IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/aea/aejapp/v17y2025i1p271-96.html

Staggered Difference-in-Differences in Gravity Settings: Revisiting the Effects of Trade Agreements

Author

Listed:
  • Arne J. Nagengast
  • Yoto V. Yotov

Abstract

We nest an extended two-way fixed effect (ETWFE) estimator for staggered difference-in-differences within the structural gravity model. To test the ETWFE, we estimate the effects of regional trade agreements (RTAs). The results suggest that RTA estimates in the current gravity literature may be biased downward (by more than 50 percent in our sample). Sensitivity analyses confirm the robustness of our main findings and demonstrate the applicability of our methods across settings. We expect the ETWFE methods to have significant implications for estimates of other policy variables in the trade literature and for gravity regressions on migration and foreign direct investment.

Suggested Citation

  • Arne J. Nagengast & Yoto V. Yotov, 2025. "Staggered Difference-in-Differences in Gravity Settings: Revisiting the Effects of Trade Agreements," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 271-296, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:17:y:2025:i:1:p:271-96
    DOI: 10.1257/app.20230089
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/app.20230089
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://doi.org/10.3886/E194561V1
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/app.20230089.appx
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.aeaweb.org/doi/10.1257/app.20230089.ds
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to AEA members and institutional subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1257/app.20230089?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Arne J. Nagengast & Fernando Rios‐Avila & Yoto V. Yotov, 2026. "The European single market and intra‐EU trade: an assessment with heterogeneity‐robust difference‐in‐differences methods," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 93(369), pages 298-331, January.
    2. Peter Egger & Constantinos Syropoulos & Yoto V. Yotov, 2024. "Analyzing the effects of economic sanctions: Recent theory, data, and quantification," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 1-11, February.
    3. Lukas J. Hornung & Nico Stöckmann, 2024. "Protectionism in Disguise? EU Anti-Dumping Measures Targeting PRC Iron and Steel Products," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-31, December.
    4. Ninon Moreau-Kastler, 2025. "Proportional Treatment Effects in Staggered Settings: An Approach for Poisson Pseudo-Maximum Likelihood," Working Papers 031, EU Tax Observatory.
    5. Carril-Caccia, Federico, 2025. "The impact of economic sanctions on bilateral mergers and acquisitions," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Ridwan Ah Sheikh & Sunil Kanwar, 2024. "Revisiting the Impact of TRIPS on IPR-intensive Export Flows: Evidence from Staggered Difference-in-Differences," Working papers 351, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
    7. Chang,Kuo-I & Hayakawa,Kazunobu, 2025. "Subsidies for Reshoring: Evidence from Taiwan," IDE Discussion Papers 974, Institute of Developing Economies, Japan External Trade Organization(JETRO).
    8. Bruno, Randolph Luca & Cipollina, Maria & Dal Bianco, Silvia, 2025. "Trade sanctions and Global Value Chains: A China–South Africa perspective," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    9. Elisabeth Christen & Gabriel Felbermayr & Hendrik Mahlkow & Joschka Wanner & Martin Mosler & Christoph A. Schaltegger, 2025. "Freihandel, anyone?. Effekte handelspolitischer Szenarien zwischen der Schweiz und den USA," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 57956826, October.
    10. Cipollina, Maria & Dal Bianco, Silvia, 2025. "Trade sanctions and global value chains: The role of financial development and capital openness in emerging markets," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    11. Hendrik Mahlkow & Sonali Chowdhry & Julian Hinz, 2025. "Diversifizieren, nicht reagieren: Europas neuer Weg in der Handelspolitik," WIFO Research Briefs 5, WIFO.
    12. Korn, Tobias & Stemmler, Henry, 2025. "The persistence of trade relocation from civil conflict," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    13. Konstantin Sommer, 2024. "The Chinese waste import ban and the emergence of waste havens within Europe," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 24-053/VI, Tinbergen Institute.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • J82 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Labor Force Composition

    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:aea:aejapp:v:17:y:2025:i:1:p:271-96. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Michael P. Albert (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aeaaaea.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.