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Barrier or Opportunity ? How Trade Regulations Shape Colombian Firms’ Export Strategies

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  • Rosenow,Samuel Kaspar

Abstract

Firms increasingly must contend with trade regulations to access foreign markets. This paper quantifies the relative importance of trade regulations and their heterogeneous effects for Colombian firms exporting to Latin America between 2007 and 2017, focusing on specific types and channels. Using panel evidence from a firm-level gravity model with a difference-in-differences identification strategy, technical barriers to trade and quantity control measures both decrease trade on average. Other non-tariff measures and tariffs play a minor role. The technical barriers to trade and quantity measures reallocate trade from small to big firms. The same mechanism benefits firms participating in global value chains. However, quantity controls make it more likely that big firms will leave export markets to the benefit of smaller ones. The results control for the endogeneity of trade regulations and are robust to the use of different samples and measures of firm size.

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  • Rosenow,Samuel Kaspar, 2024. "Barrier or Opportunity ? How Trade Regulations Shape Colombian Firms’ Export Strategies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10795, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10795
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    Cited by:

    1. Samuel Rosenow & Alvaro Raul Espitia Rueda & Ana Margarida Fernandes, 2024. "High Tariffs, High Stakes : The Policy Drivers behind Firm-Level Adoption of Green Technologies," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10977, The World Bank.
    2. Doe Fiankor,Dela-Dem & Woubet Kassa & Lartey,Abraham, 2025. "Trade Barriers or Catalysts ? Non-Tariff Measures and Firm-Level Trade Margins," Policy Research Working Paper Series 11024, The World Bank.

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