The J-Curve and Japan–China commodity trade

Previous studies that have tested the J-Curve phenomenon for Japan or China employed either aggregate trade data between each country and the rest of the world, or aggregate bilateral data between two trade partners. These studies have found no support for the J-Curve. Suspecting that their models could suffer from aggregation bias, in this paper, we disaggregate bilateral trade flows between the two countries and examine trade by 73 industries. We find evidence of the J-Curve phenomenon in 24 industries, a unique finding for trade between Japan and China.     

Exchange rate sensitivity of Japan’s bilateral trade flows

The traditional way of assessing the impact of currency depreciation on the trade balance has been to estimate the elasticity of trade volume to relative prices. To this end, most previous studies used aggregate trade data. To shy away from problems associated with using aggregate data, recent studies have relied on bilateral trade data. Since import and export price data is not available on bilateral level, this study proposes an alternative way of assessing the impact of currency depreciation on bilateral trade flows. The models are applied between Japan and her nine largest trading partners using recent advances in time-series modeling.     

Singapore’s Bilateral Merchandise Trade Linkages with Japan and the United States: Trends,Patterns and Comparisons

This paper analyses and compares trends and patterns in Singapore’s bilateral merchandise trade relations with its two largest trading partners, Japan and the United States (US). Over the period 1976-1992, the analyses reveal that both Japan and the US have been relatively over-represented as Singapore’s trade partners. However, whereas Singapore’s trade with Japan has become more intensive in recent years, that with the US has become less so. Computations reveal that the degree as well as level of Singapore’s intra-industry trade with the US has exceeded that with Japan. Nevertheless, while the degree of Singapore’s intra-industry trade with Japan has been consistently increasing since 1981, bilateral trade with the US since 1987 has become increasingly inter- rather than intra-industry. The important nexus between trade and FDI is also highlighted.     

Singapore's Bilateral Merchandise Trade Linkages with Japan and the United States: Trends,Patterns and Comparisons*

This paper analyses and compares trends and patterns in Singapore's bilateral merchandise trade relations with its two largest trading partners, Japan and the United States (US). Over the period 1976–1992, the analyses reveal that both Japan and the US have been relatively over-represented as Singapore's trade partners. However, whereas Singapore's trade with Japan has become more intensive in recent years, that with the US has become less so. Computations reveal that the degree as well as level of Singapore's intra-industry trade with the US has exceeded that with Japan. Nevertheless, while the degree of Singapore's intra-industry trade with Japan has been consistently increasing since 1981, bilateral trade with the US since 1987 has become increasingly inter- rather than intra-industry. The important nexus between trade and FDI is also highlighted.     

Is Japan's trade (still) different?

Does Japanese trade in manufactured goods differ from the rest-of-the world average and from the US? We use a simple industry-level gravity model and 1981–1998 data to answer this question. We construct a measure of normalized imports by dividing bilateral industry-level imports by the importer's aggregate absorption and the exporter's industry output. We find that Japan imports less than other countries, but also exports less than other countries. Relative to the US, Japanese export performance is half as strong today as it was in the mid-1980s. Bilaterally, Japan is more open to imports from the US than the US is to imports from Japan. This means that the US runs a trade surplus with Japan in normalized imports of manufactured goods. J. Japanese Int. Economies 17 (4) (2003) 507–519.     

The Euro and International Equity Flows

We use a new panel data set on bilateral gross cross-border equity flows between 14 countries. We fit a “gravity model” to these data and a strictly comparable set of data for manufactures trade between these countries. The results are strikingly similar, although the coefficient on the distance variable is lower for equity than for trade flows (but still highly significant). We use the results to throw some light on the likely consequences of unifying the European equity markets.J. Japan. Int. Econ.December 1998,12(4), pp. 406–423. London Business School and CEPR, Sussex Place, Regent's Park, London NW1 4SA, United Kingdom and London School of Economics, London WC2 2AE, United Kingdom.Copyright 1998 Academic Press.Journal of Economic LiteratureClassification Numbers F21, F3.     

The role of innovation and opportunity in bilateral OECD trade performance

This paper investigates the specialization pattern in terms of technology and exports and examines the role of innovation intensity and technological opportunity in determining bilateral trade at the aggregate and sectoral level. Some of the major findings are: At the aggregate level, innovation intensity and technological opportunity has positive and significant impact on bilateral trade performance especially during the 1990s. At the sectoral level, innovation intensity affects bilateral trade performance positively mainly in the high-technology sectors. There is also a positive and significant relationship between technological opportunity and bilateral trade for five of the eighteen sectors, which are the high-technology sectors. JEL no. F14, C31, O33     

Cooperation or Confrontation in U.S.–Japan Trade? Some General Equilibrium Estimates

Using a detailed calibrated general equilibrium model, we evaluate the effects of greater cooperation or confrontation in bilateral trade relations between the U.S. and Japan. Our numerical results indicate that, if a trade war between the two were precipitated, the U.S. would eventually benefit from the mutual imposition of reciprocally optimal tariffs. While this result appears negative for those who advocate free trade, it provides the key to overcoming an important incentive problem of liberalization. Specifically, we find that Japan gains more from U.S. unilateral liberalization than from bilateral liberalization and thus has an incentive to limit its commitment to removing trade barriers. Since the U.S. has a credible threat of retaliation, however, it can bargain with Japan to implement bilateral cooperation. In other words, the strategic environment is neither completely harmonious nor discordant. A credible threat of confrontation can secure the basis of cooperation. J. Japan. Int. Econ. June 1999, 13(2), pp. 119–139. Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan; and Department of Economics, Mills College, Oakland, California 94613, and Centre for Economic Policy Research, London, United Kingdom. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: F13, F14.     

中国与“一带一路”沿线国家双边贸易周期的动态变迁测度

文章基于1996-2017年期间中国与“一带一路”沿线国家进出口贸易增长率年度数据，运用附加结构突变点的非线性马尔科夫区制转移模型，测度中国与沿线国家整体、各区域、各国双边贸易周期的阶段性差异和时变性特征。研究发现：（1）中国与沿线国家双边贸易周期在2008年前后存在明显的结构性差异，在突变点后，中国与沿线国家整体、各区域的双边贸易平均增长率以及高、低平均增长率普遍大幅降低。（2）2008年全球金融危机对各区域的影响程度不同，其中，欧盟区域遭受的冲击相对最深，亚洲非盟区域次之。此外，与联盟区域相比较，非联盟区域抵御双边贸易市场剧烈波动的能力更加有限。（3）中国与“一带一路”沿线国家整体、各区域、各国的双边贸易周期普遍表现出收缩惰性的“亚洲金融危机效应”（1996-2000年）、强势扩张的“WTO效应”（2001-2007年）、宽幅震荡的“全球金融危机效应”（2008-2012年）以及“V型”复苏发展的“‘一带一路’效应”（2013-2017年）。（4）沿线各国双边贸易的动态演化特征存在较强的关联性，同时，沿线各国经历双边贸易扩张以及收缩的时点、持续期、累计时间普遍存在差异。协同性程度指标进一步显示，沿线各国与整体双边贸易周期的协同度普遍较高，且突变点后沿线各国与整体的协同度普遍高于突变点前。     

New Estimates of the United States–China BilateralTrade Balances

The United States and China have vastly different official estimates of the bilateral trade imbalance. The U.S. figures show that the United States had a merchandise trade deficit of US$68.7 billion vis-à-vis China in 1999 whereas the Chinese figures show that China had a merchandise trade surplus of only US$22.4 billion vis-à-vis the United States. There is a difference of US$46.3 billion. Which set of figures is right? It turns out that neither side is completely right. Various factors, such as f.o.b.–c.i.f. adjustments and treatments of re-exports and re-export markups, complicate the measurement of the bilateral trade balance between the United States and China. One important conclusion that emerges is that while U.S. trade statistics may be more reliable than Chinese trade statistics, even they are not completely accurate. By explicitly taking into account the aforementioned factors, the discrepancy between the adjusted U.S. and Chinese data on the bilateral trade balance in 1999 is narrowed from US$46.3 billion to US$4.8 billion, or approximately 10% of the initial figure. Our best estimate for the true U.S.–China bilateral merchandise trade balance for 1999 is US$47.8 billion, in China's favor. If we take into account the trade in services, in which the United States has traditionally enjoyed a surplus, the U.S.–China bilateral trade balance may be estimated at approximately US$45 billion in 1999. Compared with the U.S. trade deficit with Japan (over US$70 billion in 1999), the U.S.–China trade deficit, appropriately adjusted, is still significantly smaller. J. Japan. Int. Econ., March 2001, 15(1), pp. 102–130. Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Cruz, California 95064; and Department of Economics, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-6072. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.Journal of Economic Literature Classification Numbers: F10, F13.     

The Use of Trade Association Disclosures by Investors and Analysts: Evidence from the Semiconductor Industry*

This paper investigates the relation between industry-wide information disclosures by the trade association for the semiconductor industry and both share prices and analyst forecasts. Such disclosures may have little impact on investors and analysts, since prior theoretical research suggests that trade associations may be unable to secure reliable data from firms in an industry. At the same time, such disclosures may be important, since prior empirical research suggests that share prices and analyst forecasts reflect industry-wide earnings effects earlier than firm-specific effects. We document significant stock price movements on release dates of industry Flash Reports by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) each month that contain aggregate industry data on new orders and shipments. The magnitude of the price revisions on Flash Report disclosure dates is positively associated with changes in the numbers disclosed and varies across sample firms in a manner associated with identifiable characteristics of the firms. Further tests indicate that the Flash Report provides mainly forward-looking information on new orders that is linked to firm-specific sales changes and has explanatory power for quarterly stock prices beyond firm-specific earnings. This information is used by security analysts mainly in assessing the persistence of firm-specific quarterly sales changes. Our findings support the hypothesis that the SIA is able to obtain data from firms, compile it into reliable aggregate statistics, and then distribute these statistics in a timely fashion.     

Bilateral Trade in the Asia-Pacific: A Case Study for Australia, USA, Japan and Singapore

This analysis of bilateral trade involves four Asia-Pacific nations (USA, Japan, Singapore and Australia) on a quarterly data set 1977 to 1994. The reduced-form model applied here derives from a structure which accommodates income, real exchange rate and real-balance effects. We find that bilateral balances between these countries are not cointegrated with some potential determinants, in particular real exchange rates. In the short run, appropriately defined, we find that Singapore’s trade with the USA and Japan is influenced by real exchange rates; Australian-Japanese and Australian-US trade is influenced by real income and real-cash-balance effects but not real exchange rates while USA-Japanese bilateral trade is influenced only by real-cash-balance effects. The general conclusion is that real exchange rates have only limited effects on these selected Asia-Pacific bilateral trading patterns, while real-balance and income effects have a greater impact over the short run.     

中日贸易的比较优势与互补性分析

中日双边贸易关系是中日关系的重要组成部分。通过运用贸易结合度指数、显性比较优势指数和贸易互补性指数,对1996年至2005年中日双边贸易的现状和发展趋势、比较优势和贸易互补性进行测算,分析结果表明中国与日本志比较优势上存在较明显差异,中日两国之间的贸易无论在出口上还是在进口上均具有互补性,仍以跨行业贸易为主要特征。加强中日经贸关系有利于两国更好地发挥现有的比较优势,促进两国经济的发展。     

Revaluation of the Chinese Yuan and triad trade: A gravity assessment

The literature had paid little attention to the endogenous nexus between exchange rates and bilateral trade. In this paper, I use a gravity model to investigate the two-way causality between exchange rates and bilateral trade with data from China, Japan, and the United States during the 2002–2007 period. After controlling for the simultaneous bias between exchange rates and bilateral trade, the extensive empirical evidence shows that the revaluation of the Chinese Yuan against the dollar significantly reduced China's exports to the United States but had no significant effects on China's exports to Japan. These findings are robust to different measures, econometric methods, and period coverage.     

Openness to Trade and the Potency of Monetary Policy: How Strong is the Relationship?

Economic theory suggests that an economy's openness to international trade reduces the ability of monetary policy to affect output. Using quarterly data from the 1960:1–1993:4 period for a set of eight countries (Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Africa, the U.K., and the U.S.A.), this article's empirical results support this theoretical prediction: the more open the economy, the smaller the output effects of a given change in the money supply. This finding, robust across all the different specifications and estimation methods examined, has straightforward implications for stabilization policy. Moreover, it suggests that an economy's net benefit from joining a monetary union is increasing with the economy's openness to foreign trade.     

日本FTA/EPA的新发展与中日FTA难以启动的对策

世界经济区域化、一体化正进入以双边自由贸易为主,多层次自由贸易同时发展的新阶段。日本政府修改了"WTO一边倒"的对外贸易战略,对双边自由贸易采取了越来越积极的态度,与各国家和地区缔结FTA/EPA的进程明显加快,日美、日欧FTA也提上了议事日程。相比之下,中日FTA不仅在日本FTA战略中被放在了次要的地位,而且在中国政府主动倡导中日FTA以后,日本政府也没有积极地回应。日本政府对中日FTA的消极态度违背了其发展双边自由贸易的宗旨,不利于中日两国的共同利益,不利于东亚自由贸易区和东亚共同体的发展。中国应该利用中日关系转暖的有利时机,继续倡导和推动中日FTA。     

日本积极推进FTA/EPA的政策措施

日本政府自世纪之交修改WTO一边倒的贸易政策,实施以WTO为中心,同时推进双边自由贸易、地区自由贸易和多边自由贸易的新贸易政策以来,近年来又把自由贸易的重点一步一步地倾向以东亚为中心的双边自由贸易,与美国、欧盟的EPA也提上了议事日程。为此,日本政府在提高FTA/EPA的紧迫感、加快FTA/EPA谈判的同时,还制定EPA行动计划,建立专门的组织机构,加强统一领导和统一协调,进行官产学共同研究,争取国民的理解和支持,积极开展ODA外交,加快农业改革,克服贸易自由化主要的障碍,积极推动了其以东亚为中心的FTA/EPA的迅速发展。     

日本在东亚地区自由贸易协定(FTAs)发展中的政策变化与选择

20世纪90年代后期，在东亚地区自由贸易协定迅速发展，随之日本也改变了在贸易关系中过去更多地依赖于传统的多边途径的做法，渴望通过更多的双边自由贸易协定来建立自己真正的自由贸易框架。从日本选择双边贸易自由化伙伴的经济、贸易和投资标准来看，东亚各国无疑是日本的最佳选择对象。     

Exchange Rates and the Trade Balance for Dynamic Asian Economies—Does the J-Curve Exist for Singapore,Malaysia, and Korea?

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between the real trade balance and the real exchange rate for bilateral trade in merchandise goods between Singapore, Korea, and Malaysia and the USA and Japan on a quarterly basis over the period 1970 to 1996 using the partial reduced form model of Rose and Yellen (1989) derived from the two-country imperfect substitutes model. With the exception of Korean trade with the USA, and in line with recent work using a similar methodology, our findings suggest that the real exchange rate does not have a significant impact on the real trade balance, and for Singapore and Malaysia we can find no persuasive evidence for J-curves. For Korea, however, the data were consistent with some J-curve effects with respect to both Japan and the USA. Moreover, it is possible that for Korea these effects were being masked or muted by small country pricing of exports in foreign currency, but there was no evidence that imports subsequently fell as the lag length on the real exchange rate increased, which would be required to support a strict interpretation of the J-curve.     

Decomposing China–Japan–U.S. trade: Vertical specialization,ownership, and organizational form

We use the US International Trade Commission's uniquely detailed 1995–2007 Chinese Customs data to better understand the pattern of trade between China and its two largest trading partners, Japan and the United States. Our review finds that only a small share of these flows can be characterized as arm's length, one-way trade in final goods. Instead, we find extensive two-way trade, deep vertical specialization, concentration of trade in computer and communication devices, and a prominent role for foreign-invested enterprises. While these characteristics define both bilateral relationships, important differences between the two pairs do emerge, suggesting that trade costs influence the method by which multinationals choose to integrate their production with China. Consequently, we argue that dialogue on East Asian trade liberalization should include the possibility of significant production gains for the US from its inclusion in any regional agreements.