Trade policy uncertainty (TPU) has become an important source of economic uncertainty
and research. We review the main sources and measures of TPU. We then provide a …

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the political economy of trade policy. In principle,
a political-economy model of trade policy must have four elements. Much of the trade theory …

Economists have a tendency to associate “free trade agreements” all too closely with “free
trade.” They may be unaware of some of the new (and often problematic) beyond-the …

A large and growing number of countries participate in multiple preferential trade
agreements (PTAs), which increasingly entail broad cooperation over policies extending far …

A resurgence in private investment is a necessary ingredient of a sustainable recovery in
heavily-indebted developing countries. Policy reforms in these countries involve a serious …

We propose a unified theoretical framework within which to interpret and evaluate the
foundational principles of GATT. Working within a general equilibrium trade model, we …

Do societies choose inefficient policies and institutions? An extension of the Coase theorem
to politics would suggest the answer is no. This paper discusses various approaches to …

Why do sovereign governments make international legal commitments, and what effect does
international law have on state behavior? Very little empirical research tries to answer these …

We estimate how a rise in uncertainty about future tariff rates impacts firm decisions to enter
into and exit from export markets. Using Chinese customs transactions between 2000 and …

World trade is governed by the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the successor
to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). The WTO sets rules of conduct for …