IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/jet/dpaper/dpaper808.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Can e-commerce mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on international trade?

Author

Listed:
  • Hayakawa, Kazunobu
  • Mukunoki, Hiroshi
  • Urata, Shujiro

Abstract

This study aims to empirically investigate the role of E-commerce (EC) on the trade impacts of COVID-19. To this end, we estimate gravity equations for bilateral trade among 34 reporting countries and their 145 partner countries during January–August in 2019 and 2020. Our major findings can be summarized as follows. A larger number of confirmed cases or deaths in both importing and exporting countries significantly decreases international trade. However, we found that EC development in importing countries contributes to mitigating this negative effect of COVID-19 on trade while that in exporting countries does not. These results are robust for our use of multiple measures of EC development.

Suggested Citation

  • Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Mukunoki, Hiroshi & Urata, Shujiro, 2021. "Can e-commerce mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 on international trade?," IDE Discussion Papers 808, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    • Handle: RePEc:jet:dpaper:dpaper808
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ir.ide.go.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=52006&item_no=1&attribute_id=22&file_no=1
    File Function: First version, 2021
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alberto Cavallo, 2017. "Are Online and Offline Prices Similar? Evidence from Large Multi-channel Retailers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(1), pages 283-303, January.
    2. Fuchs, Andreas & Kaplan, Lennart & Kis-Katos, Krisztina & Schmidt, Sebastian S. & Turbanisch, Felix & Wang, Feicheng, 2020. "Mask wars: China's exports of medical goods in times of COVID-19," Kiel Working Papers 2161, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    3. Ali Hortaçsu & F. Asís Martínez-Jerez & Jason Douglas, 2009. "The Geography of Trade in Online Transactions: Evidence from eBay and MercadoLibre," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 53-74, February.
    4. Hellmanzik, Christiane & Schmitz, Martin, 2015. "Virtual proximity and audiovisual services trade," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 82-101.
    5. Gomez-Herrera, Estrella & Martens, Bertin & Turlea, Geomina, 2014. "The drivers and impediments for cross-border e-commerce in the EU," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 83-96.
    6. Andreas Lendle & Marcelo Olarreaga & Simon Schropp & Pierre‐Louis Vézina, 2016. "There Goes Gravity: eBay and the Death of Distance," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 126(591), pages 406-441, March.
    7. Liran Einav & Jonathan Levin & Igor Popov & Neel Sundaresan, 2014. "Growth, Adoption, and Use of Mobile E-Commerce," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(5), pages 489-494, May.
    8. Kazunobu Hayakawa & Hiroshi Mukunoki, 2021. "Impacts of Lockdown Policies on International Trade," Asian Economic Papers, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 123-141, Summer.
    9. Biswas, Trina & Kennedy, P. Lynn, 2016. "The Effect of the Internet on Bilateral Trade," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 229994, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    10. Costas Arkolakis, 2010. "Market Penetration Costs and the New Consumers Margin in International Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(6), pages 1151-1199.
    11. Luis Garicano & Steven N. Kaplan, 2001. "The Effects of Business-to-Business E-Commerce on Transaction Costs," NBER Chapters, in: E-commerce, pages 463-485, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Tsutomu Watanabe & Yuki Omori, 2020. "Online Consumption During the COVID-19 Crisis: Evidence from Japan," CARF F-Series CARF-F-487, Center for Advanced Research in Finance, Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo.
    13. Marc J. Melitz, 2003. "The Impact of Trade on Intra-Industry Reallocations and Aggregate Industry Productivity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 71(6), pages 1695-1725, November.
    14. Tsutomu Watanabe & Yuki Omori, 2020. "Online Consumption During the COVID-19 Crisis: Evidence from Japan," Working Papers on Central Bank Communication 023, University of Tokyo, Graduate School of Economics.
    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. Pham Quang Huy & Vu Kien Phuc, 2023. "Big data in relation with business intelligence capabilities and e-commerce during COVID-19 pandemic in accountant’s perspective," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    2. Ando, Mitsuyo & Hayakawa, Kazunobu, 2022. "Impact of COVID-19 on trade in services," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Fodouop Kouam Arthur William, 2022. "Effects of Covid-19 on international trade and cross-border e-commerce live streaming: Evidence from China," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 16(1), pages 133-141.
    4. Mitsuyo Ando & Fukunari Kimura & Kenta Yamanouchi, 2022. "RCEP and International Production Networks," Chapters, in: Fukunari Kimura & Shandre Mugan Thangavelu & Dionisius Narjoko (ed.), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership: Implications, Challenges, and Future Growth of East Asia and ASEAN, chapter 6, pages 141-170, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    5. Jungsuk Kim & Gemma Estrada & Yothin Jinjarak & Donghyun Park & Shu Tian, 2022. "ICT and Economic Resilience during COVID-19: Cross-Country Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-19, November.
    6. Célestin Coquidé & José Lages & Leonardo Ermann & Dima Shepelyansky, 2022. "COVID-19 impact on the international trade," Post-Print hal-03536528, HAL.
    7. Nishant Chadha & Viswanath Pingali & Daniel Sokol, 2023. "Small Businesses and Digital Platforms," IIMA Working Papers WP 2023-09-01, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.

    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. José Anson & Mauro Boffa, 2018. "Consumer Arbitrage in Cross-Border E-commerce," RSCAS Working Papers 2018/17, European University Institute.
    2. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Mukunoki, Hiroshi, 2021. "The impact of COVID-19 on international trade: Evidence from the first shock," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    3. Shin, Sunny Y. & McKenzie, Jordi & Crosby, Paul, 2024. "Cultural affinity and international trade in motion pictures: Empirical evidence using categorised internet search activity," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    4. Xiwei,Zhu & Gokan,Toshitaka, 2023. "Competition between heterogenous online and offline firms," IDE Discussion Papers 888, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    5. Anders Akerman & Edwin Leuven & Magne Mogstad, 2022. "Information Frictions, Internet, and the Relationship between Distance and Trade," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(1), pages 133-163, January.
    6. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Mukunoki, Hiroshi, 2022. "How does additive manufacturing change trade?: evidence from trade in sound recordings," IDE Discussion Papers 848, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    7. Zi Hui Yin & Chang Hwan Choi, 2023. "The effects of China’s cross-border e-commerce on its exports: a comparative analysis of goods and services trade," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 443-474, March.
    8. Volpe Martincus, Christian & Sztajerowska, Monika & Santi, Mariana Belén, 2024. "Consumers and Firms in International Trade," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 13558, Inter-American Development Bank.
    9. Alex Coad & Nestor Duch-Brown, 2017. "Barriers to European cross-border E-commerce," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2017-03, Joint Research Centre.
    10. Julia Bock-Schappelwein & Michael Böheim & Elisabeth Christen & Stefan Ederer & Matthias Firgo & Klaus Friesenbichler & Werner Hölzl & Mathias Kirchner & Angela Köppl & Agnes Kügler & Christine Mayrhu, 2018. "Politischer Handlungsspielraum zur optimalen Nutzung der Vorteile der Digitalisierung für Wirtschaftswachstum, Beschäftigung und Wohlstand," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61256.
    11. Michael Böheim & Elisabeth Christen & Matthias Firgo & Klaus Friesenbichler & Philipp Piribauer, 2018. "Auswirkungen der Digitalisierung auf die Entwicklung von Wirtschaftsräumen," WIFO Monatsberichte (monthly reports), WIFO, vol. 91(12), pages 881-890, December.
    12. Wilson, Chris M., 2016. "Information matters: A theoretical comparison of some cross-border trade barriers," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 52-60.
    13. Hicham Ganga & Javier Alonso & Vincenzo Spiezia & Jan Tscheke, 2018. "Patterns of domestic and cross-border e-commerce in Spain: A gravitational model approach," Working Papers 18/18, BBVA Bank, Economic Research Department.
    14. Sourafel Girma & Yundan Gong & Holger Görg & Zhihong Yu, 2009. "Can Production Subsidies Explain China's Export Performance? Evidence from Firm‐level Data," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 111(4), pages 863-891, December.
    15. Magnus Lodefalk & Fredrik Sjöholm & Aili Tang, 2022. "International trade and labour market integration of immigrants," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(6), pages 1650-1689, June.
    16. Kohn, David & Leibovici, Fernando & Szkup, Michal, 2020. "Financial frictions and export dynamics in large devaluations," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    17. Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Anamaria Diana Sova & Robert Sova, 2024. "The Covid‐19 pandemic and European trade flows: Evidence from a dynamic panel model," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(3), pages 2563-2580, July.
    18. Carsten Eckel & Florian Unger, 2023. "Credit Constraints, Endogenous Innovations, And Price Setting In International Trade," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 64(4), pages 1715-1747, November.
    19. Fontagné, Lionel & Orefice, Gianluca & Piermartini, Roberta & Rocha, Nadia, 2015. "Product standards and margins of trade: Firm-level evidence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 29-44.
    20. Lo Turco, Alessia & Maggioni, Daniela, 2018. "Effects of Islamic religiosity on bilateral trust in trade: The case of Turkish exports," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 947-965.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    COVID-19; E-commerce; Trade; Diseases;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F53 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Agreements and Observance; International Organizations

    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:jet:dpaper:dpaper808. 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: Michitaka Imamitsu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/idegvjp.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.