A large and growing share of world trade travels by air. We model exporters' choice between fast, expensive air cargo and slow, cheap ocean cargo, which depends on the price elasticity of demand and the value that consumers attach to fast delivery. We use US imports data that provide rich variation in the premium paid for air shipping and in time lags for ocean transit to extract consumers' valuation of time. We estimate that each day in transit is equivalent to an advalorem tariff of 0.6 to 2.1 percent. The most time-sensitive trade flows involve parts and components trade. (JEL F13, F14, L93)
Examines difficulties surrounding Biosafety Protocol (BSP), which targets the safe transfer, handling, and use of potentially hazardous living modified organisms (LMOs) produced through biotechnology; of particular interest are LMO used for food, feed, and processing. At issue is the lack of international consensus regarding labeling requirements, contending that even small changes to labeling requirements can result in significantly different and unevenly distributed trade impacts and compliance costs among signing parties. Following a history of the BSP, examples of the costs involved in the BSP labeling scheme are provided, with attention given to enforcement issues and equitable distribution of compliance costs. Other problematic provisions of the BSP are considered in closing.
Providing an evaluation of procedures for quantifying the effects of non-tariff barriers, this book examines the theoretical bases for alternative procedures for measuring NTBs effects, and also presents a critical survey of previous studies that utilized these empirical studies.
National barriers to agricultural trade are often varied to insulate domestic markets from international price variability, especially following a sudden spike. This paper examines the extent of that behavior by governments using new annual estimates of agricultural price distortions in 75 countries. Responses to price spikes are shown to be equally substantial for agricultural-importing and agricultural-exporting countries, thereby weakening the domestic price-stabilizing effect of their interventions. Bringing discipline to export restrictions through new World Trade Organization rules could help alleviate the extent to which government responses to exogenous upward price spikes exacerbate those shocks. ; The authors are grateful for financial support from the Australian Research Council and World Bank.
National barriers to agricultural trade are often varied to insulate domestic markets from international price variability, especially following a sudden spike. This paper examines the extent of that behavior by governments using new annual estimates of agricultural price distortions in 75 countries. Responses to price spikes are shown to be equally substantial for agricultural-importing and agricultural-exporting countries, thereby weakening the domestic price-stabilizing effect of their interventions. Bringing discipline to export restrictions through new World Trade Organization rules could help alleviate the extent to which government responses to exogenous upward price spikes exacerbate those shocks. ; The authors are grateful for financial support from the Australian Research Council and World Bank.
Abstract Should international trade agreements be extended to include negotiations over environmental policy? The answer depends on whether countries distort levels of environmental regulations as a secondary means of providing protection to domestic industries; our results suggest that they do. Previous studies of this relationship have treated the level of environmental regulation as exogenous, and found a negligible correlation between environmental regulation and trade flows. In contrast, we find that, when the level of environmental regulation is modelled as an endogenous variable, its estimated effect on trade flows is significantly higher than previously reported. JEL Classification: F1, F14, F18Est‐ce que la politique environnementale est une barrière commerciale secondaire? Une analyse empirique Est‐ce que les accords commerciaux internationaux doivent être étendus pour couvrir la politique environnementale? La réponse dépend du degré de distorsion que les pays introduisent dans leur politique environnementale pour protéger leurs industries nationales. Nos résultats suggèrent que cet impact est important. Des études antérieures de cette relation ont traité la politique environnementale comme exogène, et ont montré qu'il existe une co‐relation négligeable entre politique environnementale et flux commerciaux. Au contraire, nous révélons que, quand la politique environnementale est considérée comme variable endogène, son effet sur les flux commerciaux est plus élevé de manière significative que ce qu'on a noté antérieurement.
