Preferential Market Access Design : Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union

The least developed countries rely on preferential market access. To benefit from these preferences, proof of sufficient transformation must be provided to customs in importing countries by meeting the rules of origin requirements. These rules of origin are complicated and burdensome to exporters in...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors:	de Melo, Jaime, Portugal-Perez, Alberto
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	en_US
Published:	Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank 2015
Subjects:	apparel country market export growth export pattern exporter free access preferential access preferential margin preferential market access preferential status preferential trade protectionist device rules of origin tariff classification trade deflection trade policy World Trade Organization
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22558

id	okr-10986-22558
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-225582021-04-23T14:04:09Z Preferential Market Access Design : Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union de Melo, Jaime Portugal-Perez, Alberto apparel country market export growth export pattern exporter free access preferential access preferential margin preferential market access preferential status preferential trade protectionist device rules of origin tariff classification trade deflection trade policy World Trade Organization The least developed countries rely on preferential market access. To benefit from these preferences, proof of sufficient transformation must be provided to customs in importing countries by meeting the rules of origin requirements. These rules of origin are complicated and burdensome to exporters in least developed countries. Since 2001, under the U.S. Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), 22 African countries that export apparel to the United States have been able to use fabric of any origin (single transformation) and still meet the criterion for preferential access (the so-called Special Rule). In contrast, the EU has continued to require yarn to be woven into fabric and then made into apparel in the same country (double transformation). Panel estimates for the 1996–2004 period exploit this quasi-experimental change in the design of preferences. Estimates show that this simplification contributed to an increase in export volume of approximately 168 percent for the top seven beneficiaries, or approximately four times as much as the 44 percent growth effect from the initial preferential access under the AGOA without single transformation. This change in design was also important for diversity in apparel exports because the number of export varieties grew more rapidly under the AGOA special regime. 2015-08-28T18:30:43Z 2015-08-28T18:30:43Z 2014-01-23 Journal Article World Bank Economic Review 1564-698X http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22558 en_US CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Journal Article Africa European Union United States
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	en_US
topic	apparel country market export growth export pattern exporter free access preferential access preferential margin preferential market access preferential status preferential trade protectionist device rules of origin tariff classification trade deflection trade policy World Trade Organization
spellingShingle	apparel country market export growth export pattern exporter free access preferential access preferential margin preferential market access preferential status preferential trade protectionist device rules of origin tariff classification trade deflection trade policy World Trade Organization de Melo, Jaime Portugal-Perez, Alberto Preferential Market Access Design : Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union
geographic_facet	Africa European Union United States
description	The least developed countries rely on preferential market access. To benefit from these preferences, proof of sufficient transformation must be provided to customs in importing countries by meeting the rules of origin requirements. These rules of origin are complicated and burdensome to exporters in least developed countries. Since 2001, under the U.S. Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), 22 African countries that export apparel to the United States have been able to use fabric of any origin (single transformation) and still meet the criterion for preferential access (the so-called Special Rule). In contrast, the EU has continued to require yarn to be woven into fabric and then made into apparel in the same country (double transformation). Panel estimates for the 1996–2004 period exploit this quasi-experimental change in the design of preferences. Estimates show that this simplification contributed to an increase in export volume of approximately 168 percent for the top seven beneficiaries, or approximately four times as much as the 44 percent growth effect from the initial preferential access under the AGOA without single transformation. This change in design was also important for diversity in apparel exports because the number of export varieties grew more rapidly under the AGOA special regime.
format	Journal Article
author	de Melo, Jaime Portugal-Perez, Alberto
author_facet	de Melo, Jaime Portugal-Perez, Alberto
author_sort	de Melo, Jaime
title	Preferential Market Access Design : Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union
title_short	Preferential Market Access Design : Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union
title_full	Preferential Market Access Design : Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union
title_fullStr	Preferential Market Access Design : Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union
title_full_unstemmed	Preferential Market Access Design : Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union
title_sort	preferential market access design : evidence and lessons from african apparel exports to the united states and the european union
publisher	Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank
publishDate	2015
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22558
_version_	1764451412805156864

Preferential Market Access Design : Evidence and Lessons from African Apparel Exports to the United States and the European Union

Similar Items