This study investigates the effects of preferential trade agreements (PTA) on bilateral trade disputes. We construct a unique and comprehensive dataset on inter‐country trade disputes from 1995 to 2007. The dataset covers 110 countries and 1,162 bilateral country‐pair trade disputes. Using this dataset in a gravity‐type model of trade dispute analysis, we find that countries belonging to the same PTA tend to experience fewer trade conflicts among themselves than with non‐member countries. By studying various types of PTA with different dispute settlement mechanisms, we further find that the dispute‐reducing effect only comes from PTA with specific provisions on dispute settlement mechanisms. Moreover, the effect is stronger if those PTA explicitly stipulate that members can also resolve their disputes via the WTO Dispute Settlement Body. However, having PTA that do not address how members should resolve their disputes may lead to more dispute initiations than in cases without PTA.

中文翻译：

---

超越贸易创造：优惠贸易协议和贸易争端

这项研究调查了优惠贸易协定（PTA）对双边贸易争端的影响。我们针对1995年至2007年的国家间贸易争端构建了一个独特而全面的数据集。该数据集涵盖110个国家和1,162个双边国家/地区对贸易争端。通过在贸易争端分析的引力类型模型中使用此数据集，我们发现属于同一PTA的国家之间相互之间的贸易冲突倾向于比非成员国更少。通过研究具有不同争端解决机制的各种类型的PTA，我们进一步发现减少争议的效果仅来自对争端解决机制有特定规定的PTA。此外，如果这些PTA明确规定成员也可以通过WTO争端解决机构解决其争端，则效果会更强。然而，