The world economy has witnessed a sudden increase in free trade agreements, generating a renewed debate on their economic impact. In Expanding NAFTA Carmen Zechner focuses on the economic effects on Chile of the potential free trade agreement with the United States. The author creates a framework for analyzing the impact of economic integration between a developed and a developing country from the developing country's perspective. This book goes beyond earlier analyses of the static gains from free trade to examine the dynamic and more intangible effects that are critical to the welfare evaluation of trade agreements. Expanding NAFTA is an important contribution to the research on preferential trade liberalization and to understanding developing countries' trade policy choices. This book will be indispensable to anyone interested in trade policy making and the Chilean economy.

This paper analyses the evolution of Chile's trade between 1990 and 2007, studying in particular the impact of trade liberalization in addition to traditional price and demand determinants. The results show that export and import flows are mainly responsive to external and domestic demand, and less so to relative prices, although there is a small impact on imports. In addition, the analysis suggests that trade liberalization may have played a role in increasing exports and imports. Estimations of trade elasticities for other countries in Latin America tend to confirm the results found for Chile.

Unlike many studies that assess the impacts of free trade agreements (FTAs), this thesis is a study of the negotiated outcomes in FTAs between the United States (U.S.) and Chile, and the European Union (EU) and Chile. Existing negotiation literature pertains to multilateral trade talks, dispute settlements or bilateral one good trade agreements. Studies regarding the negotiation process and other factors influencing outcomes in comprehensive FTAs are rare. In order to address this gap in the literature, this thesis is an analysis of how and why the FTA between Chile and the U.S. differs from the FTA between Chile and the EU, in particular with regards to sensitive agricultural goods. As the two agreements were negotiated and implemented within similar time frames, and thus a similar political and economic environment within Chile, it is possible to use the theory-testing method of difference case study approach. This framework helps to test the validity of one leading theory of economic negotiations posited by Odell. Moreover, any shortcomings in the applicability of Odell's theory to these specific negotiations can be ascertained using this methodology. Odell's theory postulates that negotiated outcomes are a result of market conditions, domestic politics, and negotiator beliefs and strategies. In addition to causality in FTA negotiations, the case study will ascertain how the U.S. and the EU differed in their approaches to negotiating free trade. Conclusions drawn from this study include that there are varying degrees of sensitivity in agriculture which result in special and specific negotiated outcomes. Furthermore, the U.S. and the EU differ in their approaches to free trade which inevitably affects negotiated outcomes. Overall, Odell's theory is a competent basis for understanding these FTA negotiated outcomes. Additional theoretical understanding of the impact of the institutional considerations in the negotiation process and existing domestic policies could however add to the comprehensiveness of this theory.