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Import Demand Elasticities and Trade Distortions

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Author Info
Hiau Looi Kee (The Development Research Group of the World Bank.)
Alessandro Nicita (The Development Research Group of the World Bank. Nicita is also affiliated with UNCTAD in Geneva.)
Marcelo Olarreaga (The Development Research Group of the World Bank. Olarreaga is also affiliated with the University of Geneva, and CEPR in London.)

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Abstract

This paper provides a systematic estimation of import demand elasticities for a broad group of countries at a very disaggregated level of product detail. We use a semiflexible translog GDP function approach to formally derive import demands and their elasticities, which are estimated with data on prices and endowments. Within a theoretically consistent framework, we use the estimated elasticities to construct Feenstra's (1995) simplification of Anderson and Neary's trade restrictiveness index (TRI). The difference between TRIs and import-weighted tariffs is shown to depend on the tariff variance and the covariance between tariffs and import demand elasticities. Copyright by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Publisher Info
Article provided by MIT Press in its journal The Review of Economics and Statistics.

Volume (Year): 90 (2008)
Issue (Month): 4 (07)
Pages: 666-682
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Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:90:y:2008:i:4:p:666-682

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Anderson, James E & Neary, J Peter, 1992. "Trade Reform with Quotas, Partial Rent Retention, and Tariffs," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 60(1), pages 57-76, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Feenstra, R.C., 1995. "Estimating the Effects of Trade Policy," Papers 95-10, California Davis - Institute of Governmental Affairs.
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  4. Panagariya, Arvind & Shah, Shekhar & Mishra, Deepak, 2001. "Demand elasticities in international trade: are they really low?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 313-342, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Winters, L. Alan, 1984. "Separability and the specification of foreign trade functions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3-4), pages 239-263, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Athukorala, Premachandra & Riedel, James, 1994. "Demand and Supply Factors in the Determination of NIE Exports: A Simultaneous Error-Correction Model for Hong Kong: A Comment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(427), pages 1411-14, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. James E. Anderson & J. Peter Neary, 2004. "Welfare versus Market Access: The Implications of Tariff Structure for Tariff Reform," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 601, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Riedel, James, 1988. "The Demand for LDC Exports of Manufactures: Estimates from Hong Kong," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 98(389), pages 138-48, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. James E. Anderson & J. Peter Neary, 2003. "The Mercantilist Index of Trade Policy," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(2), pages 627-649, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. David E. Weinstein & Christian Broda, 2004. "Globalization And The Gains From Variety," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 327, Econometric Society. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Gallaway, Michael P. & McDaniel, Christine A. & Rivera, Sandra A., 2003. "Short-run and long-run industry-level estimates of U.S. Armington elasticities," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 49-68, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Peter K. Schott, 2004. "Across-product Versus Within-product Specialization in International Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 119(2), pages 646-677, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Marquez, Jaime, 1999. "Long-Period Trade Elasticities for Canada, Japan, and the United States," Review of International Economics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 7(1), pages 102-16, February.
  14. Feenstra, Robert C, 1992. "How Costly Is Protectionism?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 159-78, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Kei-Mu Yi, 2003. "Can Vertical Specialization Explain the Growth of World Trade?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 111(1), pages 52-102, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. James Harrigan, 1996. "Technology, Factor Supplies and International Specialization: Estimating the Neoclassical Model," NBER Working Papers 5722, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Anderson, James E & Neary, J Peter, 1994. "Measuring the Restrictiveness of Trade Policy," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 151-69, May.
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Kee, Hiau Looi & Nicita, Alessandro & Olarreaga, Marcelo, 2006. "Estimating trade restrictiveness indices," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3840, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Zouhon-Bi, Simplice G. & Nielsen, Lynge, 2007. "The Economic Community of West African States : fiscal revenue implications of the prospective economic partnership agreement with the European Union," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4266, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  3. Gawande, Kishore & Hoekman, Bernard, 2006. "Lobbying and agricultural trade policy in the United States," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3819, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Limão, Nuno & Olarreaga, Marcelo, 2005. "Trade Preferences to Small Developing Countries and the Welfare Costs of Lost Multilateral Liberalization," CEPR Discussion Papers 5045, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. Karacaovali, Baybars, 2006. "Productivity matters for trade policy : theory and evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3925, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Baybars Karacaovali & Nuno Limao, 2008. "The Clash of Liberalizations: Preferential versus Multilateral Trade Liberalization in the European Union," Fordham Economics Discussion Paper Series dp2008-02, Fordham University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Hoekman, Bernard & Ozden, Caglar, 2005. "Trade preferences and differential treatment of developing countries : a selective survey," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3566, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  8. Facchini, Giovanni & Olarreaga, Marcelo & Silva, Peri & Willmann, Gerald, 2007. "Substitutability and protectionism: Latin America's trade policy and imports from China and India," Economics working papers 2007,08, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Susumu Imai & Hajime Katayama & Kala Krishna, 2007. "Is Protection Really for Sale? A Survey and Directions for Future Research," Working Papers 1151, Queen's University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Anna Maria Mayda & Chad Steinberg, 2007. "Do South-South Trade Agreements Increase Trade? Commodity-Level Evidence from COMESA," IMF Working Papers 07/40, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Hans P. Lankes & Azim M. Sadikov & Jean-Jacques Hallaert & Dustin Smith & Katrin Elborgh-Woytek, 2006. "Fiscal Implications of Multilateral Tariff Cuts," IMF Working Papers 06/203, International Monetary Fund. [Downloadable!]
  12. James E. Anderson & J. Peter Neary, 2004. "Welfare versus Market Access: The Implications of Tariff Structure for Tariff Reform," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 601, Boston College Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  13. James E. Anderson & J. Peter Neary, 2004. "Welfare vs. Market Access: The Implications of Tariff Structure for Tariff Reform," NBER Working Papers 10730, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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