What is GTAP?

The Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) was established in 1992, with the objective of lowering the cost of entry for those seeking to conduct quantitative analyses of international economic issues in an economywide framework. The project consists of several components:

1. A fully documented, publicly available, global data base

2. A standard modeling framework

3. Software for manipulating the data and implementing the standard model

4. A global network of researchers, linked through the Internet, with a common interest in multiregion analysis of trade and resource issues

5. A World Wide Web site for distributing software, data, and other project-related items of interest

6. A consortium of national and international agencies providing leadership and a base level of support

Part II of this book documents the GTAP model structure, data base, and software. Part III contains seven applications of the model. These are all available through GTAP's Web site, and the interested reader will have the opportunity to access, replicate, and extend these applications using the software described in Chapter 6.

Motivation for GTAP

As the world economy becomes more integrated, there is an increasing demand for quantitative analyses of policy issues on a global basis. One example is provided by the Uruguay Round negotiations, which took place under the auspices of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).