Developing countries and the gains from regionalism: links between trade and farm policy reforms in Mexico

We use a multi‐country computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with agricultural policy details to simulate the effects of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We find that Mexico gains from NAFTA only when it also removes domestic distortions in agriculture. In that case, agriculture can...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Burfisher, Mary E., Thierfelder, Karen, Robinson, Sherman
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Blackwell Publishers 2002
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/155721
Description
Summary:We use a multi‐country computable general equilibrium (CGE) model with agricultural policy details to simulate the effects of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). We find that Mexico gains from NAFTA only when it also removes domestic distortions in agriculture. In that case, agriculture can generate allocative efficiency gains large enough to offset the terms of trade losses that arise because Mexico has higher initial tariffs than its NAFTA partners. When an RTA forces a developing country to reform its domestic distortions that are linked to trade restrictions, it becomes a building block toward multilateralism.