IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebl/ecbull/eb-19-01114.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Information and Communication Technology and Intra-Regional Trade in the Economic Community of West African States: Ambivalent or Complementary?

Author

Listed:
  • Boniface Ngah Epo

    (University of Yaoundé II)

  • Ronie Bertrand Nguenkwe

    (University of Yaoundé II)

Abstract

This paper analyzes the effect of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on intra-regional trade in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) over the period 1994 to 2014. We use an augmented gravity model which controls for bilateral, exporter-year and importer-year fixed effects. To carry out our estimations, data is obtained from the World Bank, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development as well as the Center for Prospective Studies and International Information (CEPII). The main findings suggest: (i) the presence of both the bilateral and export-year fixed effects; (2) the aggregate ICT index related significantly with intra-regional trade only for importing counties for the Fixed Effect (FE), Random Effect (RE) and Hausman-Taylor (HT) estimates unlike the Poisson pseudo maximum likelihood (PPML) estimates which shows a negative and significant relationship for the exporting country and a positive and significant for the importing country; (3) disaggregated results for the ICT variable-internet mimics those for the aggregate ICT index whereas finding for mobile phone and fix phones rather suggest that the relationship between the ICT and intra-regional trade was positive for both exporting and importing countries. As policy suggestion, we purport that investing in ICT infrastructure that particularly encourage the usage of mobile and fixed phones encourage intra-regional trade for both exporting and importing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Boniface Ngah Epo & Ronie Bertrand Nguenkwe, 2020. "Information and Communication Technology and Intra-Regional Trade in the Economic Community of West African States: Ambivalent or Complementary?," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(2), pages 1397-1412.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-19-01114
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.accessecon.com/Pubs/EB/2020/Volume40/EB-20-V40-I2-P120.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ngepah, Nicholas & Udeagha, Maxwell C., 2018. "African Regional Trade Agreements and Intra-African Trade," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 33(1), pages 1176-1199.
    2. Keith Head & Thierry Mayer, 2013. "What separates us? Sources of resistance to globalization," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1196-1231, November.
    3. Mohammed Shuaibu, 2015. "Does Trade Tariff Liberalisation Matter for Intra-ECOWAS Trade?," International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Campus, Greece (formerly Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology - EMaTTech), vol. 8(1), pages 83-112, August.
    4. Gourieroux, Christian & Monfort, Alain & Trognon, Alain, 1984. "Pseudo Maximum Likelihood Methods: Applications to Poisson Models," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(3), pages 701-720, May.
    5. Gardner, Robert, 1998. "Unobservable individual effects in unbalanced panel data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 39-42, January.
    6. Portugal-Perez, Alberto & Wilson, John S., 2012. "Export Performance and Trade Facilitation Reform: Hard and Soft Infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(7), pages 1295-1307.
    7. Jean-François Brun & Céline Carrère & Patrick Guillaumont & Jaime de Melo, 2015. "Has Distance Died? Evidence from a Panel Gravity Model," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Developing Countries in the World Economy, chapter 13, pages 299-320, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    8. Santos Silva, J.M.C. & Tenreyro, Silvana, 2011. "Further simulation evidence on the performance of the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimator," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 220-222, August.
    9. Krugman, Paul, 1980. "Scale Economies, Product Differentiation, and the Pattern of Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 70(5), pages 950-959, December.
    10. James E. Anderson & Douglas Marcouiller, 2002. "Insecurity And The Pattern Of Trade: An Empirical Investigation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 342-352, May.
    11. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H. & Larch, Mario & Yotov, Yoto V., 2015. "Economic integration agreements, border effects, and distance elasticities in the gravity equation," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 307-327.
    12. I-Hui Cheng & Howard J. Wall, 2005. "Controlling for heterogeneity in gravity models of trade and integration," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 87(Jan), pages 49-63.
    13. Faqin Lin, 2015. "Estimating the effect of the Internet on international trade," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 409-428, April.
    14. Martinez-Zarzoso Inma & Márquez-Ramos Laura, 2008. "The Effect of Trade Facilitation on Sectoral Trade," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-46, September.
    15. Alan V. Deardorff, 2011. "Determinants of Bilateral Trade: Does Gravity Work in a Neoclassical World?," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Robert M Stern (ed.), Comparative Advantage, Growth, And The Gains From Trade And Globalization A Festschrift in Honor of Alan V Deardorff, chapter 24, pages 267-293, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    16. Lirong Liu & Hiranya K. Nath, 2013. "Information and Communications Technology and Trade in Emerging Market Economies," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(6), pages 67-87, November.
    17. Peter Egger, 2002. "An Econometric View on the Estimation of Gravity Models and the Calculation of Trade Potentials," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 297-312, February.
    18. Keith Head & Thierry Mayer, 2013. "Innis Lecture: What separates us? Sources of resistance to globalization," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(4), pages 1196-1231, November.
    19. Uduak Akpan, 2014. "Impact of Regional Road Infrastructure Improvement on Intra-Regional Trade in ECOWAS," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 26(S1), pages 64-76, November.
    20. Simeon Djankov & Caroline Freund & Cong S. Pham, 2010. "Trading on Time," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 166-173, February.
    21. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/443fbihfmj8h58a4ceedn30ogb is not listed on IDEAS
    22. World Bank, 2017. "World Development Indicators 2017," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 26447.
    23. Gaël Raballand, 2003. "Determinants of the Negative Impact of Being Landlocked on Trade: An Empirical Investigation Through the Central Asian Case," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 45(4), pages 520-536, December.
    24. Nicholas Ngepah & Maxwell Chukwudi Udeagha, 2019. "Supplementary Trade Benefits of Multi-Memberships in African Regional Trade Agreements," Journal of African Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(4), pages 505-524, October.
    25. George R. G. Clarke & Scott J. Wallsten, 2006. "Has the Internet Increased Trade? Developed and Developing Country Evidence," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 44(3), pages 465-484, July.
    26. Evdokia Moïsé & Silvia Sorescu, 2013. "Trade Facilitation Indicators: The Potential Impact of Trade Facilitation on Developing Countries' Trade," OECD Trade Policy Papers 144, OECD Publishing.
    27. Anselm Mattes & Philipp Meinen & Ferdinand Pavel, 2012. "Goods Follow Bytes: The Impact of ICT on EU Trade," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1182, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    28. Mohammed Shuaibu, 2015. "Trade Liberalization and Intra-Regional Trade: A Case of Selected ECOWAS Countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 27(1), pages 27-40, March.
    29. Damilola Felix Arawomo & Abdulazeez A. Badejo, 2015. "Extent and drivers of intra-regional trade in food products in ECOWAS," International Journal of Trade and Global Markets, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(4), pages 310-323.
    30. Yongcheol Shin & Laura Serlenga, 2007. "Gravity models of intra-EU trade: application of the CCEP-HT estimation in heterogeneous panels with unobserved common time-specific factors," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 361-381.
    31. Anderson, James E, 1979. "A Theoretical Foundation for the Gravity Equation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 106-116, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kere, Safilidin & Zongo, Amara, 2023. "Digital technologies and intra-African trade," International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 359-383.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Baier, Scott L. & Yotov, Yoto V. & Zylkin, Thomas, 2019. "On the widely differing effects of free trade agreements: Lessons from twenty years of trade integration," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 206-226.
    2. Anderson, James E. & Yotov, Yoto V., 2020. "Short run gravity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    3. Piermartini, Roberta & Yotov, Yoto, 2016. "Estimating Trade Policy Effects with Structural Gravity," School of Economics Working Paper Series 2016-10, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University.
    4. Scott L. Baier & Amanda Kerr & Yoto V. Yotov, 2018. "Gravity, distance, and international trade," Chapters, in: Bruce A. Blonigen & Wesley W. Wilson (ed.), Handbook of International Trade and Transportation, chapter 2, pages 15-78, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    5. John M. Barrios & Pietro A. Bianchi & Helena Isidro, 2020. "Random-Coefficients Logit Demand Estimation with Zero-Valued Market Shares," Working Papers 2020-20, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    6. Michele Fratianni & Francesco Marchionne, 2011. "The Limits to Integration," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume I, chapter 9, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    7. Hanh Vu Thi, 2015. "Essays on the Export Performance of Vietnam/Essais sur la Performance à l'Exportation du Vietnam," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/216765, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Adu, Raymond & Litsios, Ioannis & Baimbridge, Mark, 2022. "ECOWAS single currency: Prospective effects on trade," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    9. Anderson, James E. & Borchert, Ingo & Mattoo, Aaditya & Yotov, Yoto V., 2018. "Dark costs, missing data: Shedding some light on services trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 193-214.
    10. Yoto V. Yotov, 2021. "The Variation of Gravity within Countries (or 15 Reasons Why Gravity Should Be Estimated with Domestic Trade Flows)," CESifo Working Paper Series 9057, CESifo.
    11. John M. Barrios & Pietro A. Bianchi & Helena Isidro & Dhananjay Nanda, 2022. "Boards of a Feather: Homophily in Foreign Director Appointments Around the World," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 1293-1335, September.
    12. Herman, Peter R. & Oliver, Sarah, 2023. "Trade, policy, and economic development in the digital economy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    13. Chung Van Dong & Hoan Quang Truong, 2020. "The determinants of creative goods exports: evidence from Vietnam," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 44(2), pages 281-308, June.
    14. Shumilov, Andrei, 2016. "Особенности Оценивания Гравитационных Моделей Международной Торговли [Estimating Gravity Models of International Trade: A Survey]," MPRA Paper 75371, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. Sushil Kumar & Shahid Ahmed, 2015. "Gravity Model by Panel Data Approach," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 50(4), pages 233-249, November.
    16. Burcu Ozcan, 2018. "Information and communications technology (ICT) and international trade: evidence from Turkey," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(1), pages 93-113, April.
    17. Yoto V. Yotov, 2022. "On the role of domestic trade flows for estimating the gravity model of trade," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(3), pages 526-540, July.
    18. Burcu Ozcan & Hiranya Nath, 2016. "Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and International Trade: Evidence from Turkey," Working Papers 1609, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
    19. Kenichi Kashiwagi & Erraach Yamna & Lamia Arfa & Lokman Zaibet, 2020. "Growing Olive Oil Export and Intra-Industry Trade in Mediterranean Countries: Application of Gravity Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-16, August.
    20. Gert-Jan M. Linders & Henri L.F. de Groot & Raymond J.G.M. Florax & Peter Nijkamp, 2011. "Persistent Distance Decay Effects in International Trade," Chapters, in: Miroslav N. Jovanović (ed.), International Handbook on the Economics of Integration, Volume II, chapter 14, Edward Elgar Publishing.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    C23; O24; F15;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • F4 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-19-01114. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: John P. Conley (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.