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Institution-Driven Comparative Advantage and Organizational Choice

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  • Ferguson, Shon

    (Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN))

  • Formai, Sara

    (Bank of Italy)

Abstract

The theory of the firm suggests that firms can respond to poor contract enforcement by vertically integrating their production process. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether firms’ integration opportunities affect the way contract enforcement institutions determine international trade patterns. We find that the benefits of judicial quality for the exports of contract-intense goods are more muted in industries that have a greater propensity towards vertical integration arrangements with input suppliers. We show that our results are not driven by primitive industry characteristics. Our results confirm the role of judicial quality as source of comparative advantage and suggest that this depends not only on the technological characteristics of the goods produced but also on the way firms are able to organize the production process.

Suggested Citation

  • Ferguson, Shon & Formai, Sara, 2012. "Institution-Driven Comparative Advantage and Organizational Choice," Working Paper Series 925, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:0925
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    Cited by:

    1. Patrik Tingvall & Andreas Poldahl, 2012. "Determinants of Firm R&D: The Role of Relationship-Specific Interactions for R&D Spillovers," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 12(4), pages 395-411, December.
    2. Johannes Boehm, 2014. "The Impact of Contract Enforcement Costs on Outsourcing and Aggregate Productivity," 2014 Meeting Papers 340, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Das, Joy & Tanger, Shaun & Fannin, J. Matthew & Kennedy, P. Lynn, 2020. "Institutional Determinant of Market Concentration and Trade in a General Equilibrium Setup," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304458, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Igan, Deniz & Lauwers, Alexandre & Puy, Damien, 2022. "Capital Flows and Institutions," CEPR Discussion Papers 17527, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    5. Cingano, Federico & Pinotti, Paolo, 2016. "Trust, firm organization, and the pattern of comparative advantage," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 1-13.
    6. Heyman Fredrik & Tingvall Patrik Gustavsson, 2015. "The Dynamics of Offshoring and Institutions," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(4), pages 1975-2016, October.
    7. Park, Soonchan, 2020. "Quality of transport infrastructure and logistics as source of comparative advantage," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 54-62.
    8. Alessandro Borin & Riccardo Cristadoro & Elena Mattevi, 2014. "Foreign direct investment and institutional quality," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 230, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    9. Alessandro Borin & Riccardo Cristadoro, 2014. "Foreign direct investment and multinational firms," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 243, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    10. Jaimovich, Esteban, 2019. "Roadways, input sourcing, and patterns of specialization," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    11. Halvarsson, Daniel & Lark, Olga & Tingvall, Patrik & Videnord, Josefin, 2022. "Bargaining for Trade: When Exporting Becomes Detrimental for Female Wages," Ratio Working Papers 361, The Ratio Institute.
    12. Westerberg, Hans Seerar, 2014. "The Return to R&D and Seller-buyer Interactions: A Quantile Regression Approach," Ratio Working Papers 231, The Ratio Institute.
    13. Wang, Yongjin & Wang, Yanling & Li, Kunwang, 2014. "Judicial quality, contract intensity and exports: Firm-level evidence," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 32-42.
    14. Antonio Ciccone & Elias Papaioannou, 2016. "Estimating Cross-Industry Cross-Country Interaction Models Using Benchmark Industry Characteristics," NBER Working Papers 22368, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Masuch, Klaus & Anderton, Robert & Setzer, Ralph & Benalal, Nicholai, 2018. "Structural policies in the euro area," Occasional Paper Series 210, European Central Bank.
    16. Sebil Olalekan Oshota & Bashir Adelowo Wahab, 2022. "Institutional Quality and Intra-Regional Trade Flows: Evidence from ECOWAS," Journal of African Trade, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 73-106, December.
    17. Halvarsson, Daniel & Lark, Olga & Tingvall, Patrik & Videnord, Josefin, 2022. "Bargaining for Trade: When Exporting Becomes Detrimental for Female Wages," Working Paper Series 1437, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    18. Nunn, Nathan & Trefler, Daniel, 2014. "Domestic Institutions as a Source of Comparative Advantage," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 263-315, Elsevier.
    19. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/185h5h2nvv9lqr7nmeddt9uu5l is not listed on IDEAS
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    21. Wenshou Yan & Xi Yang, 2019. "A New Motivation for Sustainable Trade Between Countries with Different Regulatory Qualities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    22. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1uut5itepl9q5osfl3tj7qatje is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Matteo Bugamelli & Francesca Lotti & Monica Amici & Emanuela Ciapanna & Fabrizio Colonna & Francesco D�Amuri & Silvia Giacomelli & Andrea Linarello & Francesco Manaresi & Giuliana Palumbo & Filippo , 2018. "Productivity growth in Italy: a tale of a slow-motion change," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 422, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    24. Nadine McCloud & Ajornie Taylor, 2022. "Does inflation targeting matter for international trade? A synthetic control analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 63(5), pages 2427-2478, November.
    25. Halvarsson, Daniel & Lark, Olga & Tingvall, Patrik & Videnord, Josefin, 2022. "Bargaining for Trade: When Exporting Becomes Detrimental for Female Wages," Working Papers 2022:13, Lund University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    International Trade; Comparative Advantage; Contract Enforcement; Vertical Integration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production

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