ASEAN's Free Trade Deals Hurt Poorer Nations, Benefit Richer Ones
The article examines the impact of free trade agreements between ASEAN and five other countries on trade creation and diversion. The researchers used a trade gravity model with dummy variables and static panel data regression to analyze the effects of these FTAs on intra-regional trade flows. The results show that only ACFTA and AIFTA had a trade creation effect, while other FTAs led to trade diversion, harming member countries. This suggests that more evaluation and efforts are needed to make FTAs beneficial for all involved.