IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/sajeco/v77y2009i1p148-161.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On The (Mis)Measurement Of International Transport Costs

Author

Listed:
  • Mihalis Chasomeris

Abstract

Several world institutions and researchers use import cif/fob ratios to measure a country's international transport costs. In this paper, the relationship between annual cif/fob ratios and compositions of imports are examined via correlation analysis. The findings show that where the quality of the data is reliable, a country's composition of imports has a significant effect on that country's cif/fob ratios; hence researchers cannot use the ratio as a reliable measure of direct shipping costs. Researchers should be wary of substituting country cif/fob ratios for direct measures of transport costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Mihalis Chasomeris, 2009. "On The (Mis)Measurement Of International Transport Costs," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 77(1), pages 148-161, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:sajeco:v:77:y:2009:i:1:p:148-161
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1813-6982.2009.01198.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1813-6982.2009.01198.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1813-6982.2009.01198.x?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew K. Rose, 1991. "Why Has Trade Grown Faster than Income?," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 24(2), pages 417-427, May.
    2. 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.
    3. Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1997. "Regional Trading Blocs in the World Economic System," Peterson Institute Press: All Books, Peterson Institute for International Economics, number 72.
    4. Yeats, Alexander J, 1978. "On the Accuracy of Partner Country Trade Statistics," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 40(4), pages 341-361, November.
    5. Yeats, Alexander J, 1977. "Do International Transport Costs Increase with Fabrication? Some Empirical Evidence," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 29(3), pages 458-471, November.
    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. Bridgman, Benjamin, 2012. "The rise of vertical specialization trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 133-140.
    2. Céline Carrère & Maurice Schiff, 2005. "On the Geography of Trade. Distance is Alive and Well," Revue économique, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 56(6), pages 1249-1274.
    3. Céline Carrère & Christopher Grigoriou, 2014. "Can Mirror Data Help To Capture Informal International Trade?," UNCTAD Blue Series Papers 65, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
    4. Benjamin Bridgman, 2008. "Energy Prices and the Expansion of World Trade," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(4), pages 904-916, October.
    5. Benjamin Bridgman, 2008. "Energy Prices and the Expansion of World Trade," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(4), pages 904-916, October.
    6. Cosmas S. Mbogela, 2018. "Determinants of Africa - BRIC Countries Bilateral Trade Flows," Economy, Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, vol. 5(1), pages 40-53.
    7. Nilanjan Banik & John Gilbert, 2010. "Regional Integration and Trade Costs in South Asia," Chapters, in: Douglas H. Brooks & Susan F. Stone (ed.), Trade Facilitation and Regional Cooperation in Asia, chapter 4, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. 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.
    9. Salvador Gil & Rafael Llorca & J. Antonio Martínez‐Serrano, 2008. "Assessing the Enlargement and Deepening of the European Union," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(9), pages 1253-1272, September.
    10. World Bank, 2006. "Is There a New Vision for Maghreb Economic Integation? Volume 2. Annex," World Bank Publications - Reports 19624, The World Bank Group.
    11. Haq, Zahoor Ul & Meilke, Karl D. & Cranfield, John A.L., 2011. "The Gravity Model and the Problem of Zero's in Agrifood Trade," Working Papers 116851, Canadian Agricultural Trade Policy Research Network.
    12. 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.
    13. Joel CARIOLLE & Cyril CHALENDARD & Anne-Marie GEOURJON & Bertrand LAPORTE, 2017. "Going beyond analysis of internal data to support customs modernization: A case study in Gabon," Working Papers 201723, CERDI.
    14. Joel CARIOLLE & Cyril CHALENDARD & Anne-Marie GEOURJON & Bertrand LAPORTE, 2016. "Décloisonner l’analyse des données pour appuyer la modernisation des douanes : une illustration à partir du Gabon," Working Papers 201618, CERDI.
    15. Guillaume Daudin, 2003. "La logistique de la mondialisation," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 87(4), pages 409-435.
    16. R. M. Conlon, 1982. "Transport Cost and Tariff Protection of Australian Manufacturing," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 58(1), pages 73-81, March.
    17. Logan T Lewis & Ryan Monarch & Michael Sposi & Jing Zhang, 2022. "Structural Change and Global Trade," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 476-512.
    18. Benjamin Bridgman, 2008. "Energy Prices and the Expansion of World Trade," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 11(4), pages 904-916, October.
    19. Imad Kareem Alaamshani & Hanny Zurina Hamzah & Shivee Ranjanee Kaliappan & Normaz Wana Ismail, 2021. "Impact of Trade Facilitation on Extensive Margin," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 4, pages 131-147.
    20. Gabriel J Felbermayr & Wilhelm Kohler, 2014. "Exploring the Intensive and Extensive Margins of World Trade," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: European Economic Integration, WTO Membership, Immigration and Offshoring, chapter 4, pages 115-148, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..

    More about this item

    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:bla:sajeco:v:77:y:2009:i:1:p:148-161. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/essaaea.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.