DP11151 The Purpose of Trade Agreements
| Author(s): | Gene M. Grossman |
| Publication Date: | March 2016 |
| Keyword(s): | international cooperation, multilateralism, regionalism, Trade agreements, trade pacts |
| JEL(s): | F13, F53, K33 |
| Programme Areas: | International Trade and Regional Economics |
| Link to this Page: | cepr.org/active/publications/discussion_papers/dp.php?dpno=11151 |
This paper reviews the literature on governments' motivations for negotiating and joining international trade agreements. I discuss both normative explanations for trade agreements and explanations based on political-economy concerns. Most of the paper focuses on the purpose of multilateral agreements, but I do discuss briefly the reasons we might see governments forming preferential or regional trade agreements that exclude some countries.