Natural Resources Endowment and WTO

The objective of the study is to investigate the asymmetric impact of the World Trade Organization (WTO) across developing countries. We also demonstrate the lack of homogeneity between these countries in terms of their market growth and their dependence on natural resources. Empirically, we classified our sample of countries into categories using cluster analysis, and we relied on the gravity models to estimate the effects of WTO. We found that emerging resource-rich countries most significantly benefit from their accession to the organization. However, regional integration and bilateral agreements benefit non-emerging resource-rich countries. Although resource-poor countries have received uneven benefits from WTO accession, non-emerging resource-poor countries have benefited more from accession. However, regional integration is an appropriate trade strategy for both resource-poor categories, and generalized system of preferences (GSP) benefit the non-emerging markets. Finally, accession to WTO does not increase trade in natural resources for any specific category of countries discussed in this study.