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Abstract
What is the impact on output of movement towards free trade? Can trade liberalization have a permanent effect on output levels, and more importantly, does it have an impact on steady-state growth rates? The model developed here emphasizes the role that knowledge spillovers emanating from heightened trade can have on long-run growth rates. The model also facilitates an analysis of the dynamic behavior of income levels and terms of trade - as well as growth rates - during the transition between steady states. Among the results of the model, unilateral liberalization by one country generates a positive impact on the steady-state growth of all its partners while at the same time inducing a level effect on the liberalizing country that reduces the income gap between it and other, wealthier, countries. In some cases, the liberalizing country may even leapfrog over initially wealthier countries.