ABSTRACT
Pre- and post-WTO accession periods used to generate many speculations on the economic consequences of the membership in this international economic organization. In all acceding countries there were myriad serious fears and many positive expectations. Most anxieties were connected to rapid import grows, domestic industries competitiveness erosion, unemployment growth and GDP decline. Optimists were arguing that export expansion, institutional reforms and companies’ strategies devoted to efficiency growth would overcome possible negative effects. The chapter analyses key changes in macroeconomic indicators for 32 countries, out of 36 acceded to the WTO between 1996 and 2013, including export, import, GDP and foreign direct investments before and after the accession year. The results show that the WTO factor (in most cases) has a rather limited impact on national economies in general and selected indicators in particular. Findings of the chapter will be useful both for recently acceded WTO members and for countries that are still in the WTO accession process.
