Helble, MatthiasShepherd, BenWilson, John S.2012-06-082012-06-082007-11https://hdl.handle.net/10986/7573The authors show in this paper that increasing the transparency of the trading environment can be an important complement to traditional liberalization of tariff and non-tariff barriers. Our definition of transparency is grounded in a transaction cost analysis. The authors focus on two dimensions of transparency: predictability (reducing the cost of uncertainty) and simplification (reducing information costs). Using the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies as a case study, the authors construct indices of importer and exporter transparency for the region from a wide range of sources. Our results from a gravity model suggest that improving trade-related transparency in APEC could hold significant benefits by raising intra-APEC trade by proximately USD 148 billion or 7.5 pecent of baseline trade in the region.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTINGAGRICULTUREALTERNATIVE INSTRUMENTSANTIDUMPINGAPPLIED TARIFFBASIC TRADE POLICYBENCHMARKSBENEFITS OF TRADEBENEFITS OF TRADE FACILITATIONBILATERAL TARIFFSBILATERAL TRADEBILATERAL TRADE DATABINDING CONSTRAINTSBUSINESS REGULATIONCAPACITY BUILDINGCOMMERCIAL POLICYCOMPARATIVE ANALYSESCOMPETITIVENESSCOMPETITIVENESS OF FIRMSCONTRACT ENFORCEABILITYCONTRACT ENFORCEMENTCOST ANALYSISCOUNTERFACTUAL SIMULATIONSCUSTOMSCUSTOMS ADMINISTRATIONCUSTOMS PROCEDURESCUSTOMS REGULATIONSDEGREE OF TRANSPARENCYDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDOMESTIC CURRENCIESDOMESTIC PRODUCERSDUMMY VARIABLEDUMMY VARIABLESECONOMETRIC ANALYSISECONOMETRICSECONOMIC COOPERATIONECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC WELFAREELASTICITYELASTICITY OF SUBSTITUTIONEMERGING ECONOMIESENDOGENOUS VARIABLESEQUIPMENTEXCHANGE RATESEXPENDITUREEXPORT CLEARANCEEXPORT FORMALITIESEXPORT GROWTHEXPORT MARKETEXPORT MARKETSEXPORT PERMITSEXPORTEREXPORTERSEXPORTSFACTOR ANALYSISFOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENTFREE TRADEFUTURE RESEARCHGDPGENERAL EQUILIBRIUMGENERAL EQUILIBRIUM MODELGLOBAL COMPETITIVENESSGLOBAL INTEGRATIONGOVERNANCE INDICATORSGOVERNMENT ACTIONGOVERNMENT ACTIONSGOVERNMENT POLICIESGRAVITY EQUATIONGRAVITY MODELGRAVITY MODELSGROSS VALUEHOMOGENEOUS GOODSHUMAN CAPITALIMPORT BARRIERSIMPORT SHAREIMPORT TARIFFSIMPORTSINCOMEINCOME GROUPINCOME GROUPSINFORMATION TECHNOLOGYINFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENTINSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTSINSTRUMENTINTERMEDIATE GOODSINTERNATIONAL BANKINTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTINTERNATIONAL ECONOMICSINTERNATIONAL INVESTMENTINTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT FLOWSINTERNATIONAL MARKETSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTERNATIONAL TRADINGINTERNATIONAL TRADING SYSTEMINTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONSINVENTORIESINVESTMENT CLIMATEINVESTOR CONFIDENCELACK OF TRANSPARENCYLOW-INCOME ECONOMIESLOW-INCOME ECONOMYMARKET ACCESSMARKET ENTRYMARKET SIZEMIDDLE-INCOME ECONOMIESMULTILATERAL SYSTEMNATIONAL MARKETNON-TARIFF BARRIERSOPEN COUNTRIESOUTPUTPATTERN OF TRADEPOLITICAL ECONOMYPOLITICAL ECONOMY OF REFORMPOLITICAL STABILITYPRODUCTION COSTSPROPERTY RIGHTSQUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONSREGIONAL INTEGRATIONREGIONAL TRADERETURNRULE OF LAWSPECIALIZATIONSTATISTICAL ANALYSISTARIFF BARRIERSTARIFF BINDINGSTARIFF DATATARIFF DISPERSIONTARIFF LINETARIFF LINESTARIFF POLICYTARIFF RATETARIFF RATESTARIFF SCHEDULETAXTAX RATESTECHNICAL COOPERATIONTECHNICAL REGULATIONSTRADE BARRIERSTRADE CONTEXTTRADE COSTSTRADE EFFECTSTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE FLOWSTRADE IN GOODSTRADE IN SERVICESTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE LIBERALIZATION EFFORTSTRADE PERFORMANCETRADE POLICYTRADE POLICY ENVIRONMENTTRADE POLICY REVIEWTRADE POLICY REVIEW MECHANISMTRADE REMEDIESTRADE VOLUMESTRADINGTRADING VOLUMESTRANSACTIONTRANSACTION COSTTRANSACTION COSTSTRANSPARENCYTRANSPORT COSTSTRUST FUNDUNIFORM TARIFFSURUGUAY ROUNDVALUE ADDEDWELFARE GAINSWORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORSWORLD ECONOMYWORLD TRADEWORLD TRADING SYSTEMWTOWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-4401