IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/uflotp/15636.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

CARICOM Bilateral Trade: A Preliminary Analysis Using the Gravity Model

Author

Listed:
  • Sandberg, H. Mikael
  • Taylor, Timothy G.
  • Seale, James L., Jr.

Abstract

This paper investigates the determinants of intra-CARICOM bilateral trade and the CARICOM member's trade with the North American and European countries using the gravity model. Seventeen annual cross-sections are estimated for the period 1980 through 1996. Overall, the empirical results indicate that the gravity model has considerable potential to explain intra-CARICOM bilateral trade as well as trade between CARICOM members and non-members. The evidence suggests that both the importer's GDP per capita and the exporter's GDP per capita exert strong positive effects on CARICOM trade levels. Since these effects are found to be statistically the same, we conclude that the gravity model is symmetric with respect to GDP per capita. Further, sharing a common language, colonial ties, or membership in the CARICOM all significantly contribute to larger volumes of bilateral trade, while geographic distance has the opposite effect. Both the exporting and the importing countries' populations have a positive effect on trade levels, indicating that larger economies have a wider production base and thus export and import more than would smaller economies.

Suggested Citation

  • Sandberg, H. Mikael & Taylor, Timothy G. & Seale, James L., Jr., 2002. "CARICOM Bilateral Trade: A Preliminary Analysis Using the Gravity Model," Technical Papers 15636, University of Florida, International Agricultural Trade and Policy Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uflotp:15636
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.15636
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/15636/files/tp020003.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.15636?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. A. Porojan, 2001. "Trade Flows and Spatial Effects: The Gravity Model Revisited," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 265-280, July.
    2. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H, 1985. "The Gravity Equation in International Trade: Some Microeconomic Foundations and Empirical Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(3), pages 474-481, August.
    3. Geraci, Vincent J & Prewo, Wilfried, 1977. "Bilateral Trade Flows and Transport Costs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 59(1), pages 67-74, February.
    4. Thoumi, Francisco E., 1989. "Bilateral trade flows and economic integration in Latin America and the Caribbean," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 421-429, March.
    5. Simon J. Evenett & Wolfgang Keller, 2002. "On Theories Explaining the Success of the Gravity Equation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 281-316, April.
    6. Smith, Pamela J., 1999. "Are weak patent rights a barrier to U.S. exports?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 151-177, June.
    7. Gros, Daniel & Gonciarz, Andrzej, 1996. "A note on the trade potential of Central and Eastern Europe," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 709-721, December.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. David H. Romer & Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1999. "Does Trade Cause Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 379-399, June.
    11. Fritz Breuss & Peter Egger, 1997. "Use and Misuse of Gravity Equations in European Integration Research," WIFO Working Papers 93, WIFO.
    12. Diao, Xinshen & Somwaru, Agapi & Roe, Terry L., 2001. "A Global Analysis Of Agricultural Trade Reform In Wto Member Countries," Bulletins 12984, University of Minnesota, Economic Development Center.
    13. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H, 1989. "The Generalized Gravity Equation, Monopolistic Competition, and the Factor-Proportions Theory in International Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 143-153, February.
    14. Fritz Breuss & Peter Egger, 1999. "How Reliable Are Estimations of East-West Trade Potentials Based on Cross-Section Gravity Analyses?," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 26(2), pages 81-94, June.
    15. Boisso, Dale & Ferrantino, Michael, 1997. "Economic Distance, Cultural Distance, and Openness in International Trade : Empirical Puzzles," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 12, pages 456-484.
    16. Baldwin, Richard E., 1997. "Comment on Gros and Gonciarz," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 187-188, February.
    17. 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.
    18. 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. 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.
    2. Hippolyte, Rommell, 2012. "Determinants of Barbados Exports: Preliminary Analysis using a Gravity Model Approach," MPRA Paper 75321, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Jun 2015.

    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. H. Mikael Sandberg & James Seale & Timothy Taylor, 2006. "History, regionalism, and CARICOM trade: A gravity model analysis," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(5), pages 795-811.
    2. Paas, Tiiu, 2002. "Gravity Approach for Exploring Baltic Sea Regional Integration in the Field of International Trade," Discussion Paper Series 26379, Hamburg Institute of International Economics.
    3. Andrew K. Rose, 1999. "One Money, One Market: Estimating the Effect of Common Currencies on Trade," NBER Working Papers 7432, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Sandberg, H. Mikael & Seale, James L., Jr., 2012. "The Impact of Historical and Regional Networks on Trade Volumes within the Western Hemisphere: A Gravity Analysis across Sectors," 2012 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2012, Birmingham, Alabama 120071, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    5. Zhang, Daowei & Li, Yanshu, 2009. "Forest endowment, logging restrictions, and China's wood products trade," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 46-53, March.
    6. Baier, Scott L. & Bergstrand, Jeffrey H., 2007. "Do free trade agreements actually increase members' international trade?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 72-95, March.
    7. Anderson, James E. & Yotov, Yoto V., 2020. "Short run gravity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    8. Michele Fratianni & Francesco Marchionne, 2012. "Trade Costs and Economic Development," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 88(2), pages 137-163, April.
    9. Simone Juhasz Silva & Douglas Nelson, 2012. "Does Aid Cause Trade? Evidence from an Asymmetric Gravity Model," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 545-577, May.
    10. Michele Fratianni & Francesco Marchionne, 2008. "Heterogeneity In Trade Costs," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 6(48), pages 1-14.
    11. Jean-Philippe Stijns, 2003. "An Empirical Test of the Dutch Disease Hypothesis using a Gravity Model of Trade," International Trade 0305001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Tamaş Anca, 2020. "Why should the gravity model be taught in business education?," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 422-433, July.
    13. Dinçer, Gönül, 2014. "Turkey’s Rising Imports from BRICS: A Gravity Model Approach," MPRA Paper 61979, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Anderson, Michael A. & Smith, Stephen L.S., 2007. "How does history matter? Hysteresis in Canadian trade," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 279-291, December.
    15. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:6:y:2008:i:48:p:1-14 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Paas, Tiiu, 2002. "Gravity approach for exploring Baltic Sea regional integration in the field of international trade," HWWA Discussion Papers 180, Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWA).
    17. Petra Bubáková, 2013. "Gravity Model of International Trade, Its Variables, Assumptions, Problems and Applications [Gravitační model mezinárodní směny, jeho proměnné, předpoklady, problémy a aplikace]," Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2013(2), pages 3-24.
    18. Lionel Fontagné & Michaël Pajot & Jean-Michel Pasteels, 2002. "Potentiels de commerce entre économies hétérogènes : un petit mode d'emploi des modèles de gravité," Economie & Prévision, La Documentation Française, vol. 0(1), pages 115-139.
    19. Roger White & Bedassa Tadesse, 2011. "International Migration and Economic Integration," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14318.
    20. Ms. Katrin Elborgh-Woytek, 2003. "Of Openess and Distance: Trade Developments in the Commonwealth of Independent States, 1993-2002," IMF Working Papers 2003/207, International Monetary Fund.
    21. Tiiu Paas & Egle Tafenau, 2004. "The Baltic Sea Region’s Role in Trade Integration," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, in: Tiiu Paas & Egle Tafenau (ed.), Modelling the Economies of the Baltic Sea Region, edition 1, volume 17, chapter 3, pages 92-115, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    International Relations/Trade;

    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:ags:uflotp:15636. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iatpcus.html .

    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.