This paper studies the determinants of the recent proliferation of Specific Trade Concerns raised at the WTO on non‐tariff trade measures (NTMs), with a focus on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and ...technical barriers to trade (TBTs). Even though NTMs are imposed de jure to protect consumers from unhealthy products, they increase trade costs de facto. So, when tariff protection lowers, NTMs become effective barriers to trade and the exporting countries can complain at the dedicated committee at the WTO (STCs). Therefore, we study whether STCs are raised by exporting countries as a consequence of tariff reductions in importing countries, that is when non‐tariff measures become barriers to trade. Using a recent database on STCs over the period 1996–2010, we find empirical evidence that SPS and TBT concerns are raised by exporting country as a consequence of importer's tariff cut.
Stringent Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) are expected to drive exporters out of the markets imposing these hurdles. In addition, more able multi-destination exporters can refocus on TBT-free ...markets and reorient their exports. By matching a database of TBT measures raised as concerns at the WTO (Specific Trade Concerns – STCs), with a firm-level panel of French exporters, we show the complex effects of restrictive TBT measures on the different margins of trade. We show that the negative effect of TBT on export participation is magnified for multi-destination firms, which can divert their exports towards TBT-free destinations. Moreover, we conduct aggregate level estimations to show that the effect of stringent TBTs in reducing export flows is magnified in more homogeneous sectors. Observing the shape of the firm distribution at sectoral level and the aggregate response of export to trade cost, we shed light on the fixed component of the additional cost imposed by TBTs on exporters.
This paper investigates the two‐way relationship between deep integration and production networks trade. We capture deep integration with a set of indices constructed in terms of policy areas covered ...in preferential trade agreements. We estimate an augmented gravity equation to investigate the impact of deep integration on production networks trade. The results show that on average, signing deeper agreements increases production networks trade between member countries by almost 12 percentage points. In addition, the impact of deep integration is higher for trade in automobile parts and information and technology products compared with textile products. To analyse whether higher levels of network trade increase the likelihood of signing deeper agreements, we follow the literature on the determinants of preferential trade agreements. The estimation results show that, after taking into account other PTA determinants, a ten percentage increase in the share of production network trade over total trade increases the depth of an agreement by approximately 6 percentage points. In addition, the probability of signing deeper agreements is higher for country pairs involved in North–South production sharing and for countries belonging to the Asia region.
We instrument export prices with firm level electricity cost shocks and estimate three international price elasticities using firm-level export data: the elasticity of firm exports to export price, ...tariff and real exchange rate shocks. In standard models these three elasticities should be equal. We find that this is far from being the case. The export price elasticity is the highest, around 5, much larger than the exchange rate elasticity. The international elasticity puzzle is therefore worse than previously thought. We also show that exporters absorb one third of tariff changes in their export prices. Because we take into account this reaction of export prices to tariffs, our estimate of the tariff elasticity corrects from this omitted-variable bias.
This paper considers the heterogenous trade effects of restrictive Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) measures on exporters of different sizes, and the channels via which aggregate exports fall: firm ...participation, export values and pricing strategies. We do so by matching a detailed panel of French firm exports to a new database of SPS regulatory measures that have been raised as of concern in the dedicated committees of the WTO. By using specific trade concerns to capture the restrictiveness of product standards, we focus only on standards that are perceived as trade barriers. We analyze their effects on three trade-related outcomes: (i) the probability to export and to exit the export market (the firm-product extensive margin), (ii) the value exported (the firm-product intensive margin), and (iii) export prices. We find that SPS concerns discourage the presence of exporters in SPS-imposing foreign markets. We also find a negative effect of SPS imposition on the intensive margins of trade. These negative effects SPS are attenuated in larger firms.
•Regulatory measures raised as concerns at the WTO are barriers for exporters.•Such measures affect different-sized exporters differently.•Restrictive SPS reduce by 4 per cent the export probability of a firm.•The negative impact of SPS on the extensive margin is reduced for larger players.
This paper provides an empirical analysis of the relationship between preferential trade agreements (PTAs) and bilateral migration flows. Building on the empirical literature on the determinants of ...migration flows, I estimate a modified gravity model to assess the role of PTAs and their content on bilateral migration flows. Using a sample of 29 OECD destination countries over the period 1998-2008, I show a strong positive effect of PTAs on bilateral migration flows. I find that the content of PTAs also matters: when visa-and-asylum and labour market related provisions are included in PTAs, this further stimulates bilateral migration flows. Different estimation strategies, including instrumental variables, are employed to address the potential endogeneity bias problems related to PTAs and their content. Ce travail vise à étudier la relation entre les accords commerciaux préférentiels (et leur contenu) et les entrées de migrants dans 29 pays de destination de l'OCDE sur la période 1998-2008. En utilisant le modèle de gravité, il examine l'effet des ACP sur les tailles des flux migratoires bilatéraux. Je trouve un effet positif des accords commerciaux préférentiels sur les flux migratoires : partager un ACP stimule les flux migratoires entre pays membres de près de 26,7%. Je considère également le contenu des ACP comme un déterminant de la migration, estimant que les dispositions sur les visas, le droit d'asile et l'accès au marché du travail (lorsqu'ils sont inclus dans les ACP) stimulent les flux migratoires bilatéraux.
This data article describes a new dataset on product-level trade elasticity, here defined as the degree of substitutability between varieties, i.e. between products exported by different countries ...into a given destination. The dataset contains trade elasticities for a list of more than 5000 products of the HS 6-digit classification. Trade elasticities computed using alternative sector classifications are provided as well (TIVA, GTAP, WIOD classification), by pooling the product-level observations within each sector. Starting from the prior that the coefficient associated with tariffs – a variable trade cost – corresponds to the import-demand elasticity in a standard CES structural gravity model of bilateral trade, elasticities are recovered from country-pair specific information on applied tariffs and trade. For each HS 6-digit product category we observe the universe of bilateral trade flows between countries, in value, in a given year, and the tariff (preferential or not) applied to each exporter by each importer on the specific product for 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013 and 2016. The tariff elasticity is (minus) the elasticity of substitution across products coming from different origins. Product-specific trade elasticity estimations are crucial for the evaluation of the welfare consequences of trade policies, and for the comparison of the welfare gains from trade for countries at different level of development.
This paper investigates the role of regional trade agreements (RTAs) on bilateral international migration. Building on a gravity model for migration, our econometric strategy controls for the ...multilateral resistance to migration and solves the zero migration flows problem by using a censored quantile regression approach. Further, the endogeneity problem of RTAs in migration settlement is addressed by using instrumental variable censored quantile regression. Our results suggest that the presence of a RTA stimulates the migration stocks among member countries. The pro‐migration effect of RTAs is magnified if the agreement includes also provisions easing bureaucratic procedures for visa and asylum among member countries. Finally, we find an asymmetric effect of RTAs across the quantiles of the distribution of migration settlements.
This paper investigates the effects of immigration flows and their human capital content on per capita GDP variation in 24 OECD host countries. Theoretical models concludes that the effect of ...immigrants in host country's income depends on the human capital content of migrants (Benhabib, 1996); empirically the question is still open and this paper contributes to make light on this. So we propose an empirical estimation on the effects of immigrants and their human capital content on per capita GDP variation. Using a IV model to solve the endogeneity problem we found that high human capital content by immigrants has a positive effect on per capita GDP variation, but it is not enough to fully compensate the overall negative effects of migration on changes in per capita output.
Trade elasticity which varies widely across products is a crucial parameter in evaluating the welfare impacts of changes in trade frictions. We estimate trade elasticities at the product level by ...exploiting the variation in bilateral tariffs for each product category for the universe of country pairs over the 2001 to 2016 period. The predicted trade flows using the product-specific trade elasticities estimated here match the observed post-EPA import between the US and Chile, confirming the accuracy of our estimates.
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