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Trade Openness and Growth: Pursuing Empirical Glasnost

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  • Andreas Billmeier
  • Tommaso Nannicini

Abstract

Studies of the impact of trade openness on growth are based either on cross-country analysis—which lacks transparency—or case studies—which lack statistical rigor. This paper applies a transparent econometric method drawn from the treatment evaluation literature (matching estimators) to make the comparison between treated (that is, open) and control (that is, closed) countries explicit while remaining within a statistical framework. Matching estimators highlight that common cross-country evidence is based on rather far-fetched country comparisons, which stem from the lack of common support of treated and control countries in the covariate space. The paper therefore advocates paying more attention to appropriate sample restriction in cross-country macro research. IMF Staff Papers (2009) 56, 447–475. doi:10.1057/imfsp.2008.39; published online 3 March 2009

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  • Andreas Billmeier & Tommaso Nannicini, 2009. "Trade Openness and Growth: Pursuing Empirical Glasnost," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 56(3), pages 447-475, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:imfstp:v:56:y:2009:i:3:p:447-475
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    Cited by:

    1. Ferman, Bruno & Pinto, Cristine Campos de Xavier & Possebom, Vitor Augusto, 2016. "Cherry picking with synthetic controls," Textos para discussão 420, FGV/EESP - Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil).
    2. Miroslav Radiměřský & Vladimír Hajko, 2016. "Beta Convergence in the Export Volumes in EU Countries," European Journal of Business Science and Technology, Mendel University in Brno, Faculty of Business and Economics, vol. 2(1), pages 64-69, November.
    3. Shimeng Liu, 2015. "Spillovers from Universities: Evidence from the Land-Grant Program," Working Paper 9410, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    4. Ferman, Bruno & Pinto, Cristine, 2016. "Revisiting the Synthetic Control Estimator," MPRA Paper 73982, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. repec:vrs:reoecp:v:17:y:2017:i:1:p:3-24:n:1 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Michael Funke & Marc Gronwald, 2009. "A Convex Hull Approach to Counterfactual Analysis of Trade Openness and Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 2692, CESifo Group Munich.
    7. L. Alan Winters & Antonio Martuscelli, 2014. "Trade Liberalization and Poverty: What Have We Learned in a Decade?," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 493-512, October.
    8. Paolo Pinotti, 2012. "The Economic Costs of Organized Crime: Evidence from Southern Italy," Working Papers 054, "Carlo F. Dondena" Centre for Research on Social Dynamics (DONDENA), Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi.
    9. Basarab Gogoneaţă, 2010. "The Long-Run Relationship Between Commerce And Sustainable Development In Baltic And Central And Eastern European Countries," The AMFITEATRU ECONOMIC journal, Academy of Economic Studies - Bucharest, Romania, vol. 12(27), pages 36-51, February.
    10. Liu, Shimeng, 2015. "Spillovers from universities: Evidence from the land-grant program," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 25-41.
    11. repec:eco:journ1:2017-02-47 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Gilles Dufrenot & Valerie Mignon & Charalambos Tsangarides, 2010. "The trade-growth nexus in the developing countries: a quantile regression approach," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 146(4), pages 731-761, December.
    13. Lee, Jim, 2011. "Export specialization and economic growth around the world," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 45-63, March.
    14. Wolf-Heimo Grieben & Fuat Sener, 2012. "North-South Trade, Unemployment and Growth: What’s the Role of Labor Unions?," Working Paper Series of the Department of Economics, University of Konstanz 2012-06, Department of Economics, University of Konstanz.
    15. Iyke Bernard Njindan, 2017. "Does Trade Openness Matter for Economic Growth in the CEE Countries?," Review of Economic Perspectives, De Gruyter Open, vol. 17(1), pages 3-24, March.
    16. Amr Hosny, 2012. "Algeria’s Trade with GAFTA Countries: A Synthetic Control Approach," Transition Studies Review, Springer;Central Eastern European University Network (CEEUN), vol. 19(1), pages 35-42, September.
    17. Tommaso Nannicini & Roberto Ricciuti, 2010. "Autocratic Transitions and Growth," CESifo Working Paper Series 2967, CESifo Group Munich.
    18. World Bank, 2009. "Macedonia - Moving to Faster and More Inclusive Growth A Country Economic Memorandum : Main Report and Annex," World Bank Other Operational Studies 3067, The World Bank.
    19. Tommaso Nannicini & Andreas Billmeier, 2011. "Economies in Transition: How Important Is Trade Openness for Growth?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 73(3), pages 287-314, June.
    20. De Lombaerde, Philippe A.A., 2009. "On the dynamic measurement of economic openness," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 731-736, September.
    21. Raphael Espinoza, 2012. "Factor Accumulation and the Determinants of TFP in the GCC," OxCarre Working Papers 094, Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, University of Oxford.

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