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Does online trade live up to the promise of a borderless world? Evidence from the EU Digital Single Market

Author

Listed:
  • Bo Cowgill

    (University of California at Berkeley)

  • Cosmina Dorobantu

    (Oxford University)

  • Bertin Martens

    (European Commission JRC)

Abstract

An important EU Digital Single Market policy objective is to achieve an open and integrated market for online e-commerce in the EU, to make it easy for consumers to go outside their domestic market and shop online in other EU Member States. This study applies a standard gravity model of international trade to Google e-commerce data to estimate the prevalence of home bias in online shopping in the EU. It compares how much EU Member States trade domestically and with other Member States, and how much the EU trades with itself and with the rest of the world. The research confirms the findings of the (offline) international trade literature, according to which there is strong home bias. There is no unambiguous evidence about the strengths or weaknesses of the EU Digital Single Market. Strong intra-EU home bias suggests that online consumers have a tendency to stay in their home country market. Equally strong extra-EU home bias suggests that online consumers who do decide to shop abroad have a tendency to stay in the EU however, rather than going to a non-EU country. There are indications that online home bias is lower in a comparable cross-border trade setting in North America. Data and methodological limitations do not allow a more detailed analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Bo Cowgill & Cosmina Dorobantu & Bertin Martens, 2013. "Does online trade live up to the promise of a borderless world? Evidence from the EU Digital Single Market," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2013-08, Joint Research Centre.
    • Handle: RePEc:ipt:decwpa:2013-08
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    File URL: https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC84466
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lendle, Andreas & Olarreaga, Marcelo & Schropp, Simon & Vezina, Pierre-Louis, 2012. "There goes gravity : how eBay reduces trade costs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6253, The World Bank.
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    4. Ali Hortaçsu & F. Asís Martínez-Jerez & Jason Douglas, 2009. "The Geography of Trade in Online Transactions: Evidence from eBay and MercadoLibre," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 53-74, February.
    5. Pacchioli, Consuelo, 2011. "Is the EU internal market suffering from an integration deficit?," CEPS Papers 5528, Centre for European Policy Studies.
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    Cited by:

    1. Nestor Duch-Brown & Bertin Martens, 2014. "Consumer benefits from the EU Digital Single Market: evidence from household appliances markets," JRC Working Papers on Digital Economy 2014-03, Joint Research Centre (Seville site).
    2. Rösner, Anja & Haucap, Justus & Heimeshoff, Ulrich, 2020. "The impact of consumer protection in the digital age: Evidence from the European Union," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    3. Birg, Laura, 2018. "Cross-border or Online - Tax Competition with Mobile Consumers under Destination and Origin Principle," VfS Annual Conference 2018 (Freiburg, Breisgau): Digital Economy 181645, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Paul John, Pena, 2019. "An ASEAN Digital Single Market: Boosting the Aspiration for a Single Market in the Digital Era," MPRA Paper 95948, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    online trade; e-commerce; gravity; barriers to trade; home bias;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

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