Exploring the Intensive and Extensive Margins of World Trade

World trade evolves at two margins. Where a bilateral trading relationship already exists it may increase through time (intensive margin). But trade may also increase if a trading bilateral relationship is newly established between countries that have not traded with each other in the past (extensive margin). We provide an empirical dissection of post–World War II growth in manufacturing world trade along these two margins. We propose a “corner-solutions version” of the gravity model to explain movements on both margins. A Tobit estimation of this model resolves the so-called “distance puzzle”. It also finds more convincing evidence than recent literature that WTO-membership enhances trade. JEL no. F12, F15     

Multilateral trade liberalization: Some general equilibrium simulation results for Austria

This paper uses the Michigan Model of World Production and Trade for a quantitative evaluation of the general equilibrium effects of various multilateral trade liberalization scenarios on the Austrian economy. The analysis is motivated by the recent incorporation into the model of an original input-output table for Austria, and by a severe shortage of knowledge on the effects of liberalization on the Austrian economy. In addition to the actual Tokyo-round tariff cuts, the paper concentrates on an almost complete multilateral elimination of post-Tokyo-round protection, including the most important non-tariff trade barriers. The paper also reports on some aggregate price and exchange rate effects, but the primary focus of the analysis will be sectoral adjustment, characterized by changes in employment, per-unit value added, and returns to sector-specific capital.

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Zusammenfassung In Österreich besteht ein gewisses Defizit an systematischen quantitativen Analysen der bestehenden Handelsprotektion bzw. der Effekte, die eine Beseitigung dieser Protektion — etwa im Rahmen der laufenden GATT-Verhandlungsrunde — haben kann. In dieser Arbeit wird das an der University of Michigan (USA) entwickelte Welthandelsmodell für eine solche Analyse verwendet. Mit Hilfe dieses viele Länder umfassenden und empirisch implementierten allgemeinen Gleichgewichtsmodells werden die Auswirkungen verschiedener Szenarien der multilateralen Liberalisierung des internationalen Handels, einschließlich der Beseitigung nichttarifärer Handelshemmnisse, auf die österreichische Volkswirtschaft untersucht. Diese Untersuchung wurde möglich durch die mittlerweile erfolgte Aufnahme der österreichischen Input-Output-Daten in das Michigan-Modell. Sowohl aggregierte als auch sektorale Effekte werden berechnet, wobei die letzteren Aufschluß geben können über allenfalls zu erwartende Anpassungsschwierigkeiten.

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All simulations reported on in this paper were carried out while I was visiting scholar at the University of Michigan in 1987–88. I am deeply indebted to Alan Deardorff and Robert Stern for having me participate in their ongoing research project on General Equilibrium Trade Policy Modeling, for offering me unlimited use of their computational model, and for their continuous support and encouragement. I am also grateful to John Alfaro and Jon Haveman for computational assistance. Thanks are due to Josef Richter and Gottfried Tappeiner for their cooperation in providing the Austrian input-output table in machine readable form.     

Modelling the Extensive Margin of World Trade: New Evidence on GATT and WTO Membership

Recent literature has argued that, contrary to the results of a seminal paper by Rose (2004), General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)/World Trade Organization (WTO) membership does promote bilateral trade, at least for developed economies and if membership includes non‐formal compliance. We review the literature to identify open issues. We then develop a simple extension of the gravity model that gives rise to an extensive country margin of trade separating positive trade from zero trade country pairs. The model is used to identify WTO membership effects at both the intensive and the extensive margins. Empirical estimation of this model, based on Poisson pseudo‐maximum likelihood methods with exporter and importer fixed effects, allows us to readdress the empirical issue of whether GATT/WTO membership does or does not promote trade. We find that GATT membership was successful on the extensive margin of world trade but not on the intensive margin. For the recent WTO episode (1995–2008), we find consistent and robust evidence for a substantial trade‐creating role of membership which is driven primarily by the intensive margin. WTO membership results in higher bilateral trade of about 40 per cent.     

ON THE CONSISTENCY OF REGRESSION‐BASED MONTE CARLO METHODS FOR PRICING BERMUDAN OPTIONS IN CASE OF ESTIMATED FINANCIAL MODELS

In many applications of regression‐based Monte Carlo methods for pricing, American options in discrete time parameters of the underlying financial model have to be estimated from observed data. In this paper suitably defined nonparametric regression‐based Monte Carlo methods are applied to paths of financial models where the parameters converge toward true values of the parameters. For various Black–Scholes, GARCH, and Levy models it is shown that in this case the price estimated from the approximate model converges to the true price.     

Do public budget deficits crowd out private capital expenditures?

Those economists who expected the increasing US budget deficits in recent years to have a negative impact on private investment spending have so far been proved wrong. Hans-Peter Fröhlich provides an analysis of what has happened and examines the interrelation between public sector deficits and private capital expenditures.     

Political problems of the southward extension

The inclusion of Greece, Spain and Portugal in the European Community will result in grave consequences for the old members of the EC as well as for the acceding states. Which are the advantages expected from the southward extension and which problems are likely to arise?