TY  - JOUR
AU  - Spilimbergo, Antonio
AU  - Stein, Ernesto
TI  - The Welfare Implications of Trading Blocs among Countries with          Different Endowments
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5472
PY  - 1996
Y2  - March 1996
DO  - 10.3386/w5472
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5472
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5472.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Antonio Spilimbergo
International Monetary Fund
700 19th Street, N.W.
Washington, DC  20431
E-Mail: aspilimbergo@imf.org

Ernesto Stein
1300 New York Avenue
Washington, DC, USA 20577
E-Mail: ernestos@iadb.org
M1  - published as Antonio Spilimbergo, Ernesto Stein. "The Welfare Implications of Trading Blocs among Countries with Different Endowments," in Jeffrey A. Frankel, editor, "The Regionalization of the World Economy" University of Chicago Press (1998)

AB  - In this paper, we present a model where trade is motivated both by preference for variety and comparative advantages.  We use this framework to analyze the welfare implications of trading blocs among countries with different endowments with and without transportation costs.      In this framework, we address the following issues: a) the welfare implications of the consolidation of the world into a few trading blocs; b) the different incentives that rich and poor countries have in choosing their partners in trade arrangements; c) whether the welfare consequences of continental preferential trade arrangements depend on the relative endowments.
ER  -