An empirical examination of the role of vertical product differentiation in north-south trade

Conclusions Our results indicate that the general line of reasoning embodied in the recently developed models of North-South IIT would seem to be valid. The various measures of income and size similarity do seem to affect North-South IIT in the theoretically predicted way. Further, this type of trade is positively impacted by the direction of quality differences and, to a lesser degree, the extent of quality differences. Finally, it would appear that modeling this type of trade on a bilateral basis using data detailed by both industry and country has not only theoretial appeal, but is empirically useful. The results, however, do not address the mechanism which generates these quality differences between the exports of the North and South. The theoretical models use different assumptions concerning the process which generates the quality differences. Such differences may be related to capital abundance as in Falvey [1981]; a Ricardian form of comparative advantage as in Flam and Helpman [1987]; or a complex combination of the two.¹⁵ Some preliminary evidence on the role of quality differences has been given in this paper. The difficult task of explaining what generates these differences is an important issue left unaddressed at this point.     

The impact of ECOWAS on intraregional trade flows: An empirical investigation

There is a scarcity of published statistical analysis that examines the impact of economic integration schemes in Africa. This study fills the gap in the literature. The impact of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on trade flows of its member countries is examined applying an econometric analysis. The parameters of a multivariate trade-flows model are estimated using a panel data of the 1975 to 1991 period. The results suggest that the regional integration scheme has succeeded in increasing trade flows between member countries. The general view in the literature is that African integration schemes have failed to increase trade flows.     

International trade and factor intensity uniformity: An empirical assessment

Zusammenfassung Internationaler Handel und die Einheitlichkeit der Faktorintensit?ten. Eine empirische überprüfung. - Die Vorstellung, da? in allen L?ndern die Technologien identisch sind, ist ein Pfeiler der neoklassischen Theorie des internationalen Handels. Empirische Arbeiten verwenden h?ufig die Produktionsstruktur eines Landes als N?herungswert für die Technologie in allen anderen L?ndern. Dagegen behaupten die Autoren, da? die Annahme einheitlicher Faktorintensit?ten aus empirischen Gründen nicht gerechtfertigt sei und als Grundlage für theoretische Modelle aufgegeben werden sollte. Sie testen, ob die Faktorintensit?ten einheitlich gleich sind, indem sie Input-Output-Daten für die OECD-L?nder verwenden. Dann entwickeln sie- als eine Alternative zu den Modellen, die auf einheitlicher Faktorintensit?t beruhenein dynamisches disaggregiertes ricardianisches Modell, das dazu bestimmt ist, die Beziehung zwischen dem technischen Fortschritt und den Ver?nderungen in der Zusammensetzung des internationalen Handels zu erfassen.

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Résumé Le commerce international et l’uniformité de l’intensité de facteur-Une évaluation empirique. - L’idée de technologies identiques à travers les pays est un élément considérable de la théorie néoclassique du commerce international. Les analyses empiriques souvent assument la structure de production d’un seul pays comme approximation de la technologie dans tous les autres pays. Dans cette étude, les auteurs trouvent que la supposition d’une intensité de facteur uniforme n’est pas justifiée pour des raisons empiriques et devrait être abandonnée comme une base d'un modèle théorique. En utilisant des données input-output des pays de l’OCED, les auteurs font des tests simples de l’uniformité d’intensité de facteur. Comme alternative aux modèles basés sur l’uniformité de l’intensité de facteur, les auteurs développent un modèle Ricardian dynamique et disaggrégé pour saisir la relation entre le progrès technologique et les changements dans la composition du commerce international.

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Resumen Comercio international y uniformidad de la intensidad de factores. Un estudio empirico. - La noción de la existencia de igual tecnología en todos los países es uno de los pilares de la teoría neoclásica del comercio international. En trabajos empíricos a menudo se adopta la estructura de productión de un país para aproximar la tecnología en todos los demás países. En este trabajo se argumenta que el supuesto de la uniformidad de la intensidad de factores (UIF) no se justifica desde el punto de vista empírico y que debería ser abandonado como fundamento de los modelos teóricos. Se llevan a cabo tests simples de la UIF utilizando datos de insumo producto de los países de la OECD. Se desarrolla un modelo ricardiano dinámico y desagregado, dise?ado para capturar la relación entre el cambio tecnológico y los cambios en la compositión del comercio, como una alternativa a los modelos basados en la UIF.

     

Intra-Industry trade and limited producer horizons: An empirical investigation

Intra-Industry Trade and Limited Producer Horizons: An Empirical Investigation. — Following three decades of growing integration, intra-European trade has expanded significantly. Much of the growth has been in intra-industry trade (ITT). ITT appears to be causally correlated with integration, one possible link being through the impact of market integration on producer horizons. This paper applies the limited producer horizons hypothesis as a possible explanation of movements in IIT in an important class of differentiated products. It finds evidence in support of the hypothesis for some, but not all, countries in the EC.     

An empirical analysis of college enrollment in The Netherlands

Summary In this paper we present empirical results on the demand for university training in the Netherlands. We integrate investment and consumption aspects of education and explicitly take account of the existence of capital market imperfections. The model has been estimated using time-series data. We pay attention to the dynamic structure and the nonlinearity of the functional specification. To a large extent the qualitative effects of the variables suggested by the theory on college enrollment correspond to the results. The effect of tuition on enrollment is not significantly different from zero at the 5 percent level. The elasticity of male enrollment for financial aid is substantial, but the elasticity for per capita income is even higher (close to one). The model allows deriving projections of college enrollment and investigating the impact of government policy.The authors gratefully acknowledge comments on an earlier version by S.K. Kuipers and J. Pen.     

R&D溢出对中国制造业全要素生产率的影响——基于产业间、国际贸易和FDI三种溢出渠道的实证检验

本文分别选取参数、半参数与非参数方法中的ATFP法、LP法和DEA法对中国制造业15个子行业的全要素生产率进行了测算及比较,并利用投入产出法计算了产业间R&D溢出,对国际贸易和FDI渠道下的R&D资本溢出进行了衡量。以2000—2009年中国制造业的面板数据为样本实证检验了R&D溢出对全要素生产率的影响。其结果发现:产业间、国际贸易与FDI渠道下R&D溢出对行业全要素生产率均存在显著的正效应,行业自身R&D投资却具有一定的抑制作用。比较三种全要素生产率的测算方法,ATFP法得到的生产率数值存在明显的偏误,而LP和DEA法的测算和估计结果较为一致,能够保证实证结论的稳健性和有效性。     

The real effects of monetary policy in China: An empirical analysis

This paper examines whether institutional changes have affected the interaction between the real economy and monetary policy in China. We find evidence that structural changes in the financial and real sectors over the period of our study did influence the way in which monetary policy affected the real economy. There were an increasing influence of interest rates on output over 1984 to 1997 and non-state owned enterprises were increasingly reacting to monetary policy changes, suggesting that banking sector reforms were having effects, despite the fact that most credit was allocated to the loss-making State sector.     

On the measurement of product quality in intra-industry trade: An empirical test for China

A relatively recent development in the intra-industry trade (IIT) literature is the measurement of the simultaneous import and export of quality-differentiated products, commonly known as vertical and horizontal IIT. A recent paper from Azhar and Elliott [Azhar, A. K. M. & Elliott, R. J. R. (2006), On the Measurement of Product Quality in Intra-Industry Trade, Review of World Economics, Vol 142 no 3, pp 476–495] analyses various approaches for disentangling vertical and horizontal IIT and suggests a complementary methodology. To investigate the robustness and sensitivity of the existing approaches we examine data on the nature of trade flows between China and its East Asian neighbours and show that in 2002 China tended to export low quality versions of its manufactured goods to Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.     

农产品国际贸易争端及其影响因素的实证研究

本文以世贸组织成立以来诉诸WTO争端解决机构(DSB)的农产品争端为主要研究对象,运用Logistic回归模型对农产品贸易争端发生的影响因素进行了实证研究。结果表明,农业资源禀赋特征、国家经济发展水平(即国家经济实力的差异)、国家农业有效政治力量的不同,对农产品贸易争端的发生有显著影响。     

Quality differentiation and factor proportions in international trade: An empirical test of the Swedish case

Review of World Economics -     

Unravelling causation: An empirical analysis of contingent protection in Australia

Conclusion The processes which national AD/CVD regulatory authorities must follow to disentangle the interrelationship betweendiminished domestic industrial performance and the extent which it has beencaused by unfairly traded imports are unclear. The want of a clear theoretical and administrative framework has contributed to a situation whereby, according to Pangratis and Vermulst (1994), the: inadequate guidance provided by the Code(s) combined with the lack of consensus on the economic analyses concerning basic injury-related concepts has resulted in a multitude of national rules and practices concerning the injury-side of the anti-dumping (and countervailing) instrument(s) (p.27).     

Economic openness and trade linkages of China: An empirical study of the determinants of chinese trade intensities from 1993 to 1999

In the 1980s, the Chinese regime took a number of piecemeal steps toward economic liberalization. This process accelerated impressively in the 1990s. This paper reports an empirical study into the determinants of the emerging pattern of Chinese trade (export and import) intensities in the liberalization decade by exploring international trade statistics for 1993 and 1999. Four models are estimated that explain the shifts in the export and import intensities of the trade with different trade partners in the 1993–1999 period. The estimation results reveal differences for export vis-à-vis import trade intentities, as well as for 1993 compared to 1999. For example, the political determinants of trade intensities that were still very important in 1993 have been moved to the background by economic explanations in 1999. JEL no. F14     

Economic situation of non-whites after 1964: An empirical analysis

Conclusion Based on the above mentioned results, it is plausible that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 generally has had a positive effect on the economic situation of non-whites, and on the average, has brought an improvement in the income, unemployment rate, and occupational distribution of non-whites in the United States. Therefore, the hypothesis of this study is supported and has shown that either because of, or concurrently with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, there has been a significant reduction in the propensity to discriminate since 1964.     

The role of direct flights in trade costs

Effects of direct flights on trade costs are investigated using micro price data at the city level. After controlling for local retail/distribution costs, traded input prices are obtained to be further used in the measurement of trade costs across cities through arbitrage conditions. The existence of a direct flight enters trade costs regressions negatively and significantly. The results are shown to be robust to the consideration of many control variables, nonlinearities in the effects of distance on trade costs, possible endogeneity of having direct flights between cities and alternative definitions of the data. The direct flights that are shown to be determined by bilateral air services agreements are further shown to reduce trade costs through an endogeneity analysis; the main policy implications are twofold: (i) international trade policies through aviation services, such as Open Skies Agreements of the US, are alternative trade policy tools to reduce international trade barriers; (ii) direct flights facilitate the integration of internal markets as in the case of European Union.     

Nontariff distortions of international trade: Some preliminary empirical evidence

Zusammenfassung Nichttarif?re Verzerrungen des internationalen Handels: Einige vorl?ufige empirische Befunde. — In dieser Studie werden — mit Hilfe einer Auswahl von Business International zusammengestellter internationaler Preise — Wert?quivalente für nichttarif?re Handelsschranken durch Zerlegung der Preise in ihre Komponenten gesch?tzt. Nachdem l?nderm?\ige Preisunterschiede für eine genau beobachtete Auswahl von Gütern berechnet wurden, werden die gesch?tzten Anteile, die auf Z?lle, Abgaben und andere direkte Steuern, Transportkosten usw. zurückzuführen sind, von diesen Zahlen abgezogen. Der verbleibende unerkl?rte Rest wird dann als Ma\ für die wertm?\ige Inzidenz von nichttarif?ren Handelsschranken interpretiert. In Frankreich und in etwas geringerem Ausma\ in den Vereinigten Staaten zeigen die Ergebnisse, da\ die meisten beobachteten Preisunterschiede auf Steuern, Z?lle und Abgaben (Frankreich) zurückgeführt werden k?nnen. Unerkl?rte Reste in H?he von 30 bis 50 vH für Schweden und Japan deuten dagegen auf sehr bedeutende andere handelsbeschr?nkende Ma\nahmen in diesen L?ndern hin. Da eine gesonderte Untersuchung zeigt, da\ h?here Handelskosten nicht für diese Unterschiede verantwortlich sein k?nnen, würde eine ausführliche Untersuchung der schwedischen und japanischen Systeme nützlich sein, um genau die Art der Faktoren festzustellen, die diese Unterschiede verursachen. Eine gesonderte (Rang-) Korrelationsanalyse der Preisunterschiede mit der H?ufigkeit von nichttarif?ren Beschr?nkungen in der Zusammenstellung des GATT zeigt entweder eine negative oder eine nicht-signifikante Beziehung zwischen diesen Variablen. Dies l?\t darauf schlie\en, da\ die Zusammenstellung des GATT kein unverzerrtes Bild der relativen Bedeutung von nichttarif?ren Hemmnissen in verschiedenen Sektoren geben dürfte.

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Résumé Les distorsions nontarifaires du commerce international: Quelques empiriques evidences préliminaires. — En utilisant un échantillon des prix internationaux compilé par Business International cette étude estime les équivalents ad valorem des obstacles nontarifaires par une décomposition des portions de prix. Après avoir computé les differences de prix à travers les pays pour une sélection des produits rigoureusement controllée nous dérivons de ces données les estimations de la portion réduirable au tarif, aux taxes indirectes et aux autres taxes directes, aux co?ts de transport etc. Puis nous interprétons les quantités restantes pas expliquées comme mesure de l–incidence ad valorem des restrictions nontarifaires du commerce extérieur. Les résultats montrent que pour la France et, dans une mesure plus faible pour les Etats-Unis, la plupart des differences des prix observées peut être expliquée par les taxes, les tarifs et les imp?ts (France). Cependant les quantités restantes et pas expliqueés pour la Suède et le Japon d–une magnitude de 30 à 50 pourcent montrent que des autres mesures de commerce restrictives sont très importantes dans ces pays. Comme une analyse spéciale montre que les co?ts plus hauts du commerce de détail pour la Suède et le Japon ne peuvent pas expliquer les disparités, une investigation détaillée des systèmes de la Suède et du Japon pourrait être utile pour déterminer la nature exacte des facteurs causant ces differences. Une analyse séparée de corrélation des rangs des differences de prix avec la fréquence reportée des obstacles nontarifaires dans l–inventaire de GATT montre une association négative ou non-significative entre ces variables. Ces résultats suggèrent que peut-être l–inventaire des obstacles nontarifaires ne donne pas une illustration sans défiguration de l–importance relative des restrictions nontarifaires dans les secteurs différents.

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Resumen Distorsiones no tarifarias en el comercio internacional: Algunas evidencias empíricas preliminares. — Empleando una muestra de precios internacionales compilados por Business International, se estiman en el presente trabajo equivalentes ad valorem de barrieras no tarifarias a traves de la descomposición de partes de precios. Después de computar diferencias de precios entre países para una selección de productos estrechamente controlados, se descuentan de estas cifras estimaciones de los montos atribuibles a las tarifas, impuestos a la compraventa y otros impuestos directos, costos de transporte, etc. El restante residual no explicado se interpreta entonces como una medida de la incidencia ad valorem de las barrieras no tarifarias del comercio. En Francia y, en menor medida en los EEUU, los resultados muestran, que la mayor parte de las diferencias de precios observadas se pueden atribuir a impuestos, tarifas y derechos (Francia). Sin embargo, residuales no explicados del orden de 30% a 50% en Suecia y Japón sugieren, que otras medidas restrictivas del comercio son muy importantes en estos países. Ya que un análisis separado muestra, que costos de venta al detalle mayores no pueden ser responsables por estas disparidades, parece que una investigación detallada de los sistemas sueco y japonés sería muy útil para determinar la naturaleza exacta de los factores que causan estas diferencias. Un análisis de correlación de rango seperado para las diferencias de precios con la frecuencia de las barrieras no tarifarias del inventario del GATT anteriormente mencionadas, muestra una asociación negativa o no significativa para estas variables. Estos resultados sugieren, que el inventario de barrieras no tarifarias puede no estar dando un cuadro sin sesgos de la importancia relativa de las restricciones no tarifarias en diferentes sectores.