IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/asieco/v75y2021ics1049007821000543.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic return to political support: Evidence from voting on the representation of China in the United Nations

Author

Listed:
  • Yan, Jiaqiang
  • Zhou, Yonghong

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of political support in the United Nations on international trade by taking the votes on the representation of China from 1954 to 1971 as a case study. We document a strongly positive effect of political support toward the People's Republic of China on bilateral trade in the next year. This conclusion is robust when we consider different quantitative methods and sample selections. Two approaches are applied to address the potential endogeneity problem — estimates with the interest similarity with Albania as an instrumental variable and regressions with samples that changed voting attitude. Finally, we find that this positive effect is short-lived. Our empirical results indicate that political relations, reflected by political attitudes in the votes of the United Nations, exert explicit influence on bilateral economic exchange.

Suggested Citation

  • 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).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:75:y:2021:i:c:s1049007821000543
    DOI: 10.1016/j.asieco.2021.101325
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1049007821000543
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.asieco.2021.101325?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    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. Chen, Natalie & Juvenal, Luciana, 2018. "Quality and the Great Trade Collapse," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 59-76.
    3. Alesina, Alberto & Dollar, David, 2000. "Who Gives Foreign Aid to Whom and Why?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 5(1), pages 33-63, March.
    4. Guy Michaels & Xiaojia Zhi, 2010. "Freedom Fries," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(3), pages 256-281, July.
    5. C. Umana Dajud, 2013. "Political Proximity and International Trade," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 283-312, November.
    6. Abidin ÖNCEL & Liudmila LIAPINA, 2018. "The effects of Turkish-Russian political relations on bilateral trade balance: Cointegration and causal analysis," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania - AGER, vol. 0(1(614), S), pages 73-94, Spring.
    7. Voeten, Erik, 2000. "Clashes in the Assembly," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(2), pages 185-215, April.
    8. Chaim Fershtman & Neil Gandal, 1998. "The Effect of the Arab Boycott on Israel: The Automobile Market," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 29(1), pages 193-214, Spring.
    9. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry & Ries, John, 2010. "The erosion of colonial trade linkages after independence," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(1), pages 1-14, May.
    10. Reuven Glick & Alan M. Taylor, 2010. "Collateral Damage: Trade Disruption and the Economic Impact of War," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 102-127, February.
    11. Fuchs, Andreas & Klann, Nils-Hendrik, 2013. "Paying a visit: The Dalai Lama effect on international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 164-177.
    12. Rai, Kul B., 1972. "Foreign Policy and Voting in the UN General Assembly," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 26(03), pages 589-594, June.
    13. Mansfield, Edward D. & Bronson, Rachel, 1997. "Alliances, Preferential Trading Arrangements, and International Trade," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 91(1), pages 94-107, March.
    14. Caballero, Julian & Candelaria, Christopher & Hale, Galina, 2018. "Bank linkages and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 30-47.
    15. Olivier Lamotte, 2012. "Disentangling the Impact of Wars and Sanctions on International Trade: Evidence from Former Yugoslavia," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 54(3), pages 553-579, September.
    16. Volker Nitsch, 2007. "State Visits and International Trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(12), pages 1797-1816, December.
    17. Philippe Martin & Thierry Mayer & Mathias Thoenig, 2008. "Make Trade Not War?," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 75(3), pages 865-900.
    18. Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku, 2019. "The impact of economic sanctions on international trade: How do threatened sanctions compare with imposed sanctions?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 11-26.
    19. Andersen, Thomas Barnebeck & Harr, Thomas & Tarp, Finn, 2006. "On US politics and IMF lending," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(7), pages 1843-1862, October.
    20. Philippe Martin & Thierry Mayer & Mathias Thoenig, 2008. "Make Trade Not War?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(3), pages 865-900.
    21. Christina L. Davis & Andreas Fuchs & Kristina Johnson, 2019. "State Control and the Effects of Foreign Relations on Bilateral Trade," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 63(2), pages 405-438, February.
    22. Daniel Berger & William Easterly & Nathan Nunn & Shanker Satyanath, 2013. "Commercial Imperialism? Political Influence and Trade during the Cold War," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(2), pages 863-896, April.
    23. Gowa, Joanne & Mansfield, Edward D., 1993. "Power Politics and International Trade," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 87(2), pages 408-420, June.
    24. Antoine Berthou & Hélène Ehrhart, 2017. "Trade networks and colonial trade spillovers," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(4), pages 891-923, September.
    25. 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.
    26. Qureshi, Mahvash Saeed, 2013. "Trade and thy neighbor's war," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 178-195.
    27. Morrow, James D. & Siverson, Randolph M. & Tabares, Tressa E., 1998. "The Political Determinants of International Trade: The Major Powers, 1907–1990," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 92(3), pages 649-661, September.
    28. Faqin Lin & Wenshou Yan & Xiaosong Wang, 2017. "The impact of Africa-China's diplomatic visits on bilateral trade," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 64(3), pages 310-326, July.
    29. Barry Eichengreen & Douglas A. Irwin, 1998. "The Role of History in Bilateral Trade Flows," NBER Chapters, in: The Regionalization of the World Economy, pages 33-62, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    30. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    31. Sonal S. Pandya & Rajkumar Venkatesan, 2016. "French Roast: Consumer Response to International Con flict--Evidence from Supermarket Scanner Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(1), pages 42-56, March.
    32. Che, Yi & Du, Julan & Lu, Yi & Tao, Zhigang, 2015. "Once an enemy, forever an enemy? The long-run impact of the Japanese invasion of China from 1937 to 1945 on trade and investment," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 182-198.
    33. Lijphart, Arend, 1963. "The Analysis of Bloc Voting in the General Assembly: A Critique and a Proposal," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(4), pages 902-917, December.
    34. Larry Chavis & Phillip Leslie, 2009. "Consumer boycotts: The impact of the Iraq war on French wine sales in the U.S," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 37-67, March.
    35. Daron Acemoglu & Pierre Yared, 2010. "Political Limits to Globalization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 83-88, May.
    36. 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.
    37. Christina L. Davis & Sophie Meunier, 2011. "Business as Usual? Economic Responses to Political Tensions," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(3), pages 628-646, July.
    38. Nickell, Stephen J, 1981. "Biases in Dynamic Models with Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1417-1426, November.
    39. Pollins, Brian M., 1989. "Does Trade Still Follow the Flag?," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 83(2), pages 465-480, June.
    40. Lin, Faqin & Sim, Nicholas C.S., 2013. "Trade, income and the Baltic Dry Index," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-18.
    41. Heilmann, Kilian, 2016. "Does political conflict hurt trade? Evidence from consumer boycotts," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 179-191.
    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. 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.
    2. Lin, Faqin & Hu, Cui & Fuchs, Andreas, 2016. "How Do Firms Respond to Political Tensions? The Heterogeneity of the Dalai Lama Effect on Trade," Working Papers 0628, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    3. (ed.), 0. "Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16053.
    4. Fuchs, Andreas & Klann, Nils-Hendrik, 2013. "Paying a visit: The Dalai Lama effect on international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 164-177.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. Yaying Liu & Jin Chen & Churen Sun, 2022. "Partnership Diplomacy and China’s Exports," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-22, September.
    8. Li, Yuhua & Jian, Ze & Tian, Wei & Zhao, Laixun, 2021. "How political conflicts distort bilateral trade: Firm-level evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 233-249.
    9. 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.
    10. Zijun Luo & Yonghong Zhou, 2016. "Gainers and Losers of Political Instability: Evidence from the Anti-Japanese Demonstration in China," Working Papers 1608, Sam Houston State University, Department of Economics and International Business.
    11. Fuchs, Andreas, 2016. "China’s Economic Diplomacy and the Politics-Trade Nexus," Working Papers 0609, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    12. 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," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 398, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    13. Fang, Heyang & Zhang, Yifei, 2019. "Political Tensions and Corporate Cross-border Financing: Evidence from the China-U.S. Trade War," MPRA Paper 95494, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Vincenzo Bove & Leandro Elia & Petros G. Sekeris, 2014. "US Security Strategy and the Gains from Bilateral Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(5), pages 863-885, November.
    15. Rangan Gupta & Giray Gozgor & Huseyin Kaya & Ender Demir, 2019. "Effects of geopolitical risks on trade flows: evidence from the gravity model," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 9(4), pages 515-530, December.
    16. Kashcheeva, Mila & Tsui, Kevin K., 2015. "Political oil import diversification by financial and commercial traders," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 289-297.
    17. Li, Haoran & Wan, Xibo & Zhang, Wendong, 2021. "How do Firms Respond to Long-term Political Tensions? Evidence from Chinese Food Importers," ISU General Staff Papers 202106020700001118, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    18. Li, Haoran & Wan, Xibo & Zhang, Wendong, 2020. "How do Firms Respond to Political Tensions? Evidence from Chinese Food Importers," ISU General Staff Papers 202011250800001118, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    19. Afesorgbor, Sylvanus Kwaku, 2019. "The impact of economic sanctions on international trade: How do threatened sanctions compare with imposed sanctions?," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 11-26.
    20. Zhao Chen & Julan Du & Hongli Yang, 2020. "Japanese‐brand auto sales in China under the shadow of oppositional sentiments," Pacific Economic Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 272-305, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political relation; International trade; Political similarity; Vote; Economic return;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F50 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - General
    • N40 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - General, International, or Comparative

    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:eee:asieco:v:75:y:2021:i:c:s1049007821000543. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/asieco .

    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.