Who captures the price rent? The impact of European Union trade preferences on export prices

Preferential trade agreements (PTAs) aim at increasing trade flows via the incentives created by preference margins; this is the difference between the preferential tariff and the tariff of the main competitors. However, an additional impact that is often omitted in PTAs evaluations is the possibility that the wedge between preferential and most favoured nation (MFN) tariffs may induce a preference rent that translates into larger prices for preferential exporters. This paper analyses empirically whether preferential exporters capture this preference rent using a unique dataset of imports in the European Union at a highly disaggregated level linked to information on the preferential regime used and the tariff applied. Our main findings suggest that on average an exporter obtains a larger price margin under a preferential regime than under MFN. However, this preference rent is only partially appropriated by exporters with a pass-through coefficient from preference to price margins that oscillates between 0.17 and 0.8, depending on the size of the margin and the type of product.     

China＇s Penetration of the Korean Market： Stylized Facts and Welfare Effect

China＇s penetration of the world market has been impressive. This paper uses highly disaggregated Korean import data （from 1992 to 2008） to examine China ＇s penetration of the Korean market in the context of the composition of value （the extensive and intensive margins） and the product type （homogeneous and differentiated） in trade. The increase in Chinese imports has been attributed to the rapid increase in the import of new products （the extensive margin） and of existing products （the intensive margin）. However, the growth rate of new products decelerated in the 2000s. The growth in the intensive margin was due to quantity, not price. Chinese imports to Korea did not improve over the period in terms of quality. Although Chinese products became cheaper, they were more differentiated over time. Welfare gains were realized through the expanded introduction of new products from China. However, much of the gains from Korea＇s Chinese product import boom were realized in earlier years （1992 -2000） because even though imported products became more differentiated, the increase in the extensive margin was lower in more recent years （2001- 2008）.     

进口贸易的技术外溢效应研究——基于广东的实证检验

本文在前人研究的基础上,进一步探讨进口贸易的技术溢出效应,在进口贸易的外溢模型中引入实际进口渗透率变量,构建一个以全要素生产率为被解释变量,以国(省)内研发投入和进口来源国研发投入为解释变量的回归方程,并尝试引入一个反映进口贸易政策环境变化的虚拟变量,对进口贸易的技术外溢效应进行测度。本文通过采用广东省的相关数据进行实证分析,表明了进口贸易对广东省的技术进步有显著的促进作用。     

Preferential trade agreements and the structure of international trade

In this paper we examine the impact of membership in preferential trade agreements (PTAs) on trade between PTA members. Rather than considering the impact of PTA membership on the volume of trade we consider the impact of membership on the structure of trade. For a large sample of countries over the period 1962–2000 we find that membership in a PTA is associated with an increase in the extent of intra-industry trade. Our results indicate that this is especially the case for PTAs formed between richer countries, with the effects of PTAs between poorer countries found to be smaller.     

PROBLEMS IN EXPANDING JAPAN'S IMPORTS OF MANUFACTURES FROM DEVELOPING ECONOMIES: A SURVEY*

The Japanese economy is now the second largest market economy, with a large trade surplus. And yet, Japan's imports of manufactures have long been very low relative to its GNP, when compared with other industrial countries; its ratio of manufactured imports to GNP was in the range of 2.1–2.7% in the 1980-87 period, as compared with 8.5–10.3% for the industrial countries as a whole or 4.7-7.2% for the United States. The share of developing economies in total imports of manufactures in Japan is about the same as, if not higher than, those for most other industrial countries. If Japan's ratio of manufactured imports to GNP were to rise in the future to approach closer to those of other industrial countries, Japan's imports of manufactures from developing economies could be two to three times what they are today, even if Japan's GNP does not increase at all and the share of developing economies in Japan's manufactured imports does not increase. This paper is an attempt to probe the potential of the Japanese market for imports of manufactures from developing economies in terms of rising ratio of such imports to GNP. The paper explores the reasons why Japan's ratio is exceptionally low, on the basis of existing literature. (a) Japan's ratio of manufactured imports to GNP has remained exceptionally low compared with those for other industrial countries. (b) Japan's ratio of manufactured imports from developing economies to GNP has remained distinctly low despite the recent surge in such imports. (c) If a part of the reason for the low ratio for Japan was a market access problem as often alleged, the problem is not with formal import barriers such as tariffs and formal non-tariff barriers because these barriers in Japan are no higher than in other industrial countries. As for informal import barriers, evidence found indicates that: (i) Administrative guidance and flexibly managed competition policy, which in the past had considerable effects of limiting imports, appear to have declined-in importance, but they still have import-limiting effects in certain areas. (ii) Market access difficulties involving import procedures, product standards, testing and certification requirements, which were enormous in the past, may have also decreased in severity over the last decade, but problems in these areas persist. (iii) There are aspects of the Japanese distribution system and practice that seem to make foreign access to the Japanese market significantly more difficult than the access by Japanese exporters to the markets in other industrial countries. Distribution in Japan suffers from overregulation. (iv) Users of manufactured products in Japan are sensitive to quality, perhaps more so, on the average, than in other industrial countries. Does the recent upsurge in Japan's imports of manufactures suggest that the traditional import behavior of Japan is changing? Japan's manufactured imports measured in yen increased by 18 and 27 percent in 1987 and 1988, respectively, and those coming from developing economies increased even more rapidly. There is also some evidence that price and income elasticities of demand for manufactured imports may have increased recently. These are encouraging, but it remains to be seen whether the trends will continue far enough into the future to bring Japan's import behavior more into line with those of other industrial countries. If they do, implications for the market prospects of manufactured exports from developing economies could be far-reaching. Outstanding questions are: (i) How much of the recent increase in manufactured imports is attributable to the appreciation of the yen (price effect)? How much is attributable to the increase in income or industrial output (income effect)? How much is attributable to removal of formal and informal import barriers effected so far (structural change)? Has consumer taste changed? (ii) Why have Latin American countries not been successful in promoting their exports of manufactures to Japan, when Asian exporters have been so successful? (iii) Up until now, the share of developing economies in Japan's manufactured imports has not been particularly low compared with those for other industrial countries, but is this share likely to fall or rise in the future? (iv) What is the likely impact of recently increased direct investment (DFI) by Japanese manufacturers in developing economies on the imports of their products into Japan?     

产品内分工下制造业服务化与出口二元边际——基于系统GMM的经验研究

采用两步系统GMM估计法,在产品内分工视角下实证考察制造业服务化对出口二元边际的影响,研究发现：（1）服务化对出口市场扩展边际、产品种类扩展边际、价格边际有倒U型作用,对数量边际有抑制作用。（2）服务化对扩展边际、价格边际的倒U型作用和对数量边际的抑制作用在OECD与非OECD国家同时存在。（3）按技术复杂度划分服务部门后发现,低端服务化和高端服务化对扩展边际的影响较为一致,但低端服务化对价格边际的影响不显著,且对数量边际的抑制作用大于高端服务化。（4）产品内分工加强了服务化对价格边际的积极影响,弱化了服务化对数量边际的不利作用,但对服务化与扩展边际关系的影响不显著。深入产品内分工体系,循序渐进推动制造业服务化发展有助于提升高端出口能力,对优化出口结构有重要意义。     

Impacts of additional compliance requirements of regulations on the margins of trade

It is widely known that countries export less to destination countries with greater regulatory burdens. Using finely disaggregated product-level bilateral trade value and quantity data for 98 countries, together with a new data set of detailed information on technical regulations, we answer the following question: If a country faces a greater regulatory burden in a particular destination market, is that country more likely to export a narrower set of goods (the extensive margin) and lower quantities of each good at a higher price (the intensive margin)? We find that beyond the overall trade-diminishing effect, regulatory burdens adversely affect the extensive margin of trade. With respect to the intensive margin, regulatory burdens negatively affect the quantity margin but positively affect the price margin. As the negative effect on the quantity margin is relatively larger in magnitude than the positive effect on the price margin, the result is a negative net impact on the intensive margin.     

The Determinants of Cereal Grain Imports: Sub‐Saharan Africa, 1970–1997

Abstract: During the 1970s cereal imports in sub‐Saharan Africa increased at an annual rate in excess of 20 percent. As a result, it was assumed Africa had two choices: reduce the rate of population growth or become increasingly dependent on food imports and aid. In this paper we investigate the relative importance of food shortfalls versus policy choices that resulted in a taste change away from roots and tubers and coarse grains to imported wheat and rice. Of the 41 countries studied, 17 are still net exporters of food commodities, cereal imports serve to supplement inadequate production of food, but these imports, generally, are not driven by severe nutritional needs within any one country. Rather, the observed cereal imports are primarily wheat and rice flowing into the countries with adequate levels of nutrition available.     

Digital product imports and export product quality: Firm-level evidence from China

Based on the Statistical Classification of the Digital Economy and Its Core Industries (2021) released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China and the information and communications technology products released by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to construct a digital product catalog manually, this paper analyzes the impact of digital product imports on Chinese firms' export product quality using a combined data set of the Annual Survey of Industrial Production and China Custom Records from 2000 to 2013. The results show that digital product imports have a significant positive effect on a firm's export product quality. To address potential endogeneity, this paper uses a series of instrumental variables (IVs) and constructs a multi-timing difference-in-differences model using the firm's first digital product import as exogenous shock, and finds strong supporting evidence. Digital product imports improve the quality of export products through three mechanisms: technology spillovers, productivity, and information-searching capabilities. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that digital product imports have greater impacts on foreign-owned and capital-intensive firms, and digital intermediate imports play a bigger role than do digital non-intermediate imports. The results of this paper have important implications for developing countries that wish to improve the quality of exports through digital trade.     

EXPORT‐LED GROWTH HYPOTHESIS: FURTHER ECONOMETRIC EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH ASIA

This paper examines the export‐led growth (ELG) hypothesis for five South Asian countries through cointegration and multivariate Granger causality tests. Strong support for a long‐run relationship among exports, imports, and real output for all the countries except Sri Lanka were found. Feedback effects between exports and GDP for Bangladesh and Nepal and unidirectional causality from exports to output in the case of Pakistan were found. No causality between these variables was found for Sri Lanka and India, although for India GDP and exports did induce imports. A feedback effect between imports and GDP was also documented for Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal, as well as unidirectional causality from imports to output growth for Sri Lanka. These and other findings are discussed from the standpoint of the export‐led growth hypothesis.     

Financial dependence and exports: Entrants or incumbents?

Using firm-level customs data from 51 countries at different levels of development, we explore differential impacts of access to finance on incumbent and new exporters. Consistent with the literature, firms in sectors more dependent on external finance have higher exports based in financially more developed countries. This effect, however, occurs entirely through entrants, with no effect found for incumbents. The trade response of entrants works primarily through the extensive margin (number of exporters) rather than the intensive margin (average size). We further find access to external finance affects exporter entry rates while it does not affect exporter exit rates.     

Fishing in the same pool: Export strengths and competitiveness of China and Central,Eastern and Southeastern Europe at the EU-15 market

We investigate the impact of the emergence of China as a global competitor on the trade performance of Central, Eastern and Southeastern European (CESEE) countries at the EU-15 market, i.e. the fifteen EU members as of 1995. The main aim of the paper is thus to challenge the common view that China crowds out exporters from European markets. The paper takes a comprehensive approach in terms of empirical methods and data. We analyze export growth, export market shares, extensive and intensive margins and the dynamics in the number of joint trade links (Dynamic Trade Link Analysis), applying highly disaggregated data at the 6-digit HS level over the period 1995–2010. We show that the most contested markets are those for capital goods and transport equipment, product categories where both regions have gained market shares and comparative advantage. We show that the number of trade links at the product level where both regions are active has increased substantially, indicating intensified competition. At the same time hardly any trade links were lost, which points against cut-throat competition between CESEE and China. The decomposition of export growth along the extensive versus the intensive margin shows that in line with the literature, the deepening of already existing trade relationships (i.e. the intensive margin) contributed most strongly to export growth in both regions, whereas the contribution of new trade links (i.e. the extensive margin) had only a minor contribution, apart from the instance of EU accession, which boosted the extensive margin considerably. We further decompose intensive margin growth into demand related structural effects and a supplier related competitiveness effect. Both the CESEE region and China successfully intensified their trade linkages above all as a result of their outstanding competitiveness as shown by the econometric shift-share analysis. While this suggests that both regions pursue a suitable export strategy, further diversification of production towards promising new industries and markets will become increasingly crucial for both, especially in face of projected slower EU-15 market growth in the longer run.     

The Macroeconomic Determinants of Emigrant Remittances

This paper considers the macroeconomic determinants of migrants' remittances to their countries of origin. In contrast to some previous analyses, we find, using data for Egypt, that both exchange rate and interest rate differentials are important in attracting remittance flows through official channels. We also find that imports financed through remittance earnings have a very high income elasticity which suggests either that these imports are consumer durables and luxury goods or that they are undertaken by higher income groups.     

China＇s Import-exchange Rate Linkage： Evidence from the China-bound Exports of Japan and Korea

This paper examines how the China-bound exports of Japan and Korea are related to exchange rates, motivated by the fact that processing trade makes up a large proportion of China＇s trade, and that Japan and Korea are the leading source countries for processing imports. Because processing imports are inputs for exports, the link between such imports and China＇s exchange rates are ambiguous. We estimate export functions that include China＇s RMB real effective exchauge rates （REER） along with bilateral real exchange rates （B RER） using Johausen ＇s cointegration method aud find that the RMB REER significantly affects Japanese and Korean exports to China, even more so than BRER in most cases examined. These two exchange rates appear in the export equations with opposite signs. Subsequently, we use the estimated model to illustrate the importance of accounting for a concurrent change in B RER when analyzing the effects of a hypothetical RMB revaluation on China＇s trade balances despite the apparently weak imports-B RER linkage.     

Economic Development in Asian Countries, and the Effectof Trade in Asia on Employment and Wages in Japan

There is a controversy in the USA and several European countries on whether or not an increase in imports in manufacturing goods from low-wage developing countries has major effects on employment and wages in industrialized countries. This paper examines the issue for Japanese imports, paying a particular attention to the effect of manufacturing imports from Asian countries on employment and wages in Japan. It is found that the effect has not been large to date, but that there could be negative effects on employment and, in particular, wages if imports from China and India were to increase substantially.     

Wage structure effects of international trade in a small open economy: the case of Belgium

This paper investigates the impact of international trade on wage dispersion in a small open economy, Belgium. It is one of the few to: (i) use detailed, matched employer-employee data to compute industry wage premia and disaggregated industry-level panel data to examine the impact of changes in international trade on changes in wage differentials, (ii) simultaneously analyse both imports and exports, and (iii) examine the impact of imports according to the country of origin. Looking at the export side, we find (on the basis of the system generalized method of moments estimator) a positive effect of exports on industry wage premia. The results also show that import penetration has a significant and negative impact on industry wage differentials. However, the detrimental effect of imports on wages is found to be significantly greater when imports originate from low- and middle-income countries than from high-income countries.     

Assessing the trade impacts of the ASEAN + 6 FTA for Lao PDR

Using an unbalanced panel dataset of bilateral exports from 1992 to 2009, we assess the potential trade impacts of the expansion of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ASEAN + 3 and ASEAN + 6 on the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). It is found that bilateral exports are positively related to overall bilateral country size and similarity in country size but inversely related to the factor endowment differences, transportation costs, and import tariffs. Simulation results show that the formation of preferential trade agreements (PTAs) between ASEAN and the Plus‐6 economies (the People's Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea in East Asia; and the other three economies of Australia, India, and New Zealand) could increase bilateral trade between the Lao PDR and ASEAN + 6 by US$1 billion, and ASEAN + 3 by US$981 million. Nonetheless, the trade balance of the Lao PDR is likely to worsen in both the ASEAN + 3 and ASEAN + 6 PTAs because they stimulate more imports than exports.     

Trade effects of European Community preferences to Mediterranean countries: The case of textile and clothing imports

The European Community (EC)'s preferential trade agreements with Mediterranean countries have been subject to little ex post assessment. This paper analyses the preferences' impact on EC textile and clothing imports from Mediterranean countries. The preferred imports grew faster than world trade or OECD imports from developing countries, and as a proportion of EC imports and Mediterranean exports; EC preferences thus appear to have had a significant effect on Mediterranean countries' textile and clothing exports, although some recipients have taken greater advantage than others. Post-1977 EC protectionism in these products further benefited the preference-recipients, who were largely unimpeded by quatitative restrictions.     

International R&;D Spillovers Revisited

Using newly constructed panel data from seventeen OECD countries during 1971–2000, this paper examines the effect of international R&D spillovers via intermediate goods imports on a country’s productivity. Estimation models are built on the model of Coe and Helpman (1995). They are tested and estimated using improved econometric techniques for panel cointegration test and estimation. Estimation results confirm the robust positive effect of international R&D spillovers through the channel of intermediate goods imports. This contradicts recent skepticism about the results of Coe and Helpman (1995) that has been raised with the development of panel data econometrics.     

How do firms respond to political tensions? The heterogeneity of the Dalai Lama Effect on trade

Little is known about the firm-level dynamics behind trade responses to political tensions. This article reinvestigates variation in the travel pattern of the 14th Dalai Lama to study how political tensions affect trading decisions of Chinese importers. Using monthly trade data from China Customs covering imports of machinery and transport equipment from 173 countries over the 2000–2006 period, our empirical results show a significant reduction of imports in response to foreign government members' meetings with the Dalai Lama. In line with the idea that Chinese importers face a trade-off between bearing costs from suboptimal trade transactions and costs from not accommodating the government, this ‘Dalai Lama Effect’ operates at the intensive margin, i.e., via a decrease in the import volume per importer. Examining differential effects across types of firm ownership, we find that the observed effect is driven by state-owned enterprises (and foreign-invested firms) and not by private companies. Moreover, while direct importers temporarily reduce their trade with Dalai Lama-receiving countries, there is some evidence that trade intermediaries fill the void. Overall, we find the effects to be much more short-lived than previously thought.