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Bias in estimating border- and distance-related trade costs: Insights from an oligopoly model

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  • Coşar, A. Kerem
  • Grieco, Paul L.E.
  • Tintelnot, Felix

Abstract

Regressions of price differences between locations in different countries without controlling for the local market structure and the location of origin will lead to a biased estimate of the impact of national boundaries. We demonstrate that non-classical measurement error in distance and unaccounted mark-up differences across countries are responsible for these biases. In a quantitative exercise based on our previous work (Coşar et al., 2014), we show that the estimated border effect with price difference regressions overstates the true border effect by a factor of two or more.

Suggested Citation

  • Coşar, A. Kerem & Grieco, Paul L.E. & Tintelnot, Felix, 2015. "Bias in estimating border- and distance-related trade costs: Insights from an oligopoly model," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 147-149.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:126:y:2015:i:c:p:147-149
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2014.11.034
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Brander, James & Krugman, Paul, 1983. "A 'reciprocal dumping' model of international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(3-4), pages 313-321, November.
    2. Christian Broda & David E. Weinstein, 2008. "Understanding International Price Differences Using Barcode Data," NBER Working Papers 14017, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Engel, Charles & Rogers, John H, 1996. "How Wide Is the Border?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1112-1125, December.
    4. A. Kerem Cosar & Paul L. E. Grieco & Felix Tintelnot, 2015. "Borders, Geography, and Oligopoly: Evidence from the Wind Turbine Industry," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(3), pages 623-637, July.
    5. Brander, James A., 1981. "Intra-industry trade in identical commodities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1), pages 1-14, February.
    6. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Linda L. Tesar, 2009. "Border Effect or Country Effect? Seattle May Not Be So Far from Vancouver After All," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 219-241, January.
    7. Richard Friberg & Mattias Ganslandt, 2008. "Reciprocal Dumping with Product Differentiation," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(5), pages 942-954, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. Jerónimo Carballo & Alejandro Graziano & Georg Schaur & Christian Volpe Martincus, 2021. "The Effects of Transit Systems on International Trade," CESifo Working Paper Series 9353, CESifo.
    2. Fernando Borraz & Leandro Zipitría, 2016. "Law of One Price, Distance, and Borders," Documentos de trabajo 2016007, Banco Central del Uruguay.
    3. Van Leemput, Eva, 2021. "A passage to India: Quantifying internal and external barriers to trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    4. Cosar,Ahmet Kerem, 2022. "Overland Transport Costs : A Review," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10156, The World Bank.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Border effect; Trade costs; Oligopoly;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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