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Domestic Effects of the Pandemic-Induced Container Freight Disruption in a Globalized World

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  • José Pulido

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic severely disrupted the maritime transportation industry, leading to historic surge in container freight rates, which only returned to normal in 2023. In this paper I examine the welfare effects on a particular country, Colombia, of the observed disruption in international freight rates during the 2020-2023 period. For this, I use a quantitative model of international trade with out-of-steady-state transitional dynamics and a global production network, along with an instrumental variable approach to estimate a trade elasticity to freight. I quantify both the direct effects of freight increases on goods transported to and from Colombia, as well as the indirect impact of heightened rates on routes across the rest of the world. The freight disruption caused a welfare loss of 0.4%, attributable solely to the direct effects, as the indirect impact simultaneously enhances Colombia’s relative trade openness, thereby compensating for the increased shipping costs globally. **** RESUMEN: La pandemia de Covid-19 afectó severamente a la industria del transporte marítimo, provocando un aumento histórico en los fletes de contenedores, los cuales retornaron a niveles previos solo en 2023. Este artículo estudia los efectos sobre el bienestar de Colombia del ajuste observado en las tarifas internacionales de fletes de contenedores durante el período 2020-2023. Para ello, se utiliza un modelo cuantitativo de comercio internacional con dinámicas de ajuste fuera del estado estacionario y una red de producción global, junto con una estrategía de variable instrumental para estimar la elasticidad de los flujos comerciales a los fletes. Se cuantifican tanto los efectos directos del aumento en los fletes de los bienes transportados desde y hacia Colombia, asi como el impacto indirecto del incremento en los fletes en las demás rutas internacionales. La disrupción en los fletes causó una pérdida de bienestar del 0,4 % atribuible únicamente a los efectos directos, ya que el aumento en los fletes en las demás rutas internacionales mejora simultáneamente el grado relativo de apertura comercial de Colombia, compensando los efectos de costos.

Suggested Citation

  • José Pulido, 2024. "Domestic Effects of the Pandemic-Induced Container Freight Disruption in a Globalized World," Borradores de Economia 1288, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
  • Handle: RePEc:bdr:borrec:1288
    DOI: 10.32468/be.1288
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Container freight; transportation costs; international trade; Covid-19; Fletes; contenedores; transporte marítimo; comercio;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F62 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Macroeconomic Impacts
    • F17 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Forecasting and Simulation

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