Economics
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Using a state-of-the-art structural gravity model, we investigate the impact of various (post-)colonial cocoa trading arrangements on the cocoa trade between developing cocoa producer countries and rich industrial cocoa consumer nations in the time period 1951–1999. We find that in particular the trading arrangements of the European (Economic) Community (EEC/EC), such as the Association, Yaoundé and Lomé Agreements, as well as the UNCTAD International Cocoa Agreement, had a measurable positive impact on cocoa trade flows, in contrast to the British Commonwealth partnership or the GATT Generalised System of Preferences. In particular, the Yaoundé Agreement not only increased the trade between other EEC/EC members and the signatory cocoa producers, but also strengthened the trading relationship between the former coloniser countries and their cocoa producing former colonies, in fact more than offsetting the negative effect of independence. © 2026 The Author(s). The World Economy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Publication Title
The World Economy
Publication Date
2026
ISSN
0378-5920
DOI
10.1111/twec.70147
Keywords
cocoa trade, developing country commodity trade, European (Economic) Community, gravity model, international trading arrangements
Repository Citation
Brown, John; Matschke, Xenia; and Rodríguez, Juan René Rojas, "International Cocoa Trading Arrangements Between Industrialised and Developing Countries 1951–1999: A Structural Gravity Analysis" (2026). Economics. 248.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_economics/248
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Copyright Conditions
Brown, J., Matschke, X., & Rodríguez, J. R. R. (2025). International Cocoa Trading Arrangements Between Industrialised and Developing Countries 1951–1999: A Structural Gravity Analysis. The World Economy.
