Multilateralism vs. Regionalism: Analysis of Nigeria's Bilateral Trade Flows

摘要

International trade is critical to economic development. This study used the gravity model to empirically examine annual time series data of twenty-nine countries From 2000 to 2014 to determine the impact that multilateral and regional trades have on Nigeria's bilateral trade flows. The evidence suggests that multilateral trade generates greater bilateral trade flows for Nigeria in all trade and oil trade only than regional trade. In contrast, regional trade creates greater non-oil trade than multilateral trade. The study concludes that multilateralism generates more bilateral trade flows than regionalism for Nigeria. The policy recommendation is that Nigeria should trade more with the multilateral partners while maintaining its position within the regional economic bloc to sustain the demand for its low-cost manufactured exports.