About the volume: New developments in computable general equilibrium analysis for trade policy

John Gilbert is a professor of economics in the Department of Economics and Finance, Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, at Utah State University. He has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, UNESCAP, ADBI, and the Peterson Institute for International Economics, and has published extensively in the area of trade theory and policy, and on the computable general equilibrium analysis of regional trading arrangements.

Computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling is a well-established method for evaluating changes in economic systems, and has found wide application in the evaluation of international trade policy. This volume contains contributions on both the methodology of CGE and applications of those methods to the analysis of contemporary international trade policy issues. The selected applications cover a diverse range of important trade policy topics, including regional economic integration in Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Rim, the impact of trade policy changes on poverty and income distribution (with applications to Southeast Asia and South Asia), immigration, liberalization of services, and agricultural trade policy. Major CGE models such as the Michigan model, FTAP, LINKAGE, and GTAP and its extensions are well represented in the applications, along with numerous custom models. CGE methods are advanced by chapters on the econometric estimation of constrained optimization models, new approaches to CGE modeling with heterogeneous firms, and new approaches to modeling a wide range of other trade-related issues including illegal immigration, services, biofuels, and economy–ecology interactions.

The volume presents new developments in the methodology and practice of CGE techniques as they apply to recent issues in international trade policy. The chapters contained in the volume are written by leading experts in the field. The volume will be of interest to academic researchers working in trade policy analysis and computable/applied general equilibrium, advanced graduate students in international economics, applied researchers in multilateral organizations, and policymakers who need to work with and interpret the results of CGE analysis.

I would like to thank Professors Hamid Beladi and E. Kwan Choi for inviting me to edit this volume, and all of the contributing authors for generously offering their time and expertise for the project.