The need for countries to facilitate trade and to reduce the transactions costs plaguing trade is receiving a lot of interest in policy circles, and in particular in the WTO, where trade facilitation has been one of the few good stories in recent multilateral negotiations. Is this interest justified? What have economic theory and empirical findings to contribute to our understanding of the value of free trade? This authoritative two-volume set, edited by two leading scholars in the field, offers a collection of seminal articles that have led our economic thinking on these issues and encouraged a new and growing literature. This important work, along with an original introduction by the editors, will be of immense value to scholars and practitioners interested in the topic of trade costs and facilitation.