Description: Costa Rica : Five Years after CAFTA-DR, Assessing Early Results for the Costa Rican Economy

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Costa Rica : Five Years after CAFTA-DR, Assessing Early Results for the Costa Rican Economy

The Dominican Republic - Central America - United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) has been fundamental in creating a stable framework for Costa Rica's trade with the United States. For Costa Rica, CAFTA-DR is more than a trade agreement...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2014
Subjects:	ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY ACCESS TO INSURANCE ADVERSE EFFECTS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AGRICULTURAL SUBSIDIES AGRICULTURAL TRADE AGRICULTURE APPAREL APPAREL SECTOR AUTHORITY IN CHARGE BENCHMARK BENEFICIARY BILATERAL APPROACH BILATERAL TRADE BROKERAGE BROKERAGE FIRMS BROKERS CENTRAL BANK CLEAN TECHNOLOGY COMMERCIAL CODE COMMODITY COMMON MARKET COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY COMPETITION POLICY COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT COMPETITIVENESS CONCESSIONS CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CONSUMER PRICE INDICES CONSUMER SURPLUS CONSUMERS COUNTRY OF ORIGIN CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE CROSS-BORDER TRADE CURRENCY CUSTOMS CUSTOMS UNION DEBT DOMESTIC CONSUMPTION DUMMY VARIABLE ECONOMIC CRISIS ECONOMIC INTEGRATION ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC STABILITY ECONOMIES OF SCALE ELIMINATION OF TARIFFS ENVIRONMENTAL STANDARDS EUROPEAN UNION EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATES EXPENDITURES EXPENSE RATIOS EXPORT GROWTH EXPORT PERFORMANCE EXPORT PRODUCTS EXPORT SHARE EXPORT STRUCTURE EXPORTS EXPOSURE FINANCES FINANCIAL CRISIS FINANCIAL SERVICES FINANCIAL SYSTEM FIRM PERFORMANCE FOREIGN COMPANIES FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT FOREIGN INVESTMENT FOREIGN INVESTORS FOREIGN TRADE FREE ACCESS FREE TRADE FREE TRADE AGREEMENT FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS FREE TRADE AREA FREE TRADE ZONE FREE TRADE ZONES GDP GDP PER CAPITA GLOBAL ECONOMY GRAVITY EQUATION GRAVITY MODEL GRAVITY MODELS GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH RATES HUMAN CAPITAL INCOMES INFORMATION SERVICES INSTRUMENT INSURANCE INSURANCE ACTIVITIES INSURANCE COMPANIES INSURANCE MARKET INSURANCE MARKETS INSURANCE PENETRATION INSURANCE PREMIUMS INSURANCE PRODUCTS INSURANCES INSURER INSURERS INTEGRATION AGREEMENTS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS INTERMEDIATE GOODS INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS INTERNATIONAL BANK INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL CRISIS INTERNATIONAL MARKETS INTERNATIONAL TRADE INTERNATIONAL TREATIES INVESTMENT CLIMATE INVESTMENT DECISIONS INVESTMENT FLOWS JURISDICTIONS LEGAL FRAMEWORK LEGAL REGIME LEGAL REQUIREMENTS LEGAL SYSTEM LEVEL OF RISK LIBERALIZATION LIBERALIZATIONS LIFE INSURANCE LOCAL CURRENCY MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY MARKET ACCESS MARKET DATA MARKET SHARE MARKET SHARES MARKET SIZE MICROINSURANCE MONETARY FUND MONOPOLIES MONOPOLY MONOPOLY PROVIDER MULTILATERAL AGREEMENT MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES NATIONAL TREATMENT NEW MARKET NEW PRODUCTS NON-TARIFF BARRIERS OPENNESS OUTPUT PATENT PROTECTION POLITICAL STABILITY PORTFOLIO POSITIVE EFFECTS POST OFFICE PREFERENTIAL TRADE PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT PRICE DEFLATOR PRIVATE INVESTMENTS PROFIT MAXIMIZATION PROPERTY RIGHTS QUANTITATIVE RESTRICTIONS REAL GDP REAL GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT REFERENDUM REGIONAL TRADE REGULATOR REGULATORY AUTHORITY REGULATORY BODY REGULATORY FRAMEWORK REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS REINSURANCE RULES OF ORIGIN SHARE OF INVESTMENT SMALL BUSINESS SMALL BUSINESSES SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY TARIFF BARRIERS TAX TAX BENEFITS TAXATION TELECOMMUNICATIONS TELEPHONE LINES TELEPHONE SERVICES TRADE BARRIERS TRADE FLOWS TRADE INTEGRATION TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE PARTNERS TRADE PATTERNS TRADE POLICY TRADE RELATIONSHIPS TRADING TRANSPARENCY TREATIES TREATY UNIVERSAL ACCESS UNIVERSAL COVERAGE VOTERS WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS WORLD TRADE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/06/20149229/costa-rica-five-years-after-cafta-dr-assessing-early-results-costa-rican-economy http://hdl.handle.net/10986/20010

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Summary:	The Dominican Republic - Central America - United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) has been fundamental in creating a stable framework for Costa Rica's trade with the United States. For Costa Rica, CAFTA-DR is more than a trade agreement. Besides eliminating tariffs and reducing non-tariff barriers between member countries, CAFTA-DR also introduced major changes to the legal framework of member countries, reducing barriers to services, promoting transparency, and ensuring a secure and predictable environment for investors. This report analyses how CAFTA-DR has impacted the Costa Rican economy in the five years after ratification, both on a macro level and in key specific sectors. The report shows that CAFTA-DR is yielding benefits to the Costa Rican economy, but it is too early to provide a complete account just after five years. The agreement has succeeded to further trade integration between Costa Rica, the US, and other CAFTA-DR countries. Exports to the US began increasing several years before the agreement, but CAFTA-DR accelerated the trend. Costa Rica continues attracting FDI above levels observed in other CAFTA-DR countries, with an increasing share from US investors and a focus on medical devices and business services. Online survey and interviews of high-tech firms in free trade zones found that CAFTA-DR was an important factor in the investment decisions. CAFTA-DR ignited an explosion of changes in the telecom and insurance sectors, bringing new regulatory frameworks, competition, product innovations, and price reductions. Consumers are reaping the benefits of improved telecom and insurance services. But some issues remain for those markets to mature. Finally, the concern regarding the potential negative impact on the Costa Rican Social Security Administration's finances due to the intellectual property rights measures have not been observed.