Trade Facilitation and the Trade Facilitation Agreement: Bibliometric Analysis and Contribution to UN Goal 8

Résumé

The paper examines how Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) influences international trade in connection with the UN Sustainable Development Goal 8 (SDG 8. To this end, a bibliometric study was conducted based on the Web of Science database, the period of 2000-2024. First, the studies have concentrated on the trade facilitation in general and the effects of the AFE once the document becomes effective in 2017 in particular.

Based on the findings, the number of publications and citations on this topic have increased, and the highest number of them was noted in 2020, when TFA was activated. VOSviewer tool allowed further developing the analysis and analyzing the co-occurrence of keywords and citation networks. The analysis highlights three dominant research themes: trade, cost reduction, export diversification, and the strengthening of logistics and trade-related infrastructure.

Additionally; specific section is dedicated to the study of 11 articles that explicitly deal with TFA, out of the 123 articles that were analyzed. The latter link directly to several targets of SDG 8, including economic growth (8.1), export diversification (8.2), support for SMEs (8.3) and aid for trade for LDCs (8.a).

The study mentions that the International collaborations between countries and authors play an important role in the dissemination of knowledge. Overall, this study clarifies the dynamics of research on the TFA and SDG 8, points to underexplored areas in the literature, and suggests policy-relevant insights for trade facilitation strategies in developing economies.

JEL Classification :F13 ; F14

Type du papier : Recherche Théorique