NAFTA and the Geography of North American Trade

Resource Information

The work NAFTA and the Geography of North American Trade represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Bowdoin College Library. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

NAFTA and the Geography of North American Trade

Creator

• Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]
• Wall, Howard

Author

• Wall, Howard

Contributor

• Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor]

Subject

• NAFTA
• trade agreements
• economic activity
• trade relations

Summary

Debates over the desirability of a preferential trading area frequently begin with the supposition that it will have two effects on the volume of trade: It will increase trade between members of the trading area and decrease trade between members and nonmembers. This article demonstrates, however, that at the regional level, the effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) might be more complex than previously supposed. Specifically, according to gravity model estimates, NAFTA has led to (1) decreased trade between Eastern Canada and the United States and Mexico, (2) increased trade between Central Canada and the United States and Mexico, and (3) increased trade between Western Canada and Mexico but no change in the volume of trade between Western Canada and the United States. The model also indicates that NAFTA has caused a decrease in trade between Canadian regions and both Europe and Asia, while increasing Mexico's trade with Asia