Implications of WTO Accession for Selected Domestic Industries of Laos (original) (raw)
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World Trade Organization (WTO) accession produces tangible benefits but also has costs, especially for transitional economies and Least Developed Countries (LDC) like Laos. Despite the benefits and costs of WTO accession, there are very few quantitative studies on Laos’ accession to the WTO. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to attempt to quantify the economy-wide impact and poverty of Laos’ WTO accession. We employ a standard GTAP model for this analysis. The simulation results show that Laos will gain from accession to the WTO, but these gains are quite small. The real GDP will increase about 0.5% and welfare (equivalent variation) will increase by about US$ 8 million. On the other hand, the trade deficit will increase and output in some sectors will be reduced. Therefore, it is difficult to conclude that Laos will gains benefits from WTO accession. The micro-simulation using the household survey indicates that the change in household welfare due to the tariff reducti...
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