Project description
A closer look at regional trade agreements
Regional trade agreements (RTAs) are a key part of all international trade relations. RTAs are reciprocal trade agreements for goods and services between two or more partners, not necessarily belonging to the same region. In recent years, they have increased in number, and also in depth and complexity. There are currently 301 RTAs in force. The EU-funded TRASC project will develop new theoretical models to analyse the RTA supply chain nexus. It will study their impact on firms’ decisions, productivity and welfare. The project will also seek to shed new light on the interplay between firms and economics, law and politics. Overall, it will furnish researchers, economists and policymakers with information concerning the advantages and disadvantages of trade agreements.
Objective
Recent decades have witnessed two major trends in international trade. The first is the increasing fragmentation of production processes across countries: advances in information and communication technology and falling trade barriers have allowed firms to retain in their domestic economies only a subset of production stages, leading to a surge of trade in intermediate goods. The second trend is the proliferation of regional trade agreements (RTAs), which have risen in number and have become “deeper”, encompassing many provisions that go beyond traditional trade policy. RTAs have contributed to the creation of regional supply chains (e.g. “Factory Europe”, “Factory North America”), shaping firms’ sourcing decisions through preferential tariffs and rules of origin. The recent backlash against RTAs, exemplified by Brexit and President Trump’s decision to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, could have dramatic consequences for supply chains in Europe and North America.
I propose an ambitious research agenda that will develop new theoretical models and use exceptionally rich new data for pathbreaking analysis of the RTAs-supply chains nexus. First, I will study the impact of RTAs on firms’ sourcing decisions, productivity, and welfare, breaking from the literature on global sourcing, which neglects the role of trade agreements. Second, I will examine how large corporations with international supply chains shape the content and political support for deep RTAs, breaking from a vast literature in political economy, which studies agreements covering trade provisions only and neglects the role of firms.
I will address novel and timely questions about the RTAs-supply chains nexus, emphasizing the key role played by firms and the interplay between economics, law, and politics. This is an extraordinarily high-return agenda, given the importance of understanding the consequences and determinants of trade agreements for economic policy and academic research.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- social sciences law
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2018-ADG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
OX1 2JD Oxford
United Kingdom
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