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Trade Facilitation And The Measurement Of Trade Costs

Author

Listed:
  • RICHARD POMFRET

    (School of Economics, University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia)

  • PATRICIA SOURDIN

    (The Johns Hopkins University Bologna Center, Italy;
    School of Economics, University of Adelaide, Australia)

Abstract

As tariffs and non-tariff barriers (NTBs) fall attention has shifted to trade facilitation, both in the WTO and in regional arrangements such as ASEAN or APEC. Economists have, however, been slow to develop convincing measures of trade costs. Commonly cited estimates of the border effect or of trade costs are huge, but flawed. The gap between CIF and FOB values of trade is the best aggregate measure, but suffers from lack of consistent data. This paper reviews evidence in the literature based on US and Australian import data, extends the sample to include data from Chile and Brazil and concludes that inferences about trade costs are fairly robust across various countries' import datasets.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Pomfret & Patricia Sourdin, 2010. "Trade Facilitation And The Measurement Of Trade Costs," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(01), pages 145-163.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:jicepx:v:01:y:2010:i:01:n:s179399331000010x
    DOI: 10.1142/S179399331000010X
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David L. Hummels & Georg Schaur, 2013. "Time as a Trade Barrier," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 2935-2959, December.
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    7. Richard Pomfret & Patricia Sourdin, 2010. "Why do trade costs vary?," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(4), pages 709-730, December.
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    9. Jacks, David S. & Meissner, Christopher M. & Novy, Dennis, 2011. "Trade booms, trade busts, and trade costs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 185-201, March.
    10. repec:idb:brikps:13138 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Piermartini, Roberta & Rousová, Linda, 2008. "Liberalization of air transport services and passenger traffic," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2008-06, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
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    Cited by:

    1. Tongsheng Xu & Xiao Liang, 2017. "Measuring aggregate trade costs and its empirical effects on manufacturing export composition in China," China Finance and Economic Review, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 1-18, December.
    2. Ferrantino, Michael J., 2012. "Using supply chain analysis to examine the costs of non-tariff measures (NTMs) and the benefits of trade facilitation," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2012-02, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    3. Luis Castro & Ben G. Li & Keith E. Maskus & Yiqing Xie, 2016. "Fixed Export Costs and Export Behavior," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(1), pages 300-320, July.
    4. Munasib, Abdul B.A. & Roy, Devesh, 2011. "Nontariff Barriers as Bridge to Cross," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 125025, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    5. Prachi Mishra & Devesh Roy, 2016. "India-Us Trade and Investment: Have They Been Up To Potential?," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 539-567, September.
    6. Gianluca Orefice & Nadia Rocha, 2014. "Deep Integration and Production Networks: An Empirical Analysis," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 106-136, January.
    7. repec:bla:ecinqu:v:51:y:2013:i:3:p:1886-1902 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Thomas Orliac, 2012. "The economics of trade facilitation [L'économie de la facilitation des échanges]," SciencePo Working papers Main tel-03681980, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gravity models; trade costs; trade facilitation; F10; F13; O24;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • O24 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy

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