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Trade, Diffusion and the Gains from Openness

Author

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  • Andres Rodriguez-Clare

    (Pennsylvania State University)

Abstract

Building on Eaton and Kortum's (2002) model of Ricardian trade, Alvarez and Lucas (2005) calculate that a small country representing 1% of the world's GDP experiences a gain of 41% as it goes from autarky to frictionless trade with the rest of the world. But the gains from openness, which includes not only trade but all the other ways through which countries interact, are arguably much higher than the gains from trade. This paper presents and then calibrates a model where countries interact through trade and diffusion of ideas, and then quantifies the overall gains from openness and the contribution of trade to these gains. Having the model match the trade data (i.e., the gravity equation) and the observed growth rate is critical for this quantification to be reasonable. It is shown that for this match it is necessary to introduce diffusion and/or knowledge spillovers to the basic model of trade and growth in Eaton and Kortum (2001). The main result of the paper is that, compared to the model without diffusion, the gains from trade are smaller whereas the gains from openness are much larger when diffusion is included in the model.

Suggested Citation

  • Andres Rodriguez-Clare, 2007. "Trade, Diffusion and the Gains from Openness," 2007 Meeting Papers 126, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed007:126
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Trejos, Alberto & Ferreira, Pedro Cavalcanti, 2008. "Trade in intermediate goods and total factor productivity," FGV EPGE Economics Working Papers (Ensaios Economicos da EPGE) 676, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil).
    2. Pedro Cavalcanti Ferreira & Alberto Trejos, 2011. "Gains from Trade and Measured Total Factor Productivity," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 14(3), pages 496-510, July.
    3. Pedro Cavalcanti Ferreira & Alberto Trejos, 2008. "Trade in intermediate goods and total factor productivity," Working Papers 08_18, Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Economia, Administração e Contabilidade de Ribeirão Preto.
    4. Kunal Dasgupta, 2009. "Learning, Knowledge Diffusion and the Gains from Globalization," Working Papers tecipa-364, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    5. Ferreira, Pedro Cavalcanti & Trejos, Alberto, 2010. "Gains from trade and measured total factor productivity," FGV EPGE Economics Working Papers (Ensaios Economicos da EPGE) 711, EPGE Brazilian School of Economics and Finance - FGV EPGE (Brazil).
    6. Dasgupta, Kunal, 2012. "Learning and knowledge diffusion in a global economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 323-336.
    7. Bogmans, C.W.J., 2011. "Can globalization outweigh free-riding?," Serie Research Memoranda 0048, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • F43 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Economic Growth of Open Economies

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