India's Global Trade Potential: The Gravity Model Approach

Abstract

In this article an augmented gravity model equation has been used to analyze the world trade flows using a sample of 146 countries. The coefficients thus obtained are then used to predict trade potential for India. Ordinary Least Squares with cross-section data for the year 2000 have been used for estimation. The results show that all three traditional “gravity” effects are intuitively reasonable, with statistically significant t-statistic often exceeding 50 in absolute value. Alternative measures of gross national product (GNP) dollar value and purchasing power parity do not alter either the sign or significance of different explanatory variables. Historical and cultural similarities also impact positively upon bilateral trade. As concerns India's trade potential, the model shows that there is tremendous potential with China and trade can more than double if barriers and constraints are removed. Our estimates also indicate a huge potential, of the order of US$6.5 billion, with Pakistan.     

加工贸易、资本密集度与工薪差距——基于中国加工贸易活动的研究

HO模型中的SS定理适用于一般贸易背景下的产业间贸易;FH模型中的SS定理可以解释发达国家外部采购中中间产品贸易对工薪差距的影响,但却不能解释中国等发展中国家的加工贸易活动对工薪差距的影响。本文的研究表明:对发展中国家来说,加工装配活动可能会拉大,也可能会缩小工薪差距;加工装配出口产品的资本密集度上升将会缩小工薪差距。对中国的实证研究结果显示,加工装配活动同时提高了高技术工人和低技术工人的收入水平,但拉大了工薪差距;加工出口产品资本密集度上升缩小了工薪差距;技术进步对加工装配行业工薪差距无实质影响;行业规模扩张缩小了工薪差距。所以,为提高收入水平,中国应继续发挥比较优势参与加工贸易活动,与此同时,中国还应不断提升加工出口产品的资本和技术密集程度,以缩小工薪差距。     

Trade Costs,Trade Balances and Current Accounts: An Application of Gravity to Multilateral Trade

In this paper we test the well-known hypothesis of Obstfeld and Rogoff (NBER Macroeconomics Annual 7777:339–390, 2000) that trade costs are the key to explaining the so-called Feldstein–Horioka puzzle. Our approach has a number of novel features. First, we focus on the interrelationship between trade costs, the trade account and the Feldstein–Horioka puzzle. Second, we use the gravity model to estimate the effect of trade costs on bilateral trade and, third, we show how bilateral trade can be used to draw inferences about desired trade balances and desired intertemporal trade. Our econometric results provide strong support for the Obstfeld and Rogoff hypothesis and we are also able to reconcile our results with the so-called home bias puzzle.

Trade Opening,Fiscal Reforms,Poverty, and Inequality: A CGE Analysis for Bangladesh

We assess the short‐ and long‐run impacts of tariff reform policies on Bangladeshi households' poverty and income distribution by developing an 86‐sector, four‐factor, and nine‐household‐group computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. The main findings are that the complete removal of tariffs leads to a decrease in overall poverty with rich household groups in a relatively better position. In the short run poverty incidence increases for rural landless, urban illiterate, and low‐educated household groups whereas rural large farmer and urban medium household groups enjoy improvements in all poverty indicators. In terms of income distribution, trade liberalization enhances inequality slightly, but there is a tendency towards more equitable distribution in the long run. The choice of a fiscal compensatory mechanism with consumption tax is likely to play a negative role in terms of poverty and inequality in the short run; however, interestingly, the results are pro‐poor in the long run.     

Trade and Convergence: A Dynamic Panel Data Approach

The objective of this paper is to provide, theoretically and empirically, an interpretation of comovement between the scale of an economy and its growth rate. I paid special attention to human capital accumulation and international trade environment and emphasized their spillover effects on growth and convergence among countries. 1 employed a technique using a cross-sectional and time series panel. The estimations in my empirical models were done using the nonlinear least-squares method in which I applied a dynamic procedure for an economy along its balanced growth path. I arrived at mixed results. The empirical results show that international spillover effects of human capital accumulation and intermediate goods production have positive and significant effects on the growth process of a nation. The national level of human capital, however, has negative and insignificant effects on this process.     

Bilateral Trade Performance in West Africa: A Gravity Model Estimation

This study provides empirical insights on the functioning of regional trade agreements within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) by identifying bilateral trade barriers that affect the extent of trade flows among member countries. Also, it highlights some trade barrier indicators that are rarely covered in extant studies, such as the multilateral resistance term, the extent of trade complementarity, and the presence of economic integration agreements among ECOWAS member countries. We then provide augmented gravity model estimation on the determinants of bilateral trade in the region. We find, among other things, that trade complementarity had a positive and significant effect on bilateral trade within the sub‐region region. Other important determinants of intra‐regional trade include multilateral trade resistance and economic integration agreements — meaning that countries with some kind of agreement like the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) tend to trade more among themselves than other member countries.     

Flight Delays and Passenger Preferences: An Axiomatic Approach

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) defines a flight as “delayed” if it arrives 15+ minutes late. The DOT “flight counting” delay definition is used to rank airline/airport service quality. An obvious caveat of counting flight delays is that the duration of delay plays no role in the delay count. The purpose of this article is to propose an aggregate delay measure that is sensitive to the distribution of time delayed among passengers. The importance of this work is that our derived delay measure reflects passenger preferences rather than the arbitrary delay cutoff established by the DOT. We model passengers' preference ordering using the criteria that passengers prefer fewer, shorter, and more equal delay times.     

贸易自由化与收入不平等--基于中国的经验研究

本文通过理论模型与现代计量经济学的研究方法,对中国贸易自由化与收入不平等之间的关系进行了实证分析,力图验证二者之间的因果关系。Granger因果关系的检验的结果显示,以基尼系数表示的中国收入差距的扩大与以对外贸易依存度表示的贸易自由化程度之间存在着长期稳定的关系。并且取滞后期为1时,贸易自由化水平是收入不平等程度的Granger原因。最后本文还进一步分析了贸易自由化影响收入不平等的主要途径,以期引起有关部门的重视,从贸易的角度去采取一些措施缓解收入分配的不平等。     

Gravity Approach for Modelling International Trade in South-Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States: The Role of Geography, Policy and Institutions

Since the beginning of market reforms in 1989, countries of the South-Eastern Europe (SEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) trade significantly less with the world economy than those Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries which later joined the EU. To explain why this is the case, a number of hypotheses have been proposed in the literature. The key novelty of our study consists in a simultaneous assessment of the contribution to trade from geographical, policy and institutional factors, during the EU pre-accession period (1997–2004). An augmented gravity model is proposed and estimated for a reference group of 82 countries employing the Poisson and Tobit estimation techniques. We find that the low quality of economic institutions in the SEE and CIS countries contributed to a considerable proportion of their below potential international trade. We perform policy simulations using institutional data up to 2008 to identify channels for increasing international trade of the SEE and CIS.     

New Borders and Trade Flows: A Gravity Model Analysis of the Baltic States

The objective of this paper is to provide evidence on the effects of an economic and political union by studying the trade flows of the three Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania after the breakup of the Soviet Union. We specify and estimate a gravity model of exports for the Nordic countries which enables us to determine the size and direction of trade flows in the Baltic states had they not been affected by the political institutions of the Soviet Union. Our results suggest that Baltic foreign trade was not only reduced significantly but also diverted to the members of the former Soviet Union. Consistent with our estimates, we also find that these consequences of the former political union are quickly dissipating, and the Baltic countries are increasing their share of exports to the European Union and the U.S.     

东亚双边出口贸易流量与潜力:贸易引力模型的实证研究

本文利用东亚1995-2004年面板数据建立东亚贸易引力模型,对东亚区域内出口贸易流量的影响因素和潜力进行研究。研究显示,经济规模、中国-中国香港地区更紧密经贸关系(CEPA)、中国-东盟自由贸易区(ACFTA)、经济制度、经济发展水平差距、国际直接投资、国家间地理距离和金融危机是东亚双边出口贸易流量的主要影响因素。     

Trade Flows and Spatial Effects: The Gravity Model Revisited

This article revisits the popular gravity model of trade in light of the increasingly acknowledged findings of spatial econometrics and interprets the results in view of some recent theoretical developments from the economic literature that contribute to its foundation. When the inherent spatial effects are explicitly taken into account, the magnitude of the estimated parameters changes considerably and, with it, the measures on the predicted trade flows. This result is illustrated for the case of predicted trade flows between the European Union and some of its potential members.     

Regional Integration,Bilateral Diplomacy and African Trade: Evidence from the Gravity Model

The paper examines the impact of two main instruments of economic diplomacy — regional integration and commercial diplomacy on export flows among African states. We test whether there is any evidence of a trade‐off or complementary interaction between these two instruments in trade facilitation using the gravity model for 45 African states over the period 1980–2005. The results show that bilateral diplomatic exchange is a more significant determinant of bilateral exports among African states compared to regional integration. We also find that the trade–stimulating effect of diplomatic exchange is less pronounced among African countries that shared membership of the same regional bloc.     

制度水平、出口潜力与稀土贸易摩擦——基于贸易引力模型的实证分析

本文将制度水平变量加入贸易引力模型,并据此测算稀土出口潜力指数,试图解释稀土贸易摩擦的深层原因。研究发现,从进口国制度水平看,清廉程度和货币自由度是影响中国稀土出口的主要因素;"过度贸易型"国家如荷兰、日本、美国等与近年来中国稀有资源出口限制贸易案的发生显著相关;稀土产品的反向贸易政策是影响中国稀土贸易进而引起稀土贸易摩擦的直接原因,而中国与"过度贸易型"进口国的战略利益冲突是深层原因。     

区域贸易安排的保护性:引力模型

通过2000-2005年EU、APEC、NAFTA三个区域贸易组织双边贸易流量基于合并数据的引力模型得出结论:三个区域贸易组织的净贸易效果均为贸易转移,但区域保护程度顺次减弱。总体上,发生贸易转移的方向从以发达国家为主的区域贸易组织转移到以新兴市场国家为主或由发达国家与发展中国家共同组成的区域贸易组织。因而,对内积极推行自由贸易,对外具有很强的贸易保护倾向是各国推行区域贸易政策的显著特征。     

World Trade in Used Automobiles: A Gravity Analysis of Japanese and US Exports*

We estimate a gravity model of Japanese and US exports of used automobiles that incorporates an original, ordered measure of protection in global, used automobile markets. The model confirms that, overall, protection by our measure is suppress‐ive and often statistically significant and that what we term ‘Grubel income effects’ are present. However, Japanese export behavior appears to differ in some important respects from that of the USA, with distance and protection levels being less significant and left‐hand side driving patterns being a critical explanatory variable.