Publication Date:

January 1, 2000

Electronic Access:

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Disclaimer: This Working Paper should not be reported as representing the views of the IMF.The views expressed in this Working Paper are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent those of the IMF or IMF policy. Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to further debate

Summary:

This paper estimates a gravity model to address the issue of whether intra-Arab trade is too little. Although gravity models have been extensively used to measure bilateral trade among countries, they have—to the best of our knowledge—never been used to measure intra-Arab trade. Our results suggest that intra-Arab trade and Arab trade with the rest of the world are lower than what would be predicted by the gravity equation, suggesting considerable scope for regional—as well as multilateral—integration. The results also suggest that intra-GCC and intra-Maghreb trade are relatively low while the Mashreq countries exhibit a higher level of intragroup trade.

Series:

Working Paper No. 2000/010

Subject:

English

Publication Date:

January 1, 2000

ISBN/ISSN:

9781451842685/1018-5941

Stock No:

WPIEA0102000

Pages:

20

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