Skip to main content

LUP Student Papers

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

AMU and the cushion effect

Ridell, Gustav and Tyrling, Viktor LU (2018) NEKH03 20172
Department of Economics
Abstract
This paper focuses on the relationship between PTAs and political uncertainty. Further, it analyses if the AMU has managed to create a dampening effect and thereby maintain the intratrade flows during the Arab Spring. This can be interpreted as the cushion effect. Previous literature has not addressed this unique approach. This could be due to the belief of AMU being an inefficient trade agreement or its rather few members gaining a small share of the world’s attention. The data observed consisted of bilateral trade flows from 2005-2015. Our specification uses a dummy variable to capture the Arab Spring between 2011-2012. The political unrest was further investigated with the help of the gravity model by comparing two groups, a focus group... (More)
This paper focuses on the relationship between PTAs and political uncertainty. Further, it analyses if the AMU has managed to create a dampening effect and thereby maintain the intratrade flows during the Arab Spring. This can be interpreted as the cushion effect. Previous literature has not addressed this unique approach. This could be due to the belief of AMU being an inefficient trade agreement or its rather few members gaining a small share of the world’s attention. The data observed consisted of bilateral trade flows from 2005-2015. Our specification uses a dummy variable to capture the Arab Spring between 2011-2012. The political unrest was further investigated with the help of the gravity model by comparing two groups, a focus group (AMU) and a control group, including other MENA-countries. The paper concluded that although the AMU seemed to have its flaws, it still managed to partly create a cushion effect. According to our regressions, the large countries within the trade agreement increased their intra-trade during the uncertainty. The Arab Spring had a different effect on small member states, their intra-trade decreased during the same period. The paper managed to highlight the importance of well-functioning PTAs during times of uncertainty. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Ridell, Gustav and Tyrling, Viktor LU
supervisor
organization
course
NEKH03 20172
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Bilateral Trade, PTA, Arab Spring, AMU, Political Uncertainty
language
English
id
8934424
date added to LUP
2018-02-02 14:40:43
date last changed
2018-02-02 14:40:43
@misc{8934424,
  abstract     = {{This paper focuses on the relationship between PTAs and political uncertainty. Further, it analyses if the AMU has managed to create a dampening effect and thereby maintain the intratrade flows during the Arab Spring. This can be interpreted as the cushion effect. Previous literature has not addressed this unique approach. This could be due to the belief of AMU being an inefficient trade agreement or its rather few members gaining a small share of the world’s attention. The data observed consisted of bilateral trade flows from 2005-2015. Our specification uses a dummy variable to capture the Arab Spring between 2011-2012. The political unrest was further investigated with the help of the gravity model by comparing two groups, a focus group (AMU) and a control group, including other MENA-countries. The paper concluded that although the AMU seemed to have its flaws, it still managed to partly create a cushion effect. According to our regressions, the large countries within the trade agreement increased their intra-trade during the uncertainty. The Arab Spring had a different effect on small member states, their intra-trade decreased during the same period. The paper managed to highlight the importance of well-functioning PTAs during times of uncertainty.}},
  author       = {{Ridell, Gustav and Tyrling, Viktor}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{AMU and the cushion effect}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}