IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eco/journ2/2021-04-36.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Do Political Factors Influence U.S. Crude Oil Imports?

Author

Listed:
  • Jayson Beckman

    (Economic Research Service, 355 E Street SW,Washington, DC 20024, USA)

  • Getachew Nigatu

    (Economic Research Service, 355 E Street SW,Washington, DC 20024, USA)

Abstract

This work uses a gravity model to estimate the determinants of U.S. crude oil imports, introducing two variables tied to the political nature of trade: U.S. arm sales and the level of political freedom in a country. Model results indicate that contiguity is important for U.S. crude oil imports, but trade agreements are not. Being an OPEC member leads to more exports of crude oil to the U.S. These factors combined with the negative relationship with freedom and U.S. crude oil imports, suggests that the U.S. imports a lot of oil from countries that have little cultural and political similarities.

Suggested Citation

  • Jayson Beckman & Getachew Nigatu, 2021. "Do Political Factors Influence U.S. Crude Oil Imports?," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(4), pages 288-297.
  • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ2:2021-04-36
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijeep/article/download/11238/5923
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijeep/article/view/11238/5923
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sergey Mityakov & Heiwai Tang & Kevin K. Tsui, 2013. "International Politics and Import Diversification," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 1091-1121.
    2. Saghaian, Sayed H., 2010. "The Impact of the Oil Sector on Commodity Prices: Correlation or Causation?," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(3), pages 477-485, August.
    3. Piermartini, Roberta & Yotov, Yoto, 2016. "Estimating Trade Policy Effects with Structural Gravity," School of Economics Working Paper Series 2016-10, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University.
    4. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2003. "Gravity with Gravitas: A Solution to the Border Puzzle," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 170-192, March.
    5. Krane, Jim & Medlock, Kenneth B., 2018. "Geopolitical dimensions of US oil security," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 558-565.
    6. Koo, Won W. & Karemera, David & Taylor, Richard, 1994. "A gravity model analysis of meat trade policies," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 10(1), pages 81-88, January.
    7. An, Haizhong & Zhong, Weiqiong & Chen, Yurong & Li, Huajiao & Gao, Xiangyun, 2014. "Features and evolution of international crude oil trade relationships: A trading-based network analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 254-259.
    8. AlKathiri, Nader & Al-Rashed, Yazeed & Doshi, Tilak K. & Murphy, Frederic H., 2017. "“Asian premium” or “North Atlantic discount”: Does geographical diversification in oil trade always impose costs?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 411-420.
    9. Dana Dascal & Konstadinos Mattas & Vangelis Tzouvelekas, 2002. "An analysis of EU wine trade: A gravity model approach," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 8(2), pages 135-147, May.
    10. Hanson, Kenneth & Robinson, Sherman & Schluter, Gerald E., 1993. "Sectoral Effects Of A World Oil Price Shock: Economywide Linkages To The Agricultural Sector," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 18(1), pages 1-21, July.
    11. Barry E. Prentice & Zhaokun Wang & Hector J. Urbina, 1998. "Derived Demand for Refrigerated Truck Transport: A Gravity Model Analysis of Canadian Pork Exports to the United States," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 46(3), pages 317-328, November.
    12. Summary, Rebecca M, 1989. "A Political-Economic Model of U.S. Bilateral Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 179-182, February.
    13. Harri, Ardian & Nalley, Lanier & Hudson, Darren, 2009. "The Relationship between Oil, Exchange Rates, and Commodity Prices," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(2), pages 501-510, August.
    14. Kashcheeva, Mila & Tsui, Kevin K., 2015. "Political oil import diversification by financial and commercial traders," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 289-297.
    15. Prest, Brian C., 2018. "Explanations for the 2014 oil price decline: Supply or demand?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 63-75.
    16. Sakib Bin Amin & Noshin Nawal Audry & Ahmed Farah Ulfat, 2021. "The Nexus Between Oil Price Shock and the Exchange Rate in Bangladesh," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(2), pages 427-435.
    17. Kareem, Fatima O., 2014. "Modeling and Estimation of Gravity Equation in the Presence of Zero Trade: A Validation of Hypotheses Using Africa's Trade Data," 140th Seminar, December 13-15, 2013, Perugia, Italy 163341, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    18. Tarek Tawfik Yousef Alkhateeb & Haider Mahmood & Zafar Ahmad Sultan, 2021. "Role of Oil Price in Fiscal Cyclicality in Saudi Arabia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(2), pages 194-198.
    19. Won W. Koo & David Karemera & Richard Taylor, 1994. "A gravity model analysis of meat trade policies," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 10(1), pages 81-88, January.
    20. Heilmann, Kilian, 2016. "Does political conflict hurt trade? Evidence from consumer boycotts," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 179-191.
    21. Mollick, André Varella & Amin, Md Ruhul, 2021. "Occupancy, oil prices, and stock returns: Evidence from the U.S. airline industry," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    22. Zhang, Hai-Ying & Ji, Qiang & Fan, Ying, 2015. "What drives the formation of global oil trade patterns?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 639-648.
    23. Du, Yingxin & Ju, Jiandong & Ramirez, Carlos D. & Yao, Xi, 2017. "Bilateral trade and shocks in political relations: Evidence from China and some of its major trading partners, 1990–2013," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 211-225.
    24. Endri Endri & Muhamad Rinaldi & Dini Arifian & Bungaran Saing & Aminudin Aminudin, 2021. "Oil Price and Stock Return: Evidence of Mining Companies in Indonesia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(2), pages 110-114.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Pao-Li Chang & Tomoki Fujii & Wei Jin, 2022. "Good Names Beget Favors: The Impact of Country Image on Trade Flows and Welfare," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(10), pages 7555-7596, October.
    2. Aswini Kumar Mishra & Jigar N. Gadhia & N. Kubendran & Makara Sahoo, 2015. "Trade Flows between India and Other BRICS Countries: An Empirical Analysis Using Gravity Model," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 16(1), pages 107-122, February.
    3. Eaton, Derek J.F., 2009. "Trade and Intellectual Property Rights in the Agricultural Seed Sector," 2009 Conference, August 16-22, 2009, Beijing, China 51782, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Zhang, Daowei & Li, Yanshu, 2009. "Forest endowment, logging restrictions, and China's wood products trade," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 46-53, March.
    5. Zhang, Daowei & Nguyen, Ly, 2018. "Tariff and U.S. Paper Products Trade," 2018 Annual Meeting, February 2-6, 2018, Jacksonville, Florida 266771, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    6. (ed.), 0. "Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16053.
    7. Riza Radmehr & Shida Rastegari Henneberry, 2020. "Energy Price Policies and Food Prices: Empirical Evidence from Iran," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-15, August.
    8. Kang, Sang Hoon & Tiwari, Aviral Kumar & Albulescu, Claudiu Tiberiu & Yoon, Seong-Min, 2019. "Exploring the time-frequency connectedness and network among crude oil and agriculture commodities V1," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    9. Tamaş Anca, 2020. "Why should the gravity model be taught in business education?," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 422-433, July.
    10. Jing Li & Hongkui Liu & Qian Xie, 2023. "Bilateral Relations and Exports: Evidence from Google Big Data," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(1), pages 182-210, January.
    11. Yaying Liu & Jin Chen & Churen Sun, 2022. "Partnership Diplomacy and China’s Exports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    12. Yan, Jiaqiang & Zhou, Yonghong, 2021. "Economic return to political support: Evidence from voting on the representation of China in the United Nations," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    13. Jianting Fan & Bo Lu, 2021. "The impact of summit visits on bilateral trade: Empirical evidence from China," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(12), pages 3583-3608, December.
    14. Salahuddin & Javed Iqbal & Misbah Nosheen, 2020. "Economic & Cultural Distance & Regional Integration: Evidence from Gravity Model Using Disaggregated Data for Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 59(2), pages 243-274.
    15. Du, Yingxin & Ju, Jiandong & Ramirez, Carlos D. & Yao, Xi, 2017. "Bilateral trade and shocks in political relations: Evidence from China and some of its major trading partners, 1990–2013," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 211-225.
    16. Qiu, Cheng & Colson, Gregory & Escalante, Cesar & Wetzstein, Michael, 2012. "Considering macroeconomic indicators in the food before fuel nexus," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 2021-2028.
    17. Magdana Kondaridze & Jeff Luckstead, 2023. "Determinants of dairy‐product trade: Do subsidies matter?," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 857-873, September.
    18. J. Sebastián Castillo & Emiliano C. Villanueva & M. Carmen García‐Cortijo, 2016. "The International Wine Trade and Its New Export Dynamics (1988–2012): A Gravity Model Approach," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(4), pages 466-481, November.
    19. Changyuan Luo & Shiyi Sun & Guanghua Wan, 2021. "The impact of political relations on international trade: China–Philippines island dispute as a quasi‐natural experiment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(11), pages 3422-3441, November.
    20. Lin, Faqin & Hu, Cui & Fuchs, Andreas, 2019. "How do firms respond to political tensions? The heterogeneity of the Dalai Lama Effect on trade," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 73-93.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    oil; gravity; structural break; U.S.; politics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q4 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy
    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade

    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:eco:journ2:2021-04-36. 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: Ilhan Ozturk (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.econjournals.com .

    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.