@article{Makochekanwa:332242,
      recid = {332242},
      author = {Makochekanwa, Albert},
      title = {Impacts of Regional Trade Agreements on Trade in Agrifood  Products: Evidence from Eastern and Southern Africa},
      address = {2012},
      pages = {28},
      year = {2012},
      note = {Presented at the 15th Annual Conference on Global Economic  Analysis, Geneva, Switzerland},
      abstract = {The study analyzed the impacts of regional trade  agreements on intra-trade in three selected agrifood  products which are maize, rice and wheat in the three  regional economic communities (RECs), namely the Common  Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East  African Community (EAC) and the Southern Africa Development  Community (SADC for the period 2005 to 2010. The study  relied on two methodologies: statistical analysis and the  gravity trade model. Changes in intra-regional trade shares  shows that Namibia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zimbabwe are the  four countries whose intra-regional trade across the three  products increased during the period reviewed. On the other  hand, Burundi, Malawi and Sudan are the countries whose  intra-regional trade in at least two of the three products  has declined. The results from the gravity trade model show  that all the tradition variables, that is, GDP for exporter  and importer countries as well as distance have expected  theoretical signs. The coefficients on all variables of  interest, that is COMESA, EAC and SADC regional dummies,  shows that, overall, the estimated coefficients for these  regional dummies in all other RECs and commodities is  positive and statistically significant; indicating that  intra-regional trade in those regions and for such  commodities is above the predicted level of the standard  gravity model. The coefficients of the COMESAO, EACO and  SADCO dummy variables which provide information on the  presence of trade diversion effects varies across regional  blocs and also across the products. For instance the  estimated coefficients of COMESAO across the three products  is positive and statistically significant, suggesting that  imports of these commodities into COMESA member states from  non-member states in the rest of the world were higher than  the gravity model would predict.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/332242},
}