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Like Me, Buy Me: The Effect of Soft Power on Exports

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  • Andrew K. Rose

Abstract

In this paper I quantify a gain that a country receives when its global influence is considered to be admirable by others. I use a standard gravity model of bilateral exports, a panel of data from 2006 through 2013, and an annual survey conducted for the BBC by GlobeScan which asks people in up to 46 countries about whether each of up to 17 countries were perceived to have “a mainly positive or negative influence in the world.” Holding other things constant, a country’s exports are higher if it is perceived by the importer to be exerting more positive global influence. This effect is statistically and economically significant; a one percent net increase in perceived positive influence raises exports by around .8 percent. Succinctly, countries receive a commercial return on their soft power.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew K. Rose, 2015. "Like Me, Buy Me: The Effect of Soft Power on Exports," NBER Working Papers 21537, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:21537
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    1. Rose, Andrew & Glick, Reuven, 2015. "Currency Unions and Trade: A Post-EMU Mea Culpa," CEPR Discussion Papers 10615, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. J. M. C. Santos Silva & Silvana Tenreyro, 2006. "The Log of Gravity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 641-658, November.
    3. Gopinath, G. & Helpman, . & Rogoff, K. (ed.), 2014. "Handbook of International Economics," Handbook of International Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4.
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    1. Yu, Zhen & Li, Yuankun & Xie, Xubin, 2021. "Long-term trade impact of epidemic outbreaks: Is it V-shaped?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 16-40.
    2. Steven Yamarik & Mariya Mileva, 2023. "Cultural institutes: Networks and determinants," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(4), pages 1119-1143, April.
    3. Pao-Li Chang & Tomoki Fujii & Wei Jin, 2022. "Good Names Beget Favors: The Impact of Country Image on Trade Flows and Welfare," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(10), pages 7555-7596, October.
    4. Sander, Harald & Kleimeier, Stefanie & Heuchemer, Sylvia, 2016. "The resurgence of cultural borders during the financial crisis: The changing geography of Eurozone cross-border depositing," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 12-26.
    5. Adam Quinn & Nicholas Kitchen, 2019. "Understanding American Power: Conceptual Clarity, Strategic Priorities, and the Decline Debate," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 10(1), pages 5-18, February.
    6. Volker Nitsch, 2019. "Passport, please! Travels, travails and trade," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(15), pages 1274-1278, September.
    7. Beibei Hu & Qiao Luan & Xue Meng & Kai Wang, 2023. "Media Inclination and Outward Foreign Direct Investment: Evidence from Chinese Firms," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 31(6), pages 134-155, November.
    8. Fuchs, Andreas, 2016. "China’s Economic Diplomacy and the Politics-Trade Nexus," Working Papers 0609, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    9. Jianhong Qi & Kam Ki Tang & Da Yin & Yong Zhao, 2020. "Remaking China’s Global Image with the Belt and Road Initiative: Is the Jury Out?," Discussion Papers Series 635, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    10. Donald Lien & Melody Lo & David Bojanic, 2019. "Asymmetric effects of cultural institutes on trade and foreign direct investment," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 1520-1553, May.
    11. Eichenauer, Vera Z. & Fuchs, Andreas & Brueckner, Lutz, 2018. "The Effects of Trade, Aid, and Investment on China's Image in Developing Countries," Working Papers 0646, University of Heidelberg, Department of Economics.
    12. Çağdaş Üngör, 2023. "Chinese Vaccine Diplomacy in the Eastern Mediterranean: Continuities and Rupture in Beijing’s Soft Power Prospects," Contemporary Review of the Middle East, , vol. 10(1), pages 62-83, March.
    13. Qian Liu & Yingying Wang & Ning Kang, 2023. "Analyzing the Influence of BRI Foreign Direct Investment on Governance: Perspective from Southeast Asian Countries," Global Journal of Emerging Market Economies, Emerging Markets Forum, vol. 15(2), pages 289-305, May.
    14. Wellner, Lukas & Dreher, Axel & Fuchs, Andreas & Parks, Bradley & Strange, Austin M., 2022. "Can aid buy foreign public support? Evidence from Chinese development finance," Kiel Working Papers 2214, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    15. Laurent Didier, 2019. "Soft power and exporters behavior in international trade," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 39(4), pages 2595-2614.
    16. Plouffe, Michael, 2024. "The Public and the Assembly: Foreign Public Opinion and Voting in the UNGA," OSF Preprints pu2yv, Center for Open Science.
    17. (ed.), 0. "Research Handbook on Economic Diplomacy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16053.
    18. Rose, Andrew, 2018. "Agent Orange: Trump, Soft Power, and Exports," CEPR Discussion Papers 13139, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Joachim Wagner, 2020. "Soft power and Germany's exports - First evidence from transaction data," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 40(1), pages 624-631.
    20. Eichenauer, Vera Z. & Fuchs, Andreas & Brückner, Lutz, 2021. "The effects of trade, aid, and investment on China's image in Latin America," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 483-498.
    21. Remco Johan Leonard Dijk & Catherine Yuk-ping Lo, 2023. "The effect of Chinese vaccine diplomacy during COVID-19 in the Philippines and Vietnam: a multiple case study from a soft power perspective," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F59 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - Other

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