IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iuk/wpaper/2006-08.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

International Trade Efficiency, the Gravity Equation, and the Stochastic Frontier

Author

Listed:
  • Heejoon Kang

    (Department of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University Kelley School of Business)

  • Michele Fratianni

    (Department of Business Economics and Public Policy, Indiana University Kelley School of Business)

Abstract

In the gravity equation of international trade, bilateral trade flows are regressed on trading partners’ income and the distance that separates them along with other variables. This widely used equation is traditionally estimated by the ordinary least squares method. We employ an alternative technique of stochastic frontier estimation to assess the potential bilateral trade flows from the same gravity equation. Countries are shown to have low efficiencies in their international trade as the predicted trade from frontier estimation is generally far greater than actual trade. Trade efficiencies are computed and ranked for individual countries, ten geographical regions, and eleven regional trade agreements.

Suggested Citation

  • Heejoon Kang & Michele Fratianni, 2006. "International Trade Efficiency, the Gravity Equation, and the Stochastic Frontier," Working Papers 2006-08, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    • Handle: RePEc:iuk:wpaper:2006-08
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://kelley.iu.edu/riharbau/RePEc/iuk/wpaper/bepp2006-08-kang-fratianni.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Esteban Rossi-Hansberg, 2005. "A Spatial Theory of Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1464-1491, December.
    2. Leamer, Edward E. & Levinsohn, James, 1995. "International trade theory: The evidence," Handbook of International Economics, in: G. M. Grossman & K. Rogoff (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 26, pages 1339-1394, Elsevier.
    3. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H, 1985. "The Gravity Equation in International Trade: Some Microeconomic Foundations and Empirical Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(3), pages 474-481, August.
    4. Fare,Rolf & Grosskopf,Shawna & Lovell,C. A. Knox, 2008. "Production Frontiers," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521072069.
    5. Andrew K. Rose, 1999. "One Money, One Market: Estimating the Effect of Common Currencies on Trade," NBER Working Papers 7432, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Beccalli, Elena, 2004. "Cross-country comparisons of efficiency: Evidence from the UK and Italian investment firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1363-1383, June.
    7. Hunt-McCool, Janet & Koh, Samuel C & Francis, Bill B, 1996. "Testing for Deliberate Underpricing in the IPO Premarket: A Stochastic Frontier Approach," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(4), pages 1251-1269.
    8. Jon Haveman & David Hummels, 2004. "Alternative hypotheses and the volume of trade: the gravity equation and the extent of specialization," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 37(1), pages 199-218, February.
    9. Berger, Allen N. & Humphrey, David B., 1997. "Efficiency of financial institutions: International survey and directions for future research," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 175-212, April.
    10. Andrew Worthington, 1998. "The determinants of non-bank financial institution efficiency: a stochastic cost frontier approach," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 279-287.
    11. Jondrow, James & Knox Lovell, C. A. & Materov, Ivan S. & Schmidt, Peter, 1982. "On the estimation of technical inefficiency in the stochastic frontier production function model," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 19(2-3), pages 233-238, August.
    12. Bergstrand, Jeffrey H, 1989. "The Generalized Gravity Equation, Monopolistic Competition, and the Factor-Proportions Theory in International Trade," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 71(1), pages 143-153, February.
    13. Charnes, A. & Cooper, W. W. & Rhodes, E., 1978. "Measuring the efficiency of decision making units," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 2(6), pages 429-444, November.
    14. Hay, Donald A & Liu, Guy S, 1997. "The Efficiency of Firms: What Difference Does Competition Make?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(442), pages 597-617, May.
    15. Andrew K. Rose, 2000. "One money, one market: the effect of common currencies on trade," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 15(30), pages 08-45.
    16. Zak, Thomas A & Huang, Cliff J & Siegfried, John J, 1979. "Production Efficiency: The Case of Professional Basketball," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(3), pages 379-392, July.
    17. Andrew Rose, 2005. "Which International Institutions Promote International Trade?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(4), pages 682-698, September.
    18. Robert C. Feenstra & James R. Markusen & Andrew K. Rose, 2001. "Using the gravity equation to differentiate among alternative theories of trade," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 34(2), pages 430-447, May.
    19. Schmidt, Peter & Sickles, Robin C, 1984. "Production Frontiers and Panel Data," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 2(4), pages 367-374, October.
    20. Simon J. Evenett & Wolfgang Keller, 2002. "On Theories Explaining the Success of the Gravity Equation," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(2), pages 281-316, April.
    21. Kaparakis, Emmanuel I & Miller, Stephen M & Noulas, Athanasios G, 1994. "Short-Run Cost Inefficiency of Commercial Banks: A Flexible Stochastic Frontier Approach," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 26(4), pages 875-893, November.
    22. Anderson, James E, 1979. "A Theoretical Foundation for the Gravity Equation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 69(1), pages 106-116, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Deluna, Roperto Jr, 2013. "Trade Performance and Potential of the Philippines: An Application of Stochastic Frontier Gravity Model," MPRA Paper 51677, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Yu SHENG & Yanrui WU & Xunpeng SHI & Dandan ZHANG, 2014. "Markket Integration and Energy Trade Efficiency: An Application of Malmqvist Index to Analyse Multi-Product Trade," Working Papers DP-2014-20, Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA).
    3. Tatsiana Dziavochka & Elyas Abdulahi Mohamued, 2020. "The Nexus of Chinese OFDI Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Europe: A True Fixed Effect Stochastic Analysis," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 10(4), pages 399-414, April.
    4. Sheng, Yu & Wu, Yanrui & Shi, Xunpeng & Zhang, Dandan, 2015. "Energy trade efficiency and its determinants: A Malmquist index approach," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 306-314.
    5. Memduh Alper Demir & Mustafa Bilik & Utku Utkulu, 2017. "The Impact of Competitiveness on Trade Efficiency: The Asian Experience by Using the Stochastic Frontier Gravity Model," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 5(4), pages 1-15.
    6. Njike, Arnold, 2019. "Import processing zones, tools for regional integration? The case of the free trade zone of Manaus (Brazil)," MPRA Paper 97652, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Xu, Jiayue & Lu, Caiwu & Ruan, Shunling & Xiong, Neal N., 2022. "Estimating the efficiency and potential of China's steel products export to countries along the “Belt and Road” under interconnection: An application of extended stochastic frontier gravity model," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    8. repec:era:chaptr:2013-rpr-29-06 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Rodolfo Metulini, 2013. "A structural analysis on Gravity of Trade regarding the possibility to remove distance from the model," ERSA conference papers ersa13p520, European Regional Science Association.
    10. Li, Yan & Chen, Zhenhua & Wang, Peng, 2020. "Impact of high-speed rail on urban economic efficiency in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 220-231.
    11. Balogun, Emmanuel Dele, 2007. "Exchange rate policy and export performance of WAMZ countries," MPRA Paper 6233, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Deluna, Roperto Jr & Cruz, Edgardo, 2014. "Philippine Export Efficiency and Potential: An Application of Stochastic Frontier Gravity Model," MPRA Paper 53580, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Farha Fatema & Mohammad Monirul Islam, 2020. "Driving Forces of Marine Fisheries and Seafood Export of Bangladesh: Augmented Gravity Model Approach," Asian Journal of Economic Modelling, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 8(2), pages 106-122, June.
    14. Doanh Khanh Nguyen & Van Ngoc Thi Pham & Heo, Yoon, 2019. "Impact of institutional and cultural distance on ASEAN's trade efficiency," Economics Discussion Papers 2019-57, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    15. Shiro Patrick Armstrong, 2015. "East and South Asia: Managing Difficult Bilateral Relations and Regional Integration Globally," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 29(4), pages 303-324, December.
    16. Yazdani, Mehdi & Pirpour, Hamed, 2020. "Evaluating the effect of intra-industry trade on the bilateral trade productivity for petroleum products of Iran," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    17. Domenico Gattuso & Gian Carla Cassone & Domenica Savia Pellicanò, 2022. "Assessment of freight traffic flows and harmful emissions in euro-mediterranean context: scenario analyses based on a gravity model," Journal of Shipping and Trade, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, December.

    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. Michele FRATIANNI & Chang HOON HO, 2007. "On the Relationship Between RTA Expansion and Openness," Working Papers 288, Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali.
    2. Michele Fratianni & Chang Hoon Oh, 2009. "Expanding RTAs, trade flows, and the multinational enterprise," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(7), pages 1206-1227, September.
    3. Jean-Philippe Stijns, 2003. "An Empirical Test of the Dutch Disease Hypothesis using a Gravity Model of Trade," International Trade 0305001, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Michele Fratianni, 2007. "The Gravity Equation in International Trade," Working Papers 2007-17, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Department of Business Economics and Public Policy.
    5. Zhang, Daowei & Li, Yanshu, 2009. "Forest endowment, logging restrictions, and China's wood products trade," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 46-53, March.
    6. Head, Keith & Mayer, Thierry, 2014. "Gravity Equations: Workhorse,Toolkit, and Cookbook," Handbook of International Economics, in: Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), Handbook of International Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 131-195, Elsevier.
    7. Juliette Milgram, 2003. "Quantitative Restrictions on Clothing Imports: Impact and Determinants of the Common Trade Policy Towards Developing Countries," Economic Working Papers at Centro de Estudios Andaluces E2003/04, Centro de Estudios Andaluces.
    8. James Harrigan, 2001. "Specialization and the Volume of Trade: Do the Data Obey the Laws?," NBER Working Papers 8675, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Kareem, Fatima Olanike & Martinez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Brümmer, Bernhard, 2016. "Fitting the Gravity Model when Zero Trade Flows are Frequent: a Comparison of Estimation Techniques using Africa's Trade Data," GlobalFood Discussion Papers 230588, Georg-August-Universitaet Goettingen, GlobalFood, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.
    10. repec:ilo:ilowps:374235 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Simone Juhasz Silva & Douglas Nelson, 2012. "Does Aid Cause Trade? Evidence from an Asymmetric Gravity Model," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 545-577, May.
    12. J. M. C. Santos Silva & Silvana Tenreyro, 2006. "The Log of Gravity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 641-658, November.
    13. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/dambferfb7dfprc9m01g1j1k2 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Tamaş Anca, 2020. "Why should the gravity model be taught in business education?," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 422-433, July.
    15. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/dambferfb7dfprc9m01g1j1k2 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Tenreyro, Silvana, 2007. "On the trade impact of nominal exchange rate volatility," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 485-508, March.
    17. Petra Bubáková, 2013. "Gravity Model of International Trade, Its Variables, Assumptions, Problems and Applications [Gravitační model mezinárodní směny, jeho proměnné, předpoklady, problémy a aplikace]," Acta Oeconomica Pragensia, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2013(2), pages 3-24.
    18. Kucera, David, & Sarna, Ritash., 2004. "Child labour, education and export performance," ILO Working Papers 993742353402676, International Labour Organization.
    19. Juan Felipe Mejía Mejía & Andrés Ramírez Hassan, 2013. "Solving the Puzzle: A New Measure of Trade Distance In The Gravity Equation," Documentos de Trabajo de Valor Público 11556, Universidad EAFIT.
    20. J. M. C. Santos Silva & Silvana Tenreyro, 2003. "Gravity-defying trade," Working Papers 03-1, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    21. Buys, Piet & Deichmann, Uwe & Wheeler, David, 2006. "Road network upgrading and overland trade expansion in Sub-Saharan Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4097, The World Bank.
    22. Sally Milton & M A B Siddique, 2014. "Trade Creation and Diversion Under the Thailand-Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA)," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 14-26, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    23. Bahar, Dany & Hausmann, Ricardo & Hidalgo, Cesar A., 2014. "Neighbors and the evolution of the comparative advantage of nations: Evidence of international knowledge diffusion?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 111-123.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    efficiency coefficients; OLS residuals; trade gravity; trade potentials;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • C13 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Estimation: General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iuk:wpaper:2006-08. 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: Rick Harbaugh (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dpiubus.html .

    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.