## Do South-South Trade Agreements Increase Trade? Commodity-Level Evidence from COMESA

_IMF Working Papers, February 1, 2007_

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Anna Maria Mayda, Chad Steinberg
- Published: February 1, 2007
- Series: IMF Working Papers
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451866049.001

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### Research question and scope
- Focus: static effects of South-South preferential trade agreements stemming from changes in trade patterns.
- Specific case: impact of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) on Uganda's imports between 1994 and 2003.
- Context: South-South trade agreements proliferation—developing countries signed 70 new agreements between 1990 and 2003.

### Data and methodology
- Data:
  - Detailed import and tariff data at the 6-digit harmonized system level.
  - Coverage: more than 1,000 commodities.
- Empirical approach:
  - Difference-in-difference estimation strategy to identify the impact of COMESA preferential tariff liberalization on Uganda's imports.

### Key findings
- Aggregate effect:
  - COMESA's preferential tariff liberalization has not considerably increased Uganda's trade with member countries, on average across sectors.
- Heterogeneity:
  - The effect is heterogeneous across sectors (magnitude and direction vary by sector).
- Trade diversion:
  - The paper finds no evidence of trade-diversion effects.

### Subjects and keywords
- Subject: Commodities, Imports, Tariffs, Trade agreements, Trade liberalization
- Keywords: COMESA country, tariff rate, trade creation, trade diversion, WP

### Publication metadata (selected)
- Authors: Anna Maria Mayda, Chad Steinberg
- Date: February 1, 2007
- Pages: 35
- Volume: 2007
- Issue: 040
- Series: Working Paper No. 2007/040
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781451866049.001
- ISBN: 9781451866049
- ISSN: 1018-5941

*IMF Working Paper by Anna Maria Mayda and Chad Steinberg, February 1, 2007.*

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- **_wp0740 - Appendix Tables**
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_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/publications/wp/issues/2016/12/31/do-south-south-trade-agreements-increase-trade-commodity-level-evidence-from-comesa-19909_