The open discussion was centered on three themes: model specification; country/product coverage; and econometrics. Relating to the first theme, Deborah Swenson wanted the authors to clearly explain why they postulate that different types of rules of origins (ROOs) have a differential impact on exports. The choice of a particular form of ROO could be motivated by pure political economy considerations rather than its likely impact on trade. Prema-chandra Athukorala noted that in most, if not all, free trade agreements (FTAs) a mixture of two (or more) types of ROOs are applied to some products. For instance, in some cases ROOs based on value-added and HS-shifting criteria (changes in the Harmonized System code from one product to another) are applied to a given product. He wanted the authors to clearly explain how they treated such “mixed” ROO cases in specifying the ROO dummy variables in the model.
Relating to the country/commodity...