Volume Of International Trade Research Articles

Border Effects and the Availability of Domestic Products Abroad

Trade between countries could fall short of trade within a country because (1) the volume of international trade is less than the volume of domestic trade for a given product (the intensive margin); or (2) some goods that are sold domestically are simply not exported (the extensive margin). My theoretical model illustrates that either of these two factors could explain a given aggregate 'border effect.' I examine the empirical relevance of this distinction by isolating the fraction of total domestic production attributable only to exporters, finding that around one-half of the border effect may be attributed to each explanation.

Welfare and well‐being in modern Mexico

THERE is ample recognition that the process of globalisation is causing growing polarisation in all dimensions of social life: among regions, social classes and people. In spite of the unprecedented volumes of material production, international trade, and international capital flows, in virtually every society a crisis of lack of gainful employment and declining levels of individual welfare appear to be the unavoidable results of a new system of globalised production. The restructuring of the Mexican economy and the reorganisation of the state during the past 20 years dramatically changed the government's relation to the people, redefining the responsibilities for creating opportunities and resolving social problems that arise as a result of the new order. In this short article, I offer a review of the impact of these structural changes on the well-being of the principal social groups and the government's response to the profound problems that have arisen.

The effect of environmental taxes on the volume of international trade

This paper is a response to Røpke’s (1994) question whether environmental taxes increase or decrease the volume of international trade. Using a three-country Heckscher–Ohlin–Samuelson model, it is shown that the effect can be in either direction. In the absence of pollution haven and three-country effects that reverse natural comparative advantage, environmental taxes decrease (increase) the volume of trade between any two countries when the tax is larger in the country that exports (imports) the pollutive good. The environmental tax can also generate strong trade effects between two of the countries, changing production costs and thereby reversing the expected tax effect on a third country. The effects on trade are likely to be smaller when comparable pollution damage is global rather than local.

Private interests and government policy in a global world

The global economy is characterized not only by a high volume of international trade and foreign investment relative to national income, but also by a changed composition of that trade towards greater trade in inputs and capital goods and outsourcing of production. The paper considers the consequences of these changes for government policy from the perspective of both the national interest and special interest groups. Emphasized is the possibility of a “civil war” scenario, whereby government seeks to control and regulate the private sectors of the economy and private interests attempt to “flee the jurisdiction”, which leads regional agreements among governments in order to maintain control over the private sector.

Global and local implications of biotechnology and climate change for future food supplies.

The development of improved technology for agricultural production and its diffusion to farmers is a process requiring investment and time. A large number of studies of this process have been undertaken. The findings of these studies have been incorporated into a quantitative policy model projecting supplies of commodities (in terms of area and crop yields), equilibrium prices, and international trade volumes to the year 2020. These projections show that a "global food crisis," as would be manifested in high commodity prices, is unlikely to occur. The same projections show, however, that in many countries, "local food crisis," as manifested in low agricultural incomes and associated low food consumption in the presence of low food prices, will occur. Simulations show that delays in the diffusion of modern biotechnology research capabilities to developing countries will exacerbate local food crises. Similarly, global climate change will also exacerbate these crises, accentuating the importance of bringing strengthened research capabilities to developing countries.

International Trade and the Risk Premium in the Currency Forward Market

In this paper we present an intertemporal model of the spot and forward markets for foreign exchange. We analyze the implications of central bank interventions on the spot market for the risk premium in the currency forward market and discuss the consequences for the allocation of exchange rate risk and for the volume of international trade. As a main result we find that exchange rate volatility does not generate systematic risk and hence does not adversely affect international trade as long as the monetary authorities do not exogenously intervene in the foreign exchange spot market.

Uses, management and economic potential of Irvingia gabonensis in the humid lowlands of Cameroon

Irvingia gabonensis is one of the most preferred tree species by farmers in the humid lowlands of Cameroon. The kernel of the species figures prominently in international trade in West Africa. Although there exists empirical data on the volume of international trade of the kernel, no data are available at the farm-level. The species generally grows in the wild and very little efforts have been made to domesticate it. As part of a prioritization exercise a field survey was undertaken to quantify, at the farm-level, the economic importance of the species. Uses, management and farmers' improvement objectives were also identified. The results of the survey indicate that Irvingia gabonensis is propagated rather by transplanting wildings than by planting of seedlings and is found mostly in tree crop fields (e.g. cocoa and coffee). The kernel or seed is highly traded and is also transformed into a paste which is used in the preparation of sauces. Irvingia wood is used for timber, its dead branches for firewood and the bark is used as medicine. The farm-level annual value of production for Irvingia averages US$ 93.00–US$ 15.00 from fruits and US$ 78.00 from seeds – per grower/collector in some regions. Desired improvement objectives include increasing fruit size, improving the taste of fruits, increasing yield, reducing tree height and time to bearing.

Scale Economies and International Trade in a Rapidly Growing Region

Scale is universally acknowledged as important in the determination of national comparative advantage. Paradoxically, attempts to associate empiri cal measures of scale economies and international trade volume have proved largely inconclusive, and often have been found to sport the “wrong” sign. We examine the trade-scale nexus in the context of East Asian NICs and “NextTier” NICs whose economies and exports have grown especially rapidly since the mid-1960s. In a cross section context we replicate the negative correlations typically found in the literature. By combining time section and cross section analyses we demonstrate significant positive correlations in a dynamic context, finding that the smaller the country the greater the scale economy gains for any

Measuring economic interdependence: A geopolitical perspective

Political scientists employ the concept of economic interdependence for three theoretical purposes: to evaluate whether expanding international economic ties diminish the autonomy of states; to study the relationship between international trade and international conflict; and to assess the efficacy of economic sanctions. To date, they have almost exclusively measured interdependence with crude indices which gauge the volume of international trade and factor price linkages. Consequently, they overlook the most strategically important aspect of trade: its material composition. We introduce a new method for measuring economic interdependence that considers the goods that are traded and the availability of substitutes or alternative supplies. Our Strategic Goods Test assesses a state's dependence on its potential adversaries for continued access to the resources that are essential for national survival. Applied to Anglo‐German economic relations before the First World War, our test reveals that earlier studie...

GERMAN SEAPORTS IN A PERIOD OF RESTRUCTURING

AbstractGerman seaports are in a phase of far‐reaching structural change. Increasing globalisation of the economy has led to growing international trade volume and a corresponding increase in transport streams. Economic changes are particularly marked in the Baltic region which affects, above all, the German Baltic seaports. The two large container ports of Hamburg and Bremen/Bremerhaven are primarily faced with economic and technical‐organisational changes in intercontinental container transport. Restructuring of the ports is currently governed by an adjustment of port infrastructures to the changed requirements of transport and services, and an extension of hinterland relations. Changes in the institutional and financial structures of German ports are likely in view of the chronic crisis situations of public budgets and the attempts of the European Commission to apply the principle of spreading costs fairly to all European ports, on the basis of standardised cost recording and accounting. The introduction of containers resulted in spiralling labour productivity, with a consequent loss in jobs in the operative core area of the port economy. In view of this forced logistic structural change ports become ‘container floodgates’, a ‘logistic channel’ through which cargo passes. Most port regions are attempting to counteract the job decline in the operative function sector carried out by the seaport through developing the services offered towards “value‐added logistics”. The functional changes of ports modify economic linkages of ports and regions. The immediate linkages of ports and sea‐oriented industries are decreasing and differentiated economic and social networks are emerging in the shape of transport and logistic service centres, although their interlinked relations are no longer one‐sidedly port‐based.

A comparison of the financial characteristics of U.S. and Japanese manufacturing firms

ABSTRACTThe U.S. and Germany rank #1 and #3, respectively, in the world, in terms of the total amount of international trade. U.S. and German firms compete with one another for a larger market share in other countries and in each other's local markets. And yet, there are no published studies that compare the financial management practices of U.S. and German firms. In this paper, we make a contribution to the finance literature on this subject by comparing the financial characteristics of U.S. and German manufacturing firms. Our findings provide valuable insights for corporate financial managers and for investors who invest in these countries. Using a sample of 1166 firms, we find that the financial characteristics of U.S. manufacturing firms differ significantly from those of German manufacturing firms. MANOVA test results indicate that U.S. firms exhibit higher liquidity, lower debt, higher profitability, and lower total assets turnover. These findings are also supported by the logistic regression results. We suggest that better financial performance of U.S. firms could be attributed to more business-friendly employment laws and lower levels of unionization in the United States.JEL: G30, G31KEYWORDS: Financial Ratios, Manufacturing, United States, Germany, MANOVAINTRODUCTIONThe U.S. had the largest ($3,733 billion) and Germany had the third largest ($2,880 billion) volume of international trade in the world in 2011 (CIA, 2013). There is a stiff competition between U.S. and German firms to capture a larger market share in each other's markets and in other countries. Therefore, comparing the financial characteristics of U.S. and German firms can provide valuable insights for financial managers and for the investors who invest in these countries. However, this subject has not been sufficiently studied. The objective of this study is to compare the financial characteristics of U.S. and German manufacturing firms, and investigate how any differences relate to the economic, legal, and labor environments in the two countries. Using a sample of 1166 firms for 2012, we find that the financial characteristics of U.S. and German manufacturing firms differ significantly along a number of dimensions. We find that U.S. firms exhibit higher liquidity, lower debt, higher profitability, and lower total assets turnover. Our findings are supported by several statistical studies, including univariate and multivariate ANOVA, two-sample t-tests, and logistic regression results. We propose that the generally better financial performance of U.S. firms could be attributed to more business-friendly employment laws and lower levels of unionization in the United States.Our research contributes to the literature in the following significant ways. It is the first high-level study that compares the financial characteristics and management practices of U.S. and German manufacturing firms. In addition, it provides valuable insights to international investors about investment atmosphere in these countries and to corporate managers for possible mergers, takeovers or other competitive strategies.The paper is organized as follows. In the next section, we present a brief review of the literature and set the stage for our study with a comparison of the U.S. and German economies. Following, we explain our methodology and data, and discuss our empirical results. In the final section, we conclude the paper and note suggestions for future research.LITERATURE REVIEWComparing the financial characteristics of different groups of firms has long been a popular methodology in finance. Altman (1968), Beaver (1968), Deakin (1972), Moyer (1977), Edmister (1972), and Dambolena and Khoury (1980) predict bankruptcy by comparing the financial characteristics of bankrupt and nonbankrupt firms. Stevens (1973), Belkaoui (1978), Rege (1984), andMeric at al. (1991) identify the financial characteristics of firms that have been corporate takeover targets by comparing them with firms that have not been targets in corporate takeovers. …

Real Exchange Rate Volatility and International Trade: A Reexamination of the Theory

One of the issues that have received considerable attention in the comparison of the properties of alternative exchange rate regimes is the effect of exchange rate risk on the volume of trade. It has been argued that the higher volatility of exchange rates witnessed since the adoption of the floating regime in 1973 has led to a decrease in international trade transactions. This is because most trade contracts are not for immediate delivery of goods; and since they are denominated in terms of the currency of either the importer or the exporter, unanticipated fluctuations in the exchange rate affect realized profits and hence the volume of trade. It is implicitly assumed that forward exchange markets that can help traders eliminate this type of variations in profits either are not available (as it is true for the majority of currencies because most are not fully convertible, thereby impairing forward markets) or for some reason they are not utilized to fully hedge exchange risk present in trade transactions.' The empirical evidence, regarding the effect of exchange rate risk on trade, has at best been inconclusive. The large majority of the empirical studies are unable to establish a systematically significant link between exchange rate variability and the volume of international trade whether on an aggregate or on a bilateral basis. Abrams [1], Akhtar and Hilton [2], Cushman [4; 5; 6] and Kenan and Rodrik [12] find some significant negative effects of exchange volatility on exports. However, Bailey, Tavlas, and Uhlan [3], Hooper and Kohlhagen [10] and an International Monetary Fund Study [11] do not find any supporting evidence for the depressing effect of exchange rate volatility on international trade. It is also interesting to note that, in many of these studies, a significant positive effect of exchange rate volatility on the volume of trade is found for some cases. However, the positive effect, believed to be at odds with the theory was either ignored or dismissed a perverse result, since as far volumes are concerned, theoretical considerations

Chinese Foreign Trade

China's opening to the outside world was perhaps the most visible of its reforms of the 1980s. China's international trade volume grew dramatically, it attracted tens of billions of dollars of foreign direct investment and it became an active borrower in international financial markets. In contrast to the pre-reform era, foreign trade grew more rapidly than the domestic economy and in some regions of the country it appeared that it had become a powerful engine of growth, accelerating not only the speed of domestic development but the pace of structural and technical transformation as well.

Conditional Exchange-Rate Volatility and the Volume of International Trade: Evidence from the Early 1900s

Exports from Britain to the United States from 1900 to 1940 are examined to ascertain the effect of exchange-rate volatility on the volume of trade. In addition to using a rolling standard deviation measure of exchange-rate uncertainty, the conditional variance of the exchange-rate series modeled.as a generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic process is used to generate an alternative measure of exchange-rate uncertainty. The results of estimation using the two measures of exchange-rate volatility suggest that increases in the volatility of the real exchange rate reduce the volume of trade. Copyright 1992 by MIT Press.

An empirical evaluation of the macroeconomic effects of tarrifs

The macroeconomic effects of unilateral tariff changes are reviewed in a variety of theoretical models. It is shown that there is no theoretical presumption about the effects of tariffs on output or the trade balance. Five different data sets are found to be consistent with the hypothesis that tariff changs have no significant effects on: the real exchange rate; the real trade balance; and real output (both foreign and domestic). Tariff rates do appear to have a negative effect on the gross volume of international trade. (JEL F13, F40).

Exchange rate volatility and international trading strategy

It is usually argued that an increase in exchange rate volatility reduces the volume of international trade as trading firms are risk averse. This paper shows that exporting firms benefit under fairly general conditions from an increase in exchange rate volatility. Firms optimally adjust their export volumes to the level of the exchange rate. Exporting is an option which is exercised if profitable. In addition, the paper presents conditions under which the volume of international trade grows with exchange rate volatility.

CO‐MOVEMENTS IN RELATIVE COMMODITY PRICES AND INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL FLOWS: A SIMPLE MODEL

Suppose a number of countries produce a commodity which employs local labor and a type of capital that is internationally mobile. Within the framework of a specific‐factors model the paper argues that there is a presumption about the international movement of capital when the relative price of the industry using that capital rises on world markets. Capital flows towards countries less heavily involved in producing the commodity; internal labor flows contribute toward worldwide industry dispersion; and the volume of international trade in that commodity tends to fall.

Exchange Rate Risk, Exchange Rate Regime and the Volume of International Trade

KyklosVolume 41, Issue 2 p. 263-280 Exchange Rate Risk, Exchange Rate Regime and the Volume of International Trade JOSEF C. BRADA, JOSEF C. BRADA *Professor of Economics, Arizona State UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorJOSÉ A. MÉNDEZ, JOSÉ A. MÉNDEZ **Associate Professor of Economics, Arizona State University and Economist, United States International Trade CommissionSearch for more papers by this author JOSEF C. BRADA, JOSEF C. BRADA *Professor of Economics, Arizona State UniversitySearch for more papers by this authorJOSÉ A. MÉNDEZ, JOSÉ A. MÉNDEZ **Associate Professor of Economics, Arizona State University and Economist, United States International Trade CommissionSearch for more papers by this author First published: May 1988 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6435.1988.tb02309.xCitations: 67AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume41, Issue2May 1988Pages 263-280 RelatedInformation

Resources and North-South Trade: A Macro Analysis in Open Economies

The paper explores the impacts of resource export policies on major macro variables of the exporter and the importer economies. There are two regions, North and South, trading resources for industrial goods. Each region consumes two goods (basic consumption goods and industrial goods) and produces both using three inputs: capital labor and resources. The relative prices in five markets (of factors and goods) as well as the volumes of output, consumption and international trade are all determined endogenously at a general equilibrium. The results give conditions both for positive and for negative outcomes from moves towards world equilibrium with higher volumes of resource exports. Under certain conditions, increased resource exports produce price distortions with negative consequences. When the South's technologies are dual and its traditional sector uses mostly labor, and the North has a more homogeneous economy and a high rate of profit, at the new equilibrium real wages, employment and consumption decrease in the South, and its terms of trade and real revenues worsen. This is traced to the negative impact of increased resource exports on the domestic terms of trade between the traditional and the industrial sectors. However, the profits of the south increase, thus explaining in part the existence of trade. More favourable outcomes are obtained when the exporting economy is more homogeneous, and sufficient conditions are given for an export policy to improve the welfare of the exporting country, as well as its international terms of trade and export revenues.

Forecasting containerized traffic for the port of Montreal (1981–1995)

This paper presents an approach to making long-term forecasts of overseas container traffic in the port of Montreal. The paper discusses, first, why performance models explaining traffic variations in ports when postulating a fixed hinterland may not be appropriate for the port of Montreal. Then, the forecasting approach itself is presented. Using 1981 as the base year, projections of container traffic through the port of Montreal until 1995 are developed by considering separately the traffic flows associated with the Canadian and the United States hinterlands. Our approach takes account of anticipated changes in Canadian and U.S. international trade volume, containerization rates and regional growth within Canada. It yields detailed forecasts of containerized traffic, by origin and destination, for 78 commodity groups, 7 world regions and 11 North American regions (i.e. the 10 Canadian provinces plus the United States). Two forecasting scenarios are considered and the aggregate results for 1995 are reported. Finally, a comparison of forecasts with recent data available for 1984 is made, suggesting that the internation trade projections used to generate our forecasts may be too conservative.