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Comparative Advantage, the Rank-size Rule, and Zipf's Law

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Author Info
Jeroen Hinloopen () (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
Charles van Marrewijk () (Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)

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Abstract

Using a comprehensive international trade data set we investigate empirical regularities (known as Zipf’s Law or the rank-size rule) for the distribution of the interaction between countries as measured by revealed comparative advantage. Using the recently developed estimator by Gabaix and Ibragimov (2006) we find strong evidence in favor of the rank-size rule along the time, country, and sector dimension for three different levels of data aggregation. The estimated power exponents that characterize the distribution of revealed comparative advantage are stable over time but differ between countries and sectors. These differences are related empirically to country and sector characteristics, including population size, GDP, and factor intensities.

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Paper provided by Tinbergen Institute in its series Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers with number 06-100/1.

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Date of creation: 06 Nov 2006
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20060100

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Related research
Keywords: Revealed comparative advantage; Balassa index; rank-size rule; Zipf’s Law; power law; Pareto distribution;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: General - - - Estimation
C33 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models; Multiple Variables - - - Models with Panel Data
F1 - International Economics - - Trade
L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
O5 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies
R12 - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Gabaix, Xavier & Ioannides, Yannis M., 2004. "The evolution of city size distributions," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: J. V. Henderson & J. F. Thisse (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 53, pages 2341-2378 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Xavier Gabaix & Rustam Ibragimov, 2006. "Log(Rank-1/2): A Simple Way to Improve the OLS Estimation of Tail Exponents," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 2106, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  3. Duncan Black & Vernon Henderson, 2003. "Urban evolution in the USA," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(4), pages 343-372, October.
  4. Simon J. Evenett & Wolfgang Keller, 1998. "On Theories Explaining the Success of the Gravity Equation," NBER Working Papers 6529, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Imre Fert– & L. J. Hubbard, 2003. "Revealed Comparative Advantage and Competitiveness in Hungarian Agri-Food Sectors," The World Economy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 26(2), pages 247-259, 02. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Jan Eeckhout, 2004. "Gibrat's Law for (All) Cities," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1429-1451, December. [Downloadable!]
  7. Masahisa Fujita & Paul Krugman & Anthony J. Venables, 2001. "The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions, and International Trade," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262561476.
  8. Arye Hillman, 1980. "Observations on the relation between “revealed comparative advantage” and comparative advantage as indicated by pre-trade relative prices," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer, vol. 116(2), pages 315-321, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Harry P. Bowen & Haris Munandar & Jean-Marie Viaene, 2009. "How Integrated Is The World Economy?," Discussion Paper Series 2009-03, McColl School of Business, Queens University of Charlotte. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jan Loecker & Jozef Konings & Patrick Cayseele, 2008. "Merger Review: How Much of Industry is Affected in an International Perspective?," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 8(1), pages 1-19, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
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