Reciprocal Agreements Between Nations

Columns 5 to 7 in Table 1 represent the results when we repeat regressions in columns 2 to 4, but in this case we divide the GATT/WTO dummy according to the same procedure that was used with the PTA variable. If we detach this variable from the export perspective (Column 5), we will find a statistically greater effect on the export trade of industrialized countries than on the exports of the recipient countries. The situation is the same from the point of view of importers (Column 6), who indicate that GATT/WTO membership strongly favours trade between developed countries. Indeed, if we continue to break down the GATT forgery taking into account the group of exporters and importers, we find that the highest estimated coefficient for trade between members of developed countries and the smallest for trade between recipient countries appears (Column 7). In short, the impact of GATT/WTO on trade between groups of countries is uneven, but positive and statistically significant at the 1% level in all cases. As noted above, Table 1 reports standard errors grouped only at the pair level. [39] examines in a recent paper the consequences of non-compliance with the interdependence of disturbances in several dimensions, with model models for the structural gravity of cross-sectional data and bilateral trade panels, if concluded. These authors conclude that ignoring multi-channel clusters leads to misleading conclusions about the relevance of preferential trade agreements of different types, since multi-tiered consolidation has a significant impact on standard errors in commercial cost variables. To address this problem, Table 2 presents the results of multi-level grouping that allow for a correlation in the notion of error in all possible cluster dimensions. The grouping clearly has no impact on point estimates. The results show that despite significant differences between the two types of standard errors (grouped standard errors are higher), all estimates of positives at the 1% meaning level remain statistically significant and all previous conclusions remain unchanged. The main instrument of the so-called “special and differentiated treatment” for developing countries was the Generalized Preference System (GSP), but there were many other non-reciprocal preferential agreements (NRPs).