KFG Working Paper No. 51 "Templates for Trade: Change, Persistence and Path Dependence in U. S. and EU Preferential Trade Agreements" by Ali Arbia has been published.

 

In his paper, Alia Arbia uses diffusion theory as framework to analyze Preferential Trade Agreements signed by the EU, the U. S. and their regional trading partners. Understanding the use of templates will help negotiating parties to assess the margin of maneuver when negotiating PTAs with the EU and the U. S. as well as the rigidity of their mandate. The analysis is conducted on a regional and a domestic level using aggregated data on PTA content and a qualitative assessment of selected PTA provisions (anti-corruption, environment and cultural cooperation). The study finds that the flexibility of these mandates is considerable and that templates, if used at all, can change substantially over time

 

All KFG Working Papers are available online or can be ordered in print via transform-europe@fu-berlin.de