IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/cegedp/198.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The structure of ethnic networks and exports: Evidence from Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Behncke, Nadine

Abstract

This paper provides evidence of the effect of immigration-based networks on German trade. Germany presents a particular interesting case study to examine the effect of ethnic networks on exports due to its high export dependence and its reserved migration policy. According to our results, we find no trade creating effect from migrant networks on exports but on imports, highlighting the importance of the demand effect for Germany. Allowing for heterogeneous network effects shows that at least some migrant networks positively affect exports. However, the most efficient migrant networks do not originate from EU countries but from African or middle-eastern countries that do not have a large migrant network in Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Behncke, Nadine, 2014. "The structure of ethnic networks and exports: Evidence from Germany," University of Göttingen Working Papers in Economics 198, University of Goettingen, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cegedp:198
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/94185/1/781226929.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James A. Dunlevy, 2006. "The Influence of Corruption and Language on the Protrade Effect of Immigrants: Evidence from the American States," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(1), pages 182-186, February.
    2. Massimiliano Bratti & Luca Benedictis & Gianluca Santoni, 2014. "On the pro-trade effects of immigrants," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(3), pages 557-594, August.
    3. Mariya Aleksynska & Giovanni Peri, 2014. "Isolating the Network Effect of Immigrants on Trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 434-455, March.
    4. Gabriel J. Felbermayr & Benjamin Jung & Farid Toubal, 2010. "Ethnic Networks, Information, and International Trade: Revisiting the Evidence," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 97-98, pages 41-70.
    5. Anthony Briant & Pierre-Philippe Combes & Miren Lafourcade, 2014. "Product Complexity, Quality of Institutions and the Protrade Effect of Immigrants," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 63-85, January.
    6. Felbermayr, Gabriel J. & Toubal, Farid, 2012. "Revisiting the Trade-Migration Nexus: Evidence from New OECD Data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 928-937.
    7. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Lafourcade, Miren & Mayer, Thierry, 2005. "The trade-creating effects of business and social networks: evidence from France," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 1-29, May.
    8. Sanne Hiller, 2014. "The Export Promoting Effect of Emigration: Evidence from Denmark," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 693-708, November.
    9. Ashok Deo Bardhan & Subhrajit Guhathakurta, 2004. "Global Linkages of Subnational Regions: Coastal Exports and International Networks," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 22(2), pages 225-236, April.
    10. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June.
    11. Coughlin, Cletus C. & Wall, Howard J., 2011. "Ethnic networks and trade: Intensive versus extensive margins," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 113(1), pages 73-75, October.
    12. Christopher Parsons, 2011. "Do Migrants Really Foster Trade? The Trade-Migration Nexus, a Panel Approach 1960-2000," Discussion Papers 11/10, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    13. Daniel L. Millimet & Thomas Osang, 2007. "Do state borders matter for U.S. intranational trade? The role of history and internal migration," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(1), pages 93-126, February.
    14. James E. Rauch, 2001. "Business and Social Networks in International Trade," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(4), pages 1177-1203, December.
    15. Roger White & Bedassa Tadesse, 2008. "Cultural Distance and the US Immigrant–Trade Link," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 1078-1096, August.
    16. Giovanni Peri & Francisco Requena‐Silvente, 2010. "The trade creation effect of immigrants: evidence from the remarkable case of Spain," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 1433-1459, November.
    17. Hatzigeorgiou, Andreas, 2010. "Does Immigration Stimulate Foreign Trade? Evidence from Sweden," Journal of Economic Integration, Center for Economic Integration, Sejong University, vol. 25, pages 376-402.
    18. Catherine Co & Patricia Euzent & Thomas Martin, 2004. "The export effect of immigration into the USA," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(6), pages 573-583.
    19. Wagner, Don & Head, Keith & Ries, John, 2002. "Immigration and the Trade of Provinces," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 49(5), pages 507-525, December.
    20. Gould, David M, 1994. "Immigrant Links to the Home Country: Empirical Implications for U.S. Bilateral Trade Flows," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(2), pages 302-316, May.
    21. Combes, Pierre-Philippe & Lafourcade, Miren & Mayer, Thierry, 2005. "The trade-creating effects of business and social networks: evidence from France," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 1-29, May.
    22. Felbermayr, Gabriel J. & Jung, Benjamin, 2009. "The pro-trade effect of the brain drain: Sorting out confounding factors," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 104(2), pages 72-75, August.
    23. Don Wagner & Keith Head & John Ries, 2002. "Immigration and the Trade of Provinces," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 49(5), pages 507-525, November.
    24. John F. Helliwell, 1997. "National Borders, Trade and Migration," NBER Working Papers 6027, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Mark G. Herander & Luz A. Saavedra, 2005. "Exports and the Structure of Immigrant-Based Networks: The Role of Geographic Proximity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 87(2), pages 323-335, May.
    26. repec:adr:anecst:y:2010:i:97-98:p:03 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Felbermayr, Gabriel & Grossmann, Volker & Kohler, Wilhelm, 2012. "Migration, International Trade and Capital Formation: Cause or Effect?," IZA Discussion Papers 6975, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Christopher R. Parsons & L. Alan Winters, 2014. "International migration, trade and aid: a survey," Chapters, in: Robert E.B. Lucas (ed.), International Handbook on Migration and Economic Development, chapter 4, pages 65-112, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. BELLINO, Antonella & CELI, Giuseppe, 2016. "The Migration-Trade Nexus in the Presence of Vertical and Horizontal Product Differentiation," CELPE Discussion Papers 137, CELPE - CEnter for Labor and Political Economics, University of Salerno, Italy.
    4. Noel Gaston & Douglas R. Nelson, 2013. "Bridging Trade Theory And Labour Econometrics: The Effects Of International Migration," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 98-139, February.
    5. Mariya Aleksynska & Giovanni Peri, 2014. "Isolating the Network Effect of Immigrants on Trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 434-455, March.
    6. Giorgia Giovannetti & Mauro Lonati, 2014. "The impact of product quality on the pro-trade elasticity of immigrants," Working Papers - Economics wp2014_11.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    7. Hélène Ehrhart & Maëlan Le Goff & Emmanuel Rocher & Raju Jan Singh, 2012. "Does Migration Foster Exports? An African Perspective," Working Papers 2012-38, CEPII research center.
    8. Hatzigeorgiou, Andreas & Lodefalk, Magnus, 2017. "Anti-Migration as a Threat to Internationalization?," Ratio Working Papers 302, The Ratio Institute.
    9. Massimiliano Bratti & Luca Benedictis & Gianluca Santoni, 2014. "On the pro-trade effects of immigrants," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 150(3), pages 557-594, August.
    10. Giorgia Giovannetti & Mauro Lanati, 2017. "Do High-Skill Immigrants trigger High-Quality Trade?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(7), pages 1345-1380, July.
    11. Aziz Nusrate & Aziz Ahmed, 2023. "Recent vs Historical Migrants: A Study on the Canadian Provincial Trade-Migration Nexus," IZA Journal of Development and Migration, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 14(1), pages 1-33, December.
    12. Murat Genc & Masood Gheasi & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2012. "The impact of immigration on international trade: a meta-analysis," Chapters, in: Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot & Mediha Sahin (ed.), Migration Impact Assessment, chapter 9, pages 301-337, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Christopher Parsons, 2011. "Do Migrants Really Foster Trade? The Trade-Migration Nexus, a Panel Approach 1960-2000," Discussion Papers 11/10, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    14. Marina Murat, 2014. "Soft, hard or smart power? International students and investments abroad," Center for Economic Research (RECent) 107, University of Modena and Reggio E., Dept. of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    15. Marina Murat, 2013. "Education ties and investments abroad. Empirical evidence from the US and UK," Department of Economics (DEMB) 0014, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Department of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    16. Robert E.B. Lucas, 2014. "The migration–trade link in developing economies: a summary and extension of evidence," Chapters, in: Robert E.B. Lucas (ed.), International Handbook on Migration and Economic Development, chapter 11, pages 288-326, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Egger, Peter H. & Ehrlich, Maximilian v. & Nelson, Douglas R., 2020. "The trade effects of skilled versus unskilled migration," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 448-464.
    18. Marina Murat, 2014. "Soft, hard or smart power? International students and investments abroad," Department of Economics 0043, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    19. David Law & Murat Genç & John Bryant, 2013. "Trade, Diaspora and Migration to New Zealand," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(5), pages 582-606, May.
    20. Giovanni Peri & Francisco Requena-Silvente, 2010. "The trade creation effect of immigrants: evidence from the remarkable case of Spain," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1433-1459, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    migrants; networks; gravity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F12 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Models of Trade with Imperfect Competition and Scale Economies; Fragmentation
    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade

    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:zbw:cegedp:198. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cdgoede.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.