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The puzzling persistence of the distance effect on bilateral trade

Author

Listed:
  • Anne-Célia Disdier

    (ECO-PUB - Economie Publique - INRA - Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique - AgroParisTech)

  • Keith Head

    (Sauder School of Business - UBC - University of British Columbia)

Abstract

One of the best-established empirical results in international economics is that bilateral trade decreases with distance. Although well known, this result has not been systematically analyzed before. We examine 1,467 distance effects estimated in 103 papers. Information collected on each estimate allows us to test hypotheses about the causes of variation in the estimates. Our most interesting finding is that the estimated negative impact of distance on trade rose around the middle of the century and has remained persistently high since then. This result holds even after controlling for many important differences in samples and methods.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne-Célia Disdier & Keith Head, 2008. "The puzzling persistence of the distance effect on bilateral trade," Post-Print hal-01172854, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-01172854
    DOI: 10.1162/rest.90.1.37
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    GRAVITY; META-ANALYSE; META-ANALYSIS; TRADE COST;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General

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