THE ECONOMICS OF CUSTOMS UNIONS IN THE COMMONWEALTH-OF-INDEPENDENT-STATES

The paper presents an assessment by two senior World Bank economists o f a customs union among transition economies in the former Soviet Unio n. The authors examine the current trade regimes and arrangements with in the Commonwealth of Independent States that govern trade of its 12 members with one another. The focus is on the implications of joining the Customs Union, established by Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan and tentatively joined by the Kyrgyz Republic in 1996, for countries that did not join. The analysis of economic effects is based, in part, on t he use of a partial equilibrium model.