ABSTRACT
In other words, even with these trade arrangements, the non-energy and total trade figures of the countries encompassed by these trade arrangements, for the years they were in effect, were lower than would have been predicted on the basis of the gravity model. In the case of energy trade, the effects of the AMU and ACM dummy variables are again negative (but not significant) but the GCC dummy has a statistically significant positive influence on trade. What this means, however, is, of course, nothing more than that GCC countries (which happen to be especially well endowed in energy reserves) trade more in energy than would have been predicted on the basis of the gravity model alone.
