Do Autocratic States Trade Less?
Abstract
Does the political regime of a country influence its involvement in international trade? A theoretical model that predicts that autocracies trade less than democracies is developed, and the predictions of the model are tested empirically using a panel of more than 130 countries for 1962--2000. In contrast to the existing literature, data on the regime type of individual countries are used rather than information about the congruence of the regime type of pairs of trading countries. In line with the model, autocracies are found to import substantially less than democracies, even after controlling for official trade policies. This finding is very stable and does not depend on a particular setup or estimation technique. Copyright The Author 2010. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / the world bank . All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org, Oxford University Press.Download Info
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Bibliographic Info
Article provided by World Bank Group in its journal The World Bank Economic Review.
Volume (Year): 24 (2010)
Issue (Month): 1 (January)
Pages: 38-76
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Keywords:Other versions of this item:
- Aidt, T.S. & Gassebner, M., 2007. "Do Autocratic States Trade Less?," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 0742, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
- Toke S. Aidt & Martin Gassebner, 2007. "Do Autocratic States Trade Less?," KOF Working papers 07-175, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich.
- F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
- F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
- O24 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Trade Policy; Factor Movement; Foreign Exchange Policy
- P45 - Economic Systems - - Other Economic Systems - - - International Linkages
- P51 - Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - Comparative Analysis of Economic Systems
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