This bachelor thesis examines if a Free Trade Agreement (FTA hereafter) has a positive effect or not on trade flows. There are many FTAs in the world beside World Trade Organization (WTO hereafter) membership. Many empirical studies have been performed by different methods and most of them show a significant influence on trade flows. In this thesis the impact on the FTA between the European Union (EU hereafter) and South Korea is studied by using the Gravity Model in period between 2007 and 2016. Dummy variables which capture the impact on the implementation of the FTA since 2011 are constructed into the standard trade Gravity equation. In addition, several dummy variables, such as the distance between countries and culture characteristic variables are utilized. The results of two different regression models show that both a positive and a negative impact on the EU’s import from South Korea and a negative impact on South Korea’s import from the EU. Overall, all estimated coefficients used in the models show a significant effect on import trade flows between countries.

<p>The rapid growth in the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has led to concern about the weakening of the multilateral trading system. This thesis examines the spread of such agreement and the extent to which they pose a threat to the multilateral system. Regionalism and multilateralism are complimentary as shown in the case study of the East African Community. The current regional trade agreement management rules are weak and ambiguous and possible amendments for these rules are proposed</p>

<p>The rapid growth in the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has led to concern about the weakening of the multilateral trading system. This thesis examines the spread of such agreement and the extent to which they pose a threat to the multilateral system. Regionalism and multilateralism are complimentary as shown in the case study of the East African Community. The current regional trade agreement management rules are weak and ambiguous and possible amendments for these rules are proposed</p>

Magister Legum - LLM / The rapid growth in the number of regional trade agreements (RTAs) has led to concern about the weakening of the multilateral trading system. This thesis examines the spread of such agreement and the extent to which they pose a threat to the multilateral system. Regionalism and multilateralism are complimentary as shown in the case study of the East African Community. The current regional trade agreement management rules are weak and ambiguous and possible amendments for these rules are proposed. / South Africa