Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik
Société suisse d'économie et de statistique
Società svizzera di economia e di statistica
Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics

Published Papers 2009


Paper 2009-IV-5

"Adjustment Dynamics of Bilateral Trade Flows: Theory and Evidence"

Benjamin Jung

Abstract:
In this paper, I introduce a trade-promoting "invisible asset" into the standard Krugman (1980) model of international trade. It can be interpreted as trust that accumulates as an externality in proportion to successful international transactions. I use this framework to theoretically derive a dynamic gravity equation and to discuss adjustment dynamics. I provide new evidence on adjustment rates of bilateral trade flows. On average, 23% of the gap to the steady-state trade flow are closed each year. However, dynamic regressions yield long-run trade policy effects which are comparable to static estimates.

Pages: 421-442

JEL classification: F14, F15

Keywords: International bilateral trade, Gravity model, Trust, Dynamic panel data

Overview
Contact: Peter Steiner

Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics

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