Advanced Search
MyIDEAS: Login

Energy Prices and the Expansion of World Trade

Contents:

Author Info

  • Benjamin Bridgman

    ()

Abstract

The share of merchandise output that is internationally traded has significantly increased while tariffs have fallen. However, standard trade models have surprising difficulty linking these two facts. Trade growth slowed in the 1970s as tariffs fell relatively sharply while after the late 1980s trade grew quickly as tariffs fell slowly. This pattern implies that the price-import elasticity has changed over time. Also, tariffs have not fallen enough to generate such a large increase in trade given estimates of this elasticity. Changes in transport costs can resolve both puzzles. I present a vertical specialization trade model with an energy-using transportation sector. In the simulated model, trade growth slows from 1974 to 1985. The oil shocks raised transport costs, offsetting falling tariffs, so the price-import elasticity no longer needs to change. It also generates the observed volume of trade growth since transport costs have fallen over the long run. (Copyright: Elsevier)

(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Download Info

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
File URL: http://www.bus.lsu.edu/economics/papers/pap03_14.pdf
Download Restriction: no

Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Department of Economics, Louisiana State University in its series Departmental Working Papers with number 2003-14.

as in new window
Length:
Date of creation:
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:lsu:lsuwpp:2003-14

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Baton Rouge, LA 70803-6306
Fax: 225-578-3807
Email:
Web page: http://www.bus.lsu.edu/economics
More information through EDIRC

Related research

Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

References

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.:
as in new window
  1. Kee, Hiau Looi & Nicita, Alessandro & Olarreaga, Marcelo, 2006. "Estimating trade restrictiveness indices," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3840, The World Bank.
  2. Raphael Bergoeing & Timothy J. Kehoe, . "Trade Theory and Trade Facts," ILADES-Georgetown University Working Papers inv129, Ilades-Georgetown University, Universidad Alberto Hurtado/School of Economics and Bussines.
  3. Andrew B. Bernard & J. Bradford Jensen & Peter K. Schott, 2003. "Falling Trade Costs, Heterogeneous Firms and Industry Dynamics," CEP Discussion Papers dp0585, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
  4. Hummels, David, 2001. "Time as a Trade Barrier," GTAP Working Papers 1152, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University.
  5. David K. Backus & Mario J. Crucini, 1998. "Oil Prices and the Terms of Trade," NBER Working Papers 6697, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  6. David Hummels & Dana Rapoport & Kei-Mu Yi, 1998. "Vertical specialization and the changing nature of world trade," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue Jun, pages 79-99.
  7. James E. Anderson & Eric van Wincoop, 2004. "Trade Costs," Boston College Working Papers in Economics 593, Boston College Department of Economics.
  8. Jose Campa & Linda S. Goldberg, 1997. "The evolving external orientation of manufacturing: a profile of four countries," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, issue Jul, pages 53-81.
  9. David Hummels, 2007. "Transportation Costs and International Trade in the Second Era of Globalization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(3), pages 131-154, Summer.
  10. Micco, Alejandro & Serebrisky, Tomas, 2004. "Infrastructure, competition regimes, and air transport costs: cross-country evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3355, The World Bank.
  11. James E. Anderson & J. Peter Neary, 2003. "The Mercantilist Index of Trade Policy," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 44(2), pages 627-649, 05.
  12. David E. Weinstein & Christian Broda, 2004. "Globalization And The Gains From Variety," Econometric Society 2004 Latin American Meetings 327, Econometric Society.
  13. Robert Feenstra, 2003. "Integration Of Trade And Disintegration Of Production In The Global Economy," Working Papers 986, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
  14. Hamilton, James D, 1983. "Oil and the Macroeconomy since World War II," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(2), pages 228-48, April.
  15. Andrew K. Rose, 1990. "Why has trade grown faster than income?," International Finance Discussion Papers 390, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
  16. Falvey, Rodney E, 1976. "Transport Costs in the Pure Theory of International Trade," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 86(343), pages 536-50, September.
  17. Erkel-Rousse, H. & Mirza, D., 2000. "Import Price-Elasticities : Reconsidering the Evidence," Papiers d'Economie Mathématique et Applications 2000.52, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
  18. Tolofari, Sonny R & Button, Kenneth J & Pitfield, David E, 1986. "Shipping Costs and the Controversy over Open Registry," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(4), pages 409-27, June.
  19. Bruce A. Blonigen & Wesley W. Wilson, 1999. "Explaining Armington: What Determines Substitutability Between Home and Foreign Goods?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 32(1), pages 1-21, February.
  20. Hummels, David & Ishii, Jun & Yi, Kei-Mu, 2001. "The nature and growth of vertical specialization in world trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 75-96, June.
  21. Julio J. Rotemberg & Michael Woodford, 1996. "Imperfect Competition and the Effects of Energy Price Increases on Economic Activity," NBER Working Papers 5634, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  22. Keith Head & John Ries, 2001. "Increasing Returns versus National Product Differentiation as an Explanation for the Pattern of U.S.-Canada Trade," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 858-876, September.
  23. Costas Arkolakis, 2010. "Market Penetration Costs and the New Consumers Margin in International Trade," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(6), pages 1151 - 1199.
  24. Feenstra, Robert C, 1994. "New Product Varieties and the Measurement of International Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(1), pages 157-77, March.
  25. Robert Barsky & Lutz Kilian, 2004. "Oil and the Macroeconomy Since the 1970s," NBER Working Papers 10855, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  26. Bernard, Andrew B. & Jensen, J. Bradford & Schott, Peter K., 2006. "Trade costs, firms and productivity," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 917-937, July.
  27. Paul Krugman, 1995. "Growing World Trade: Causes and Consequences," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 26(1, 25th A), pages 327-377.
  28. Mazzenga, Elisabetta & Ravn, Morten O., 2002. "International Business Cycles: The Quantitative Role of Transportation Costs," CEPR Discussion Papers 3530, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  29. Lundgren, Nils-Gustav, 1996. "Bulk trade and maritime transport costs : The evolution of global markets," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1-2), pages 5-32.
  30. Yeats, Alexander J, 1977. "Do International Transport Costs Increase with Fabrication? Some Empirical Evidence," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(3), pages 458-71, November.
  31. Baier, Scott L. & Bergstrand, Jeffrey H., 2001. "The growth of world trade: tariffs, transport costs, and income similarity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 1-27, February.
  32. Jonathan Eaton & Samuel Kortum, 2002. "Technology, Geography, and Trade," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(5), pages 1741-1779, September.
  33. Frankel, Ernst G., 1990. "Promoting efficiency in shipping," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 14(5), pages 438-448, September.
  34. Donald J. Rousslang & Theodore To, 1993. "Domestic Trade and Transportation Costs as Barriers to International Trade," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 26(1), pages 208-21, February.
  35. Andrew Atkeson & Patrick J. Kehoe, 1997. "Models of energy use: putty-putty vs. putty-clay," Staff Report 230, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
  36. Finger, J M & Yeats, Alexander J, 1976. "Effective Protection by Transportation Costs and Tariffs: A Comparison of Magnitudes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 90(1), pages 169-76, February.
  37. David Hummels & Volodymyr Lugovskyy, 2006. "Are Matched Partner Trade Statistics a Usable Measure of Transportation Costs?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 69-86, 02.
  38. Markusen, James R, 1986. "Explaining the Volume of Trade: An Eclectic Approach," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 1002-11, December.
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 in new window

Cited by:
  1. Benjamin Bridgman, 2010. "International Supply Chains and the Volatility of Trade," BEA Working Papers 0059, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
  2. Rubini, Loris, 2009. "Innovation and the Elasticity of Trade Volumes to Tariff Reductions," MPRA Paper 21484, University Library of Munich, Germany.
  3. George Alessandria & Horag Choi, 2012. "Do falling iceberg costs explain recent U.S. export growth?," Working Papers 12-20, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
  4. Benjamin Bridgman, 2010. "Market Entry and Trade Weighted Import Costs," BEA Working Papers 0067, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
  5. Hakan Yilmazkuday, 2011. "Oil shocks through international transport costs: evidence from U.S. business cycles," Globalization and Monetary Policy Institute Working Paper 82, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
  6. Benjamin Brishman, 2010. "The Rise of Vertical Specialization Trade," BEA Working Papers 0051, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
  7. George Alessandria, 2009. "Do Falling Iceberg Costs Account for US Export Growth?," 2009 Meeting Papers 510, Society for Economic Dynamics.

Lists

This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.

Statistics

Access and download statistics

Corrections

When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:lsu:lsuwpp:2003-14

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: ().

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 references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.

If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link 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 profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.