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Estimating the impact of country‐level policy restrictions on services trade

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  • Antoine Gervais

Abstract

Standard techniques used to estimate gravity equations, rely on bilateral variation to identify the effect of trade barriers on bilateral trade flows. In this paper, I develop a method that estimates the effects of country‐level variables on trade between countries in the presence of firm heterogeneity and country selection into trade, a natural extension of existing empirical models of international trade. I implement the method in services data, where available measures of trade policy provide information on the average level of regulations restricting entry into a country. The results suggest that policy barriers are important determinants of services trade flows.

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  • Antoine Gervais, 2018. "Estimating the impact of country‐level policy restrictions on services trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(4), pages 743-767, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:reviec:v:26:y:2018:i:4:p:743-767
    DOI: 10.1111/roie.12340
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    1. Gervais, Antoine & Jensen, J. Bradford, 2019. "The tradability of services: Geographic concentration and trade costs," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 331-350.
    2. Catherine Boulatoff & Talan B. İşcan & Yulia Kotlyarova, 2022. "Does Distance Matter for Trade in Services? The Case of Interprovincial Trade in Canada," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 157-185, February.
    3. Xiaosong Zheng & Anran Sun, 2023. "Digital Services Trade between China and V4 Countries – A Study of Trade Complementarity and Regulatory Restrictiveness," Journal of Economics / Ekonomicky casopis, Institute of Economic Research, Slovak Academy of Sciences, vol. 71(2), pages 139-154, February.

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