IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/iburev/v22y2013i1p126-139.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Heterogeneous effect of ethnic networks on international trade of Thailand: The role of family ties and ethnic diversity

Author

Listed:
  • Duanmu, Jing-Lin
  • Guney, Yilmaz

Abstract

Ethnic networks have been found to have a pro-trade effect in previous research. However, the heterogeneous effect of different ethnicities is under-studied. Drawing on the literature on social structure, this paper attempts to untangle the heterogeneous effect of ethnic networks on international trade using trade data of Thailand. We found that ethnic networks have a positive impact overall on trade, confirming the results of previous studies. However, the magnitude of the positive effect varies across different ethnicities along two dimensions. First, the strength of family ties in the culture of origin accelerates the pro-trade effect of its ethnic networks, suggesting ethnicities with stronger family ties have a cultural preference for trading within their own ethnic community. In comparison, ethnic diversity weakens the positive effect of ethnic networks on trade, suggesting an informational value of diverse ethnic structure in promoting trade between different ethnicities. Our study contributes new evidence of the enduring influence of social and cultural attributes on economic activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Duanmu, Jing-Lin & Guney, Yilmaz, 2013. "Heterogeneous effect of ethnic networks on international trade of Thailand: The role of family ties and ethnic diversity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 126-139.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iburev:v:22:y:2013:i:1:p:126-139
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2012.02.009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593112000273
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2012.02.009?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James A. Dunlevy, 2006. "The Influence of Corruption and Language on the Protrade Effect of Immigrants: Evidence from the American States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(1), pages 182-186, February.
    2. Hansen, Lars Peter, 1982. "Large Sample Properties of Generalized Method of Moments Estimators," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(4), pages 1029-1054, July.
    3. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    4. Paola Giuliano, 2007. "Living Arrangements in Western Europe: Does Cultural Origin Matter?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 5(5), pages 927-952, September.
    5. Sourafel Girma & Zhihao Yu, 2002. "The link between immigration and trade: Evidence from the United Kingdom," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 138(1), pages 115-130, March.
    6. Gilles Duranton & Andres Rodríguez-Pose & Richard Sandall, 2009. "Family Types and the Persistence of Regional Disparities in Europe," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 85(1), pages 23-47, January.
    7. Newey, Whitney K & West, Kenneth D, 1987. "Hypothesis Testing with Efficient Method of Moments Estimation," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 28(3), pages 777-787, October.
    8. Simeon Djankov & Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer, 2002. "The Regulation of Entry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 117(1), pages 1-37.
    9. Christian Dustmann, 1996. "The social assimilation of immigrants," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 37-54, February.
    10. Easterly, William, 2001. "Can Institutions Resolve Ethnic Conflict?," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 49(4), pages 687-706, July.
    11. Ermisch, John & Gambetta, Diego, 2010. "Do strong family ties inhibit trust?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 75(3), pages 365-376, September.
    12. Bowles, Samuel & Gintis, Herbert, 2004. "Persistent parochialism: trust and exclusion in ethnic networks," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 1-23, September.
    13. Ross Levine & Norman Loayza & Thorsten Beck, 2002. "Financial Intermediation and Growth: Causality and Causes," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Leonardo Hernández & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Se (ed.),Banking, Financial Integration, and International Crises, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 031-084, Central Bank of Chile.
    14. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2009. "Cultural Biases in Economic Exchange?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(3), pages 1095-1131.
    15. Alesina, Alberto & Devleeschauwer, Arnaud & Easterly, William & Kurlat, Sergio & Wacziarg, Romain, 2003. "Fractionalization," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 155-194, June.
    16. Alessandra Fogli & Raquel Fernandez, 2009. "Culture: An Empirical Investigation of Beliefs, Work, and Fertility," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 146-177, January.
    17. Ashok Deo Bardhan & Subhrajit Guhathakurta, 2004. "Global Linkages of Subnational Regions: Coastal Exports and International Networks," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(2), pages 225-236, April.
    18. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2006. "Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 23-48, Spring.
    19. Subhayu Bandyopadhyay & Cletus C. Coughlin & Howard J. Wall, 2008. "Ethnic Networks and US Exports," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 199-213, February.
    20. Fearon, James D, 2003. "Ethnic and Cultural Diversity by Country," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 8(2), pages 195-222, June.
    21. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    22. Raquel Fernández & Alessandra Fogli & Claudia Olivetti, 2004. "Mothers and Sons: Preference Formation and Female Labor Force Dynamics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(4), pages 1249-1299.
    23. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano, 2011. "Family Ties And Political Participation," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(5), pages 817-839, October.
    24. Anderson, T. W. & Hsiao, Cheng, 1982. "Formulation and estimation of dynamic models using panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 47-82, January.
    25. Antonios Antoniou & Yilmaz Guney & Krishna Paudyal, 2006. "The Determinants of Debt Maturity Structure: Evidence from France, Germany and the UK," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 12(2), pages 161-194, March.
    26. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano, 2010. "The power of the family," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 93-125, June.
    27. Alesina, Alberto & La Ferrara, Eliana, 2002. "Who trusts others?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 207-234, August.
    28. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    29. Sarah Y. Tong, 2005. "Ethnic Networks in FDI and the Impact of Institutional Development," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 563-580, November.
    30. Cheng, Leonard K. & Kwan, Yum K., 2000. "What are the determinants of the location of foreign direct investment? The Chinese experience," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 379-400, August.
    31. repec:bla:scotjp:v:49:y:2002:i:5:p:507-25 is not listed on IDEAS
    32. Bahry, Donna & Kosolapov, Mikhail & Kozyreva, Polina & Wilson, Rick K., 2005. "Ethnicity and Trust: Evidence from Russia," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 99(4), pages 521-532, November.
    33. Una Okonkwo Osili & Anna L. Paulson, 2008. "Institutions and Financial Development: Evidence from International Migrants in the United States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 90(3), pages 498-517, August.
    34. Joan Costa-Font, 2010. "Family ties and the crowding out of long-term care insurance," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 26(4), pages 691-712, Winter.
    35. Mahoney, Paul G, 2001. "The Common Law and Economic Growth: Hayek Might Be Right," The Journal of Legal Studies, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(2), pages 503-525, Part I Ju.
    36. McCallum, John, 1995. "National Borders Matter: Canada-U.S. Regional Trade Patterns," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 615-623, June.
    37. Don Wagner & Keith Head & John Ries, 2002. "Immigration and the Trade of Provinces," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 49(5), pages 507-525, November.
    38. Freeman, Susan & Lindsay, Sarah, 2012. "The effect of ethnic diversity on expatriate managers in their host country," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 253-268.
    39. Kusum Mundra, 2005. "Immigration and International Trade: A Semiparametric Empirical Investigation," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 65-91.
    40. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    41. James E. Rauch & Vitor Trindade, 2002. "Ethnic Chinese Networks In International Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 116-130, February.
    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. Hatzigeorgiou, Andreas & Lodefalk, Magnus, 2018. "Anti-Migration as a Threat to Internationalization? A Review of the Migration-Internationalization Literature," GLO Discussion Paper Series 287, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Yeboah, Samuel & Boateng Prempeh, Kwadwo, 2023. "Foreign Investment and Local Enterprise: Navigating the Tightrope of FDI Inflows and Homegrown Entrepreneurship," MPRA Paper 118359, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 21 Aug 2023.
    3. Asuamah Yeboah, Samuel, 2023. "Unlocking Sustainable Futures: How FDI-Driven Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Power the SDGs," MPRA Paper 118519, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 03 Sep 2023.
    4. Jennifer Oetzel & Chang Hoon Oh, 2019. "Melting pot or tribe? Country-level ethnic diversity and its effect on subsidiaries," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 2(1), pages 37-61, March.
    5. Leo Sleuwaegen & Peter M. Smith, 2022. "Who purchases cross-border? Individual and country level determinants of the decision to purchase cross-border in the European Single Market," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 749-785, September.
    6. Müller, Benjamin & Ragoussis, Alexandros, 2016. "Minorities and trade: what do we know, and how can policymakers take it into account?," IDOS Discussion Papers 11/2016, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    7. Emmanuel Adegbite & Yilmaz Guney & Frank Kwabi & Suleiman Tahir, 2019. "Financial and corporate social performance in the UK listed firms: the relevance of non-linearity and lag effects," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 105-158, January.
    8. Hatzigeorgiou, Andreas & Lodefalk, Magnus, 2017. "Anti-Migration as a Threat to Internationalization?," Ratio Working Papers 302, The Ratio Institute.
    9. Han, Xiaomin & Goxe, François & Freeman, Susan, 2024. "Internationalization through social networks: A systematic review and future research agenda," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(4).
    10. Dr. Waspodo Tjipto Subroto, 2013. "Entrepreneurship Development Course to Foster Character Merchandise in Support Economic Growth," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(6), pages 762-771, June.
    11. Yang, Xiyan & Lin, Xiaohua, 2022. "Overcoming informal barriers to trade: Immigrant educational attainment vs. network competence," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(1).
    12. Hatzigeorgiou, Andreas & Lodefalk, Magnus, 2018. "Do Migrants Facilitate Internationalization? A Review of the Literature," Working Papers 2018:11, Örebro University, School of Business, revised 19 Dec 2019.

    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. Müller, Benjamin & Ragoussis, Alexandros, 2016. "Minorities and trade: what do we know, and how can policymakers take it into account?," IDOS Discussion Papers 11/2016, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    2. Mertzanis, Charilaos, 2017. "Family ties and access to finance in an Islamic environment," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-24.
    3. Francesco Giavazzi & Fabio Schiantarelli & Michel Serafinelli, 2009. "Culture, Policies and Labor Market Outcomes," Working Papers 353, IGIER (Innocenzo Gasparini Institute for Economic Research), Bocconi University.
    4. Guiso, Luigi & Zingales, Luigi & Sapienza, Paola, 2010. "Civic Capital as the Missing Link," CEPR Discussion Papers 7757, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Alberto Alesina & Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc & Paola Giuliano, 2015. "Family Values And The Regulation Of Labor," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 599-630, August.
    6. Ben Dolman, 2007. "Patterns of Migration, Trade and Foreign Direct Investment across OECD Countries," DEGIT Conference Papers c012_030, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    7. Marina Murat, 2014. "Soft, hard or smart power? International students and investments abroad," Center for Economic Research (RECent) 107, University of Modena and Reggio E., Dept. of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    8. Noel Gaston & Douglas R. Nelson, 2013. "Bridging Trade Theory And Labour Econometrics: The Effects Of International Migration," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 98-139, February.
    9. Marina Murat, 2014. "Soft, hard or smart power? International students and investments abroad," Department of Economics 0043, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    10. Priebe, Jan & Rudolf, Robert, 2015. "Does the Chinese Diaspora Speed Up Growth in Host Countries?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 249-262.
    11. Alesina, Alberto & Giuliano, Paola, 2014. "Family Ties," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 4, pages 177-215, Elsevier.
    12. Alberto Alesina & Paola Giuliano, 2011. "Family Ties And Political Participation," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 9(5), pages 817-839, October.
    13. Frédéric Docquier & Elisabetta Lodigiani, 2010. "Skilled Migration and Business Networks," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 565-588, September.
    14. Alberto Bisin & Thierry Verdier, 2010. "The Economics of Cultural Transmission and Socialization," Post-Print halshs-00754788, HAL.
    15. Arnaud Deseau & Adam Levai & Michèle Schmiegelow, 2019. "Access to Justice and Economic Development: Evidence from an International Panel Dataset," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 2019009, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    16. Alali, Walid Y., 2010. "Impact of Institutions and Policy on Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence," MPRA Paper 115610, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Subhayu Bandyopadhyay & Cletus C. Coughlin & Howard J. Wall, 2008. "Ethnic Networks and US Exports," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(1), pages 199-213, February.
    18. Roger White, 2010. "Migration and International Trade," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13670.
    19. Aziz Nusrate & Aziz Ahmed, 2023. "Recent vs Historical Migrants: A Study on the Canadian Provincial Trade-Migration Nexus," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 14(1), pages 1-33, December.
    20. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/20g3idj0jd9iqosvjjdcbu44lu is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Alberto Alesina & Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc & Paola Giuliano, 2015. "Family Values And The Regulation Of Labor," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 13(4), pages 599-630, August.

    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:eee:iburev:v:22:y:2013:i:1:p:126-139. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/133/description#description .

    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.