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Quality trade and transportation costs

Author

Listed:
  • Okubo, Toshihiro
  • Sasahara, Akira

Abstract

This study investigates quality trade using a declaration level customs dataset from 2014 to 2020. We find that high quality products tend to be traded with higher per-unit freight costs, lower ad valorem tariff rates, and with countries with higher GDP per capita, even after controlling firm-specific and product-specific time-invariant factors.

Suggested Citation

  • Okubo, Toshihiro & Sasahara, Akira, 2025. "Quality trade and transportation costs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:257:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525005427
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112705
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Guillaume Daudin & Jérôme Héricourt & Lise Patureau, 2022. "International transport costs: new findings from modeling additive costs [Inventories, lumpy trade, and large devaluations]," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 22(5), pages 989-1044.
    2. Guillaume Daudin & Jérôme Héricourt & Lise Patureau, 2022. "International transport costs: new findings from modeling additive costs," Post-Print hal-03702576, HAL.
    3. Guillaume Daudin & Jérôme Héricourt & Lise Patureau, 2022. "International Transport costs: New Findings from modeling additive cost," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-03538476, HAL.
    4. Chen, Natalie & Juvenal, Luciana, 2022. "Markups, quality, and trade costs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    5. Ito, Keiko & Endoh, Masahiro & Jinji, Naoto & Matsuura, Toshiyuki & Okubo, Toshihiro & Sasahara, Akira, 2025. "Margins, concentration, and the performance of firms in international trade: Evidence from Japanese customs data," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    6. David Hummels & Peter J. Klenow, 2005. "The Variety and Quality of a Nation's Exports," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 704-723, June.
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    8. David Hummels & Alexandre Skiba, 2004. "Shipping the Good Apples Out? An Empirical Confirmation of the Alchian-Allen Conjecture," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 112(6), pages 1384-1402, December.
    9. Hallak, Juan Carlos, 2006. "Product quality and the direction of trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 238-265, January.
    10. Takechi, Kazutaka, 2023. "Quality sorting, Alchian–Allen effect, and distance," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    11. Alfonso Irarrazabal & Andreas Moxnes & Luca David Opromolla, 2015. "The Tip of the Iceberg: A Quantitative Framework for Estimating Trade Costs," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(4), pages 777-792, October.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning

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