The impact of aid for trade on the cost and time to trade The case of Latin America and the Caribbean

Tariffs and non-tariff barriers having been reduced, the international community seeks to lower other trade transaction costs that are greater in developing countries. As a fruit of the effort, the WTO launched Aid for Trade (AfT) initiatives in 2005. Due to the considerable amount of AfT, there have been discussions on its effectiveness. This study continues the debate by analyzing the impact of AfT on reducing the cost and time to trade in 30 Latin American and Caribbean countries, where 10% of AfT is destined, for the period between 2004-2010, deploying a panel data fixed-effects model.