Kazakhstan’s Accession to the WTO: A Quantitive Assessment

In light of Kazakhstan’s interest to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), this paper investigates the impact of the WTO accession on trade flows by using a standard gravity model. It argues that accession to the WTO involves a short run benefit from further reducing tariff and non-tariff barriers, and a long-term strategy that involves institutional reforms. The results indicate that, although Kazakhstan’s trade policy with its major partners is well in place, it still has weak market institutions, and gains from accession to the WTO will work best with complementary institutional reforms.