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Entrepôt: Hubs, Scale, and Trade Costs

Author

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  • Sharat Ganapati
  • Woan Foong Wong
  • Oren Ziv

Abstract

We study the global trade network and quantify its trade and welfare impact. We document that the trade network is a hub-and-spoke system where 80% of trade is shipped indirectly, nearly all via entrepôts—major hubs that facilitate trade between many origins and destinations. We estimate indirect-shipping consistent trade costs using a model where shipments can be sent indirectly through an endogenous transport network and develop a geography-based instrument to estimate scale economies in shipping. Network and scale effects in the trade network propagate local trade cost changes globally. Even when initial trade cost changes are not transportation-related, these endogenous channels alter the magnitude and distribution of welfare impacts, particularly for entrepôts. Counterfactual infrastructure improvements at entrepôts generate ten times the global welfare impact relative to non-entrepôts.

Suggested Citation

  • Sharat Ganapati & Woan Foong Wong & Oren Ziv, 2020. "Entrepôt: Hubs, Scale, and Trade Costs," CESifo Working Paper Series 8199, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_8199
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. César Ducruet & Réka Juhász & David Krisztián Nagy & Claudia Steinwender, 2019. "All aboard: The aggregate effects of port development," Economics Working Papers 1708, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Jan 2022.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade

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