Snowballing alongside domino effects on the proliferation of preferential trade agreements
研究了国家现有优惠贸易协定如何影响其与贸易伙伴签署新协定的动机，发现对自身有正向激励，对伙伴有负向影响。
Abstract In our investigation of third‐country effects on bilateral incentives to enter into a new Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), we present a theory‐driven empirical approach to assess how a country's existing PTAs influence its and its trade partner's decision to sign a new PTA. Our empirical analysis, employing theory‐based measures of these two closely related yet distinguishable effects, affirms that a country's pre‐existing PTAs exert a positive impact on its incentive to engage in a new PTA (referred to as the “own PTA effect”). Our findings also indicate a negative effect on the incentive of the new partner to sign the PTA (referred to as the “partner PTA effect”). These effects persist even after accounting for variables related to pre‐existing PTAs, as suggested by prior studies on PTA proliferation.