Markets and Trade in West Africa

Policy Issues for the Poorest Members of Ecowas

Bibliographic Data

ID2594741
AuthorsMark Ellis (0000-0002-0435-1348), J Mark Ellis, Philip Morgan
Year1984
Volume27
Issue3
Pages67
Publication date1984-09-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican Studies Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-0206 • E-ISSN: 1555-2462
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/524024
OpenAlexW2001665443
LanguageEN
References cited7

The limited size of domestic markets, the availability of natural and technological resources in national units, and the desire to retain some form of protection against full global competition are all factors which promote the formation of regional economic groupings. National markets are usually too small to support efficient industries, exploiting economies of scale or specialization. The elimination of tariffs within an economic community and a common external tariff to non-members should divert trade from external to internal community sources. For industries favorably affected by trade diversion, trade expansion should enable the exploitation of economies of scale and specialization formerly unattainable because of the small size of the domestic market. Production should be allocated among members on the basis of comparative advantage and, following free trade theory, it should then be at its most efficient and low cost. Economic integration is essentially then a strategy of export promotion and free trade among members and of import substitution and protection towards non

Business · Development economics · Economics · International trade · Economic Growth and Productivity · Global Trade and Competitiveness · Global trade and economics

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