title: Free Trade Agreements and Development: a Global Analysis with Local Data
creator: Cruzatti C., John
subject: ddc-330
subject: 330 Economics
description: This paper analyzes the effects of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) on various measures of local development in 207 countries over the 1990-2015 period. Using a Difference-in-Differences approach, I exploit spatial and time variation by comparing regions with (exogenously determinded) exploitable and non-exploitable land before and after FTAs are "activated". I show that FTAs have a limited yet positive  impact on a region's human development (as measured by the Human Development Index). The results also indicate that this limited impact can be explained by the positive effects of Free Trade Agreements on economic activity (night lights and GDP), together with the lack of significant influence on patterns of inequality (distribution of night lights among population). Finally, I also show that FTAs' impacts on human development are stronger for urbanized regions. Conversely, there is neither clear evidence of a weaker positive effect if trade partners belong to the Global North nor if the agreements include arrangements beyond the elimination of tariffs and quotas.
date: 2021-05
type: Working paper
type: info:eu-repo/semantics/workingPaper
type: NonPeerReviewed
format: application/pdf
identifier: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserverhttps://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/30039/1/Cruzatti_2021_dp702.pdf
identifier: DOI:10.11588/heidok.00030039
identifier: urn:nbn:de:bsz:16-heidok-300398
identifier:   Cruzatti C., John  (2021) Free Trade Agreements and Development: a Global Analysis with Local Data.  [Working paper]     
relation: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/30039/
rights: info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights: http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/help/license_urhg.html
language: eng