Regional cooperation and bilateral trade flows

Abstract

Drawing on the procedures developed for estimating stochastic frontier production functions, the methodology suggested in this paper to work out the impact of country-specific resistance to bilateral trade flows between two countries is the estimation of a stochastic frontier gravity type model. The workability of the suggested method is demonstrated using trade data from the recently formed Indian Ocean Rim - Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) countries. The role of the regional cooperation towards reducing trade restrictiveness among its member countries is examined by considering Australia's exports to other member countries of IOR-ARC. The empirical analysis indicates that on average, Australia has been able to achieve more (about 15%) of its potential exports with IOR-ARC countries due to regional cooperation. Show more