Effect of Aid for Trade flows on the Accession to the World Trade Organization

Preprint

Existing studies on the determinants of countries' accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) have neglected the role that Aid for Trade (AfT) flows might have played in states' accession process to the WTO. The present study aims to fill this void in the literature by investigating the effect of AfT flows on the probability of acceding to the WTO. The analysis has used 29 countries (the so-called Article XII Members), with data spanning the period 2002-2019. We postulate that by promoting countries' participation in international trade and hence increasing the contribution of international trade to economic growth and development prospects, AfT flows would increase applicants' probability of joining the WTO. The empirical analysis has provided supported for this hypothesis and shown a positive effect of AfT flows on applicants' probability of joining the WTO. This finding applies to total AfT flows as well as to the three components of the latter, namely AfT interventions for economic infrastructure, AfT interventions for productive capacities, and AfT interventions related to trade policy and regulation.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations ; Empirical Studies of Trade
• Subject: Aid for Trade ; Article XII Members ; Accession to the WTO

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Gnangnon, Sèna Kimm
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics
• (where): Kiel, Hamburg
• (when): 2022

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/261331
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET