Do Product Standards Matter for Margins of Trade In Egypt? Evidence from Firm-Level Data

AGRODEP Author
Authors
Hoda El-Enbaby, Rana Hendy and Chahir Zaki
Publisher
Economic Research Forum

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) standards, countries are allowed to adapt regulations under the Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) agreements in order to protect human, animal and plant health as well as environment and human safety. Therefore, using an Egyptian firm-level dataset, we analyze the effects of product standards on two related aspects: first, the probability to export (firm-product extensive margin) and second, the value exported (firm-product intensive margin). We merge this dataset with a new database on specific trade concerns raised in the TBT and SPS committees at the WTO. Our main findings show that SPS measures imposed on Egyptian exporters have a negative impact on the probability of exporting a new product to a new destination. By contrast, the intensive margin of exports is not significantly affected by such measures.

Publication date
Source / Citation

El-Enbaby, Hoda,  Rana Hendy and Chahir Zaki. "Do Product Standards Matter for Margins of Trade In Egypt? Evidence from Firm-Level Data," ERF Working Paper No. 840, June 2014.

Location
https://erf.org.eg/cms.php?id=publication_details&publication_id=1833