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Geography, Search Frictions and Endogenous Trade Costs

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  • Kalouptsidi, Myrto
  • Papageorgiou, Theodore
  • Brancaccio, Giulia

Abstract

We leverage detailed data on vessel movements and shipping contracts to shed new light on world trade costs and trade flows. The data reveal new facts about shipping patterns, and motivate us to build a framework modeling the behavior of exporters and ships. Our framework has two novel features: (i) trade costs are endogenous and determined jointly with trade flows; as a result, they depend on the entire network of countries; (ii) search frictions between exporters and ships can limit trade. We estimate the model and recover flexibly the matching process between ships and exporters. Endogenous trade costs provide a novel link to understand trade patterns and we showcase this by considering the impact of (i) an improvement in shipping efficiency; (ii) a slow-down in China; (iii) the opening of the Northwest Passage; (iv) search frictions.

Suggested Citation

  • Kalouptsidi, Myrto & Papageorgiou, Theodore & Brancaccio, Giulia, 2017. "Geography, Search Frictions and Endogenous Trade Costs," CEPR Discussion Papers 12141, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:12141
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    3. Hayakawa, Kazunobu & Ishikawa, Jota & Tarui, Nori, 2020. "What goes around comes around: Export-enhancing effects of import-tariff reductions," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    4. Sharat Ganapati & Woan Foong Wong & Oren Ziv, 2020. "Entrepôt: Hubs, Scale, and Trade Costs," CESifo Working Paper Series 8199, CESifo.
    5. Pablo D. Fajgelbaum & Edouard Schaal, 2020. "Optimal Transport Networks in Spatial Equilibrium," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1411-1452, July.
    6. Dominik Boddin & Frank Stähler, 2018. "The Organization of International Trade," CESifo Working Paper Series 7378, CESifo.
    7. Kalouptsidi, Myrto & Barwick, Panle Jia & Zahur, Nahim Bin, 2019. "China’s Industrial Policy: an Empirical Evaluation," CEPR Discussion Papers 13889, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Miguel Puente‐Ajovín & Fernando Sanz‐Gracia, 2021. "Transport costs in new economic geography models: A more realistic approach," International Journal of Economic Theory, The International Society for Economic Theory, vol. 17(3), pages 221-233, September.
    9. Stamer, Vincent, 2022. "Thinking Outside the Container: A Sparse Partial Least Squares Approach to Forecasting Trade Flows," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264096, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    10. Pol Antràs & Alonso de Gortari, 2020. "On the Geography of Global Value Chains," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(4), pages 1553-1598, July.
    11. Coşar, A. Kerem & Demir, Banu, 2018. "Shipping inside the box: Containerization and trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 331-345.
    12. César Ducruet & Réka Juhász & Dávid Krisztián Nagy & Claudia Steinwender, 2019. "All Aboard: The Aggregate Effects of Port Development," Working Papers 1160, Barcelona School of Economics.
    13. Akihiko Yanase & Ngo Van Long & Ngo Van Long, 2020. "Trade Costs and Strategic Investment in Infrastructure in a Dynamic Global Economy with Symmetric Countries," CESifo Working Paper Series 8707, CESifo.
    14. Xintong Han & Lei Xu, 2018. "Technology Adoption in a Hierarchical Network," Working Papers 18-05, NET Institute.
    15. Alexander Sandkamp & Vincent Stamer & Shuyao Yang, 2022. "Where has the rum gone? The impact of maritime piracy on trade and transport," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 158(3), pages 751-778, August.
    16. Regli, Frederik & Nomikos, Nikos K., 2019. "The eye in the sky – Freight rate effects of tanker supply," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 402-424.
    17. Ademmer, Martin & Beckmann, Joscha & Bode, Eckhardt & Boysen-Hogrefe, Jens & Funke, Manuel & Hauber, Philipp & Heidland, Tobias & Hinz, Julian & Jannsen, Nils & Kooths, Stefan & Söder, Mareike & Stame, 2021. "Big Data in der makroökonomischen Analyse," Kieler Beiträge zur Wirtschaftspolitik 32, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. Panle Jia Barwick & Myrto Kalouptsidi & Nahim Bin Zahur, 2019. "China’s Industrial Policy: an Empirical Evaluation," NBER Working Papers 26075, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Mr. Serkan Arslanalp & Mr. Marco Marini & Ms. Patrizia Tumbarello, 2019. "Big Data on Vessel Traffic: Nowcasting Trade Flows in Real Time," IMF Working Papers 2019/275, International Monetary Fund.
    20. Buchholz, Nicholas & Doval, Laura & Kastl, Jakub & Matejka, Filip & Salz, Tobias, 2020. "The Value of Time: Evidence From Auctioned Cab Rides," CEPR Discussion Papers 14666, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    21. Akihiko Yanase & Ngo Van Long, 2020. "Strategic Investment in an International Infrastructure Capital: Nonlinear Equilibrium Paths in a Dynamic Game between Two Symmetric Countries," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-24, December.
    22. Asturias, Jose, 2020. "Endogenous transportation costs," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    23. Ulltveit-Moe, Karen Helene & Heiland, Inga & Moxnes, Andreas & Zi, Yuan, 2019. "Trade From Space: Shipping Networks and The Global Implications of Local Shocks," CEPR Discussion Papers 14193, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    24. Stamer, Vincent, 2021. "Thinking outside the container: A machine learning approach to forecasting trade flows," Kiel Working Papers 2179, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Geography; Trade costs; Matching function estimation; Trade flows; Transportation; Shipping; Search frictions; Trade imbalances;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • L0 - Industrial Organization - - General
    • L91 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Transportation: General
    • R4 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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