This
study investigates the effects of merchandise trade and investment flows on the
transmission of business cycles between members of ECOWAS and the major trading
partnersbetween 1985 and 2014. Total trade and FDI significantly influence the
transmission of business cycles with elasticities of 1.1% and 0.7%,
respectively in the long run. There are little variations across the major
trading partners and other measures of trade flows. Intra-industry trade flows
with all partners, EU and USA influences the cross-country business cycles with
elasticities of 1.0%, 0.5% and 1.8%, respectively.