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Trade facilitation and country size

Author

Listed:
  • Amin, Mohammad
  • Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim

Abstract

It is argued that compared with large countries, small countries rely more on trade and therefore they are more likely to adopt liberal trading policies. The present paper extends this idea beyond the conventional trade openness measures by analyzing the relationship between country size and the number of documents required to export and import, a measure of trade facilitation. Three important results follow. First, trade facilitation does improve as country size becomes smaller; that is, small countries perform better than large countries in terms of trade facilitation. Second, the relationship between country size and trade facilitation is nonlinear, much stronger for the relatively small than the large countries. Third, contrary to what existing studies might suggest, the relationship between country size and trade facilitation does not appear to be driven by the fact that small countries trade more as a proportion of their gross domestic product than the large countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Amin, Mohammad & Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim, 2013. "Trade facilitation and country size," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6692, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6692
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim, 2012. "The impact of business regulatory reforms on economic growth," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 285-307.
    2. Freund, Caroline L. & Weinhold, Diana, 2004. "The effect of the Internet on international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 171-189, January.
    3. Mohammad Amin & Jamal Haidar, 2012. "The cost of registering property: does legal origin matter?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 1035-1050, June.
    4. Peter Schwarz, 2007. "Does capital mobility reduce the corporate-labor tax ratio?," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 363-380, March.
    5. Thomas W. Hertel & Terrie Walmsley & Ken Itakura, 2005. "Dynamic Effects Of The "New Age" Free Trade Agreement Between Japan And Singapore," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Philippa Dee & Michael Ferrantino (ed.),Quantitative Methods For Assessing The Effects Of Non-Tariff Measures And Trade Facilitation, chapter 18, pages 483-523, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    6. Simeon Djankov & Caroline Freund & Cong S. Pham, 2010. "Trading on Time," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 166-173, February.
    7. Wilson,John S. & Mann, Catherine L. & Otsuki, Tsunehiro, 2003. "Trade facilitation and economic development : measuring the impact," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2988, The World Bank.
    8. Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim, 2009. "Investor protections and economic growth," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 1-4, April.
    9. Caroline Freund & Diana Weinhold, 2002. "The Internet and International Trade in Services," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(2), pages 236-240, May.
    10. John S. Wilson & Catherine L. Mann & Tsunehiro Otsuki, 2003. "Trade Facilitation and Economic Development: A New Approach to Quantifying the Impact," World Bank Economic Review, World Bank Group, vol. 17(3), pages 367-389, December.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Fedotenkov, Igor, 2015. "International Trade and Migration: Why Do Migrants Choose Small Countries?," MPRA Paper 66035, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim, 2012. "The impact of business regulatory reforms on economic growth," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 285-307.
    3. Haidar, Jamal Ibrahim, 2012. "Trade and productivity: Self-selection or learning-by-exporting in India," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1766-1773.
    4. James Gaisford & Olena Ivus, 2014. "Should Smaller Countries Be More Protectionist? The Diversification Motive for Tariffs," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(4), pages 845-862, September.
    5. Hsin-Ning Su, 2017. "Global Interdependence of Collaborative R&D-Typology and Association of International Co-Patenting," Sustainability, MDPI, Open Access Journal, vol. 9(4), pages 1-1, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic Theory&Research; Free Trade; Trade Policy; Transport and Trade Logistics; Common Carriers Industry;

    JEL classification:

    • F10 - International Economics - - Trade - - - General
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • F14 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Empirical Studies of Trade
    • F15 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Economic Integration
    • F50 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - General
    • F55 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Institutional Arrangements
    • H10 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - General
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • L5 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy
    • O20 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - General
    • O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth

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