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Trade costs, barriers to entry, and export diversification in developing countries

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Dennis, Allen
Shepherd, Ben

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Abstract

This paper finds that a 1 percent reduction in the cost of exporting or the cost of international transport is associated with an export diversification gain of 0.3 percent or 0.4 percent respectively. Lower domestic market entry costs can also promote diversification, but the elasticity is weaker (-0.1). To obtain these results, the authors construct new measures of export diversification for 118 developing countries using highly detailed 8-digit mirror data from the European Union. The analysis also incorporates new export cost data from the World Bank's Doing Business database, covering document preparation, inland transport, administrative fees, and port/customs charges. Findings are highly robust, including to the use of geography and colonial history as instruments for trade and entry costs. Both the signs and relative magnitudes of these effects are consistent with predictions from a heterogeneous firms model of trade with asymmetric costs.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 4368.

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Date of creation: 01 Sep 2007
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4368

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Keywords: Housing&Human Habitats; E-Finance and E-Security; Mining&Extractive Industry (Non-Energy); Educational Technology and Distance Education; Transport Economics Policy&Planning;

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  6. Djankov, Simeon & Freund, Caroline & Pham, Cong S., 2006. "Trading on time," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3909, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  7. Debaere, Peter & Mostashari, Shalah, 2005. "Do Tariffs Matter for the Extensive Margin of International Trade? An Empirical Analysis," CEPR Discussion Papers 5260, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  21. Elhanan Helpman & Marc Melitz & Yona Rubinstein, 2006. "Trading Partners and Trading Volumes," DEGIT Conference Papers c011_022, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade. [Downloadable!]
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  25. Elhanan Helpman & Marc J. Melitz & Stephen R. Yeaple, 2004. "Export Versus FDI with Heterogeneous Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(1), pages 300-316, March. [Downloadable!]
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  27. repec:rus:hseeco:122439 is not listed on IDEAS
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Full references

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. Yue Li & John S. Wilson, 2009. "Trade Facilitation and Expanding the Benefits of Trade: Evidence from Firm Leval Data," Working Papers 7109, Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network on Trade (ARTNeT), an initiative of UNESCAP and IDRC, Canada.. [Downloadable!]
  2. Shepherd , Ben & Wilson, John S., 2008. "Trade facilitation in ASEAN member countries : measuring progress and assessing priorities," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4615, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Persson, Maria, 2008. "Trade Facilitation and the Extensive and Intensive Margins of Trade," Working Papers 2008:13, Lund University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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