Econometrica

Journal Of The Econometric Society

An International Society for the Advancement of Economic
Theory in its Relation to Statistics and Mathematics

Edited by: Guido W. Imbens • Print ISSN: 0012-9682 • Online ISSN: 1468-0262

Econometrica: Mar, 2020, Volume 88, Issue 2

Geography, Transportation, and Endogenous Trade Costs

https://doi.org/10.3982/ECTA15455
p. 657-691

Giulia Brancaccio, Myrto Kalouptsidi, Theodore Papageorgiou

In this paper, we study the role of the transportation sector in world trade. We build a spatial model that centers on the interaction of the market for (oceanic) transportation services and the market for world trade in goods. The model delivers equilibrium trade flows, as well as equilibrium trade costs (shipping prices). Using detailed data on vessel movements and shipping prices, we document novel facts about shipping patterns; we then flexibly estimate our model. We use this setup to demonstrate that the transportation sector (i) attenuates differences in the comparative advantage across countries; (ii) generates network effects in trade costs; and (iii) dampens the impact of shocks on trade flows. These three mechanisms reveal a new role for geography in international trade that was previously concealed by the frequently‐used assumption of exogenous trade costs. Finally, we illustrate how our setup can be used for policy analysis by evaluating the impact of future and existing infrastructure projects (e.g., Northwest Passage, Panama Canal).


Full Content

Supplemental Material

Supplement to "Geography, Transportation, and Endogenous Trade Costs"

This online appendix contains material not found within the manuscript.

Supplement to "Geography, Transportation, and Endogenous Trade Costs"

This zip file contains the replication files for the manuscript.

Journal News

View