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Trade Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis : Evidence from a New Data Set

Author

Listed:
  • Evenett,Simon J.
  • Fiorini,Matteo
  • Fritz,Johannes
  • Hoekman,Bernard M.
  • Lukaszuk,Piotr
  • Rocha,Nadia
  • Ruta,Michele
  • Santi,Filippo
  • Shingal,Anirudh

Abstract

This paper presents new high-frequency data on trade policy changes targeting medical and food products since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, documenting how countries used trade policy instruments in response to the health crisis on a week-by-week basis. The data set reveals a rapid increase in trade policy activism in February and March 2020 in tandem with the rise in COVID-19 cases, but also uncovers extensive heterogeneity across countries in their use of trade policy and the types of measures used. Some countries acted to restrict exports and facilitate imports, others targeted only one of these margins, and many did not use trade policy at all. The observed heterogeneity suggests numerous research questions on the drivers of trade policy responses to COVID-19, the effects of these measures on trade and prices of critical products, and the role of trade agreements in influencing trade activism.

Suggested Citation

  • Evenett,Simon J. & Fiorini,Matteo & Fritz,Johannes & Hoekman,Bernard M. & Lukaszuk,Piotr & Rocha,Nadia & Ruta,Michele & Santi,Filippo & Shingal,Anirudh, 2020. "Trade Policy Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis : Evidence from a New Data Set," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9498, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9498
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Simon J. Evenett, 2020. "Sicken thy neighbour: The initial trade policy response to COVID‐19," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 828-839, April.
    2. Bernard Hoekman & Anirudh Shingal & Varun Eknath & Viktoriya Ereshchenko, 2022. "COVID‐19, public procurement regimes and trade policy," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 409-429, February.
    3. Espitia,Alvaro & Rocha,Nadia & Ruta,Michele, 2020. "Covid-19 and Food Protectionism : The Impact of the Pandemic and Export Restrictions on World Food Markets," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9253, The World Bank.
    4. Lionel Fontagné & Houssein Guimbard & Gianluca Orefice, 2019. "Product-Level Trade Elasticities," Working Papers 2019-17, CEPII research center.
    5. Fernando Leibovici & Ana Maria Santacreu, 2020. "Shortages of Critical Goods in a Global Economy: Optimal Trade and Industrial Policy," Working Papers 2020-010, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, revised Dec 2023.
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    Cited by:

    1. Das, Sanchita Basu & Sen, Rahul, 2022. "Trade Interdependencies in COVID-19-Related Essential Medical Goods: Role of Trade Facilitation and Cooperation for the Asian Economies," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 666, Asian Development Bank.
    2. Ahn, Soojung & Steinbach, Sandro, 2022. "COVID-19 Trade Actions and Their Impact on the Agricultural and Food Sector," 2022 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting (Virtual), January 7-9, 2022 316789, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Ines Kersan‐Škabić, 2022. "The COVID‐19 pandemic and the internationalization of production: A review of the literature," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 40(2), March.
    4. Goenka, Aditya & Liu, Lin & Nguyen, Manh-Hung, 2021. "Modeling optimal quarantines with waning immunity," TSE Working Papers 21-1206, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Jul 2022.
    5. Qing Zhou & Saiya Li & Yali Zhang, 2023. "Combined Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic and Locust Plague on Grain Production and Trade Patterns in South Asia," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-14, June.
    6. Egger, Peter H. & Masllorens, Gerard & Rocha, Nadia & Ruta, Michele, 2023. "Scarcity nationalism during COVID-19: Identifying the impact on trade costs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    7. Gian Paolo Clemente & Rosanna Grassi & Giorgio Rizzini, 2022. "The effect of the pandemic on complex socio-economic systems: community detection induced by communicability," Papers 2201.12618, arXiv.org.
    8. Bernard Hoekman & Anirudh Shingal & Varun Eknath & Viktoriya Ereshchenko, 2022. "COVID‐19, public procurement regimes and trade policy," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(2), pages 409-429, February.
    9. Evgeny N. Smirnov & Sergey A. Lukyanov, 2021. "Instability of international trade and approaches to optimal regulation," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 12(5), pages 21-31, November.
    10. Alessandro Nicita & Enxhi Tresa, 2022. "Trade policy and trade resilience during the 2020 trade downturn," UNCTAD Working Papers #1, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    11. Michael Klien & Michael Böheim & Matthias Firgo & Andreas Reinstaller & Peter Reschenhofer & Yvonne Wolfmayr, 2021. "Stärkung der Unabhängigkeit des Wirtschaftsstandortes Österreich bei kritischen Produkten," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 67234.
    12. Evenett, Simon J., 2021. "Export curbs on essential goods in the wake of Covid-19 and the least developed countries: Permanent scarring from a temporary outburst," Briefing Papers 19/2021, German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS).
    13. Inna Čábelková & Luboš Smutka & Svitlana Rotterova & Olesya Zhytna & Vít Kluger & David Mareš, 2022. "The Sustainability of International Trade: The Impact of Ongoing Military Conflicts, Infrastructure, Common Language, and Economic Wellbeing in Post-Soviet Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-14, August.
    14. Simona Giglioli & Giorgia Giovannetti & Enrico Marvasi & Arianna Vivoli, 2021. "The Resilience of Global Value Chains during the Covid-19 pandemic: the case of Italy," Working Papers - Economics wp2021_07.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    15. Nadia Doytch & Nishant Yonzan & Ketan Reddy & Filip De Beule, 2021. "Tracking Greenfield FDI During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis by Sectors," Foreign Trade Review, , vol. 56(4), pages 454-475, November.
    16. Wijesinghe, Asanka & Kaushalya, Thilani, 2022. "Caloric consumption efficiency and import dependency: Evidence from Sri Lanka," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 420-438.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International Trade and Trade Rules; Rules of Origin; Trade Policy; Trade and Multilateral Issues; Health and Sanitation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F52 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - National Security; Economic Nationalism
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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