The impacts of Malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade

The proliferation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is a phenomenon in the world trading system. The number of FTA establishments has increased tremendously, from 55 in 1995 to more than 250 by end of 2014. Malaysia alone has signed twelve FTAs involving twenty trading partners. Using the most aggre...

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Main Authors: Rashidi Said, Normaz Wana Ismail
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2018
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19633/1/jeko_521-14.pdf
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author Rashidi Said,
Normaz Wana Ismail,
author_facet Rashidi Said,
Normaz Wana Ismail,
author_sort Rashidi Said,
collection UKM
description The proliferation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is a phenomenon in the world trading system. The number of FTA establishments has increased tremendously, from 55 in 1995 to more than 250 by end of 2014. Malaysia alone has signed twelve FTAs involving twenty trading partners. Using the most aggregated data at the Harmonized System sixdigit level from 1994 to 2014, this paper examines the impacts of twelve Malaysian FTAs on two trade adjustments: namely, extensive and intensive margins. Our results show that, for most of the FTAs, the trade is created along the intensive margin when FTAs enter into force. Interestingly, most of them are regional FTAs in which there has been a shift in overall trade patterns—a 4.0% reduction in trade of new products (extensive margin) generated from bilateral FTAs to a 41.6% increase in trade of existing products (intensive margin) from when regional FTAs entered into force. These findings may be contrary to the views that countries prefer to negotiate and sign more bilateral FTAs because of the trade benefits that may be gained from deeper market access than is possible with regional FTAs.
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spelling ukm.eprints-196332022-09-08T07:56:54Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19633/ The impacts of Malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade Rashidi Said, Normaz Wana Ismail, The proliferation of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) is a phenomenon in the world trading system. The number of FTA establishments has increased tremendously, from 55 in 1995 to more than 250 by end of 2014. Malaysia alone has signed twelve FTAs involving twenty trading partners. Using the most aggregated data at the Harmonized System sixdigit level from 1994 to 2014, this paper examines the impacts of twelve Malaysian FTAs on two trade adjustments: namely, extensive and intensive margins. Our results show that, for most of the FTAs, the trade is created along the intensive margin when FTAs enter into force. Interestingly, most of them are regional FTAs in which there has been a shift in overall trade patterns—a 4.0% reduction in trade of new products (extensive margin) generated from bilateral FTAs to a 41.6% increase in trade of existing products (intensive margin) from when regional FTAs entered into force. These findings may be contrary to the views that countries prefer to negotiate and sign more bilateral FTAs because of the trade benefits that may be gained from deeper market access than is possible with regional FTAs. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2018 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19633/1/jeko_521-14.pdf Rashidi Said, and Normaz Wana Ismail, (2018) The impacts of Malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade. Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, 52 (1). pp. 169-178. ISSN 0127-1962 https://www.ukm.my/jem/issue/v52i1/
spellingShingle Rashidi Said,
Normaz Wana Ismail,
The impacts of Malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade
title The impacts of Malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade
title_full The impacts of Malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade
title_fullStr The impacts of Malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade
title_full_unstemmed The impacts of Malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade
title_short The impacts of Malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade
title_sort impacts of malaysian free trade agreements on margins of trade
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/19633/1/jeko_521-14.pdf
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