Trade, Export Capacity, and World Trade Organization Membership: Evidence from Jordan

We investigate the impact that membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) has on Jordan's trade and international competitiveness. The classical gravity model is used to examine the association between membership in the WTO and Jordan's trade, imports, and most important, exports, which we use as an indicator of the country's capacity to compete internationally. We find that when Jordan and its trade partner are both members of the WTO, Jordan's trade and its contribution to world exports increase significantly. Results of robust estimation of the gravity model and the other roundness checks further confirm the significant positive association between Jordan's membership in the WTO and its trade, exports, and imports.