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Borders within Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Santamaria, Marta

    (University of Warwick and CAGE)

  • Ventura, Jaume

    (CREI, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona GSE)

  • Yesilbayraktar, Ugur

    (Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona GSE)

Abstract

Are country borders still an impediment to trade flows within Europe? Using a microlevel survey with 3 million annual shipments of goods, we construct a matrix of bilateral trade for 269 European regions. Take two similar region pairs, one containing regions in different countries and the other containing regions in the same country. The market share of the origin region in the destination region for the international pair is 17.5 percent that of the intranational pair. Across industries, this estimate ranges from 12.3 to 38.9 percent. For post-1910 borders, this estimate is 28.8 percent. The implication is clear: Europe is far from having a single market.

Suggested Citation

  • Santamaria, Marta & Ventura, Jaume & Yesilbayraktar, Ugur, 2021. "Borders within Europe," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 560, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    • Handle: RePEc:cge:wacage:560
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    File URL: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/economics/research/centres/cage/manage/publications/wp560.2021.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Felbermayr, Gabriel J. & Tarasov, Alexander, 2022. "Trade and the spatial distribution of transport infrastructure," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    2. Santamaría, Marta & Ventura, Jaume & Yeşilbayraktar, Uğur, 2023. "Exploring European regional trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    3. Ketevani Kapanadze, 2021. "Checkmate! Losing with Borders, Winning with Centers. The Case of European Integration," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp716, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Border effect; European integration; regional trade. JEL Classification: D71; F15; F55; H77; O57;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D71 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Social Choice; Clubs; Committees; Associations
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F55 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Institutional Arrangements
    • H77 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Intergovernmental Relations; Federalism
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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