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Scarcity nationalism during COVID-19: Identifying the impact on trade costs

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  • Egger, Peter H.
  • Masllorens, Gerard
  • Rocha, Nadia
  • Ruta, Michele

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries used export and import policy as a tool to expand the availability of scarce critical medical products in the domestic market (scarcity nationalism). This paper assesses the direct and indirect (via trade in intermediates) increases in trade costs of critical medical goods resulting from these uncooperative policies. The results show that scarcity nationalism led to substantial increases in trade costs between February 2020 and December 2021 for most COVID-19 critical medical products, particularly garments (for example, face masks) and ventilators. The exception is vaccines, which saw a reduction in trade costs, which, however, was driven by the reduction in indirect trade costs for high-income countries, consistent with the view of a COVID-19 vaccine production club.

Suggested Citation

  • Egger, Peter H. & Masllorens, Gerard & Rocha, Nadia & Ruta, Michele, 2023. "Scarcity nationalism during COVID-19: Identifying the impact on trade costs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:223:y:2023:i:c:s0165176522004475
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2022.110973
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Covid-19; Protectionism; Trade; Global Trade Alert;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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