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The link between immigration and trade in developing countries

Author

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  • José Vicente Blanes

    (Universidad Pablo de Olavide)

Abstract

International trade can foster economic development. This paper examines the link between immigration from developing countries to OECD countries and their bilateral trade; it also explores some possible mechanism behind this link. It uses a gravity equation for trade augmented by an immigrant stock variable and a set of control variables. The immigrants´ variable enters the estimated equation in different ways depending on immigrants´ relevant characteristics both individual and non individual-specific. Results show that in developing countries there is a positive link between immigration and both exports and imports. We find evidence for the trade transaction cost channel but not for the preference one. We identify the social or ethnic network effect as the mechanism behind this link since immigrants related to business activities are the ones who have a positive effect on bilateral trade.

Suggested Citation

  • José Vicente Blanes, 2010. "The link between immigration and trade in developing countries," Working Papers 10-07, Asociación Española de Economía y Finanzas Internacionales.
    • Handle: RePEc:aee:wpaper:1007
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. José V. Blanes & Joan A. Martín-Montaner, 2006. "Migration Flows and Intra-Industry Trade Adjustments," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 142(3), pages 567-584, October.
    2. 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.
    3. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Lafourcade, Miren & Mayer, Thierry, 2005. "The trade-creating effects of business and social networks: evidence from France," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 1-29, May.
    4. Roger White & Bedassa Tadesse, 2008. "Cultural Distance and the US Immigrant–Trade Link," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 1078-1096, August.
    5. White, Roger & Tadesse, Bedassa, 2008. "Immigrants, cultural distance and U.S. state-level exports of cultural products," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 331-348, December.
    6. William K. Hutchinson, 2002. "Does Ease of Communication Increase Trade? Commonality of Language and Bilateral Trade," Vanderbilt University Department of Economics Working Papers 0217, Vanderbilt University Department of Economics.
    7. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    8. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June.
    9. José V. Blanes, 2005. "Does Immigration Help to Explain Intra-Industry Trade? Evidence for Spain," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 141(2), pages 244-270, July.
    10. 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.
    11. Tadesse, Bedassa & White, Roger, 2008. "Do immigrants counter the effect of cultural distance on trade? Evidence from US state-level exports," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 2304-2318, December.
    12. William K. Hutchinson, 2002. "Does Ease of Communication Increase Trade? Commonality of Language and Bilateral Trade," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 49(5), pages 544-556, November.
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    15. Roger White & Bedassa Tadesse, 2007. "Immigration Policy, Cultural Pluralism And Trade: Evidence From The White Australia Policy," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 489-509, October.
    16. 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.
    17. Shan (Victor) Jiang, "undated". "Immigration, Information, and Trade Margins," Working Papers 2007-16, Department of Economics, University of Calgary, revised 31 Oct 2007.
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    19. repec:bla:scotjp:v:49:y:2002:i:5:p:507-25 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Dunlevy, James A. & Hutchinson, William K., 1999. "The Impact of Immigration on American Import Trade in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 59(4), pages 1043-1062, December.
    21. repec:bla:scotjp:v:49:y:2002:i:5:p:544-56 is not listed on IDEAS
    22. Mark G. Herander & Luz A. Saavedra, 2005. "Exports and the Structure of Immigrant-Based Networks: The Role of Geographic Proximity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(2), pages 323-335, May.
    23. James E. Rauch, 2001. "Business and Social Networks in International Trade," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1177-1203, December.
    24. Gould, David M, 1994. "Immigrant Links to the Home Country: Empirical Implications for U.S. Bilateral Trade Flows," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(2), pages 302-316, May.
    25. Keith Head & John Ries, 1998. "Immigration and Trade Creation: Econometric Evidence from Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 31(1), pages 47-62, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The Link Between Immigration and Trade in Developing Countries
      by Ariel Goldring in Free Market Mojo on 2010-11-11 18:00:28

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Murat Genc & Masood Gheasi & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2012. "The impact of immigration on international trade: a meta-analysis," Chapters, in: Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot & Mediha Sahin (ed.), Migration Impact Assessment, chapter 9, pages 301-337, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. 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).
    3. 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.
    4. Hatzigeorgiou, Andreas & Lodefalk, Magnus, 2017. "Anti-Migration as a Threat to Internationalization?," Ratio Working Papers 302, The Ratio Institute.
    5. R White, 2009. "Immigration, Trade and Product Differentiation," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 14(1), pages 43-64, March.
    6. Mehak Ejaz & Muhammad Ramzan Sheikh & Rana Zafar Hayat & Neelam Asghar Ali, 2022. "Overseas Labour Migration, Remittances, International Trade and Economic Growth Nexus in Pakistan," Journal of Policy Research (JPR), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 8(3), pages 166-175, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International Trade; Migration; Economic Development.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F22 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Migration
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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