Technology, endowments, and the factor content of bilateral trade

We derive testable restrictions relating the factor content of bilateral trade to bilateral differences in technology and endowments. This departs from the Heckscher-Ohlin-Vanek theorem which compares the factor content of net trade with factor abundance. We test the theoretical restrictions using a unique dataset that covers 41 developed and developing countries with disparate endowments and technology. We find evidence supporting the predictions. In addition: (1) The factor content predictions perform best for country pairs with larger endowment differences, and (2) for trade between capital-abundant countries, Ricardian international technology differences matter more than Heckscher-Ohlin factor endowment differences.     

The impact of single windows on trade

This paper is the first that quantifies the impact of single windows (SWs) on international trade globally. SWs function as a single point of entry and exit of the goods traded internationally and are therefore intended to facilitate trade. Using a structural gravity model for a panel of 176 countries from 1995 to 2017, we apply a log–log and a Poisson pseudo-maximum-likelihood estimator (PPML) with multidimensional fixed effects to evaluate the extent to which export and import flows vary depending on whether or not countries have operational SWs. The main results from the linearised gravity model suggest that total trade between two countries with functioning SWs increases by about 37%, of which 23 corresponds to exports and 14 to imports. The result from the PPML estimation also indicates a positive and significant effect, which is however much smaller in magnitude.     

On the gains from an expansion in factor mobility in bilateral trade

A single composite-good two-factor input production model is employed to investigate the gains from an expansion in factor mobility between two countries with different neoclassical technologies. Necessary and sufficient conditions for both countries to gain from an expansion in factor mobility are established. The analysis then develops a criterion based on market information for predicting whether a country would gain from an expansion in factor mobility. Finally, the income distributional effects within and between countries of an expansion in factor mobility are discussed.     

Protection and jobs: explaining the structure of trade barriers across industries

This paper develops a model of protection and tests it using US data, including new protection measures. We find that protection in an industry increases with its employment but not with its level of output. We also find that lobbying entails significant transactions costs. We have limited evidence that industry characteristics, such as the number of firms and geographical concentration, affect protection. Nested tests imply that assuming lump-sum rebating of import revenues or rents is justified. The results also suggest that US policy makers weight a dollar of campaign contributions about 15% more heavily than a dollar of national income.     

The de minimis threshold in international trade: The costs of being too low

With tariffs largely negotiated away, trade facilitation issues such as custom delays and border costs are one of the next key barriers for trade policymakers to address. One important trade facilitation issue is the de minimis threshold (DMT )—a valuation ceiling for imports below which no duty or tax is charged and the clearance procedures are minimal. Customs assessments are costly and low thresholds can hinder trade flows. We offer a detailed analytical approach to assess the direct economic effects of raising the DMT . We focus on Canada, which has one of the lowest DMT s among developed countries. We utilise a unique data set and find that raising Canada's DMT would have positive effects for consumers and businesses, particularly small businesses because the cost saving for smaller entities is disproportionately large. For the government, foregone duty and tax revenues are outweighed by the cost saving, resulting in a fiscally neutral or even positive effect for government revenues.     

Pollution content tariffs, environmental rent shifting, and the control of cross-border pollution

This paper considers the optimal unilateral policy for a country that imports a good from a neighbouring country and is harmed by pollution generated during the production of that good. If the foreign country has a variable abatement technology, then Home has an incentive to impose a tax on the pollution content of imports (a pollution content tariff). Foreign regulation of pollution does not eliminate Home's incentives to intervene, but instead may create rent-shifting opportunities. By making the right to pollute a scarce asset, foreign pollution quotas create rents that the home government can try to extract.     

On the conservation of distance in international trade

Using disaggregated bilateral trade data, we find that the elasticity of trade to distance increased (in absolute value) by about 10% since 1985. To explore the reasons for this shift, we decompose the change in the distance elasticity of trade into the part due to a shift in the composition of trade among industries and the part due to a change in the distance sensitivity within industries. We find that adjustment in the composition of trade had little effect, but for 40% of industries distance became more important, with nearly all of the remaining industries showing no significant change. We explore alternative hypotheses as to why the elasticity of trade to distance increased in some industries. We find that homogeneous goods, bulky goods, and high tariff goods became significantly more distance sensitive. In contrast, the evidence implies that changes in tariffs and freight costs have reduced the importance of distance on trade. We conclude that the increase in the importance of distance over time is related to the substitutability of goods and the level of trade costs, but not to changes in tariffs or freight costs.     

The geography of trade in goods and asset holdings

Gravity models have been widely used to describe bilateral trade in goods. Portes and Rey [Portes, R., Rey, H., 2005. The Determinants of Cross-Border Equity Flows. Journal of International Economics, 65(2), 269-296.] applied this framework to cross-border equity flows and found that distance, which proxies information asymmetries, is a surprisingly very large barrier to cross-border asset trade. We adopt a different point of view and explore the complementarity between bilateral trade in goods and bilateral asset holdings in a simultaneous gravity equations framework. Providing different instruments for both endogenous variables, we show that a 10% increase in bilateral trade raises bilateral asset holdings by 6% to 7%. The reverse causality is also significant, albeit smaller. Controlling for trade, the impact of distance on asset holdings is drastically reduced.     

生物技术创新对世界农产品贸易的影响及我国的对策研究

本文分析了世界各主要国家在生物技术管理方面的政策差异及其原因,分析了生物技术创新对世界农产品贸易的各种潜在和现实的影响,并对未来转基因农产品贸易的形势进行了初步的预测和判断。在此基础上,从短期和长期两个方面提出了今后我国生物技术发展和转基因农产品贸易的政策建议。     

The export intensity of venture capital backed companies

In this study we examine how venture capital (VC) firms influence the export behavior of their investee companies. VC firms perform an important governance function for investee companies by providing monitoring and value-added activities. Drawing on agency theory, the resource-based view of the firm and governance life-cycle theory we hypothesize that the relationship between VC governance resources and investee exporting behavior is moderated by investment stage. Employing a sample of 340 VC-backed firms, our results confirm this hypothesis. Monitoring resources are most effective in promoting export behavior for late-stage ventures and value-added resources in promoting export behavior in early-stage ventures.

熟练工与非熟练工报酬差距扩大的影响因素分析

本文首先基于贸易政策改革对工资差距的现状进行了分析,其次指出了工资差距扩大的内在动因:国际经济的一体化导致了熟练工和非熟练工之间薪酬差距的扩大。本文对此进行了探讨。     

生产率的结构性变动对我国外贸顺差的影响

基于一般均衡模型,本文分析了生产率的结构性变动对我国外贸顺差的影响。从国内来看,我国制造业(出口行业)的生产率增速要高于服务业(进口竞争行业),在"放大效应"的作用下,出口行业产出增速较快,出口规模急剧扩张;从国际来看,我国在制造业方面的生产率增速要高于美国等发达国家,而在服务业方面彼此相差不大,由此引发了人民币实际汇率上升,要素贸易条件改善。上述因素的相互叠加,致使我国出口额超常增长,成为外贸顺差的主要来源。     

论国际贸易的健康视野

国际贸易与健康,这两个似乎不相关的问题,在经济全球化的今天日益受到人们的关注。通常人们只注意国际贸易对健康的正面影响。实际上,贸易自由化在给世界经济发展带来新机遇的同时,也对人民的健康造成了负面影响。目前迫切需要国际、国内和世界贸易组织采取有效的措施,实现二者的协调发展。     

外国直接投资的国际贸易效应:基于我国行业数据的分析

本文在Rybczynski定理的基础上考察了外国直接投资与国际贸易之间替代和互补的关系。在理论分析部分,建立了一个简化的要素特定模型,分析了特定部门初始贸易状态与部门产出以及外国直接投资的关系。在实证分析部分,用我国各行业外国直接投资和贸易的数据对其进行了检验,结果发现外国直接投资对我国各行业贸易的影响都很显著,但是具体的替代和互补关系却因时期不同而不同。     

国际贸易合同适用国际贸易惯例的实证分析

国际私法领域的国际贸易惯例与国际公法领域的国际惯例有着明显的区别。它与国际贸易合同的关系十分密切,无论惯例的适用、修改抑或排除都离不开合同的规定。最新国际贸易惯例有发展当事人意思自治原则的新趋向,允许甚至明确赋予合同当事人有选择、修改或排除适用惯例的权利。本文在探讨国际贸易惯例定义及其与合同关系的基础上,着重论证国际贸易惯例在合同中的实际适用及适用时应当注意的若干问题。     

国际贸易与环境问题溯源及其研究进展

国际贸易把一国的需求和供给与全球市场紧密联系起来,从而对环境产生着深刻的影响。随着经济全球化和国际贸易自由化的纵深发展,关于国际贸易与环境问题的理论探索日益成为国际贸易理论与政策研究领域的热点话题。就一国而言,在大力发展对外贸易、追求贸易自由化收益的时候,会不会陷入国内生态环境恶化的泥潭呢?在保护生态环境的时候,是否又会失去对外贸易的比较优势,削弱对外贸易国际竞争力呢?学术界对此众说纷纭,不同流派从不同角度进行了不同的阐释。本文旨在基于国内外研究文献努力探索国际贸易与环境问题的渊源,归纳分析相关研究成果的进展,从而为研究我国对外贸易的环境效应奠定科学的基础。     

The interplay of international trade,economic growth and income convergence: a brief intellectual history of recent developments

The literature on the interplay of international trade, economic growth, and income convergence across economies has proliferated in the past few decades. The present essay reviews the theoretical advancements and empirical findings in this literature. The focus will be on recent developments with a few glances at the past. The essay also describes new findings and insights into the role of international trade in global income distribution. Ideas for further research are offered throughout the essay.     

中国产业内贸易:基于国家特征的经验研究

产业内贸易目前已成为国际贸易的重要组成部分,并且是反映一国市场应变能力及国际分工地位的重要指标。本文选取了2000—2004年数据对影响中国产业内贸易的国家特征因素进行实证研究。结果显示:需求相似程度、要素禀赋差异、距离及文化背景这三个因素对中国产业内贸易的影响为正;国际直接投资的影响则主要体现为替代效应。     

The trade structure effects of endogenous regional trade agreements

This paper formulates an empirical model to estimate the impact of endogenous new regional trade agreement (RTA) membership on trade structure. The likelihood of new RTA membership is influenced by economic fundamentals such as country size, factor endowments, and trade and investment costs. In a sample of country-pairs covering mainly the OECD economies we find a particularly strong effect of endogenous RTAs on intra-industry trade in a difference-in-difference analysis based on matching techniques. The associated trade volume effects are similar to the ones found in previous research on the effects of endogenous RTAs. Overall, this indicates that RTA membership might reduce inter-industry trade not only in relative but also in absolute terms and that the trade volume effect is due to the associated growth in trade within industries.     

Regional integration and technology diffusion: The case of Uruguay

We examine the impact of trade-related R&D spillovers from the country's partners in the MERCOSUR as well as from the European Union and NAFTA blocs and the rest of the world on total factor productivity for the Uruguayan case at the industry level, for the period 1988–95. Furthermore, we analyse the impact of domestic R&D in Uruguay. There is an evidence of trade-related technology diffusion from MERCOSUR partners to Uruguay, although domestic R&D has apositive impact on productivity. Thus, policies aimed to promote domestic R&D and decreasing trade barriers could enhance Uruguayan manufacturing productivity.