Publication:
Trade Costs in the Developing World : 1995 - 2010

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (740.15 KB)
949 downloads
English Text (120.43 KB)
377 downloads
Date
2013-01
ISSN
Published
2013-01
Author(s)
Shepherd, Ben
Utoktham, Chorthip
Abstract
The authors use newly collected data on trade and production in 178 countries to infer estimates of trade costs in agriculture and manufactured goods for the 1995-2010 period. The data show that trade costs are strongly declining in per capita income. Moreover, the rate of change of trade costs is largely unfavorable to the developing world: trade costs are falling noticeably faster in developed countries than in developing ones, which serves to increase the relative isolation of the latter. In particular, Sub-Saharan African countries and low-income countries remain subject to very high levels of trade costs. In terms of policy implications, the analysis finds that maritime transport connectivity and logistics performance are very important determinants of bilateral trade costs: in some specifications, their combined effect is comparable to that of geographical distance. Traditional and non-traditional trade policies more generally, including market entry barriers and regional integration agreements, play a significant role in shaping the trade costs landscape.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Arvis, Jean-François; Shepherd, Ben; Utoktham, Chorthip. 2013. Trade Costs in the Developing World : 1995 - 2010. Policy Research Working Paper; No. 6309. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12182 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.
Report Series
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
  • Publication
    Right to Education
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-12) Vargas, Juan F.; Rozo, Sandra V.
    About a third of the 7.7 million Venezuelans who have left their country due to political and economic turmoil have settled in neighboring Colombia. The extent to which the Colombian schooling system can absorb the massive demand for education of Venezuelan children is key for their future trajectory of human capital accumulation, as well as that of Colombian students in receiving communities. This paper estimates the effect of Venezuelan migration on educational outcomes of children living in settlement municipalities in Colombia, distinguish between the effect of the migration shock on native and migrant students. Specifically, it estimates the effect of the migration shock on school enrollment, dropout/promotion rates and standardized test scores. The identification relies on a plausibly exogenous measure of the predicted migration shock faced by each Colombian municipality every year. The findings show that the migration shock increased the enrollment of Venezuelan students in both public and private schools and in all school grades, but also generated negative spillovers related to failing promotion rates and increasing dropout. This paper documents that these negative effects are explained by the differential enrollment capacity of schools, as well as by the deterioration of key school inputs.
  • Publication
    Environmental Policy under Weak Institutions
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-11) Karayalcin, Cem; Onder, Harun
    Developing countries are facing mounting pressures to incorporate environmental concerns into their policy reform agendas. This paper finds that common environmental policies, such as levying taxes to reduce the excessive exploitation of natural assets, can be self-defeating when (i) institutions are weak and (ii) the general equilibrium effects of such policy actions are overlooked. This seemingly paradoxical result is driven by fundamental mechanisms in structural transformation frameworks, without the need for strong assumptions. It also carries a clear policy implication: environmental policies should be considered within a country’s broader development context, rather than in isolation.
  • Publication
    The Quality and Price of Africa’s Imports of Digital Goods
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-08) Bastos, Paulo; Castro, Lucio; Cruz, Marcio
    Imported digital goods are critical for productivity growth in low-income countries. Using detailed data on international trade flows and tariffs, this paper finds that African nations tend to import relatively low quality, low price digital goods. It also finds that digital goods in Africa are subject to relatively higher tariffs, along with other factors that contribute to their higher cost in the domestic market compared to other regions, especially in some low-income countries. The findings show that the African Continental Free Trade Area will do little to reduce this tariff burden, as most digital goods are sourced from higher income nonmembers. In contrast, unilateral tariff liberalization toward all countries would significantly increase the imports of digital goods in Africa.
  • Publication
    Reviewing Assessment Tools for Measuring Country Statistical Capacity
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-06) Dang, Hai-Anh H.; Pullinger,John James; Serajuddin,Umar; Stacy,Brian William
    Country statistical capacity is increasingly recognized as crucial for development, but no academic study exists that reviews the available assessment tools. This paper offers the first review study that fills this gap, paying particular attention to data and practical measurement challenges. It compares the World Bank’s recently developed Statistical Performance Indicators and Index with other widely used indexes, such as the Open Data Inventory index, the Global Data Barometer index, and other regional and self-assessment tools. The findings show that each index brings advantages in data sources, number of indicators, measurement focus, coverage of countries and time periods, and correlation with common development indexes. The Open Data Inventory index covers the most countries, the Global Data Barometer index collects data through its surveys, and the Statistical Performance Indicators and Index offer a broader framework for assessing statistical systems. The paper offers further thoughts on the potential mechanisms through which these tools can bring positive impacts on economic activities and some political economy concerns, as well as future directions for development.
  • Publication
    High Temperature and Learning Outcomes
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05) Srivastava, Bhavya; Hirfrfot, Kibrom Tafere; Behrer, Arnold Patrick
    This paper uses data from 2003–19 on 2.47 million test takers of a national high stakes university entrance exam in Ethiopia to study the impacts of temperature on learning outcomes. It finds that high temperatures during the school year leading up to the exam reduce test scores, controlling for temperatures when the exam is taken. The results suggest that the scores of female students are less impacted by higher temperatures compared to their male counterparts. Additionally, the analysis finds that the scores of students from schools located in hotter regions are less impacted by higher temperatures compared to their counterparts from cooler regions. The evidence suggests that the adverse effects of temperature are driven by impacts from within-classroom temperatures, rather than from indirect impacts on agriculture.
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Associated URLs
Associated content
Citations