Dennis, Allen2012-06-222012-06-222006-02https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8783The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region's trade performance over the past two decades has been disappointing. Efforts to boost trade through a plethora of regional trade agreements (RTAs) are underway. This study examines the potential contribution of regional trade agreements, as well as trade facilitation improvements, in enhancing the development prospects of the region. Using the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model and database, both intra-regional integration and integration with the European Union are observed to have a favorable impact on welfare in the MENA region. The welfare gains from integrating with the European Union are observed to be at least twice as much as intra-regional integration. Furthermore, these welfare gains are observed to at least triple when the implementation of the RTAs is complemented with trade facilitation improvements.CC BY 3.0 IGOAD VALOREMADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURESAGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSAGRICULTURAL TRADEAGRICULTUREAIR TRANSPORTAPPARELARAB FREE TRADE AGREEMENTBENCHMARKBENEFITS OF TRADEBENEFITS OF TRADE FACILITATIONBILATERAL TRADECARRIERSCOMMON MARKETCOMPARATIVE ADVANTAGECONCESSIONSCONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALECONSUMERSCOUNTRY OF ORIGINCURRENCYCUSTOMSCUSTOMS CLEARANCECUSTOMS DUTIESCUSTOMS PROCEDURESCUSTOMS UNIONCUSTOMS VALUATIONDIVIDENDSDOCUMENTARY REQUIREMENTSDOMESTIC MARKETSDOMESTIC SUPPORTDOMESTIC TAXESDYNAMIC EFFECTSDYNAMIC GAINSECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC INTEGRATIONECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC SANCTIONSELASTICITYELIMINATING TARIFFSEUROPEAN UNIONEXPORT PROCEEDSEXPORT STRUCTURESEXPORT SUBSIDIESEXPORTSEXTERNAL TARIFFFACTOR MARKETSFACTORS OF PRODUCTIONFREE ACCESSFREE TRADEFREE TRADE AGREEMENTSFREE TRADE AREAFREE-TRADE AREAFRICTIONAL COSTSFULL EMPLOYMENTFUNCTIONAL FORMSGDPGENERAL EQUILIBRIUM ANALYSISGLOBAL ECONOMYGLOBAL MARKETSGLOBAL TRADEGLOBAL TRADE ANALYSISGOVERNMENT EXPENDITURESGRAVITY MODELGROWTHGROWTH MODELHARMONIZATIONIMPACT OF TRADEIMPORT BARRIERSIMPORT DUTIESIMPORT LICENSINGIMPORT REQUIREMENTSIMPORT TARIFFSIMPORTED GOODSIMPORTSINTERMEDIATE GOODSINTERMEDIATE INPUTSINTERNATIONAL TRADEINTRA-REGIONAL TRADEINVESTMENT CLIMATEINVESTMENT CLIMATESINVESTMENT FLOWSLABOR INTENSIVELIBERALIZATION EFFORTSMARKET SHAREMEASURE OF TRADEMEMBER COUNTRIESMIDDLE EASTMUTUAL CONCESSIONSNATURAL RESOURCESNON-TARIFF BARRIERSNONTARIFF BARRIERSNORTH AFRICAOIL PRICESOPEN TRADEPER CAPITA INCOMEPERFECT COMPETITIONPOLICY RESEARCHPREFERENTIAL LIBERALIZATIONPREFERENTIAL TRADEPREFERENTIAL TRADE AGREEMENTSPRIVATE SECTORPRODUCT STANDARDSPRODUCTION FUNCTIONPUBLIC SECTORREAL GDPREGIONAL INITIATIVESREGIONAL INTEGRATIONREGIONAL LEVELREGIONAL PARTNERSREGIONAL TRADEREGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTSREGIONAL TRADE INTEGRATIONREGIONAL TRADE LIBERALIZATIONREGIONAL TRADING PARTNERSREGULATORY BARRIERSRULES OF ORIGINSHARE OF WORLD EXPORTSSTATIC GAINSTARIFF BARRIERSTARIFF LIBERALIZATIONTARIFF QUOTASTECHNICAL BARRIERSTECHNICAL PROGRESSTECHNICAL REGULATIONSTERMS OF TRADETERMS OF TRADE EFFECTSTRADETRADE BARRIERTRADE CHANGESTRADE EXPANSIONTRADE FACILITATIONTRADE FLOWSTRADE IN SERVICESTRADE ISSUESTRADE LIBERALIZATION SCENARIOSTRADE LOGISTICSTRADE ORIENTATIONTRADE PERFORMANCETRADE POLICIESTRADE POLICYTRADE POLICY ANALYSISTRADE POLICY REVIEWTRADE REFORMTRADE REFORMSTRADE REGIMETRADE REGIMESTRADING COSTSTRANSACTIONS COSTSTRANSITION PERIODTRANSPORT COSTSTRANSPORT SERVICESUTILITY FUNCTIONVALUE ADDEDWAGESWELFARE GAINSWELFARE IMPACTSWORLD ECONOMYWORLD TRADEWTOZERO TARIFFSWorld Bankhttps://doi.org/10.1596/1813-9450-3837