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Regional Trading Arrangements and Developing Countries

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The World Trade Organization: Legal, Economic and Political Analysis

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Abstract

The growth of regional trading arrangements (“RTAs”) has been one of the major developments in international relations in recent years. Virtually all countries are members of a trade bloc and many belong to more than one; more than one third of world trade takes place within such agreements; and regional trade is often advanced as a route to development.

The work described in the paper is based on a major World Bank project led by the authors. This project underpinned the Bank’s publication WOrld Bank, Trade Blocs—A Policy Research; Report (2000) and is presented in more detail in Maurice W. Schiff and L. Alan Winters, Regional Integration and Development (Oxford University Press 2003).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Development Research Group, World Bank, UK

    Maurice W. Schiff (Lead Economist) & L. Alan Winters (Director and Professor of Economics)

  2. University of Sussex, Sussex

    L. Alan Winters (Director and Professor of Economics)

Authors
  1. Maurice W. Schiff
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  2. L. Alan Winters
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. International Trade Law Center, International Law Institute, Washington, D.C.

    Patrick F. J. Macrory (Director) (Director)

  2. White & Case, Geneva

    Arthur E. Appleton (Counsel) (Counsel)

  3. SAIS-Bologna, Johns Hopkins University, Bologna

    Michael G. Plummer (Professor of International Economics) (Professor of International Economics)

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© 2005 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

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Schiff, M.W., Winters, L.A. (2005). Regional Trading Arrangements and Developing Countries. In: Macrory, P.F.J., Appleton, A.E., Plummer, M.G. (eds) The World Trade Organization: Legal, Economic and Political Analysis. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-22688-5_51

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