Abstract
AbstractIn 2004, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan signed the Agadir Agreement (AA), a free trade agreement with intention of encouraging closer cooperation in trade. The AA came into force in 2007 and relies on the EU's rules of origin. Contrary to existing explanations, which suggest that the little impact of the AA on intraregional trade is a result of the local political elites in the agreement and of weak state institutions, this article amends the concept of isomorphic mimicry to shed some light on the ineffectiveness of the AA. It claims that instead of acting as a vehicle for regional integration, the AA generated two capability traps: premature load bearing and the reproduction of the structural weaknesses of Arab Mediterranean economies. As a result, the AA does not act as an instrument of intraregional cooperation and inclusive growth.
Highlights
The Agadir Agreement (AA) is a preferential trade agreement that was signed on 25 February 2004 between Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan
The existing literature on the topic acknowledges that intraregional integration remains below potential (for a comparison between the different Middle East and North Africa (MENA) trade agreements see Freund and Portugal-Perez, 2012) and that trade relations among the four parties have not improved significantly as a result of the AA initiative, it claims that its ineffectiveness is an outcome of the limited interest of the participant countries in the AA and of the weak state institutions that are unprepared to implement such trade agreements (Al-Atrash and Yousef, 2000; Boussetta, 2008; Abdmoulah, 2011; Freund and Portugal-Perez, 2012; Khodeir, 2017)
This article fills a gap in the bibliography of regional cooperation between the Arab Mediterranean countries by analysing the AA
Summary
The AA is a preferential trade agreement that was signed on 25 February 2004 between Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, and Jordan. The existing literature on the topic acknowledges that intraregional integration remains below potential (for a comparison between the different Middle East and North Africa (MENA) trade agreements see Freund and Portugal-Perez, 2012) and that trade relations among the four parties have not improved significantly as a result of the AA initiative (for a comprehensive view of the trade relations between the participant countries, see WTO, 2018), it claims that its ineffectiveness is an outcome of the limited interest of the participant countries in the AA and of the weak state institutions that are unprepared to implement such trade agreements (Al-Atrash and Yousef, 2000; Boussetta, 2008; Abdmoulah, 2011; Freund and Portugal-Perez, 2012; Khodeir, 2017)
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